How many calories per day do you eat?

lh1626 · March 2013

Hi All~~~I know this topic has gone around before, but I am targeting a specific group. I am 5'5"....38 years old...weigh 207. I have NOT been able to take off pounds...inches...nothing.

I have gone from low to high...been part of EM2WL.....done my sedentary...eaten back my exercise calories...done my Scooby Calculator.....figured BMR/TDEE...hello its Dan... and everything in between. Had my thyroid checked twice by two different doctors too.....bloodwork is fine! I am on no medications...birth control or otherwise.

I have been working at this since last summer too, however I have been really at it hard since Jan 4th. I fluctuate the same 4 pounds. I have not lost any inches either.....I keep trying the same pair of jean shorts on each week and I still can hardly get them buttoned.

I don't really want to open my diary because I already know what to eat and what not to eat...and at the end of the day, many people will tell you it is calories in vs calories out. I log, measure, count, weigh.....and in no way am I dis-honest with myself about what and how much I am eating. I even log bites. I quit drinking alcohol on Ash Wednesday and Diet Pop...I drink about 85 plus oz water per day. Watch sodium...sugar....40/30/30 on my macros.

So....my question is for those who have similar stats...struggles....how many calories per day do you eat and how much do you exercise? Are you having struggles or is it working for you?

Sorry for the long post.....I have been debating on asking for help, but here goes! :happy: :drinker:

apopelka · March 2013

I'm eating about 1250 a day and doing 3-5 miles on the treadmill daily. Sometimes on Sunday I got a bit over.

I've lost 16 lbs so far. I don't plan on keep the calories this low, just getting down to 165ish first.

I started at 204, now I'm at 188.

Mokey41 · March 2013

Something doesn't add up at all. You are obese and without medical complications you should be able to lose weight. Bouncing around trying this, that and something else won't help.

If you really want to see if you CAN lose weight, go to 1200 calories for 2 weeks straight. No cheating and weighing and measuring everything. Don't eat exercise back. If at the end of the 2 weeks you've lost nothing then I'd say you need to seek professional help because you are that special snowflake that just cannot lose.

I would suggest opening your diary for suggestions because maybe you think you know what and how to eat but that may not be the case.

lh1626 · March 2013

Mokey41...thank you for the suggestion. I did WW off and on for years, so I am comfortable with my food choices. I do not eat a lot of processed or junk food. I eat several servings of fruit and vegetables per day, greek yogurt at breakfast...protein at dinner. I am very confident in my food choices, but I prefer not to have someone critique my diary if I stay within my macros. I try not to eat meals out too...it does happen though 2-3 times per week. I just plan ahead or try and make a smart choice.

I was always able to lose weight when I was younger with no problem, so I am trying to figure out my issues now. WW stopped working for me too.

trilou27 · March 2013

I started at 198....I eat 1200 calories a day...I put everything I eat in my diary....I don't eat back my exercise calories.I have lost a total of 35lbs so far.I would suggest documenting everything.I also workout 30 min each day on treadmill 7 days a week.

AllergicToExercise · March 2013

Have you recently started an exercise regime? The reason I ask is that I always struggle to lose (may even gain a couple of pounds) when I start exercising daily as opposed to doing nothing. I tend to see inch loss and my BF % goes down on the scales but no weight loss.

Do you track your measurements to check for progress that way as the scales are determined to taunt us all at times!

ZETAZEN · March 2013

Just a thought...maybe you should consider tinkering with your macros.

I did it when I thought I was about to hit a plateau. But once I changed them, I continued to lose weight.

Now, I've switched up my fitness routine. My body should be very confused. lol :-)

stines72 · March 2013

1510 to maintain.

RunHardBeStrong · March 2013

The only difference in our stats is that I'm 2 inches taller. I eat 1800-2200 cals per day. I lift heavy 4 x's a week and do about 2 hours worth of cardio/week. I've lost 107 lbs without tweaking much.

I don't really have any great advice except I noticed you said you've tried several methods in less than a year. Maybe not giving each method enough time especially if you have a damaged metabolism? Also noticed you just "started hitting it hard Jan 4th of this year". Also still may not be enough time to really evaluate. Keep accurate logs and if you use MFP's exercise cal burns, they seem to run high. Even after losing 107 lbs over the last 4 years I stall out when I get laxed on my measuring, so make sure you're measuring every little thing very accurately.

yensidtoon · March 2013

I am 47 and weight 183, down from 220 before I joined MFP. Since joining MFP I have lost 4 pounds. I eat 1350 a day and do eat back my exercise calories. For exercise I run, zumba and use our Elliptical. I prefer running to the machine. I have my BAD days, in fact today is one of them. I am already way over my 1350 and it is only 11:30am here. The good news? Tomorrow I start over, and by the end of the week when I weigh in, I will have lost weight.

Losing weight gets harder as you get older. But I agree with the others. I would change something up, whether it be your diet or your exercise.

auddii · March 2013

I'm 5'8" and weight 218 (down from 245). I eat 1850 each day and lift heavy 3x a week and cardio twice a week.

If you want some good advice, head over to the Eat, Train, Progress group. Good advice. They have a sticky that shows all of the questions they need answered for stall questions, create a new post and answer all those questions. The two moderators will get back to you on what they think your intake should be.

This is also a great post about how you're eating more than you think:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

And a very important video in the comments from the above post for why you should weigh instead of measuring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

Timshel_ · March 2013

Depends. On average, probably around 2100 and I burn an average of 450 per day in exercise, so net 1650. Give or take a few hundred here and there.

lh1626 · March 2013

I try and exercise a minimum of 3 days per week....20-35 minutes on the treadmill doing intervals. I do some weights as well...just light for my arms and only one machine for my legs to strengthen my quads. I have really bad arthritis in both knees.

