1960 calories...or 1200 calories???? I am so confused!!

when i did mine.. i was told to eat 1200 a day to lose 1 pound a week.

i think it depends on your weight and height as well. i am 5ft 7 and weigh 160... so they want me on a 1200(and never any less) to lose 1 pd a week.

if you work out, and then log your calories you burnt.. those go toward your day. so if i worked out today and burned 400 calories.. i would be able to eat 1600 cals today.

hope that helps. let me know if you have any other questions

Ok...so here's how my experience went. When I first signed up, it figured out what my daily caloric intake was to maintain my current weight and then I chose to manually set my goals to reach my goal weight. If I were to lay in bed all day and do nothing, my body would burn 1754 calories. If I wanted to continue to lay in bed and do nothing but still lose weight (NOT) then subtract 500 calories a day from that for a 1lb/wk weight loss. But since I was already fairly active, the recommendation was to increase to my caloric intake to like 2100+ but my goal is to lose a minimum 2lbs/wk. So I eat like I'm not active and I subtract 500 calories from the "lazy" factor but never below 1200 calories a day. I don't log my exercise because it looks too much to me like it's okay to cheat a little by adding an extra snack or something. I started on Oct 20th at 215 lbs. I'm glad to say I've lost 20 lbs so far and since my weight loss has caused a shuffle in my caloric intake, I'm eating a little more to maintain a minimum 1.8 lbs weight loss per week. You just have to figure out how much your body needs to maintain your current weight and then subtract however many calories according to your "realistic" weight loss goal from that number. At a 500 calorie a day deficit, you're on track for a 1lb/wk weight loss - burn an extra 500 a day for a week and you'll lose 2lbs a week.......Keep Pushing

Keep in mind the 3000 calories is a cumulative number at the end of a week. If you have consumed a surplus of 3000-3500 calories in a week, then that's a pound gained. But if you have a 3000-3500 cumulative calorie deficit at the end of the week, then that's a pound lost. Divide that number up over a 7 day week and you've got your daily caloric deficit for weight loss. That's another reason to never weigh yourself more than once a week. Try weighing yourself only on Mondays to give yourself an idea of where you are in your journey and how hard you need to push through the week to keep on track....:huh: (thoroughly confused yet?)

Reset your goals manually.

I am 5'9" and started at 247lbs. I set my goal to loose 2lbs per week it gave me 1368 calories a day. This number is as if you were only going to focus on diet. If you exercise you calories will go up to prevent loosing too much too quickly, doing so is not any better than keeping the weight on as far as your heart is concerned.

I do not usually take in the full amount of calories recommended after exercise because the calorie counts of the exercise are not always right on. I have lost 31 lbs to date (since sept). Some weeks I loose a few ounces and other weeks I drop 3-4 lbs.

If you have started talking to your doctor you may want to find out if there is a nutritionist you can speak with because they can focus on your specific needs and challenges and it may be covered by insurance if you can get your doctor to write on your behalf that you need a nutritionist!

As a general rule, you should never eat less than 10*bodyweight in calories. Most online calculators are very, very rough estimates. I've had plenty tell me I should eat 1300 calories a day, but I lose quickly at 1600. Some of the calories I'm seeing look incredibly low, and that can really be a problem when you plateau because you won't be able to reduce your calories anymore without eating so little that it's unhealthy. It's best to try out a large range on calculators that take your activity level and body fat into account (if you know it) and find an average.

so heres my question...Should I actually be eating the extra calories I've "earned" from exercise or not?

That is an odd little addition to the calorie counter...I already know how many calories I want to eat and how many I burn on average, so I'm really not 'earning' anything. In any case, eat 500 calories less than what you have available to eat. If you ate all of those calories, you'd maintain your weight, because there would be no deficit. I burn 2200 calories a day, so I eat 1700 a day for fat loss.

so heres my question...Should I actually be eating the extra calories I've "earned" from exercise or not?

That is an odd little addition to the calorie counter...I already know how many calories I want to eat and how many I burn on average, so I'm really not 'earning' anything. In any case, eat 500 calories less than what you have available to eat. If you ate all of those calories, you'd maintain your weight, because there would be no deficit. I burn 2200 calories a day, so I eat 1700 a day for fat loss.

