How to find the right amount of calories to eat per day?
 

I'm calorie counting as one of my main ways of losing weight, and I was wondering how to find the right number to be at.

Currently I'm eating around 1300-1500 per day and losing about 1.5 lbs per week, but I'm worried that I'm not eating enough, especially since I work out almost every day. I know that eating too few calories can really mess with your metabolism, so I'd rather eat more than less, but I do feel very full on just 1300 or 1400 calories sometimes.

Any advice from other calorie counters out there would be very much appreciated!

https://tdeecalculator.net ;)

Thanks! That really helped

I think those calculators are useful for a starting point, and I have a number of reservations about the advice on that page so it's not the only one you could look at, but after that you need to learn what works for you personally, and you already know how fast you lose at your current calorie level. You could always try raising your calories for a few weeks and seeing how that goes. It's not a lifetime commitment, it's just a bit of flexibility.

Esofia is totally correct: a useful reference, but you have to figure out what works for you. TBH, that's just the first link that came up when I Googled TDEE that didn't ask for your email for the results - I am curious which info on that page you have concerns about though, it says it has at least 10% variance in accuracy and individuals need to test it out for themselves over time. :)

The maintenance calories it suggests are too low, which is odd as it's overestimating my activity levels (I had to tick "sedentary" but I'm actually mostly bedbound), and the weight range it suggests is very much on the low side. At 95lb I would be underweight and ill. It looked skeletal on me when I was 22 (and ill, hence the unwanted rapid weight loss), it would look even worse now I'm 39. 115lb shouldn't be the maximum weight it thinks I can manage, either, it should be higher. "Want to know a secret?
Daily tracking is over-rated. Just make sure you are at a weekly deficit (if trying to lose) or a surplus (if trying to gain)." doesn't even make sense - how can you know if you're eating at a deficit if you're not tracking it?

If the maintenance calories it suggests are too low then I'm in trouble since it's hard for me to even eat 1500 calories a day (the TDEE tells me to eat about 1650 for weight loss). I just get too full. Maybe I'll experiment by starting higher for a few weeks? I'd rather start higher and not lose weight than go too low and mess up my metabolism

OH! :D I totally ignore the 'recommended weight' stuff, they're typically useless without context for lean body mass - kinda like how I usually ignore BMI. ;) Even if I was at 15% bodyfat with the same amount of muscle I'd be considered obese in terms of BMI. And you'll notice that their reference materials for the weight ranges are all more than 30yrs old - definitely need to be updated.

As for daily tracking vs. weekly, that's technically true - our bodies don't reset every 24hrs. The idea with that (as I interpret it) is that if you go over one day, you can adjust the next a bit under (or your appetite may do so without interference). General tracking is still necessary, but wiggle room is ok. The same ideas are introduced when tracking different macros, vitamins, minerals, etc.

It definitely comes down to the individual - my recommended calorie count with that calculator is very very close to my maintenance levels, and the macro splits are reasonable IMO. That's why it's still about experimentation: some have faster metabolisms, others slower. Adaptive thermogenesis from weight loss can also skew the numbers for some. At the end of the day, I like TDEE calculations for a baseline to BEGIN our individual experiments.

EDIT: Chamomile, some of your challenge to get in more calories may be because you're eating a vegan diet (ie. lots of high fibre whole foods) - but it also means you can include some tasty healthy fats like more nuts, olive oil, and avocados into your menus without too much angst. :)