How many calories per day do you eat?

Age 53, post menopause, 5' 4", currently 230 pounds, approximately 50% body fat.

I have been eating about 1,550 to 1,600 calories a day (approx. TDEE - 20%) for four weeks. Last week, I ate at TDEE (about 1,960 cals) and this week I'm back to eating at a cut.

Note: My BMR is approx. 1,510 and, since I have a really high percentage of body fat, I could cut a bit more, but I don't want to take a chance of feeling deprived and falling off the wagon.

The plan is to continue 4 weeks at cut, 1 week at TDEE. I estimate that I can expect to lose about 3 pounds a month. Yes, it's slow going. I just keep plugging away at it.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to build up a little more strength and cardio endurance. Doing so will help me be healthier and allow me to eat more. :-)

I faced the same problem like you for a long time but since the time I have upped my protein and cut down on carbs, I'm seeing the scale going in direction i want it to. Perhaps that would work for you as well.

2,000 a day, minimum of 100g protein and try to keep my carbs around 100-150. Lifting heavy and doing martial arts for cardio.

BUMP

I typically eat between 1200-1500 calories, depending on what my Fitbit tells me (my BMR is between 1200-1350, depending on which calculator I use). Some days I am literally just sitting around doing nothing and other days I am more active and need more calories.

I've gotten to the point where I probably don't need to track anymore because as long as I'm not drinking my calories (especially liquor, which often comes with unintentional snacking), I tend to naturally stay within range. I eat less if I haven't been active and more if I have. Since I measure out portion sizes, use small plates/bowls, and eat slowly, I rarely overeat.

I'm 5' 6", (need calculator...) 28 years old, 215.75 lb +/- 5 lb, and eat between 1,400 and 4,000 calories a day depending on how active I am (I have a Ki Fit to know my calorie expenditure, seems pretty accurate).

ETA: Calorie intake vs exercise...

1,400 if I'm in bed most of the day.
2,300 if I have been to the town centre, post office, or walked about 5-6 miles.
2,500-3,000 if I have visited London and done about 5 miles of walking (including within the confines of the Underground network - platforms, back end of Overground train to front, steps, escalators, etc.)
3,500 if I have visited London and done a lot of walking (attractions, being dragged shopping, etc) or done about 12 miles walking.
4,000 if I have done about 15 miles walking or spent the whole day at a theme park and done 5 miles of walking before/after getting/leaving there.

However, since most of my long walks are done at night and fall on both sides of midnight, and my Ki Fit syncs with MFP putting the exercise calories before midnight on one day and after midnight on the next, some of my meals after the walk will be on logged on MFP for the previous day and some of the meals before the walk will be logged on MFP for the next day, just to balance out the numbers.

About 1600-1800 kcal! I can get around 120-140g protein with some snacking :flowerforyou:

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'm 45 and a woman. That's 2 strikes. It's easier for men to lose weight than it is for women, and it's easier for young people to lose fat than it is for us older folks. It just is.

You add in hormones (I came off 20 years of smoking cigarettes) and our bodies needing time to adjust, and that ups the ante also.

You have to devise a strategy that's realistic, and please for the love of God, do not compare yourself to other people because fat loss is highly individualized and depends on a lot of different criteria that all come into play together.

That means:
1. Be patient
2. Keep slogging at it for your health's sake!
3. Incorporate some sort of strength training, and focus on fat loss rather than weight loss. Give yourself a year or two to see significant changes.
4. Take a break once in a while, like not logging for 1 day a week or eating at maintenance calories every couple months for a couple weeks.

Fat loss is never linear, real life happens, and you have to adjust your expectations to reality, not try to cram reality into your expectations (that's usually a great recipe to make yourself crazy).

Oh and don't let the scale bully you around. Focus on health and strength gains and on how your body feels and your clothes fit. The scale is only one indicator of many, and not even the most important one!

My TDEE based on 3 days/week of barbell training is about 2500, and I aim for someplace around 2200 calories to lose some fat here and there. The weight is coming off, but sloooowly (about 5 pounds in 2 months), my body is tightening up and getting stronger, and I've lost about 3 inches in a couple places overall in the past 2 months.

Which is fine, because I already made up my mind that this is going to take however long it's going to take. I'm just going to continue to make the best decisions for me possible and trust my body to respond the way it's supposed to. I'm trying to find my happy place that I can stay with for the rest of my time on earth, and as long as I head in that general direction, I know I will be fine. And if bumps in the road happen along the way, then oh well, that's life.

Good luck!