I was just reading another thread about how bad you can screw yourself up but having your calories too low... and the last thing I want to do is screw myself up... so, are my calories too low?

My average for the past two weeks: (according to fitday - hoping I have been 100% honest during that time! haha -- it should be right, I am usually pretty honest with it)

average calories: 1495 - 30% fat, 45% carbs, and 25% protein

I currently weight 169 pounds and exercise for 1 hour 5 days a week. I ride my exercise for that 1 hour, according to the bike and fit day, burning 400-500 calories a day.

I am curently losing 1.2 pounds a week - every week - for almost the last two months. The weird thing is, I have stayed eating the same amount but started exercising again....

Anyway, am I eating too little? Am I risking screwing up my matoblisim?

Thanks!

I eat and exercise about the same as you, I average between 1450-1550 each day, my workouts include: 30 minutes exercise bike, 30 minutes treadmil, 20 minute pilates, and I alternate strength training 3-4 days per week. My average weekly weightloss is 1.5 pounds.

I'm not an expert, but it sounds like you are doing fine calorie wise. The fact that you are averaging weight losses of 1-1.5 pounds a week would seem to suggest your metabolism is okay. I think people who are having metabolism problems eat very little and yet do not lose.

A lot of the concern seems to come from people who are eating less than 1000 calories/day and seem to be maintaining at that level. They report that if they eat more they gain weight.

I don't know because I am new. But if you want someone who knows her calories that would be susanb!! She has been awesome and helped me sooo much!

What your doing sounds healthy to me according to research that I have done.

sotypical-your calorie levels are just fine. You are losing at a perfect rate, and your exercise, calorie level in context to your current weight-and all of that seem just fine.
The key is, to start out losing weight at the highest # of calories that you can eat and lose half to 2 pounds per week, and then slowly drop calories/up exercise as you get smaller-because the less you weigh, the less calories you use per day. So-someone in the 160's eating around 1500 a day is great-but it would be bad for someone who is 300 pounds to be eating 1200 a day. Make sense?

So, if I am at 280 and I am eating about 1400, that would be too little? Should I try upping my calorie intake to about 1800 or a little less?

How much are you currently losing per week? If you are losing more than 2 pounds per week-then yes, they are probably too low. Most people at your weight can eat nearer to 1800 calories per day. Bump it up slightly this week to 1500-1600, and see what happens after a week. If you are still losing, then bump it up next week to 1700. Don't go from 1400 to 1800 in one jump, though.
You want to eat the most that you can and still lose-rather than start off at a very low level. The reason why-is because if you start low now, when your weight loss slows and you plateau 20, 30, or 50 pounds down the road-you don't have much to play with to get the losses going again.

Okay ladies well I have been cal counting and been sucessful at it for two months now. I am 214.5 today. I walk an average of 90 minutes a day of brisk walking. I just checked my cals for the last 7 days and they have averaged 1668. I was 219 when I started this month and am now 214.5. So I am down 4.5 pounds. Yes I know I need to lose slowly but I just feel like I am doing something wrong. I was losing 2.5 pounds last month doing this with walking an average of 67 minutes a day and now I am walking an average of 89 minutes a day and I am only losing 2 a week! I just feel like I am doing something wrong. Not to mention my belly is falling and making me feel huger than when I was 235! I know the scale is no true indicator but I just feel like I am screwing something up!

What cals is everyone else doing/ and /or would recommend at this weight?

When I researched the amount of calories to eat and still lose weight, I was SHOCKED! 2500-2745 calories per day! To "maintain" my weight it would be a whopping 3246! My god, How much was I eating to get like this?

Right now, I cannot fathom 2500 calories of "good" food...seems like I would be eating all the time.

Thank you Aphil .... today, I increased my cals to just over 1500. I will do that for a bit, then up to 1600, etc, as you suggested

My doctor give me a 800 calories diet and sometimes is dificult to me to eat the all 800 so everyday i try to eat it all. I also ride my bike for 45 minutes every day in a big park near to my house. is an uphill park so is much dificult. I also do abs

Today got all messed up because I had to drive my husband to the doctor for dizzy spells. So it's a little past 7 and I've only had 760 calories.

I can't really figure out whether I should "force" myself to eat something, or if I should just forget about it and end up with a very low-calorie day. I do need to get my milk in--that's 160 or so calories for my two glasses. But should I deliberately eat more even if I'm not hungry, or should I just not worry about it?

Why did your doctor give you an 800 calorie diet???? I dont understand this-especially since your ticker did not start you out with that much extra weight. Extremely low calorie diets like this are sometimes used in dire medical need-when a person is maybe morbidly obese and needs to lose some really quick to save their life, etc.-but I don't understand why an 800 calorie diet would be given to someone who needs to lose as little as you.
How is the diet that this phyician laid out for you? I am really curious as to how balanced this plan is. It is really unhealthy to eat only 800 calories a day for any stretch of time...

If you occasionally have a very low day of below 1000 calories-it isn't going to hurt you. Having to take someone to the doctor, or something going on sometimes makes this happen. I wouldn't worry about it too much if it is only occasionally-but you don't want to make a habit of it. In this particular instance I wouldn't worry-but if it is happening once a week or more-you might have a snack to get the calories up a little.

I did get the calories up to about 1200 by having some milk and pistachios.

Thanks for the advice.