How many calories per day??

erkuhns79
erkuhns79 Posts: 46
edited September 18 in Health and Weight Loss
I have been on 6 or 7 reputible websites trying to figure out how many calories a day I should have to lose weight. And, I got 6 or 7 drastically different answers. In fact, none of them had anywhere near the 1260 calories/day this website is telling me I should do. Not counting exercise (and considering myself sedentary...meaning, I have a desk job), the other websites have anywhere from 1400-2000 calories a day - and that's to LOSE weight (not maintain).

In fact, based on my age/height/weight/activity level, www.mypyramid.gov says I should start with 2000 calories and decrease by increments of 200 calories a day to lose weight. Which seems to me that if I go down to 1800 or even 1600, I should still lose weight - again, that's without taking into account exercise. That's a far cry from the 1260 base I'm getting with myfitnesspal.com.

I haven't lost weight in weeks. I exercise at least 25-30 minutes per day and stay within my calories. Maybe I'm not getting enough calories?? The worst thing I eat/drink during the day is a 12 oz. general foods international coffee! I'm not too terribly concerned since I'm 5'7" and weigh 142..but I'd still like to get in the 130-139 range.

I'm just so confused! Anyone have any insight?? :huh:

Replies

  • erkuhns79
    erkuhns79 Posts: 46
    I have been on 6 or 7 reputible websites trying to figure out how many calories a day I should have to lose weight. And, I got 6 or 7 drastically different answers. In fact, none of them had anywhere near the 1260 calories/day this website is telling me I should do. Not counting exercise (and considering myself sedentary...meaning, I have a desk job), the other websites have anywhere from 1400-2000 calories a day - and that's to LOSE weight (not maintain).

    In fact, based on my age/height/weight/activity level, www.mypyramid.gov says I should start with 2000 calories and decrease by increments of 200 calories a day to lose weight. Which seems to me that if I go down to 1800 or even 1600, I should still lose weight - again, that's without taking into account exercise. That's a far cry from the 1260 base I'm getting with myfitnesspal.com.

    I haven't lost weight in weeks. I exercise at least 25-30 minutes per day and stay within my calories. Maybe I'm not getting enough calories?? The worst thing I eat/drink during the day is a 12 oz. general foods international coffee! I'm not too terribly concerned since I'm 5'7" and weigh 142..but I'd still like to get in the 130-139 range.

    I'm just so confused! Anyone have any insight?? :huh:
  • Colleenie101
    Colleenie101 Posts: 20
    I have been on 6 or 7 reputible websites trying to figure out how many calories a day I should have to lose weight. And, I got 6 or 7 drastically different answers. In fact, none of them had anywhere near the 1260 calories/day this website is telling me I should do. Not counting exercise (and considering myself sedentary...meaning, I have a desk job), the other websites have anywhere from 1400-2000 calories a day - and that's to LOSE weight (not maintain).

    In fact, based on my age/height/weight/activity level, www.mypyramid.gov says I should start with 2000 calories and decrease by increments of 200 calories a day to lose weight. Which seems to me that if I go down to 1800 or even 1600, I should still lose weight - again, that's without taking into account exercise. That's a far cry from the 1260 base I'm getting with myfitnesspal.com.

    I haven't lost weight in weeks. I exercise at least 25-30 minutes per day and stay within my calories. Maybe I'm not getting enough calories?? The worst thing I eat/drink during the day is a 12 oz. general foods international coffee! I'm not too terribly concerned since I'm 5'7" and weigh 142..but I'd still like to get in the 130-139 range.

    I'm just so confused! Anyone have any insight?? :huh:


    Well I went with this site just because i went to the dr and she told me if i wanted to lose weight i would have to consume 1200 calories a day. So it was the same amount. I would say try this site for two weeks or so and do as they say and see what happens. If you like it great if not maybe its not for you. Plus once you exercise you are allowed more calories. So just try it if you want and see what happens. good luck
  • erkuhns79
    erkuhns79 Posts: 46
    Yea - I've been doing this website for about a month now and lost one lousy pound. That's why I started hunting other websites to see if I was getting enough calories. But I didn't like the calorie tracking on any other website...so I just stuck with this one.

    Seems to be working for everyone else though! :laugh:
  • metal190
    metal190 Posts: 3
    Yeah, actually I already had my own program but just signed up for this to help me track my calories and food. So do whatever works. Remember that 3500 calories are in a pound of fat. And for the most part, you can stand to be 1000 calories daily lower than what you burn and still stay out of starvation mode. So there's a pretty good size range in there to be "losing weight". As far as really specific goals, then I suppose it can be helpful to get a really precise number of what you burn. But otherwise, try to find a reasonably consistent number or average that tells you your base calorie burn (without exercise or activity or whatever) and then calculate your own proposed calorie consumption based on your own goals. 500 calories less per day equals 1 lb per week.
  • Furpaws
    Furpaws Posts: 36
    Ditto.

