What is the best way for me to determine how many calories I should be eating every day?

DJBiederman

I am 66, 5’11” and weigh 186. I’d like to lose at lease 10 pounds rather quickly but I want to keep it off. Any advice?

mtaratoot

Advice?

Don't go for quick. Go for steady. Aim for no more than a half pound per week. Set a good calorie goal, log all you eat (and your exercise) honestly and completely, and then observe the results. Stick to it - don't quit. After a month, see if your actual results match what you were expecting. If not, change it up a little bit.

To keep it off... same thing, but you get to eat 250 more calories a day than when you are trying to lose a half pound a week.

Build good habits that will serve you today, tomorrow, next month, and when you get rid of those ten pounds and are striving to keep 'em off.

And most of all, STICK TO IT!

csplatt

start with what MFP suggests when you enter your goals to the app. after a few weeks, take a look at your progress and adjust calorie goals up or down as needed.

AnnPT77

Yeah, go for sustainable - finding new permanent habits - rather than fast. That's a better route to keeping the weight off, and it's likely a healthier strategy with relatively little weight to lose, besides. Staying at a healthy weight is IMO the real prize, and quite possibly harder than losing the weight in the first place.

I'd say that moderation could be even more important at 66, than if (say) 22. I'm speculating, but I've found that 68-y/o me is not as resilient in the face of extreme things as 22-y/o me was. I can still accomplish my goals, but I need to be more conscious about stress management (physical and psychological), avoiding overdoing (exercise or calorie reduction), and allowing adequate rest/recovery.

Those of us 60+ can also need to be a bit more structured about nutrition, because we tend to metabolize nutrients less efficiently than we did when young. A sensibly moderate calorie goal helps keep nutrition in a reasonable range, because there's no getting adequate nutrition on too few calories.

I was younger (59-60) when losing weight, but not much younger.

And don't get me wrong: I think our culture is full of too-low expectations of people our age, whether about weight management or fitness (or intellectual capability, for that matter). I'm not saying that at all. I'm more saying that maybe we're capable of being a little more shrewd about good tactics and what suits us, vs. doing silly-extreme things we did when we were kiddos. Well, maybe you didn't do silly-extreme things . . . I did. :drinker:

Best wishes!

neanderthin

DJBiederman wrote: »

I am 66, 5’11” and weigh 186. I’d like to lose at lease 10 pounds rather quickly but I want to keep it off. Any advice?

Are you male or female? How long have you maintained 186? I'm close to your stats and I'm male and if I wanted to lose a quick 10 lbs I'd probably either work a fast into my schedule as well as cut calories and probably aggressively for about a week, maybe 2, that should do it and then back to maintenance. This has worked for me over the years when I wanted to lose a small amount quickly, your results may vary.

cmriverside

I guess I'd have to ask, why do you have to lose 10 pounds "rather quickly?"

I mean, what everyone said above is true.

No need to hurry.

Find a sustainable way to eat (so - plenty of protein and fiber, 3-5 servings of fruit and/or vegetables a day.) Learn to either log food or journal it in some way that works for you, then you won't have to struggle with maintaining your weight once you lose the 10 pounds.