Daily Calories

If you are above 1200 stay on target, below is ok. If you are at 1200 then you don't want to go below unless on Doctors orders.

You have to give you body fuel to burn, the right calories, good amounts of Protein, Fiber and Water and limited simple carbs, fats and sodium. Along with exercise will help to lose weight, burn fat and build lean muscle!

Best of Luck!

I'm of the opinion that you should set a calorie goal and stick with it as best you can until that's not enough. By that I mean eventually some sort of cyclical approach seems to be best for a lot of people once they're lean and trying to get leaner. Until that time comes, don't muddy the waters until you have to.

If specifically to your original question... if you have a calorie goal and you're consistently aiming slightly below it.... why wouldn't that number that's slightly below the "goal" be the actual goal?

Thanks a million for your replies!
It's giving me a balance of 1610 a day, I wasn't sure whether to try and get as close to this as possible or to try and keep a bit below...

Currently you're at 190 or so lbs. Assuming you're exercising most days of the week, your maintenance is likely around 2200-2400 calories. That's a massive assumption without knowing more about you, mind you.

I'm a fan of moderate calorie deficits... so so 30% or so off of maintenance which in this case would put you at 1500-1600 calories. So MFP's recommendation sounds good to me.

Of course this is just the start. It's not your starting calorie intake that matters. It's what you do in response to how your body responds to the deficit that matters most. Give this a read to understand more:

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

I wonder if I am the only person in the world who follows my daily calorie formula. It is:

(Morning weight X 10) - 1,000

This morning I weighed 255, so my calorie goal is 1,550.

255 X 10 is 2550. 2550 - 1000 = 1,550.

Each time I lose a lb, I drop 10 calories from my daily goal. I will probably keep this up until I get to 225-230.

I am wondering this too... my daily goal is 1200 but i've only been eating about 1000 and burning 500 during each workout which is 5 times a week. And should I be looking at net calories or no??

1200 is WAY to low, your body will start to go into conserve mode and you'll stop losing weight all together and won't feel all that well either.

Stoutman81 looks like he's got it going on with his advice.

I do a lot of research on the topic as well.Here are some sites I've used.

Try these and I bet you’ll start to lose weight. Part of it is also trial and error and what works for you.

Exercise and nutrition for beginners.
http://exercise.about.com/cs/exbeginners/a/begnutrition.htm

A link about nutrition
http://exercise.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/lowcarb.htm

A link about dieting
http://exercise.about.com/sitesearch.htm?q=What+is+a+proper+diet?&SUName=exercise

Another link about nutrition
http://exercise.about.com/od/nutrition/Nutrition.htm

I use About.com a lot for research.

You can do it, just stay with it. Even when you get frustrated.

Good luck in reaching your goals!

1200 is WAY to low, your body will start to go into conserve mode and you'll stop losing weight all together and won't feel all that well either.

This can't be said as a blanket statement. Small inactive people could certainly get by on 1200 calories per day. And certain temporary dieting strategies will go even lower than 1200 calories. Metabolic slowdown (really titled adaptive thermogenesis) happens regardless of the size of the deficit.

Sure, a larger deficit will make it happen faster... but that's not the point.

I use About.com a lot for research.

I use www.pubmed.com primarily. If you understand research methodology and statistics... it's much better to go to the source opposed to someone's interpretation of the source.

One thing I did was have my RMR (resting metabolic rate) tested by my doctor and with that she and I have decided to eat below that. My RMR is 2330 so I have started at 2000 calories a day and will soon start dropping it to 1800 calories a day. I think the biggest and best thing to do is work with your doctor to set your calorie amounts for the day.

You know... I'm not sure I agree with that. I mean in your case it's great that you feel you're receiving quality advice from your doc. I come from a slightly different perspective though. I've worked with 100s of clients over the years as a trainer and more often than not the advice they've received from their doctors has been abysmal.

At the end of the day, your basic doctor doesn't receive a lot of schooling/education with regards to nutrition.

That has been my experience thus far.

