Hey! Any tips/advise here would be wonderful!!!

I'm wondering if anyone out there can tell me how many calories I should plan on taking in daily while trying to lose weight! I've never counted calories before... so I've got no idea what I'm doing!

The reason I decided to count calories is that I just signed up on www.fitday.com... so far it seems great! The bonus is that the site tells you how many calories are in the foods that you eat... ! That's great because the only reason I've never considered counting calories is that I haven't wanted to spend the time figuring out the numbers myself !

I tried digging around on the internet to find the answer to my question... but quickly got discouraged! There's just so much info online that finding the simple answer to one simple question can sometimes be like finding a needle in a haystack!

Thanks for being here for me! When I got frustrated I immediatly knew that somebody here would be able to help me out!

~Kaly

Hi there!

Well, I'm pretty new at this (registered here Feb. 3rd) but I have lost 8 pounds by trying to stick to 1500 calories a day, plus exercising 6X a week (cardio one day, then light weights/toning the next) and drinking lots (64 oz.) of water daily.

The calorie advice was given to me by our "doing it the old fashioned way" thread starter Aphil. She helpfully broke it down to me this way:

Breakfast 300 calories
Lunch 400 calories
snack 100 calories
Dinner 600 calories
snack 100 calories

Try to have balanced meals with choices from healthy food groups. And do try to have the 5 different meals - or even six (if you reserve some food from a meal) as some people really need to "refuel" many times throughout the day, to prevent drops in blood sugar, and to stave off "hungry headaches" or crankiness!

From what I've read, this amount of calories can result in a safe, gradual loss of 1-2 pounds a week.

Unless you have huge self-control, it helps so much to surround yourself with friends who can suport and encourage you. It is how I've been able to keep at it!

And I'm finding that reading as much as I can about the human body and nutrition is helpful; once I understand what is "going on" inside me, it makes more sense to follow the advice.

But I see that you already have had big success; you've lost 25 pounds already? That is awesome!

Good luck!

Holly, a slow loser! 176/168/160 ist mini goal

Holly~ Thanks so much for the info! I'm working on day 2 of calorie counting & your info has already been a huge help!

Congratulations! on being half way to your goal! That's great... good luck!

~Kaly