I am so confused!
Ok, so thanks to whomever pointed me to FitDay. I'm starting to get this carlorie counting thing...But now...How can I find out how many calories I should be taking in a day?
Sorry if its a dumb question

Honestly, this is the first attempt in a long time at the serious weightloss.

HELP?!?!?!

It's not a dumb question at all. It gets asked here at 3fc alot. And you'll get lots of answers, I'm sure.
There are several ways to figure out something that works for you.
You can find someone who is about your weight and see what they do .... it won't be the exactly the same for you but it's a place to start.
You can figure out what you were eating to stay at your current weight and just cut.
You can use that 13, 14 or 15 times thing. There's a thread about it in calorie counters.
There are actually calorie calculators on the net, you can try them.
Ultimately you'll come up with something thru trial and error. But feel free to ask any kind of question. We'll try to help you.

Susan... I have been told those calorie counters are not acurate.

Let me get a couple of links from this site. They will help you answer all of these questions! They helped me tons.

Be right back!

I am currently reading the "American Heart Association No Fad Diet" book. I do recommend this to all! Great book! Here is what it says about figuring out your calories to maintain your current weight. (This is taken (typed) right from my book) So you will want to eat about 500 calories LESS a day then the number you tally up with the chart below. But do get the book and read it. It is explain everything in depth and help you throughout the whole plan.

Multiply current weight in pounds ____ x 10 = Base calories ____
Multiply current weight in pounds ____ (same as the # on 1st. line above)

If not active: x 3 = ____
If moderately active: x 5 = ____
If very active: x 8 = ____
Activity calories = ____

Add base + activity calories = Total calories to maintain your weight = ____

Total adjusted calories = ____

You can also go to: http://www.americanheart.org/present...tifier=1200000 for the american heart associantions web site.

Also check out these links... they are for other boards on this site....
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64110
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64887

Hope everything helps.

Those calculations never work for me....according to those Id have to eat 3068 calories to maintian. (I wish!) Not this body, its lazy and has a very slow metabolism!!

So with that said, you have to do what works for you. Many folks here work between 1200 and 1600 calories a day. I think this would be a good starting point for you. See if you loose at say 1600, if not, drop it a 100 calories, etc.

Good luck to you, you've found a great spot for support!!

Thanks so much. Now that i track everything I eat, I see I'm eating a bit more then I thought i was calorie wise.

About those metabolic/calorie calculators...Meg wrote an EXCELLENT post in Maintainers about them that is well worth reading - you can find it here.

What's interesting is that the most commonly used formula for those calculators - the Harris-Benedict formula - was developed in 1919 - almost a hundred years ago when the average weights for both men and women were MUCH lower than they are now, and of course people were FAR more active then as well, thus burning more calories.

Personally, I think a much better and simpler way of calculating caloric intake would be to use my goal weight as a baseline, then count 10-13 calories per pound (depending on how active or sedentary you are). For example - let's say your goal weight is 140 lbs - using my calculations, my caloric intake would be anywhere from 1,400 calories/day (sedentary) to 1,820 calories/day (active) as a starting point, then go from there - adding or subtracting calories by 50-150/day. But usually what I actually do these days - instead of counting calories - is to reduce/eliminate 'red light' foods from my diet (bread, pasta, sweets), rachet up my green veggie intake and watch my portion sizes on things like proteins, complex carbs (oatmeal, whole grains, etc) and fruit.