And frankly... I don't think figuring out daily energy expenditure needs to be something so tricky that you have to consult a doctor. Sure, if you're finding that you can't lose weight on what should be an obvious deficit... assuming you're being truthful and accurate about your intake... then it's probably worth getting things checked out to rule out any medical issues that could screw with metabolic function.

But in healthy populations, figuring out calorie needs is really simple.

Just an alternative viewpoint.

@stroutman 81- I am a bit confused. I weigh 291. It tells me that my daily calories should be around 2100 and then it adds in my exercise calories. Is this too much? I am new at this calorie thing but I thought that was kind of high. But I am mostly body fat, is that why my caloric intake is a little bit higher? Any help or guidance will be appreciated.

Thank you,

Think of it in terms of daily energy expenditure. To figure out how many calories you should consume, you first need to estimate daily energy expenditure. If you know what you're expending on average each day, you can set calories below that in order to trigger a calorie deficit.

The formula for calculating your daily energy expenditure is:

DEE = BMR + TEA + TEF

BMR is your basal metabolic rate which is the energy you expend at complete rest.... things like respiration, cellular processes, etc fall into this category.

TEA is your thermic effect of activity... put differently it's the energy you expend moving around, exercising, fidgeting, cleaning, typing, etc.

TEF is your thermic effect of feeding which is the energy you expend breaking down and utilizing the foods that you consume.

In most people, BMR accounts for 60-70% of DEE, TEA accounts for 10-25%, and TEF accounts for 5-10%.

What does all of this mean to you?

Well the primary point I want you to understand is BMR accounts for the majority of your energy needs. And the larger your are... fat or muscle... the higher your BMR is going to be. Which is one of the reasons why larger people have higher daily energy expenditures in general. This can also be attributed to it being more energy costly to move around a heavier body than a lighter body.

Now there are all sorts of formulas in existence that estimate BMR such as the Harris-Benedict, Katch-McArdle, and Mifflin-St. Jeor equations. With these you simply plug in your variables such as height, weight, etc and it provides you an estimated BMR. Once you know your BMR, you can multiply it by an activity multiplier... lower for sedentary people and higher for active people... and this multiple adds in the estimation for TEA and TEF to give you an estimated daily energy expenditure.

There are other ways too such as indirect calorimetry, bodybugg type devices, heart rate, etc.

The point is there's no right or wrong way to estimate energy expenditure and to be honest... I'm not a fan of investing a ton of time in doing it since metabolism or energy expenditure is not static. It's a moving target. To invest a ton of time and energy in taking a snapshot of it seems sort of silly.

I much sooner suggest estimating with simple means....

Something like 14-16 cals per pound. This isn't set in stone. It assumes moderate exercise most days of the week. If you are super active and/or feel that you have a fast metabolism, you might want to bump it up to 16-18 or whatever. If you're not very active and/or feel that you have a slow metabolism, you might want to bump it down to 12-14 or whatever.

For obese people, I typically shoot for 12 cals/lb as maintenance.

Once you know your maintenance, otherwise known as daily energy expenditure, I'm a fan of cutting 20-35% off of this number to establish a deficit. The higher your energy needs are, the higher in that range you can go. In fact, people carrying around a lot of excess body fat can get away with deficits in the neighborhood of 50% of maintenance.

As hinted above... it's not what you estimate your maintenance at that's critical. Rather it's choosing a deficit that fits you... one that isn't terribly uncomfortable, and what's even more important is how you adapt to your body's response to the deficit. You see... if you find that you're losing too quickly or too slowly, you can adjust your intake every 2-4 weeks.

This concept de-emphasizes the importance of picking the right calorie starting point and puts the emphasis on the process, which is much more logical.

Does that clear up your confusion?

Yes I believe so. I will have to play around with it and just see what works for me. I know I can do under 2100 because I am not reaching that daily. I may try to adjust it week by week. I do not think 1200 calories is good for me because of my size. I do think 1500-1700 can work. Thanks for the advice.

Yea, most people can get in adequate nutrition at an intake of 1500 plus. It then becomes a matter of how you feel on it. Are you cranky, starving, etc. If so... then bump it up since you certainly have some "wiggle room." If you don't though... let it ride until it stops working.