While I realize that this may be an individual issue, I would like to ask all you wonderful ladies and gents for some advice. I've been on a new diet and exercise routine, and here are my general guidelines for the day:

1900-2200 calories
25-32 grams of fat
60-100 grams of protein
150-300 grams of carbohydrates

I'm 5'5", 275 lb.

I have gone on so many different websites that tell me different calorie and fat grams for myself, so I don't know what to do. Long ago, I used to exercise to Susan Powter (remember her?), and she suggested no less than 30 grams of fat per day. I have no trouble meeting that goal, and I almost always hit 1900 calories. According to many successful stories, my fat is low but my calories are too high. Though I realize no one can tell me the magic formula for weight loss, can someone give me some advice about where my calories should be? Thanks!

I really like http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-goal.php for calculating calories

8675309--

I LOVE this website, thank you so much for recommending it! I love that it gave my approx. goal date, which was really cool.

As an aside--my name is Jenny (not Jennifer) and people are always singing those numbers to me

Once you start tracking where your calories come from it might be easier to identify where to reduce. I think lots of people end up changing their nutritional balance over time too; with me a lot of it was just learning how I could cook and shop differently. Also what's going on in your life; times when I have more time to exercise, I try to get more protein, for instance. So you might try making changes in stages till you find the "sweet spot".

I tried to go really low fat and then had a problem with balancing the fat and the protein (I did it with 1500 cal/day). Especially because I prefer to eat a diet of "real" foods, which rules out a lot of the fat-free foods that are fixed up to be edible with added sugar or fillers. And because I live in a place where dieting is almost unknown and it's hard to find even reduced fat, let alone fat free!

So I settled on trying to keep fat below a percentage of calories rather than an absolute number of grams -- about 25-35%, which I first found recommended by the Mayo Clinic on this web sitethis page. Some days I'm lower, some higher, but in a week it generally averages 30-35%. That makes the whole balancing act much less stressful. I also don't aspire to that much protein every day. The Mayo says anywhere from 10-45% protein, but recommends at least 50 gr daily for an adult woman. So I can get between 45-70 grams in a day and don't worry about it too much, because I average it over the week. Lots of online sites as well as mobile apps (I use LoseIt on an iTouch) will track your nutrition in grams as well as percentages daily and weekly, so it's much easier these days.

It ended up working for me that way, and other formulas work for other people. I think it's very individual what your body will respond to, so give your formula some time (a couple of weeks maybe) before you decide it's not working.