I don't understand how many calories to eat

And dont fuss with cardio.
Lift weights.
Trust me.

www.stronglifts.com and download the report.
Lift the with boys for a while.
Once you get used to it youll start slimming down.

= 655 + (9.6 x weight(kg)) weight / 2.2 = kg
+ (1.8 x height(cm)) height x 2.54 = cm
- (4.7 x age(yrs))

Here is the equation I used to calculate my own basal metabolic rate, and when I plugged my info into MFP, I got the exact same number. So, that's how many calories you can consume per day that your body burns naturally without having to do anything at all. I plugged in your info and got 1763 for your BMR. If you are trying to lose one pound per week (one pound of fat equals 3500 calories) you have to have 500 calories remaining each day for 7 days and by the end of the week you should lose one real pound of fat weekly. If you wanted to lose 2 pounds per week, you'd have to double your calories remaining each day to 1000. Not sure that would be so healthy, and having that many left over may leave you feeling weak or tired.

You can do any combo of exercises you want combined with maybe cutting a few calories from your diet each day to create that 500 calorie deficit. On the logging food page, at the bottom, you have your totals, your daily goal, and remaining calories. Keep track of your total calories and remaining calories, so that at the end of the day your remaining calories gives you at least a green 500 calories. For example, if you ate a total of 1563 calories for the day, which is 200 under your daily allowance, and you completed an exercise that burned 300 calories, you would end up with that green 500. 7 days of that and one actual pound of fat should disappear.

Don't make it harder then it has to be. Do the automatic calulator where you select how many lbs per week you want to lose and it will calculate what your calorie goal/day is. This isn't rocket science....you don't need to get into all the manual calculations.

I don't believe in using calculations to determine this. If you want an actually accurate reading of what YOU need, you need to have your metabolism tested professionally or invest in a tool like the BodyMedia unit so that your personally TDEE can be measured.

While I think lifting is great and all, I don't necessarily think it's what you should do exclusively as a fitness routine. I always defer to the Mayo Clinic for their recommendations, and they recommend 150 minutes of moderate exercise (generally 3 cardio workouts and 2 lifting) or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week. Your personal fitness level would determine whether you should concentrate more on lifting or cardio for the time being.

I think using cardio as a way to get back into the routine of going to the gym is a good thing, and after you've gotten back into that swing, bring in some resistance training 1-2 times a week.

As for calorie amounts... No one on here is going to be able to give you a number that is specifically tailored to you and your body. Everything is a guideline. That being said, I would go with an estimate, and just make sure you are fueling enough for the workouts you are doing. Weightloss is 90% calorie control via food, so eating reasonably will get you where you want to go.

Don't make it harder then it has to be. Do the automatic calulator where you select how many lbs per week you want to lose and it will calculate what your calorie goal/day is. This isn't rocket science....you don't need to get into all the manual calculations.

But if you do it right in the beginning, you save yourself some misery. Finding Dan's "road map" in the beginning made all the difference to me. MFP wanted me to starve.

I don't believe in using calculations to determine this. If you want an actually accurate reading of what YOU need, you need to have your metabolism tested professionally or invest in a tool like the BodyMedia unit so that your personally TDEE can be measured.

While I think lifting is great and all, I don't necessarily think it's what you should do exclusively as a fitness routine. I always defer to the Mayo Clinic for their recommendations, and they recommend 150 minutes of moderate exercise (generally 3 cardio workouts and 2 lifting) or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week. Your personal fitness level would determine whether you should concentrate more on lifting or cardio for the time being.

I think using cardio as a way to get back into the routine of going to the gym is a good thing, and after you've gotten back into that swing, bring in some resistance training 1-2 times a week.

As for calorie amounts... No one on here is going to be able to give you a number that is specifically tailored to you and your body. Everything is a guideline. That being said, I would go with an estimate, and just make sure you are fueling enough for the workouts you are doing. Weightloss is 90% calorie control via food, so eating reasonably will get you where you want to go.

Well if your goal is fat loss, then weight training will provide more fat loss than cardio. And weight training (or resistance training) is critical to muscle retention (assuming adequate protein exist). While the mayo clinic is very knowledgeable and has good recommendations, other organizations such as the NIH have already done studies to support those claims. And you also have to understand why the Mayo clinic is suggesting what they do.


Also, online calculators are good for estimates. If it estimates that I should eat 2500 calories daily. What I should do is track that for a month, take my average daily intake vs my average weekly weight loss. If I lost 2 lbs in 4 weeks, it means my TDEE is 2750 (average of 1/2 per week). If I want to increase that to 1 lb per week, I decrease my calories to 2250 per day. So you do NOT need to get your RMR tested professionally if you can do simple math and analysis. You also have to keep in mind when you get RMR testing, they do not tell you TDEE (which is the most critical piece of information). Because TDEE is where you create your deficit.


I concur with Dan's estimates and suggest my type of analysis to determine your TDEE and can form your deficit from there.

I got my TDEE from having it measured. That's what I suggested.

The Mayo Clinic is suggesting a well balanced plan of cardio and weight lifting. Fact of the matter is, muscle only burns so much when it's not being actively used, and lifting doesn't provide the same kind of activity level or burn as cardio.