ok, so I started using myfittnesspal and it said that I should be eating 1450 cals. that seems really low for my height and weight. especially if I ever plateau and when I go into maintenance. I'm 5'11 and 253. What do you all think is a reasonable amt of cals per day to lose 2 lbs per week??

After comparing many different calorie counting calculators online I used this website to help me figure out where I should be: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm I would calorie cycle in-between the two amounts given (fat loss and extreme fat loss). I started calorie counting when I weighed 196 (and we are almost the same height), and I lost just fine eating between 1700-1800 calories for quite some time. But, use calculators just as estimators...don't take them to heart. You won't know what works for you until you've tried a certain calorie amount or range for a few weeks.

2 lbs per week is a very ambitious target; it requires a calorie deficit of 1000 calories/day, and that is why MyFitnessPal sets your target so low. It means that MFP thinks you maintain at 2450 calories/day, which sounds pretty reasonable to me.

MyFitnessPal also is specifically designed for you to eat your activity calories - so that if you exercise or do any activity, your calorie allotment goes up.

The upshot is, 1450 is a bit low for your height and weight and doesn't leave you much wiggle room, as you note. But, 2 lbs loss per week might be more than you should aim for. Also, if you exercise for 30 minutes or an hour a day, MFP will give you another couple hundred calories to eat (depending upon how strenuous the exercise is).

So, it's up to you - do you want to rush to lose as quickly as possible, or do you want to take a slower, easier, and probably healthier and more sustainable approach? If it were me, I'd set my target to a pound a week instead of 2 pounds a week, and go with that instead - 1950 calories a day is not difficult to achieve at all. Or, split the difference. But you don't need to be in a great big hurry.

Start by aiming for 1lb/week and see how that settles in. Once you've got into a routine and are feeling comfortable with your eating plan, exercise plan and weight loss, you can adjust as needed. It's much easier to do it this way both physically and psychologically, which means that you're much more likely to succeed. 1lb/week is actually pretty rapid as weight loss goes, don't worry.