How many calories should I be eating?
 

I hear so much varying information on this. I'm tracking my calories and I want to make sure I'm eating enough, but not too much. I'm 5'9" and 215 pounds. I want to get down to between 150-165.

It depends a lot on your exercise and what not but i personally think that 1700-1800 would be a good place for you to start off at. Its better to start off a little too hight than too low. How much are you eating now? And how well is it working for you?

I've only just started writing everything down today. I was going to shoot for 1200 but that seems low. I'll be doing 30 minutes on the elliptical today for exercise and I'm going to try to do 30 minutes a day to start.

You should probably be eating about 1500 calories a day. Start out at 1600 and try to get to 1500 and see how it goes. It's hard at first, but gets a bit easier as you go along.

I agree with 1500 starting at 1600.

I did a check and your BMR is 1800 (which is how many calories you burn just being alive). For a good, at least 2 lb/week weight loss, I would say 1500-1600 or slightly lower. I currently eat 15-1600, and I am 5'4" 254 pounds.

Thanks for all the info. I have a Calorie Counting for dummies book and it's basically telling me to just do what I feel I should. HUH! Well, I feel I should eat 10,000 calories! That's the problem. I'll try for 1500

I'm basically the same height and weight as you are. I'm doing about 30-45 minutes of exercise six days a week and am eating 1600-1800 calories a day. when I'm on plan I'm losing 2-3 pounds a week. Just to give you an idea.