[Vilandra485]

Quick Question: At 346 pounds how many calories should I be eating? I've gone online and calculated anything from 4000-5400! Those sound WAY too high though....and other way I was told was to add a 0 on the end of your weight to maintain it...thus mine would be 3460 calories to maintain....what does everyone else think? If I was trying to *maintain* my weight, how many calories should I be taking in daily? Thanks in advance! Hope to get some opinions
Melissa

[funniegrrl]

When I started my Jenny Craig program, I weight just a little less than you do and they put me on 2300 calories. Keep in mind that I was 39 at the time, and I'm 5'9". I was also extremely sedentary. If you are significantly younger you could probably get away with a little more. If you are taller you could also use more; if you are shorter, less. It wasn't too long -- maybe 3 or 4 weeks -- until they dropped me to 2000 calories. I was there a long time, then went down to 1700, then 1500. Now that I'm within about 5 pounds of my goal I get anywhere from 1200 to 1500 per day.

It's better to start high and gradually cut back as you hit significant plateaus. Don't be too eager to cut back -- I didn't drop levels until I'd gone weeks without losing. If you start exercising a lot, you may need to have a bit more.

[Tealeaf]

One thing you might consider doing is figuring out how many calories you actually are eating now. Get an eletronic food scale and weigh everything you put in your mouth. If you eat alot of fast food (I used to live off the stuff!) go to their web sites and find out how many calories that hamburger or whatever really has in it. Use Fitday to keep track of the number for you (it's a pain at first, but as you enter more and more of your custom foods it gets easier. Plus the online version is free, always a plus!)

Once you know what you are eating, you can make a reasonable estimation of what you need to eat to lose. Say you are eating 3000 calories a day now, more or less, just as an example. Cutting back to 2500 a day would result in a 1 pound a week loss. Doesn't sound like much, but I can attest that these pounds do add up and make a difference over time.

[LLV]

Also keep in mind that it takes 3500 calories to gain a pound of fat. If you eat this or more a day, you're going to continue to gain.

I'd help you with the numbers because I use a pretty reliable calorie calculator, but how many many calories you should consume per day depends on a few things: your height, current weight, age, sex and activity level.

[Vilandra485]

LLV - What calorie calculator do you use? Is it from a website? Feel free to enter my stats and message me the results if you can:
Sex: Female
Height = 5'4
Age: 20
Activity Level: Low (for now)
Current Weight = 350 aprx.
Thanks.

[srmb60]

Fitday.com is a wonderful tool for tracking calorie intake and output. I love it.
Please keep in mind that there is no right or wrong. If you start too high you'll just lose slower. If you start too low, you'll be starving and need to reassess. It's a constantly evolving process. Just pick some number from the ideas you've been given and start. You can have a rethink the next time you weigh in. Good luck!

[LLV]

Originally Posted by Vilandra485

LLV - What calorie calculator do you use? Is it from a website? Feel free to enter my stats and message me the results if you can:
Sex: Female
Height = 5'4
Age: 20
Activity Level: Low (for now)
Current Weight = 350 aprx.
Thanks.

I messaged you the results

And I agree with Susan, fitday is great. I've been using it for over a year now, I couldn't live without it.