I also run around walmart every saturday....clean house as well....I have a 4 year old and a husband so I stay active. I have had a fitbit since October....I had an HRM last summer but did not like it. It stopped reading when I started sweating, so I took it back and got the fitbit.

Some days I only get in 5,000-6,000 steps and others I do over 10,000....it depends on if I work out or not...how long/far I had to drive for work appts or if I had meetings that day.

During the summer, I walk at least 4-5 days per week....20-60 minutes at a time. I have run keeper on my Android and my speed is 3.3 to 3.5 mph when I walk outside. My HRM burned about 50 calories for every 10 minutes I walked at this pace, so I got good readings while it did work! :happy:

bcattoes · March 2013

51 yo female, 5'5", I've been maintaining my weight in the mid 150's for 1.5 years on approx 1900 calories per day (on average, the daily count varies).

When I started losing back in Jan 2011 I was going primarily Zumba. Then I added hiking, running (C25k) and bodyweight exercises. I've been doing Turbo Fire (according to their schedule) for the past 10 weeks, along with bodyweight exercises a few days each week).

Angie52732 · March 2013

You may need to tweak your macros...increase protein, drop carbs a bit -

make sure carbs are from whole grains, brown rice, quinoa, beans, sweet potatoes or red potatoes if you don't like sweet, squash,

limit the bread sources to maybe 1x a day and use only the whole grain

make sure protein is lean.... reduce the amount of fruit as that is often higher in calories - utilize greek yogurt in place of sour cream -

maybe use some of the biggest loser recipes

these food changes are what helped me lose 60ish lbs and I am 48 -

Hope this helps some
Angie

scott1111111 · March 2013

You are not really measuring. trying on a pair of shorts does not a measurement make. While everyone would love for fat to come off of specific areas first (especially belly and butt/thighs) it will come off wherever it may be. Try doing real measurements to track with, sometimes they are subtle an inch here and a half inch there. you could be loosing fat from your back or arms or other areas and won't see it in your shorts for some time.

blackermagic · March 2013

My stats: Male, 41 years, 175 lbs, 5'11" tall...

I eat anywhere from 850 to 1550 per day. I was looking at the last 30 days of data, and there are a few times I had 2200 calories (had a few too many beers!). But I try to be good about it most days, and I don't eat into my exercise calories very often. I dropped 20 lbs in a month and a half. I was 196lbs middle of January, before I ran the Houston Marathon. Now, I am running more than I did for training for that dang marathon! Oh...and I have increased my speed too.

I run 5 to 6 days a week somewhere between 6 to 8 miles each day, depending on how I feel. Sometimes I will even do a half-marathon like this past Sunday - I was feeling exceptional! I will lift 2 times a week also.

So, you should be losing weight for sure. Make sure that you are not eating the same calories/foods every day for every meal, mix it up to confuse your body. Sometimes go higher and other times go lower. I try to eat very little carbs and do a high protein diet low fat diet.

Also, I don't trust that TDEE/Macro crap. I filled out some of that stuff today, and it says I should be eating 3176. That is bogus. I would weigh 200 lbs inside 2 weeks of eating like that. Maybe that stuff works over a long time...but forget about it...most people quit doing the right things if they don't see results quickly.

Good luck to you. Make sure you are exercising hard and intense...if you lift don't have long breaks between sets...if you run, try doing tempo runs or intervals to mix it up.

CharleeB1 · March 2013

It sounds like you've been working very hard and it's been all up hill. Perhaps it's time for a nutriional consultation? Some insurance companies cover this and all you would need is a referral or authorization from your primary care providers. Sometimes it takes a trained eye to help us see what we need to change. I'm just getting started but I've been on this track most of my life. There are experts out there that can sometimes give us good feedback if we're willing to listen and implement the changes. I've denied that I take in way too many fat and carb grams for a long time, and now it's time to step up and make the necessary changes in my life that I need to make. If truly is a life style change and I think that's the challenge. I can diet all day long, but what I haven't done is change how I think, what I really believe and what I'm ready to do to change my life and hopefully, improve my health. I hope this is helpful, I don't mean for it to be finger pointing in anyway. This is so hard, and I'll keep trying until I find the answers that work for me. I know you have it in you to do the same. Hang in there, take care and great success.:flowerforyou:

michelleavent1979 · March 2013

Low day 1400 - High day 1900.

But I have really enjoyed getting to the gym ...I found a BIG difference with my weight loss once I started adding in weights to my work out at the gym...

Odd thing.. are you getting enough sleep?

pghfan · March 2013

I have similar stats (except I'm 10 years older). I too gave up alcohol for lent and at the same time started the 5:2 fast. (There's a separate board for that, but essentially I eat only 500 calories two days a week and stick to 1200-1300 the other days). I do 30-60 minutes of cardio (fast walking usually) 3-4 times per week. I have not weighed in yet this week but lost 5 pounds the first week and 2 the second. Not sure what it was that jump started me, I'd like to think it was the 5:2 and not giving up alcohol that made such a difference. :laugh: Good luck to you!

BikerGirlElaine · March 2013

I am 5'4", 210, 49 years old.

I'm eating 2,000 calories per day, exercising 3 times per week, and losing 1 1/2 pounds per week. My diary is open. I do strength training for about 30-45 minutes and I do cardio to round out the time to 50-60 minutes.

Things that I find important for me beyond food, water, exercise: sleep, meditation, rest, sense of humor, lots of protein & veggies, getting enough Omega-3 fatty acids. Last year I was trying to lose weight and not getting anywhere and when I added in meditation I started losing. Stress can be a killer.

Hope this helps you some.

How many calories per day do you eat?

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