So I should steer clear of that so-called earned or extra calories in order to lose, correct?

so heres my question...Should I actually be eating the extra calories I've "earned" from exercise or not?

That is an odd little addition to the calorie counter...I already know how many calories I want to eat and how many I burn on average, so I'm really not 'earning' anything. In any case, eat 500 calories less than what you have available to eat. If you ate all of those calories, you'd maintain your weight, because there would be no deficit. I burn 2200 calories a day, so I eat 1700 a day for fat loss.

So I should steer clear of that so-called earned or extra calories in order to lose, correct?

Yup, that's right. All you need to do is look at how many calories you burn in a day with exercise and everything, and eat 500 less. That's why I choose not to use just a calculator...if I ate 1300 calories, I'd be in trouble after a 2 hour workout! If you only burn 1800 calories in a day, then 1300 is acceptable. Like diann said, if you want to maintain, eat all those calories once you reach your target weight. It's also a good idea to have one day every couple of weeks where you do eat all those calories because it helps your leptin levels from falling, so it helps to prevent plateaus.

so heres my question...Should I actually be eating the extra calories I've "earned" from exercise or not?

That is an odd little addition to the calorie counter...I already know how many calories I want to eat and how many I burn on average, so I'm really not 'earning' anything. In any case, eat 500 calories less than what you have available to eat. If you ate all of those calories, you'd maintain your weight, because there would be no deficit. I burn 2200 calories a day, so I eat 1700 a day for fat loss.

So I should steer clear of that so-called earned or extra calories in order to lose, correct?

Yup, that's right. All you need to do is look at how many calories you burn in a day with exercise and everything, and eat 500 less. That's why I choose not to use just a calculator...if I ate 1300 calories, I'd be in trouble after a 2 hour workout! If you only burn 1800 calories in a day, then 1300 is acceptable. Like diann said, if you want to maintain, eat all those calories once you reach your target weight. It's also a good idea to have one day every couple of weeks where you do eat all those calories because it helps your leptin levels from falling, so it helps to prevent plateaus.

OK here's my problem. Today, I have a 1 hour strength training session with my personal trainer...AND I did 1 hour of cardio. I have only took in about 1235 cals today. I actually FEEL hungry right now...and I think thats probably bad, and now its 915PM and I try not to eat so late in the evening.

Eat! You're only doing harm if you're not eating enough. Your leptin levels will fall, causing a decrease in your resting metabolism. And you'll be hungry and fatigued! You need to add all your activity to your BMR, and eat 500 cals less than that. It doesn't matter what time you eat either. It's 9:45 pm here, but if I was on the other side of the world it'd be 9:45 am. Your body doesn't know what time it is, and there's no magical hour at which you begin to store fat. You metabolize foods the same way at all times of the day or night. You only store fat when you've had more calories than you've burned. That's it. You could wake up at 3am and have a full meal, and if you were still in a deficit, you wouldn't gain any fat. I eat from 8am to 10pm, and have yet to gain any.

Ok today....I took in a total of 1431 cal.....and I burned 600 cals in one hour according to the elliptical machine I used at the gym today (I sure hope thats accurate!!)....so should I subtract that from the amount I took in instead of adding these so called "earned' cals to my net total?

You should eat your BMR calories + Workout Calories - 500. So if your BMR is say 1300, and you burnt 600, that's 1900 total. So you should eat 1400.

OK my estimated BMR is: 1,580 calories/day* plus my burned 600 cals for the day is 2180....minus 500....gives me 1680....and thats what I should be eating...right? I'm just trying to get a good idea of what I should be eating so my body will not go into that starvation mode...I really need to lose this weight! BAD!

Hi

Im new but i think it will be to do with ur overall weight and the larger you are at the start the more you will be able to eat..........so 1900 calories may be ideal for your weight now but as time goes by that will reduce and eventually get closer to the 1200..........but on the average if u lower to 1500 eventually u shud still lose weight............ps 1200 is far too low xxxxx


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