Hi there ... I'm sure there's been a lot of posts on this topic, but I'll add one more. I'm not new to calorie counting as I've been doing it off and on using a program for my Palm Pilot called Diet & Exercise Assistant. According to the calculations in the program, to lose 1 lb a week, I need to only eat about 1200 calories a day with a BMR of 1753 calories. I sit at my desk most of the day, which is what that corresponds to. I can adjust the BMR, which will adjust the calorie count for the day. If I increase the BMR to 1899, that gives me a calorie budget of 1400, which seems better, but still not sure if that's accurate.

Here's my question. How the heck do I know how many calories I need to eat in order to lose weight? I'm 5' 4" and weighed 149 lbs this morning. I want to get to between 125 and 130 for a goal. Any suggestions for how to determine what I need to be eating?

I think its different for everyone. I dont think there is a way to say for sure. I would start at 1400 for a week or two and see what happens.If you dont lose then decrease by 100 calories or try to eat a different kind of calories.FOr me i can loose weight if i eat more fruits and veggies. I can eat the same amount of calories and if i dont make healthy choices i wont loose.I really think its trail and error. Also listen to your body..some days i require more calorie than i do other days. I need more calories on days i lift weights.
good luck and you will get lots of good advice here.

What I have read is determine your BMR, which the formula is:

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

then once you have that number times is by how active you are and you get your daily caloric needs:

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : = BMR x 1.2

If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : = BMR x 1.375

If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week)
= BMR x 1.55

If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) :BMR x 1.725

If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) := BMR x 1.9

Then subtract 500 from that number and you will lose. This is what I do. I hope this helps!! Good luck!!

That formula gives me a BMR of 2392, which is the highest I've ever seen. But, subtracting 500 from that puts me at roughly 1800 calories a day, which seems more logical. I used the 1.375 factor since I plan on working out with cardio and weight approximately 3 times a week.

To double check, here's the formula with my data in it:

655 + (4.35*149) + (4.7*64) + (4.7*29) = 1740
1740 * 1.2 = 2088
1740 * 1.375 = 2392
Subtracting 500 gives me a range of 1588 to 1892

Does that look right to everyone?

I'm your height and a little heavier and I'm losing while eating between 1500 and 1700 a day (which end of the range I eat at depends on whether I lift weights that day or not).

One thing that will help is to start off by tracking your calories NOW and see how much you're eating each day. I know that before I started a more healthy way of eating, I was eating 3000+ cals per day. I dropped 500 cals at a time until I was at 1300 and then recently added back to the 1500-1700 range just because I've started working out harder and adding more weights into my routine.

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Have you read the Frequently Asked Questions thread here in Calorie Counters? It explains in detail how to choose your calorie goals.

You need to create a calorie defiicit but not necessarily just from cutting calories. The closer you are to your goal weight the less room you have to cut calories and still be satisfied and nutrionally sound.

Once you determine your BMR - the formula that aegorora is a good one to start with, you then want to aim for approx a 500 calorie deficit per day. You can do this by either reducing calories or increasing exercise or a combination of both.

Remember that exercise calories are those that you burn above and beyond what you considered in calculating your BMR

Lori

There are a lot of calculators on the web that will help you calculate your BMR if the math is too hard. Just do a google search for "BMR calculator" and a bunch will come up.

A deficit of 500 calories a day = 1 lb loss/week.

P.S. don't create a deficit larger than 1000 calories/day. Losing anything more than 2 lbs a week is too fast and unhealthy. And don't drop below 1200 calories per day either. You can enter starvation mode where your body's metabolism lowers which makes it harder to lose weight. Slow and steady is what you want...

Thanks so much for this detailed info! It reassured me that FitDay.com seems to be right on target, despite it sounding too good to be true. According to this formula if I just stick to about 2,000 per day or less I'll lose a pound a week. That *should* be easy enough - although I eat at a lot of mom-and-pop/small-biz restaurants that don't offer calorie counts online, so it gets tough. But I digress. Anyhow, thanks for the info and thanks to thebeautywithin for asking this.