I'm pretty new here and this may have already been brought up but I'm trying to figure out how many calories, fat grams, and protein grams I should be getting in each day. I need to lose 74 lbs and am trying to do it at a nice steady pace. Any suggestions? I'm not on any particular diet just trying to eat well balanced meals. I average about 2 - 2 1/2 miles a day and trying to increase each day.

Thanks for any help!

Have you been tracking your calories Cristy? I hope so cuz the easiest way to do this is to cut down from the norm. Even if you can remember what you ate yesterday and figure from there????

We'll help.

Yep, today I created a spreadsheet and have basically been keeping track of every bite I stick in my mouth--LOL didn't realize how much I was eating before until I started keeping track! I thought about allowing myself about 1200 cal a day but I'm not sure about the amount of fat and protein I should eat? Also does 1200 sound reasonable?

I don't like to promote one program or another. Different things work for different people. But... I did have a good bit of success with "The Biggest Loser" program. It didn't fit my lifestyle long term and I didn't follow the program exactly but it did give me fundamental education. Including the basic needs of calories and nutritional intake needed to lose weight. The book is inexpensive (less than $20) and has some wonderful mantas, inspiration and fantastic fundamentals for the average person who is trying to educate themselves about eating healthy. It also has some great exercise routines that take you from just starting to advanced work outs. I lost 75 lbs on this last year...unfortunately, I fell off the wagon and gained 50 back. But we're back on the wagon now and heading down a new road.

Hope this helps.

actually 1200 calories is a bit low. at your weight you should be getting closer to 1800. not eating enough can hinder your weight loss. Your body thinks that there is a shortage of food and goes into storing mode for lean times. It's a fine line between getting enough to fuel the body and not too much or too little so that it stores it all up. And the most important thing of all....lots of water!!! take your weight, divide it by 2 and that's the number of ounces your body needs in a day to digest and function properly. Scary eh?

I'm sure you can find a calorie requirement chart somewhere online. If not, let me know and I'll try to send you a table with the specs.

So how many calories have you been eating Cristy? And all those percentages kinda depend on what you're after 30/30/30 is a good start.

Wow I did find a good link

http://www.hpathy.com/healthtools/calories-need.asp

Funny thing is to lose weight it said a little over 1800 and to GAIN weight it was 2800-scary to think 1000 calories extra would HELP me gain weight--YIKES!

Thanks for posting that link, Cristy!

Kara

Cristy -- Susan's right that if you see what you HAVE been eating (and if you've been maintaining/losing) that is a good way. However, to do this you need to be really honest with yourself and accurately write down EVERYTHING you eat. There are lots of calculators out there, but they are all just estimates and what really works seems to vary widely.

That being said, at your current weight 1800 sounds like a good number to start. People who weigh more burn more calories doing everything (from brushing their teeth, standing, driving a car) than smaller people, and need more to just survive. 1200 calories might be good for later on, but 1800 is a reasonable number to think about for now.

I used a combination of sources (USDA, Fitday, daily plate, a conversion of WW points to cals) to come up with a range of calories for my current weight (I'm aiming for between 1400 and 1700), and then I figured <30% fat and about 20% protein, which leaves 50% carbs. I am trying to get my fiber up to an average of 30g/day (it averaged 27g/day last week). I'm losing 2.1 pounds/week on average doing this.

You say you're tracking with a spreadsheet -- have you tried fitday or one of the other tracking websites? They calculate the macronutrients (and vitamins and minerals, too) for you.

Wishing you the best!

--K