Am i eating too many calories?

If you're losing weight why would you ask?

if you are losing weight, you are not eating too many calories

You would be considered sedentary and you could probably cut back if you want to. If you're happy where you are, stick with it until your weight loss slows. The problem with most of the calorie calculators is that they are based on averages for a "normal" person. When you get onto the high or low end of that scale they become less accurate. Most often they are made on an assumption about your lean body mass and I would bet your fat far outweighs your lean muscle. You don't need to feed the fat so you can cut back and be safe.

Keep doing what you are doing as it's working, if it stops working over a few weeks then you can consider a change. The target is slow and steady weight loss which is achieved by a lifestyle change, not a crash diet. Your calories intake is based on your starting weight so I would not expect your target to be anywhere near 1200. One thing I would strongly recommend is to take measurements alongside tracking your weight. Frequently when you may get frustrated that the scales are not moving fast enough you will still be losing inches.

Well done, you have made a fantastic start. :-)

Those women on 1200 calories a day are eating way too little, by and large.

The device you're looking for is a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) and you can find a bazillion on the internet.

Edited to add - - don't know about "consumed" though. HRM is only for burned.

With your weight i would consider standing 8 hours a day absolutely *light* and not sedentary... that is I am sure very tiring. I see nothing wrong with the calorie intake - test the calculator for a person with 5'4 and like 170 lb and you will see that they need much much less. This is how it works...

First off, i seem to be loosing weight.

Second of all, i'm basically a morbidly obese woman on top of an overweight woman. I weigh that much. (i'm 5'4 and started out at 295, i now weigh 289) But its from being lazy, buying way too much at fast food, and eating until i was completely stuffed.

So i've started monitoring my food intake, following the guides, and trying to eat more fruits and vegetables and less junk.

Needless to say it seems like its working out good.

But i see alot of women eating very little, at like 1200 calories.

I don't exercise (yet) but it still recommends that i eat 2,200 calories That seems very high compared to other women.

But is that about right? Basedon how much i weigh? I also work at a job where i stand on my feet all day long (i don't do that much else except stand, should i be sedententary or light in that case?)

All depends on your LBM (lean body mass). I was more than 50% fat when I started---morbidly obese. At first, I lost a lot of body fat without exercising. But then my weight loss stalled because, even though I was eating about what MFP said I should be eating, it was probably calculating my LBM too high. I have a small frame and my muscles had dwindled to the point where I was having trouble finding them in all the fat! :blushing: In order to get my fat loss boosted, I had to start dong weights--particularly for my arms and shoulders and upper chest. I started with 2 pound dumbbells and I'm lifting about 10 pounders now. I'm going to start doing some heavier lifting soon. At first, just doing standing leg lifts was enough to strengthen my leg and hip muscles but as I lose body fat, it is getting easier, so I am going to have to start doing weights on our weight machine. I do pool exercise at our local pool twice a week for an hour each time and that has done a lot to strengthen my core muscles. My body fat has fallen faster than the scale shows because I have been adding LBM during the time that I have been losing weight. I've lost about 50 pounds in two years but it looks like a lot more since I started exercising last year. I find that I can eat a lot more than I used to be able to eat and still lose body fat. I'm at about 1,600 calories but on my pool days, pool exercise uses about 500 extra calories, which I don't eat back (in order to burn body fat faster). As I get closer to my goal weight (I want to lose another 50 pounds) I will have to exercise even more---I will likely go to the pool four days instead of two and I will likely have to lift heavier weights and start eating back all of my calories. When you are obese, you already have pretty strong leg muscles (from hauling around all that bulk) but heavy lifting will put more muscle in your core and on your back, shoulders, chest and arms. As I said, I don't presently eat my exercise calories back, but as I get stronger, I find that I am hungrier than I used to be, so eventually, I will have to start eating them back. One thing that seems to be very important is hitting your macros for protein if you are trying to build muscle. But you shouldn't go too far over as that is counter-productive. It is okay if you go over some times--you will likely eat less protein the next day. Another thing that I found particularly helpful is that I cut out sugar and wheat (I find that they are both addictive and cause me to lose control of my appetite). If you are on a calorie-restricted diet, you really cannot afford the "empty" calories that sugar represents. You will fill your diet up with foods that are better for you if you exclude sugar. I have never eaten so healthfully as I have since I stopped eating sugar.

doesnt trust OP

?? Why is that?

thanks for all the information!

does anyone know of a machine or monitor that will calculate your actual calories burned and consumed?

Nothing will track your consumption but you. That's what MFP is for. Log all your food on here. A heart rate monitor is only for exercise that significantly raises your heart rate. You can get different things like a FitBit or BodyMedia that are supposed to track all your calories burned during the day.