[staciec878]

Hi,
Im new to losing weight, but Ive been overweight all my life, and Im so confused on this calorie counting. Im 205 and 5'3. I used a calculator and it sayed I need to consume 2300 calories to stay at my weight, so how many should i consume to lose weight??? and how many hours of exersize should I be doing daily?? Please HELp me!!!

Staci

[SlimLindy]

Staci, Don't worry! You've come to the right place... lots of folks here with answers to your questions. Also, a couple other places to search are:

http://www.nutrition.gov

http://nutrition.about.com/library/b...tion_guide.htm

Just a quick answer to a couple things: To lose one pound you have to burn 3500 calories more than you consume. If you wanted to lose 1 pound in a week (a great rate of weight loss), you would want create a calorie deficit of 500 calories each day. If your body burns 2300 calories in a day, you could create this deficit by eating 1800 calories each day. You could also eat 250 fewer calories per day than your body burns, and do enough extra exercise to burn an additional 250 calories. Make sense?

There aren't hard and fast rules about this; you're going to have to figure out what works for you. Generally, it is said to NEVER go below about 1200 calories per day because you will not get enough nutrients to sustain your body's functions and your metabolism will slow down. However, even 1200 calories is very low and can lead to such feelings of hunger that it is difficult to sustain a diet at that rate.

I good place to start is figure out how many calories you are eating per day right now. Keep a food diary writing down everything you eat and figure out how many calories are in each thing. You can get the caloric information for food through the nutrition website link above, on the food packaging, at www.fitday.com or in a book with calorie counts.

Once you know where you are at you can make small changes to decrease your consumption, change what you are eating to healthier choices, and add some exercise. But it doesn't have to happen all at once!

You'll get it, and you'll have fun figuring it out! Good luck!

Lindy

[rockinrobin]

Wow SlimLindy if that post were a movie I do believe you would have just secured an Oscar nomination!!!

So, I haven't anything to add. The only thing I will say is that it gets much easier as you go along and you most definitely WILL get the hang of it. Lots of luck to you.

[jillybean720]

I have only one minor thing to add--take calorie calculators (such as the one that said you need 2300 calories a day to maintain your weight) with a grain of salt. They are estimates, at best, and cannot be accurate for everyone. They are a good starting point for some, but for many, you have to just keep trying new things until you find just the right combination that works for you. Other than that, good luck, and welcome to calorie counting and 3fc!!

[aphil]

I agree with Jill. You can take the calculator as a beginning guide as a place to start...trying out 1800 calories (your maintenance calculation -500 cals.) and see what happens after a couple weeks on that level. If you lose a pound a week or so-then you are at the correct level. If you do not lose anything, then you need to slowly move it down a bit, maybe to 1700.
What I don't recommend, is dropping too quickly, however. You should not expect to see a drop in the scale every DAY. Weigh in once a week instead.

[Momofsclg]

Welcome Staci!!!! I am new to this group as well, but have found it to be a wonderful source of info, support and kindness.

Congratulations to you for taking the first steps to getting control of your weight! I have been calorise counting for almost 2 months now...and to tell you the truth- it is so easy and makes so much sense to me- I can't believe I have waited this long to do it. Everyone has given you excellent info, the only thing I would add is to make sure you write down every day , every bite that goes into your mouth. My food journal goes everywhere with me- and it helped me in the beginning realize how much I would shove in my mouth and forget about at the end of the day. It keeps you honest, and makes you realy undedrstand where your calories are going.

good luck! It will be fun to share with you your progress!