I'm noticing that most calorie calculators on the net say I need way more calories than I am currently consuming. Obviously, they run way high. And I'm afraid to eat more, frankly, and I'm curious to see what the average daily calorie consumption is for all the users in this forum.

Maybe we can each include:

Height/Weight: 5'10 / 193.2
Exercise: Running/Cycling ~10 hours per week
Calories per day: ~1300

For the 5 weeks I've been doing this consistently I'm averaging 2.8 lbs lost each week.

Height: 5'5
Weight: Currently 198
Exercise: Cardio 30-60 min/day, light weights 2x week
Calories per day: Currently 1400 (up from 1200)

For the first month I lost 2-3 pound per week, but since then I've averaged about a pound a week loss. Remember, 1-2 pounds is healthy, if you're losing more than that after your initial month it will be MUCH harder to keep it off.

I read this and thought that I would chime in, every calculator that I have ever punched my numbers into says I should be eating a ton of food. (I don't recall exactly what it says this very moment) but its up there. I eat 1500 per day and have done that since Jan 1st of this year. I am 114 days in and have lost 83 lbs so far as of last Friday. I think that the calculators are off just like those "this is what you should weigh for your height" calculators. 3 different Docs told me that 1500 is a good number to be at so Imma stick with that

the first 2 months I lost an average of 1lb per day, and lately its been 2-4 per week with a spike week here or there thats 6+ lost. I do not feel hungry and a lot of times have to eat something at the end of the night to get in all of my calories. YMMV

Height/Weight: 6'5'' / 451lbs as of last Friday.
Exercise: I walk 1.5 to 1.8 miles per day @ about 3mph, and daily calisthenics
Calories per day: ~1500

H/W: 5'3" 150

Workouts: 3x high intensity step; 2x strength; 1-2x pilates; plus biking and walking on weekends.

Current daily calories: 1450-1700

I was trying 1400 a day between January and March and lost 0, because I couldn't stick to it and would end up overeating in spurts to compensate. I was HUNGRY, not just snacky.

Since I upped to this level, I've lost 4 more lbs.! (A weekly average wouldn't help here because it's only been a month and half of that was PMS/TOM. The 4 came off all at once.)

Everyone's different though, right? I cannot go below 1450 for more than a day or two or my body rebels. It was a relief to find that I don't have to to lose weight, and that trying to do what my body didn't want was a much bigger hindrance than 100 extra calories a day.

I suck at getting enough food quite frankly. I try to eat intuitively in the sense of eating when I'm hungry so have breakfast, lunch, dinner, have about 3 litres of water a day.

Yesterday had weetabix mug of tea; ham salad water for lunch; few organic raw cashew nuts n slice of ham when got in, went for run n had a baked spud when got back. Total calories? about 750 max :|

I've just eaten 900 calories of chocolate! Got my calories up to 1622 for the day. Feel slightly sick tbh but trying to at least 'spike' my calories a couple of times a week seeing as I'm not hitting target the rest of it

Oh and I'm 5 foot five n three quarters, weigh 158lbs this morning. Work out most days (3 mile run, mix it up a little with weights and swimming too)

I was trying to stay at 1500-1600 a day, and was STARVING. I thought more than that was too much food, but then I got a Sensewear monitor (like a BodyBugg) and found out that on a typical day I burn between 2500-3000. So actually the online calorie counters were way too low for me. I need to be very careful because it's too easy for my metabolism to slow down and keep the fat on. Josephine, for your height and activity level, 1300 seems like it's barely subsistence! How are you feeling?

I'm really interested in the Sensewear/BodyBugg, I need to find out more about those.

Well, my problem is that I am a compulsive overeater/binger, so I always am thinking about food and I also always think I'm hungry whether I eat 1200 a day or 3200 a day. So I can't really trust my senses (yet). I don't know HOW I'm feeling, really... you know? I know that my running/biking paces are are steadily increasing, so my general fitness has very much improved in just 5 weeks of intense effort. I sort of assumed I wouldn't see those kinds of gains in ability if I wasn't getting enough calories? I do have a small frame, so even for my height I'm really overweight.

So 1500 calories at 451 pounds, makes my 1300 calories at 193 seem not that low, right?.

Congrats on all your success!!

