Ideal daily caloric intake for weight loss?

darian117
darian117 Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
HI everyone,

I'm working on trying to drop some body fat. I've started working out and tracking my calories/nutrition information. When I first started tracking my calories, I noticed that I was eating only 1000 to 1200 calories a day. After doing a little research, the general consensus I found was that was way too little.

Looking at some different RMR and BMR calculators, they say my BMR is between 1800 and 1900 calories (different results from different sites and calculators). That is what I'm targeting for my daily calorie intake.

My goal is to lose 1 pound a week, so I know I need a deficit around 3500 calories. Wondering if I need to take in fewer calories than my BMR rate to achieve that. I've read that men should get at least 1800 calories a day, which doesn't leave me much wiggle room if my BMR is accurate.

I'm tracking my nutrition and weight in a database. I don't really have enough data to start looking at correlations or anything like that, but I didn't want to wait to see what the data says and find out I missed the mark for a few weeks.

My stats are male/32/179 lbs.

I work out 2-3 days a week for about 45 minutes to an hour per session.

Any advice would be great!

Replies

  • wordpainter09
    wordpainter09 Posts: 472 Member
    If you haven't yet, check out the calculators on Fat2Fit radio and the Fitness Frog sites. They have the BMR calculations you've done already, but also provide caloric ranges for weight loss based on size/age/activity level.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Do you have an estimate of your TDEE yet? Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure is the number of calories you burn in a day. It's also the number of calories you would eat to maintain your current weight. This is the number to take your deficit from, not your BMR.
  • darian117
    darian117 Posts: 2
    Thank you both for the additional information. The TDEE and the BMR Calculator on Fat2Fit Radio gave me some great information. It looks like I should be shooting for 2100 calories a day to lose weight or 2500 to maintain. I apparently still need to add a few more calories a day. Thanks again!

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