Help with right amount of Calories

am0206089

Hello guys,

This is my story im 27 years old 5'2 weighing 183 pant size 12, althought i dont feel that i'm extremely over weight. I just believe that i can lose 40lbs. Im in no rushing or have a timeframe. I want to do everything the right and safe way. I recently joined a gym im on my 3rd week, i go every morning at 5AM for an hour 6x a week. Basicly what i've been doing is the Elliptical level 4 for 35 mins. After that i go straight to the Treadmill at 3.1mph for 25mins. What i really like to know is exacatlly how many calories i should consume a day and how many calories i need to burn to lose the weight. My ideal weight goal is to 140, ive done a lot of searching for the BMR and all of the numbers are different.

I would really appriciate the support and encouragement.

Mike523

You should plug in all your numbers and info to the MyFitnessPal Goals page, set it to lose 1 lb per week, and it will tell you how much you should be eating.

One important thing to note, the number it gives you, regardless of how much exercise you tell it you're going to do, is how much you should eat to lose weight BEFORE exercise. It doesn't take your exercise into consideration until you actually do it and enter it for the day. Once you add exercise to your tracker on a daily basis, it will increase your calorie goal for that day. You are supposed to eat those extra calories, so that the difference between what you're burning in a day and what you're eating (your calorie deficit) is not too large.

Some people on this site will tell you not to eat those extra calories. Those people are wrong.

reeves0205

Hi! I have lost 35 pounds so far, and I still have 15 to go. I got most of my diet information from Jillian Michaels, and I have a lot of confidence in her. I started a 1200 calorie diet, (you do not want to eat less than 1200 calories per day. your body needs at least 1200 calories or it will go into starvation mode.). When I first started my diet I ate the calories that I "earned" by doing exercises.

After a couple months I learned that you do not have to eat those "earned" calories, UNLESS you are trying to lose like, the last 10 or 15 pounds. I quit eating them and still safely lost weight. I never went hungry. If I was hungry and I didn't have any calories left, I ate something low calorie that would fill me up. If you want to eat the "earned" calories you can, and you will still lose weight it will just be a little slower. Set your own pace. Do what feels right for you.

As far as exercising, just try to make sure you get at least 30 minutes of exercise about 5 days a week- So it sounds like you are doing a very good job! I hope that helps you out!