How many calories do i need to eat to lose weight.

Hope this helps :
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

If you're not losing at 1420 calories, it might be water retention. But you're probably eating more calories than you think:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

That's not an insult. My records for my first 6 months of weight loss indicate that I was netting almost 200 calories more per day than I thought I was, probably a combination of overestimating my activity level and underestimating what I ate. One study showed that even trained dietitians underestimated their calorie consumption by over 200 calories; for the general public, it was over 400. Per day. It's really hard to accurately estimate the calories you consume and expend.

The best solution is to do the best you can, and if after a few more weeks, you're still not losing weight, then cut back by a couple hundred calories.

How are you calculating how many calories you have burned with exercise?

Thanks for that reply...I'm scarily accurate about recording ..borderline neurotic (ha) so I am wondering since I do a lot of exercise (I "earned" 700 calories today) if perhaps my calorie count is too low and I'm throwing myself into "starvation mode"...I'm pretty tall...but yeah I guess just do 1420 and not eat the "earned points" from exercise..It is hard to be patient and wait and wait for results. The only comfort in this journey is I am doing myself healthy and developing a great lifestyle. I do know I will fight for this and the reward will be very sweet.

Starvation mode as a mechanism that will stop you losing weight is a myth, just concentrate on ensuring your numbers are as accurate as you can make them.

BMR is also an estimate, +/- 10% and quite a few people are outside that.

There's no law or logic requiring that you eat at or above your BMR while losing weight but if exercising a lot and active you'll probably end up there with a sensible deficit.

If you have a deficit and don't lose you may need to examine what you're eating, an open diary helps others comment.

Try 1500 for a while and see how that works for you.

Lots of us are very adept at reading a diary quickly and being able to spot patterns, so dont be afriad to set yours to public!

I didn't realize you could post open diaries..would anyone actually have the time or interest to go that extra step for me? I think that's asking too much. It is a lot of work to continually journal calories and input exercises and all that!

I think the idea of an open diary is that people can read it and comment, rather than help you fill it out!

Re excercise, when comparing how many calories the elliptical trainer says I have burned, compared to what MFP tells me it should be, I have come to the conclusion that MFP seriously overestimates calories burned. So I would not eat back *all* the supposed calories burned.

So many folks on here say to eat at a deficit to lose weight. It's better to each large quantities of healthier SANE food so you don't have room for the bad stuff.

I loved see the SANE food comment! I love Bailor.. he makes so much sense and has been very helpful in picking and chosing what I eat and how to exercise!

I am at a level of 1200 calories a day. A pound is 3000/calories, so you need a deficient obviously to loose weight. Just make sure your calories are not junk, its high nutrient value and you will tell your energy will increase, you can eat more so your not hungry because your food is actually lower in calories than processed junk and less sodium that retains water.

I have cut out all junk food, processed food and anything not natural. All Whole grains (limited), fresh fruits and veggies and good lean proteins and nuts, etc. I also began drinking lemon water at work (about 6-8 cups) and in the first 2 days I could tell an improvement on my fluid levels and my tummy is not so bloated.
I am only in the beginning.. but this is just my opinion of what is working for me.

I input my age and weight on the elliptical machine. for strength training I input the reps and sets...and somehow magically MFP comes up with extra food calories?

Haven't seen this addressed yet - you may want to look into picking up a decent HRM (the polar ft4 is a great beginner hrm), it will allow you to more accurately calculate the cals that you burn. I wouldn't be surprised if mfp and the machines were overestimating your workout calories.

I look at folks diaries all the time. if they are posting every day it really only takes a few days to see trends.. good and bad.