I've been keeping a food log with my calories in it, but I'm still not entirely too sure about what my calorie intake needs to be. I know it's a bit of a trial by error process, but I'm not even sure where to begin.

In your F&Q (which was extremely helpful, by the way), it says that 1800 calories is a good starting point. Is this true for some one who is also exercising 30 min. to an hour a day?

I lost 3 pounds last week at around 2,000 calories, but I think it may have been due more to my 64 ounces of water a day. Does this sound appropriate, though?

Any help would be great.

ETA: My weight is 229 at the moment.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm Try that...I plugged in some of the info you gave me, and it said 1900 and change...so I guess 2000 is just about right.

Thanks a bunch!

fwiw, I find the counts in freedieting to be high. I think 1800 is fine - I'm 227 and I'm happy with 1200-1500 a day although I'm older than a lot of people posting (47) so I have to go a bit lower on my calories to make up for that.

I also thought freedieting was high, but when I stopped losing at 1450 I gave in and went with it. I used 3xs a week for my activity (even though I do 5xs) and am averaging 1650 with zig zagging and losing more than I was at 1450. We're all different. If you're losing at 2000, then stick with it until you start to plateau, then tweak it. The higher you can start the better because it gives you more room to lower your calories as you lose weight because the less we weigh the less calories we require. Good luck!