I'm 5'7", 190lbs. I eat 1200-1600 a day depending on how hungry I am. I workout: circuit training 4x/week, spinning 2x/week, running 2-3x/week (with at least one long 10k one). Some days I'm ravenous, others I'm not. I like having a range of calories because I can eat intuitively based on how I'm feeling that day. Originally I was eating 1200 only and didn't drop any weight so I bumped it up to an average of 1400. Sometimes if I've eaten low calorie all week I'll throw in a high calorie day of 1800-2000.

Hi Josephine,

If you struggle with the behavioral stuff with eating/compulsive overeating (and MAN do I know that song and dance) you might want to consider the Beck diet solution (we've got a thread but I'm not sure how to get over there to link to it without losing what I've typed here.) It's been really, really helpful for me to work on how I think about food and hunger and be a little more dispassionate about the technicalities of the diet. And frankly, without the Sensewear monitor, I'd have no idea how much to eat either. It was pretty spendy but IMO well, well, well, WELL worth it. It sort of took the self-judgement out of what I eat or don't eat, and just turned it into a numbers game. Which is what it actually is in the grand scheme of things. I found myself bingeing a lot - turned out (for me at least) they were triggered by actual hunger, which degenerated into out of control comfort stuffing.

For what it's worth. Happy to answer Sensewear questions! I'm a believer.

First, Thank you.

yeah the 1300 seems fine from my vantage point, but I don't claim to be an expert, just a fat dude trying to drop more than a few pounds I look at it this way, eat less move more and the weight should drop off, all of this eating X amount because I weigh X amount gets, well, too much for me. as long as 1500 per day is giving me results, and I can handle eating that many calories, thats where I will be.

My wife is on a low calorie diet as well, she is 5'4'' tall and 197 lbs as of this morning (ex athlete so she carries it well) , she eats 1300 calories per day and drops a steady 1-2 lbs every week (shes down 40 lbs now from Jan 1st) , and doesn't do a lick of exercise for the most part.

As Ever
Me

I eat 1350 5 days a week, and shoot for 1500 2 days a week. I exercise every day, cardio each day and 4X a week strength training.
I did have my calories at 1200 for a while, but have bumped them up to the current level and I continue to lose about 5 pounds a month. I wanted to eat more and still lose, and I have found that comfort level.

Those calculators say I should be losing more than that at my calorie level, but it doesn't happen. They also say maintenance calories for me are around 2200 - and I do gain if I eat that much.
Although, I suppose if I slowly worked up to that, I could probably maintain at that level. Instead of packing in more calories all at once.

I too checked on the different websites, the most recent being CalorieCounters.com. According to that and my level of activity, I "should" be eating around 2100 calories per day if I want to lose 2 lbs per week. So, that is what I try to aim for. I read on here "all the time" about other people who eat significantly less than I do. As long as I stick very close to that number, I can almost guarantee that I will lose 2 lbs a week. In a year that is 104 lbs. Now, can anyone argue that is not an impressive amount of weight to lose?

Do I go over? Yes, but I find that it easier for me to resume "cutting back " if I do. I likened it to a pendulum. I don't try to make real wide swings in how and what I eat. If I deviate, I try to stay really close to that "imaginary" center line.

I have tried to eat less than 1800 calories a day and I am starved even after eating. I seem to need more food but again it is not about quantity as much as it is about quality. I really try to adhere to the South Beach Diet principles. That means lean protein, lots of vegetables, fruits and some whole grains. I have almost made it my "new religion" of avoiding all white flour and white sugar.

Yes, even food that is good for you has calories. The difference is what your body does with it once you have swallowed it. I believe that is one reason why I can eat more than the rest of you and still lose weight.

I would like to keep track of calories, but it seems so hard to know how many are in various foods. I made spaghetti with meat sauce last night and have no idea how many calories were in it ???? I ate a normal/smallish sized serving (b/c I'm trying to lose weight), but haven't a clue to the calorie count. Today at work I ate 4 finger sandwiches for lunch (skipped the chips) and wish I knew how many calories were in those (????) I think it would be great to count calories, but so hard to figure it out that I would get frustrated and not be able to keep track.
Does anyone have any suggestions/ideas of how they do it to make it easier?
thanks

also- I forgot to add that yesterday I found a site where you could type in your age, height.... and it would tell you how many calories you could eat to maintain and to lose weight and I was shocked at how many it was -- I an 5'7" and 264 and 40 and could eat 2500 calories -- I thought that was a lot of calories