I have set a goal to lose 35 pounds. I have tried various plans over the last couple of years and find they are difficult to follow on a lifetime basis. I believe that counting calories is the best bet, but I'm unsure what my calorie goal should be.

Up to this point, my caloric intake has been around 1900 calories per day on average without doing anything special. What I'd like to know is how many calories should I deduct to effectively loose weight and still mantain a balanced diet.

Welcome, Sweetmom! I'm also a big advocate of just counting calories (and exercising). There's a really long scientific formula that nutritionists types use to figure out how many calories a person needs in a day just to maintain life (basal metabolism rate) and then you'd add how many calories you burn in exercise, lifestyle activities, etc. This is what I use and I'd type it in here but I've got it on a spreadsheet in my hardrive and it'd be really a lengthy process to get at it when I'm online, given my slow modem. There are tons of sites on the web that use this, even if they don't say so, in "calorie counters" ... a good one is on a site for The Business Plan for the Body ... but note they are trying to sell you a book!

Everyone burns calories differently, that's why one-size-fits-all diets don't work. But a good rule of thumb is to figure out how many calories you are maintaining on and then deduct 500 calories per day to lose a pound in a week (3500). But it's my opinion (uneducated opinion) that no one should go below 1500 and that most people lose weight at that level.

Anyway, good luck on your journey. Hope you find the support you seek here and keep posting.

Thanks for the imput. After I typed the last posting, I found a site sponsored by Xenacol ( linked through 3FC) with a calorie calculator that gave me the number of calories I should maintain for my age, weight, height and activity.

According to this information, I should consume 1427 calories daily and I should reduce 500 calories per day for weight loss, which seems almost impossible. However, if I add moderate excercise, I can have 1854 cal to maintain and 500 less to loose. I guess it's time to bite the bullet and get out my walking shoes!

Thanks for mentioning the Xenacol site, sweetmom. I'm going to look at it. Your calculations sound good. Happy walking.