At almost 48

rjd137

Well, I really don't know what i should be shooting for when it comes to Calories I set myself at 1600 a day but i'm not sure if that is a good number for me. could some one tell me what a realistic daily calorie goal is for a 48 year old man wanting to loose weight.

Thanks,

luvmyleo

That would depend on your activity level and current weight. Honestly I think its easiest to just let mfp choose.

Here is a tdee calculator. You could use this to help as well: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

AmyRhubarb

This topic helped me set my goals: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Great info there and links to the tools to calculate the right calories for you - check it out!

rjd137

Thanks! doing my best to get back on track, day two, going to the gym now, if you have any other advice please let me know. its really the snick stuff that kills me...not to mention when i get in my truck it takes me to every fast food place on the highway.lol, no not that bad but again day 2 and no fast food, ....first good news. I think if i can get my first 5 or 6 off id feel more into it and motivated, staying focused is my biggest problem.


Ralph

rjd137

Well i just got back......I think I over did it....I can do this

paulvt65

I'm 47 and not overly active... but I have two young kids and walk two or three times a week. 5' 6" and 198pounds to start. Doen to 183 and currently on 1590 cals a day and finding it okay. As I eat less I find I only want smaller meals and finding it quite easy so far!

gazz777au

I did it, you can too. I am not a very active person, and I manage to do this on more than 1600 per day.

I did most of my weight loss last year via MFP - I have come back under a new account to finish this (which could be for life - that's ok, it's now a much better life).

I take it you are over 6 foot tall - 2000 cals per day should do it for you.

Feel free to add me as a friend.

rjd137

well I went right in and read everything in Amy's post...... thank you Amy! turns out what I didn't know is that I am considered morbidly obese. Always a good way to start your day, but it's a starting point. Body fat percentage is 32.4, weight is 222 pounds, and I hope I am doing all this right, looks like my calorie intake should be somewhere around 2076 cal a day. I'm changing my goal weight to 188 because I liked to be just under the standards for a person of my age (46) but 47 next month's body fat percentage which if I remember correctly is 22% on the high side. I have to say this is a lot to deal with, not to mention knowing the right foods I can eat ( which I really don't) after years of neglect and fast food, so right now I think this is just getting the best of me, I absolutely want to focus in and do it right for my body, I think that the hardest things is going to be for me, eating lunch at work and dinner at home or dinner at work because I do work at nights as well. I'm going to have to read up on very simple things I can do to eat for lunch and also simple easy to make dinner's that I can have at home. So it begins even though this is day two after reading everything I can so I can make good wholesome decisions and choices, I feel like I'm starting today. But the good news is..... I started. If anyone has great low-calorie lunch and dinner ideas that would be fantastic for me. Maybe some good snack ideas to, that is one of the areas I epically fail at..... I am a bad snacker, if there was a group for snackers anonymous I would probably be that head guy. I really hope you guys can give me some basic direction. I want to finally do this right and get to a happy place.

thanks for your input everybody so highly appreciated, I hope someday I can return the insight I'm learning here, to somebody else who needs help as well.
all the best,
Ralph

AmyRhubarb

Heck yeah, the good news IS that you started! :bigsmile: And it can be overwhelming at times - there's a LOT of info here (especially in that post I linked you to), and just trying to sort it all out and basically learn a new lifestyle takes time and adjustments. It's been a learning process for me, that's for sure! I've come a long way since I started my fitness journey about two and a half years ago - and I'm never going back.

paulvt65

I have to say that personally, I consider BMI tables a joke. Until a few days ago I rated as obese and recently progressed to overweight! After years of pounding pavement I am quite muscular - specially in the legs - and most people are amazed when I tell them my weight as they usually guess me twenty pounds lighter. For me to have a BMI considered normal, I would likely have to be dead!