[EllieMae]

Do any of you use the Harris Benedict Equation to determine your daily calorie needs? And if so, how effective is it for you? If not, what do you use?

I was using SparkPeople to determine my calorie needs and adjusted my diet within their suggested range for a sufficient calorie deficit (their range for me was 1200-1550). Well, I've been stalled for the past 2 months. I thought it was because I started lifting weights at that time, and while that most likely has something to do with it, I don't think that's the sole reason for my plateau.

The other day, I discovered the Harris Benedict Equation. (Daily Calorie Needs to maintain = BMR x a number corresponding with your activity level) According to this equation, I can consume about 1750 calories a day to lose a pound a week. (Calorie Needs - 500 calories a day) I was averaging about 1450 calories while following SparkPeople's recommendations, and for the past 3 days, I've been closer to 1780. It's a bit of a mental struggle for me to add that many calories to my diet, but I couldn't justify cutting my calories anymore because I knew that would be even more detrimental to my efforts. If I lose even 2lbs with this method by August 1st, I'm going to stick with it!

Long story short - I'm a bit disappointed in how SparkPeople calculates our calorie needs and I'm trying something new. What do you use?

[popspry]

I do 1300-1500 (but usually closer to 1500). I did the online calculator and that was the average I got so I just tried it out, and it has never failed me, 37 pounds later. I think it's a waste of time to get all caught up in some exact calculation, and with some experimentation one can figure out what works best for them.