    Started this just a little over a month ago, and lost 5 pounds.

    Here's a site that explains caloric needs and how to calculate yours, factoring in age and activity level:

    http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/how-many-calories-do-you-need.html

    I figured mine using my ideal weight, not my current weight. Factoring in my age (reducing my caloric need by 2 percent for each decade my age goes beyond 20 = approx 6 percent), and I figured in a sedentary lifestyle (add 20% to the BMR calories). Total calories required to MAINTAIN my "ideal weight" = 1675. Considering that I obviously have been eating a lot more than that over the past 2 or 3 years (thus the weight gain), if I reduce my daily calories to 1675 with light activity, I'll lose weight. Eventually. Not quickly, but that's ok.
  • erkuhns79
    erkuhns79 Posts: 46
    Great link FurPaws - thank you!

    Seems to be that baseline, I'm not getting enough calories. According to this article, I should be eating 1467/day to lose a pound a week rather then the 1260 I'm doing now. Add on exercise, and I should be eating even more. Those calculations seemed to be more accurate (and less complicated) then anything I've used so far. Maybe my stomach won't growl so much now!
  • rissa1322
    rissa1322 Posts: 107
    i feel ur frustration.. when i first started.. i had the 1200 cals a day was my total.. and i was working out for 500-600 cals a day.. i didnt realize that i had to ADD the cals i worked out.. so for two weeks i was living off 600 cals in my body a day.. result.. gained 2 pds....
    now i eat what it tells me and i have lost 5... so just dont give up
    and u have to start to work it to work for you.. sometimes and somedays i eat a little more than it says..somedays a little less..

    good luck and congrats on joining!
  • Eve23
    Eve23 Posts: 2,352 Member
    Ditto.

    Started this just a little over a month ago, and lost 5 pounds.

    Here's a site that explains caloric needs and how to calculate yours, factoring in age and activity level:

    http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/how-many-calories-do-you-need.html

    I figured mine using my ideal weight, not my current weight. Factoring in my age (reducing my caloric need by 2 percent for each decade my age goes beyond 20 = approx 6 percent), and I figured in a sedentary lifestyle (add 20% to the BMR calories). Total calories required to MAINTAIN my "ideal weight" = 1675. Considering that I obviously have been eating a lot more than that over the past 2 or 3 years (thus the weight gain), if I reduce my daily calories to 1675 with light activity, I'll lose weight. Eventually. Not quickly, but that's ok.

    Thanks for the site. I am wondering if I have been eating to little and looking at my plateau wrong now. Hmm, anway thanks for sharing I think I will try it.

    Eve
  • pamschwab3
    pamschwab3 Posts: 12
    Now I'm so confused. I never had a thought about the amount of calories mfp gave me. But I went to the link listed above and the calories they gave me was way different. What is right?
  • icandoit
    icandoit Posts: 4,163 Member
    erkuhns79

    are you doing the same exercise plan everyday? Do you change it up??
    I was walking everyday the same pace and lost at first and then stopped. Since changing my routine-speed, incline, body part. I keep my heart rate way up. I really started seeing a big change. I also cut my carbs out or to a minimum after 4pm.
    I don't know if this helped. I hope so.
  • deanea
    deanea Posts: 1,437
    I'm really confused now too, I went to that site and it says I need way more calories, but I have been losing only .5- 1lb a week on this site which makes me believe that this site is pretty close to being bang on...at least for me
  • erkuhns79
    erkuhns79 Posts: 46
    icandoit -
    I change up my exercise daily - some days I do walk away the pounds...the other days I do an elliptical machine. Today I tried a combination of jumping rope, jumping jacks, pilates and free weights. When it's warm outside, I ride bike or hike. On the days I give my body a 'rest', I end up cleaning my entire house or go shopping for hours.

    Figuring out how many calories you need per day to lose weight is exhausting in itself. Like I mentioned, every website I went to gave me a different answer - and not just different by 50 or 100 calories...drastically different by even hundreds of calories (a whole meal's worth!). I like the website FurPaws recommended. It gave me an answer somewhere in between the extremes I was getting with the varying websites - so I think I'm going to give that a whirl. If I STILL don't lose weight, I'll drop it back down to what 'myfitnesspal' is telling me. :tongue:
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