Calories Intake - what is the correct amount

adwarrenusa
adwarrenusa Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I am looking to lose 25-30 pounds. I am currently 175 pounds and not sure how to determine how many calories I should take in to get to my goal weight. Any ideas?

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    Set up your MFP profile as per instructions, tell it you want to lose no more than about 1 pound per week (at your size, with your relatively small amount to lose), and see what calorie goal it estimates for you.

    MFP expects you to set your activity level based on your life excluding intentional exercise, then log exercise when you do it (or synch a fitness tracker) and eat those calories, too.

    Follow the recommended calorie goal for 4-6 weeks (whole menstrual periods for women of relevant age), then adjust calorie goal based on your own data and real-life results - MFP or any other calculator just gives you a starting estimate, your own multi-week results tell the true story. .
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,226 Member
    There is the theoretical amount and the true amount. Inaccurate counting will throw things off. Much depends on your lifestyle. Someone sedentary will have a very different cal requirement than someone active all day even though they may have the same statistics.

    Try a certain weekly amount for 3 weeks. Review the results. No or too little loss, reduce calories. 2-4 lbs of loss? You’re spot on. The first week you’ll generally see water loss so throw out the first weeks results.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    adwarrenusa wrote: »
    Hi, I am looking to lose 25-30 pounds. I am currently 175 pounds and not sure how to determine how many calories I should take in to get to my goal weight. Any ideas?

    This calculator will calculate that when you set up your profile. Nobody can answer your question because calorie needs are variable and dependent on personal stats (height, weight, sex) and level of activity. Someone of the same stats who is very active can lose weight on a significantly higher calorie target than someone of the same stats who is sedentary for example.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    Yep, what the others said. One note: when MFP gives you 1200 calories to eat then the weekly loss you've chosen is too high. MFP will always default to 1200 for women even if you'd need to eat less to get the weightloss goal as everything below is unsafe. Thus when you get 1200 then chose a lower weekly goal.
  • ecjim
    ecjim Posts: 1,001 Member
    You have received a lot of good advice - I would add a couple things - keep your protein intake up - don't go fat free you need to eat some. adjust your cals with your carb intake & eat your veggies.
    It would be a good ides to start lifting weights - follow a good beginner program like Starting Strength or Strong Curves
    Weigh yourself weekly - not daily - at the same time , under the same conditions - like Saturday morning before breakfast - after using the bathroom

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