Hi everyone As you can tell from my title I am new here and I reaaly could use some help. I have decided that I am finally going to all the extra weight that I have gained over the past 4 years after the birth of my last child. My husband and I are taking our first extended weekend without the kids and we are going on a cruise to the Bahamas and I am determind to lose some weight before the trip but I am very confused at the amount of calories I need to lose weight. I am 28, 5'4", 241lbs, and as of right now I am not exercising (getting a treadmill this weekend). I have done several online calculators and I am getting different numbers. I would like to lose 2 lbs a week in order to do that what would I need to drop my calories to? Once I get the treadmill I plan to start off with a 30 minute walk and eventually work my way up to walking longer and then run at least 5 days a week. With this amount of excercise how many calories should I do? Thanks so much for all of your help and I look forward to getting to know everyone!
Tina

Welcome!

I'm no expert at what calories are the "right amount", but this forum has a great sticky with some information.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120806

It seems to me though that people find the most success with tracking their calorie intake and seeing what works best for their body. People posting on here say going up on their goal helps them lose more. Unfortunately not me I found increasing my cals stalled my loss, darn....

I would recommend signing up for the Daily Plate or FitDay. You can enter in all of your stats, and it will estimate the amount of calories you need in order to lose or maintain your weight. You can track all of your daily food and exercise on these sites, which will help you stay organized and not have to "guess" how many calories you're eating.

Good luck.

www.freedieting.com Use there calculators.
On the left hand side of page.(they help me)
GOODLUCK.
(just guessing maybe 1800 to 2000 a day With all that exercise or more even But I would guess that would be a good starting place)

Thanks for all the replies! I just signed up at the daily plate and put my info on their calculator and it said if I am lightly active (housework, childcare etc.) I can eat 1,842 per day to lose 2 pounds per week, and if I am moderatly active (brisk walking) I can eat 2,279 per day for a 2 pound weight loss. Does that seem extremely high for weight loss?

Tina

I love The Daily Plate, but I have found their calorie estimates to be too high. Personally I would try for a 2-4 weeks at right around 2000 with the 30 mins of exercise (I also wouldn't put the exercise you do into TDP, because then they will let you eat up all your hard work), and see how that goes, then adjust the calories up or down depending on how your body is responding.

ETA: This is the formula I've been following. First you calculate your BMR. Using the stats you provided in your OP, yours is right around 1865. This is the number of calories your body burns just to stay alive if you laid in bed all day. Then you multiply it by your normal activity level: sedentary (1.1), moderately active (1.2), very active (1.3). This does not include exercise, just how a normal day would go for you. The number you now have is the number of calories you need to maintain your current weight.

To lose 2lbs a week you need a calorie deficit of 7,000 each week or 1,000 a day. Walking 3mph for 30 mins at your current weight will burn approximately 238 calories. You can easily find calorie counts for other activities on the internet. I do better when I make a plan for the week. Usually on Sunday's I sit down and determine how much I want to lose that week, how much I'm going to eat, and what exercises I'm going to do to make up the deficit I need.

I hope this helps! It took me a long while to wrap my head around all this information, so if you have any questions about it feel free to ask!

I think the calculators run fairly accurate but maybe a little on the high side. I am currently 182 lbs at 5'5" and age 40. I am using Fit Day and they estimate with very light activity I am burning about 2500 calories a day. I average about 1500 calories a day (some days as low as 1200 and some days as high as 2000). So according to their calculators I would burn about 1000 extra calories a day which over a week is 7000 calories which amounts to 2 pounds a week. I have mostly lost 2 pounds a week but after every few weeks then I only lose a pound the next week. So that's why I say they are probably a little high.

In your case, I would use the 1800 calories as a baseline. Try to stick to that amount for a few weeks and see how you feel and how much weight you are losing and then adjust from there. Also remember that you don't necessarily have to eat exactly 1800 calories every day. You can eat a few hundred calories more on some days and a few hundred calories less on other days. This method works best for me as my body tends to adapt if I eat the same calories every day and then the weight loss slows or stalls.

Thanks everyone. I thought that seemed high. I decided to seriously lose the weight last week and since then I have been watching my calories and I have been staying around 1500 to 1800. To soon to see physical changes of course but I feel better already and can't wait until I start working on the treadmill. I feel that I have more energy and at first I felt as if I were starving but a week later I feel full on less and if I eat a little to much I get a stomachache. I think I will start off with 1800 with the 30 minutes of walking and adjust as time passes. You guys have been a great help. Thanks!

Tina

i would also recommend involving some weight training in your routine. you can pick up some resistance bands or free weights at your local sporting goods store. in the past, i could never really grasp how lifting weights would expedite my weight loss process because it seemed irrelevant at best and counterintuitive at worst. however, i would say that this time around, adding in work with weights is one of the most significant changes i've made to my weight loss efforts and i think it is proving beneficial. i also like this cause i can do it while i watch tv and stuff, not that you necessarily have that sort of downtime. the point is, you can multitask.

One other suggestion would be to make the changes slowly over the next few weeks to a month. I know in the past, I would be gung ho when I started and would cut my calories way back, start exercising every day for 45 minutes with cardio and strength training. Then it would get hard to stick with the routine so I would cut back and then feel bad about it and it was a spiral downward from there. Now I try to make one change at a time, for instance you've started by cutting your calories and then when you get your treadmill you can start with 30 minutes 4-5 days a week and then after a week or two up that to 40 minutes. Maybe wait to add the strength training until you've done the cardio for a few weeks.

I restarted my weight loss attempts after the new year and for the first two months I've lost 12 pounds by cutting my calories and doing cardio exercise. Now I'm going to start the strength training next week and I think I will get more benefit from it now that I've enhanced my cardio health and shed a few pounds so far.

Thanks for the suggestions! I plan to start off slowly with 30 minutes and then work my way up to longer walks and then eventually run (that is a way off I'm sure) But I am looking forward to not only being back to my old size but being able to run again without feeling like I am dying. I also want to work my way into weights and strength training. My goal is to be fit enough to take a kickboxing class (always wanted to do it) without wanting to give in after a few minutes.

Tina