How many calories a day do you eat?

Use MFP as directed. Go to your goals, and set your weight loss to 1 lbs per week (You've only got about 30 lbs to go, so 1 lb per week is a good rate for you. It will slow down the closer you get to your goal weight). Eat what it gives you to eat. It's worked very well for me and many others. Just be patient and work on being consistent (weigh and measure all your food and try to hit your numbers every day). I, and many others here, started out trying to undereat to lose faster, and it was a disaster for me. I failed miserably. Eating enough but not too much and being consistent with my intake were the keys for success for me.

Thanks! I had the mindset that eating less would make me lose weight faster. Should I be eating back my exercise calories? I've heard mixed things about this. I normally don't eat back all of them, but some days I do.

I eat mine back. The way MFP is setup, you're supposed to eat them back. However, MFP tends to overestimate calorie burns, so sometimes people eat 50-75% back instead of all of them to avoid accidentally overeating. It will take a while to figure out what is going to work for you. Anything you try, give it a solid 2-4 weeks of consistent effort before trying something different. Once you find what works, it'll be a lot easier.

When I log my exercise, I go with what the elliptical says for amount of calories burnt. I don't own a HRM. I usually have no more than two cheat days during the week. My average weight loss is 0.6-1 pound a week (so far).

Use MFP as directed. Go to your goals, and set your weight loss to 1 lbs per week (You've only got about 30 lbs to go, so 1 lb per week is a good rate for you. It will slow down the closer you get to your goal weight). Eat what it gives you to eat. It's worked very well for me and many others. Just be patient and work on being consistent (weigh and measure all your food and try to hit your numbers every day). I, and many others here, started out trying to undereat to lose faster, and it was a disaster for me. I failed miserably. Eating enough but not too much and being consistent with my intake were the keys for success for me.

Thanks! I had the mindset that eating less would make me lose weight faster. Should I be eating back my exercise calories? I've heard mixed things about this. I normally don't eat back all of them, but some days I do.

I eat mine back. The way MFP is setup, you're supposed to eat them back. However, MFP tends to overestimate calorie burns, so sometimes people eat 50-75% back instead of all of them to avoid accidentally overeating. It will take a while to figure out what is going to work for you. Anything you try, give it a solid 2-4 weeks of consistent effort before trying something different. Once you find what works, it'll be a lot easier.

When I log my exercise, I go with what the elliptical says for amount of calories burnt. I don't own a HRM. I usually have no more than two cheat days during the week. My average weight loss is 0.6-1 pound a week (so far).

Machines are pretty bad at estimating calorie burns also, so I'd be wary that those are accurate also. Try eating back about half your exercise calories for now and try to net (total calories eaten minus workout calories >= 1200) at least 1200 calories per day for a few weeks. Just a forewarning, you probably will gain a little weight at first doing this, but be patient and give it a solid month anyway. I gained about 10 lbs when I went back to eating more initially, but that came off really quickly once my body adapted to more food again, and i consistently lost about 1 lb per week afterward and felt amazing.

Good luck to you!

MFP has me at 1730, the In Place of a Road Map thread with the TDEE info puts me at 1904, so I'm trying to get some extra calories in and see what happens.

I have mine set to about 1600, I was on 1450 but I always felt really deprived, and most days I work out and dont eat the calories back which puts me at about 1450 anyways....that is my theory, at least. I want to get back to 1450 though without feeling like im losing my friggin mind.

1800 cal. set by my doc

MFP set my calories per day to 1480, so I usually eat between 1200 and 1500. If I eat my nighttime snack of some almonds & dark chocolate, it's closer to 1500. If not, closer to 1200.

I see so many people talking about tdee, I'm confused. I started mfp about a year ago and have lost a lot of weight but went to the tdee calculator and it told me a very high number . I currently eat 1200 cals a day ( mfp) calculated. Tdee has me set with a 20 percent def 1820 . If I got over my 1200 a day for any amount of time ( week or so) I gain about 3-5 pounds. So how can I eat 1820 and lose weight? Sorry if this is confusing but I'm lost on this

Calories are set to eat are around 1800, but really only eat around 900 to 1000. But I have dropped 25 pounds and have gotten down to my goal weight, but I also credit this to doing this site and also using Weight Watchers Online to!!!

Thank Nathan, was wondering if I was missing something here. This works for me changing to something else is scary.. If its not broke I won't fix it

It all depends on the day. If i've done a whole lot of nothing all day; then an intake of 1400 is fine for me(still giving me 500 deficit). When I do insanity work outs then i'm usually about 1800-2000(also still getting 500 for weight loss). I do not believe in starving myself; it's so important to get your food in if you're doing any kind of high level exercises.
I got my calculations from beachbody. Just find your maintenance and subtract 400-500. But make sure you arn't too low if you're adding exercise. Add me if you like and take a look at my diary. I've just started back, but lost 50 pounds with this method after I had my daughter a few years ago.

I started MFP in Sept. 2012 at 1200 calories, and moved up to 1350 in early December because I started exercizing more.
I eat back half of my exercise calories, which average about 300-500 per day.
A couple days ago, I reverted back to 1200 because I hit a plateau and am frustrated.

I have been eating around 1200 for the past 6 months and am steadily losing 1 pound a week now. I am also 49, 5'6". and just dipped under 190, so I still have a ways to go. I don't eat my exercise cals, because even with moderate exercise 3-4 days a week, I am still considered sedentary. But if I do go over a few cals, I don't sweat it.

I eat 1740 everyday minimum. Must times its closer to 2000+ cause I eat my exercise calories back. I drop a average of a pound a week. It's not a quick weightloss but I am completely satisfied and its easy to work with as its not really a "diet" at all