Confused about how many calories I should consume?

apedeb09

I'm sure this question has been asked alot, so I apologize in advance. My daily calorie goal is 1500 and I try to exercise at least 30 minutes 5 days a week.. I only made 1500 my calorie goal because I've read that if you are trying to lose weight then you should consume between 1200 - 1500 a day.. Is this true for everyone? I just want to make sure I'm not eating too little or too many calories. Is there a specific amount that I should be eating based on my weight or no?

GauchoMark

there are a bunch of ways to do it that work for different people, but if you go to "My Home >> Goals" and set up your goals, it will walk you through how much you need to eat. If you also log your exercise on this site, it will work that into your goals as well as you log it. That is the easiest, non-calculator way to do it.

Additionally, if you have an extra $100 laying around, I highly recommend getting a fitbit so you really have a decent estimate of your calorie burn every day. Once you get one, you can just make sure you are eating a deficit based on however many calories you burned that day. For example, if you want to lose 1lb/wk, you would just make sure you eat 500 calories less than your fitbit number at the end of the day.

ChrisRS87

The best way to determine how many calories you should consume is to start with how many calories you do consume. If you eat roughly the same amount of food/calories a day and don't gain a pound, that's roughly the amount of calories you need to maintain. Of course that isn't an exact way to figure that out, so there are several estimators out there which factor in your activity level, age, height, etc.

Once you determine how many calories you burn to maintain weight, back into how much weight you want to lose. Cutting 300 off your maintenance amount sounds like a good place to start. If you cut too much off you will actually be hurting your body, with a large deficit and a lack of nutrients your body's metabolic rate will slow, cutting into your weight loss results. I'm sure you've heard it before, but small meals often to keep your metabolism up and drink a lot of water.

Also, my caloric goal for losing weight is around 2600 because of my size and activity level. But if I cut my calories below 1900 I wouldn't have enough energy to make it through the day, so everyone is different.

It's most important to remember that losing weight is a marathon, not a sprint. Taking breaks will only make it take longer. I hope to acheive my bf% goal by 2013, not 30 days, for example.

RobynMWilson

I would definitely edit your Food Diary section and make sure you're logging your workouts. I'm not trying to lose weight but I have figured out that I'm not eating enough to sustain the workout program I'm doing. Every person is different and while 1200-1500 cals may be good for one person, it may be too low for the next depending on their activity level and body weight to begin with. And consuming too few calories can hinder weight loss as consuming too many and if you're working out, consuming too few calories can lead to decreased immunity, increased risk of injury and exhaustion....