Is 1800 calories a day too much?

Everyone is different of course, but I eat between 1800-2000 for maintenance. I lift weights 3 days per week and do cardio (either 30 or 60 minutes) for 5 days per week. I have been around the same weight for 6 months now. I'm 5'6" 133 pounds and 42 years old. When I was losing weight I ate between 1500-1600 per day. I lost 60 pounds steadily in 10 months.

You are much younger and your activity level and height and everything will be different. Why not try it for a couple of weeks and see what happens? It will be great news if you can eat at a higher calorie range and still lose. A lot of my MFP friends can eat more than me. They are younger, taller, more active, etc.

Good luck. At least you are not wanting to try and starve yourself. That doesn't work long term for anyone.

How many calories are you eating now? It's common to see a gain when you first up your calories, but that is because your body has become accustommed to the lower calories. I don't know your stats, but 1800 sounds reasonable to me. I am 5'11" and weigh 230 and eat around 2100 calories. I have the Body Media Fit and burn between 2800-3100 calories dependant on my activities for the day.

I recently posted a topic about how I was unsure whether my calorie goal was too much. I used Scoobys calculator and it said for me to eat 1800 calories a day, this is with the deficit for weight loss.

My automatic reaction is:

1) Is this way too much and will I gain all my weight back from doing this?
2) Is Scoobys a reliable site?


Also, thank you to all those who answered my previous post. I really appreciated the feedback.

1) Try to increase your cals gradually, I went straight from 1200 to 1800 and I gained for a week or two then maintained for a week or two but am now losing quite well at 1800. My body just didn't have time to get used to the cal increase right away but 1800 seems to be doing it for me now.

2) Lots of people direct me and others there, so it makes me think that it's a reputable site for it, but I can't guarantee anything. Multiple other sites told me the same calories though.

If you entered all your info correctly, then yes - you can eat that much and lose! I don't use Scooby's, but a lot of folks here do with great success. I used a different site to calculate my numbers, and I gotta say - my best success has been over the past year, since moving cals up to 1800+ a day. I used the info in this topic: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0

My diary is open, and lately I've been over my goal (I'm at 1950 now since hitting goal weight) several times a week - but I still don't pack on pounds - my body is happy with being well fueled and just keeps burning the fat. It is lovely.

I am also somewhat confused where to set my activity level. I do have a desk job but I go to play rehearsal three times a week and when I go to the gym I go for at least an hour with at least 30 minutes on the treadmill then weights. I usually try to go more on the treadmill though.

Should I put desk job with little exercise or the light exercise?

With the scooby calculator, you'd use Light Activity because you're saying you do 1-3 hours of exercise per week. Keep doing your strength training (I hope you're lifting heavy weights) and don't worry about upping the treadmill.

How many calories are you eating now? It's common to see a gain when you first up your calories, but that is because your body has become accustommed to the lower calories. I don't know your stats, but 1800 sounds reasonable to me. I am 5'11" and weigh 230 and eat around 2100 calories. I have the Body Media Fit and burn between 2800-3100 calories dependant on my activities for the day.

I am currently (or was) eating 1500 calories a day. I am about 214 atm, even though I was down to 212 last week, and am 5*7 and 22 years old. I try to get to the gym at least 3 days a week.

Give it a couple of weeks to a month at your new calorie level before you reevaluate. I increased my calories 2 weeks ago and gained a bit at first and now I'm losing again.

Same here.. and don't increase more than 100 or so calories at a time.