Guidance from a certified trainer or dietician please??? A B

Interested to see your responses. I have much the same problem.

OK, for the life of me I've tried to understand and I can't figure out how many total calories I should be eating for my activity level or how to eat my exercise calories back to reach a reasonable net. At least not without having my carbs or sodium be way over.

The details:

I am 5'9"
45 years old
I work out 45-75 minutes at least 5 days a week
The dr. says to eat 1800-2000 calories per day

I regularly burn 500-700 calories per day so I would have to eat nearly 2500-2700 calories to have a reasonable net that is within the desired range so that 2000-X exercise calories = close to 2000.

Guidance from a certified trainer or dietician please???

contact stroutman81 (you don't have to friend him). Give him your stats and your goals and he will help.

One of his posts: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/172515-frantic-about-adhering-to-the-right-calorie-intake-read-t

I am not a certified anything, but I do not eat back all the calories I burn. I aim to eat 1200-1400 per day and I burn 200-600 5-7 days a week. If I feel really hungry, I don't feel bad if I eat back 1/2 of my burned calories. But I very rarely eat back all my calories burned - seems to defeat the purpose of working out.

eta - I am 5'3 and currently 143. I have lost 20#s in 15 weeks and want to lose another 15ish.

I am no longer certified as a trainer but I was, so, I'm just going to bump in with my 2 cents on this. If your doctor is recommending that you eat 2000 cal per day then I would say to go with that number.
You did tell your doctor that you're working out regularly, right?
Did he/she mention to compensate for that?
If they didn't, then I wouldn't add in the extra calories that you're burning working out. If you find that you are hungry, then eat a little more of something healthy. If you find that your weightloss has come to a plateau, then it's time to evaluate what you're doing. If you're keeping perfect track of everything that you eat and at 2000 calories you're stuck, bump it up a little and see if it moves.

If your health insurance allows for it, I'd ask your doctor to write you a recommendation to see a nutritionist. When I was rowing crew in college I saw one and it was great. My dad has diabetes and he really found his nutritionist to be helpful in eating the right things.

Be careful of the advice you take online, even mine. If you have questions, I'd call your doctor to have his/her instructions clarified.