What is the most reliable calorie calculator for calories to eat that you have found?

Im asking as I have used a manual calculation (from jillian michaels book) and for the last 3 weeks I have been eating 1500 calories via zigzagging. The first 10 days Which the first 7 did coincide with TOM) i lost good (7 pounds to be exact) since then i have gained ... it is only about 1.5 pounds but still i have gained. My eating is very good...i weigh/measure everything, dont eat any artificial sweeteners, no caffiene and minimal processed foods. I am debating increasing my calories to 1600 to 1650 but would be interested in putting my details into some online calculators that are thought of as reliable to get a average of what i probably need to eat for weight loss. Exercise wise I do 3 PT sessions per week...i also do at least 2 classes per week and also do a bit of cardio work...this will increase after this week as i am being fitted with orthotics which i get thursday which should enable me to do more...so anyway im just interested in sites people trust


Thanks in advance

kazz =]

I have been using mypyramidtracker.gov for many years. Before I was trying to lose weight I was using it to get my fruit/veg/dairy consumption up. I find some foods not on it, but pick a similar food and keep trucking along.

It calculates your daily calories based on your age, sex, and height and then recalculates as you add your activity in.

I wouldn't worry too much about that little gain: that initial seven pounds included water--you may well have lost 3 lbs of fat and 4 lbs of water, and since then regained the 4 lbs of water and lost another pound and a half of fat--which would look like a gain.

What you are doing sounds very sensible and I would give your body another ten days to adjust before I started worrying about tweaks.

I really like myfitness pal. But I usually double check everything by going to the brands website and making sure all the nutritional info is correct.

My body is the only calorie calculator I trust. The rest are just guesstimates and averages and not very accurate for most of us. We frequently see posts from members who are incredibly frustrated because their bodies don't respond the way a calorie calculator says it should. In reality, the problem is with the generic calculator, not the person's body.

If we listen to our bodies, they will tell us everything we need to know about what calorie level will work for weight loss for each of us as unique individuals. My suggestion is to pick a reasonable calorie level to start (like your 1500), track every bite, lick and taste consumed in a week, weigh at the end of the week, then tweak as necessary.

If we're gaining weight (not a day to day fluctuation but weekly gains), then we know that we're in a calorie surplus and taking in more calories than our body burns.

If our weight stays the same, we know that we're in calorie equilibrium and our calories in equal our calories burned.

If we're losing weight, then we know that we're in a calorie deficit, our calories consumed are less than our calories burned, and our bodies are using stored fat for energy (yay!)

Weight loss in the first few weeks can be kind of unusual due to water weight loss, but after a few weeks, things should settle into more of a regular pattern. If your calories and exercise are allowing for a 1 - 2 pound a week loss, then great, stick with it, you're right where you should be!

I agree 100%.

For me, I usually recommend going to http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm as a starting ground, work it 100% for a few weeks then tweak as necessary.

Good luck

I use thedailyplate at livestrong.com I have also used spark people in the past and fitday but the daily plate is the most accurate Iv'e found! it has almost every name brand of every thing! I also double check the nutrition labels to make sure it coincides and it almost always does!