Just started this calorie counting 2 weeks ago.
I used on of thos calorie counting calculator things on the internet and it said I was allowe 947 calories per day to lose 2lbs a week.

I was just wondering, what's your daily intake and how much do you expect to lose off of it?
Thanx!!
(I'm doing cardio too and i'm 5"2)

947 is scary low.

I lost at about 1400-1600 a day and now I maintain my weight loss at about 1800-2000 (with one nice treat meal a week).

It's probably going to be challenging for you to lose weight, since you are already small and very close to your goal weight. 2 lbs a week would be an extremely tough goal (as I approached my goal weight, my weight loss really really slowed down).

The answer is not starving yourself, though. It would be really difficult to obtain the nutrients your body needs to be healthy on less than 1000 calories a day.

If you're just starting out, I'd start out kinda high and see what happens. If you start high, you can always drop a little lower as your weight loss slows down. If you start at 947, well, can't go much lower than that.

It's all very individual, so it's tough to know what's right for you (and an online calorie counter definitely doesn't know what's right for YOU as an individual). I'd encourage you to make every calorie count (skip the processed/fakey diet food) and concentrate on eating healthy, whole foods - lots of vegetables, fruit, lean protein, complex carbohydrates, low fat dairy and healthy fats.

Forget about losing 2 lbs a week. You might get a little waterweight at the start, but when you're that close to goal, it comes off a lot slower. Focus on eating clean, and exercising to get more fit. Check out the Featherweights forum for help with those last few pounds.

I am trying to get to the same goal weight as you, and I'm at 128. Right now I eat around 1200 calories a day, but on the weekends its usually around 1600-1800. This is what I've heard, somebody correct me if I'm wrong. A pound in calories is approx. 3500 calories. If you laid in bed all day you would prob burn somewhere around 1400 calories. Obviously you don't do that, so lets just say you burn about 1800 calories a day (which is probably even lower than you actually burn). If you wanted to loose a pound a week, you would take 1800 x 7 and than subtract 3500. That gives you 9100 -the amount of calories you should eat in a week to loose one pound. Divide that by 7 - and you should eat 1300 calories a day to loose one pound. I'm sorry if that was confusing, and its not fool proof. But depending on your exercise, metabolism, and I like to think what kinds of food you eat - the number will be different. I think 1300 would be a good place for you to start. I also think 1300 calories is a lot of food in a day. Obviously if you work out - I would add maybe 200-300 calories.

Can I ask for the link you used? That is quite low. If you really used it correctly and its still giving you those numbers, I'd opt for not trying to lose 2lbs per week. When I use those calculators they tell me I need to eat around 900-1000 calories to lose 2lbs per week as well. I don't do that. They are only a guess which means you may be able to eat much more and still lose 2lbs a week. And if you can't, that is okay. You shouldn't try to lose a certain numer each week at the expense of good health

http://calorieneedscalculator.com/ - calculates your BMR (basal metabolic rate). This will help you find approximately how many calories you burn in a day.

Sorry should have just added that to my post

You might find yourself very low on energy if you try to lose 2 lbs/week. Could you consider adding a little strength training? You might get more improvement from toning rather than dropping lbs at this point and it would also help burn off a few more calories.

FWIW, I am eating about 1400/day and I am happy with the results.

I just had a tin of beans therenow whcih briught it up to 1200. I found myself having to skip emals and stuff. I might just stick with 1200. 947 is painfuly low i think. thanks for the advice guys!

Just to reiterate, 2 pounds a week and a bit more worked for me when I weighed over 250 pounds. I could do that and still eat 2000 calories/day because I needed more calories to do everything!

At your current weight, 2 pounds a week would NOT be healthy! You are too close to your goal and need fewer calories... which gives you fewer to play with. You might be able to lose, on average, more like 1/2 pound per week to get to goal...

But look at it this way, if you did lose at that rate, you'd be at goal in 16 weeks. It was a much longer haul for me!

I am your height (although I wish I weighed what you do!! ), and I eat 1400 calories per day. I lose on average 4-5 pounds per month.
I do cardio every day and strength train 4x per week.

I would not go any lower than 1200 per day.

Thanx. Nice to see it from the perspective of someone who is sort of the same proportions as me!

i eat between 1300-1500 usually. I am 5'4 138 lbs with a goal of 125! I lost 2 lbs the first week and haven't lost last week or at all yet this week.

You can add another five hundred calories a day if you hit the gym and work out. Run or walk three miles, lift some weights, and you'll that 500 mark no problem.

Speaking as a short person myself, I concur with the others that a 2lb per week weight loss is probably just not practical given your size and weight. A slower weight loss is still a weight loss, you just may need to take a longer term approach. I found I could lose weight on 1200 calories per day (along with daily exercise), it just took longer. It took me a whole year to lose 40 pounds, and the last few months, sometimes I just lost a couple of pounds in the whole MONTH. But, I did get to my goal, eventually!! So, don't give up!

If you are exercising and strength training, you are also changing your body composition --adding muscle and losing fat. That is just as important (perhaps more so) than the number on the scale. You can actually look as though you've lost weight, even though the scale hasn't budged, because you are building muscle at the same time. Your body weight is only one indicator of your progress.

That web site is way to simplistic. The BMR calculation is fine but then it simply says to lose weight subtract 500-1000 calories per week.

Well that would tell me to eat 800 calories per day. While it may be true that you need a calorie deficit of 1000 calories per day to lose 2lbs per week, you can create this calorie deficit through a combination of both food and exercise.

So my BMR is 1800 but I can cut calories by 500 and increase exercise by 500 to obtain this goal.

Remember that food is fuel for your body and you need a minimum amount to optimize your body's performance inorder to lose weight. The general rule of thumb is no less then 1200 calories. Even then, weight loss is more complex and there is no guarantee with a 1000 calorie deficit that you will lose those 2lbs.

I currently eat about 1550 calories per day. My weight loss has slowed considerably no so I am losing at best 1lb per week (I exercise on average 4 days per week for 500+ calories).