[toodles11]

Looking over all of the online calorie calculators, I'm having trouble deciding what daily calorie level I should stick to. I work a desk job so spend 40 hours a week behind a computer. Ideally, I workout 4-5 times per week. Some weeks I get all of those workouts in, some weeks I only get a couple. I don't like to eat back my exercise calories unless I'm feeling extra hungry on a day that I did do some intense exercise because then I end up obsessing over the math and calculations of calorie counting.

So far, I'm liking the calculator on the free dieting website. The numbers seem reasonable, not too extreme in any direction. If I don't plan on eating my exercise calories that I burn, should I enter an exercise level of little/no exercise? Or should I enter a level of 3 times/week or 5 times/week?
If I enter no exercise as my exercise level, it tells me to eat 1440 for fat loss. If I enter 3 times/week for exercise, it says 1650 for fat loss. 5 times/week for exercise, it says to eat 1760 for fat loss. Then I've also read about eating the maintenance level of calories for the goal weight you want, for me that would be 1585 without any exercise factored in.

It's all just so confusing!

[JohnP]

The exact number is a minor detail. What matters is that you are in a caloric deficit.

The calculators are just estimates.

[skinnypie]

Hi there, yeah I agreee it is confusing. I have been using a calorie counter also. I'm 5ft and weigh 186lbs. For extreme weight loss for me it says 1488 and for normal weight loss it says 1636. I go to the gym four times a week and work approx 2 and a half hours a day as a cleaner so my job is active. I set the calorie counter as exercising three times a week but on reflection I probably should have set it to five. Anyway sorry back to the point. I think as long as your aiming for approx 1500 on exercise days and maybe a hundred less on non exercise days you will lose weight. It really is just about eating less and moving more. You do that and you will lose weight good luck x