Have a few questions

From what I understand you should be netting *at least* your BMR everyday and 15-20% under your TDEE.

@stfuriada

I went through that and it says I need to eat around 1985 a day to lose weight 2481 to stay the same

Should I increase my net to 1900?

How bout 1985. That's what you should start with. Do it for a month. Reevaluate.

And TDEE, you can look up for a good explanation, but it's Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

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Poke around this group- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3834-eat-more-to-weigh-less

It helped explain a lot to me!

I'm not sure what all the numbers mean but mine said for me to use 1240 calories with no exercising. I lowered it to 1100 and try to stay between that and the 1240.

Okay........but you're a 65 year old woman who nneded to lose over a hundred pounds, and he's a 20 year old male who only needs to lose around 30 pounds.

Apples and oranges.

I eat alot of vegetables minus potatoes and weigh all my meat, usually 3 ounces. I stay away from cheese except cottage cheese which I measure at 1/2 a cup but it's loaded with salt so be careful. I eat mushrooms and broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts or squash almost every day and thank goodness I don't get tired of them. I don't eat pork or shellfish so they are not a problem and I stay away from sauces, dressings and most gravies because I try not to add unnecessary stuff. Desserts are usually off the table except for a bite. Spices don't add calories so go for it. I use only olive oil if any at all. Good luck and don't give up. It's a process.

Yes I understand the difference between a 20 year old male who works out and a 65 year old female who doesn't but we are both human and the principle is close to the same. The biggest difference is one who wants to lose weight and one who want to lower their body mass. Eventually even my mass will lower.

The way you stated your "numbers" above was what I had the issue with.

You don't know what your TDEE or BMR are, according to your post. But randomly choosing 1200 calories for a 65 year old woman is pretty safe.The older you are - especially if you don't have much muscle mass - which I'm guessing you don't if you don't exercise - the lower your BMR. I'm in my mid-fifties and my BMR at Sedentary is only 1340, so I would still be relatively safe eating 1200 for a short period of time. But I'm eating 1500 a day and still able to lose. My maintenance calories are 1770.

A 20 year old man who is 5'10' (I'm guessing his height) and 185 pounds has a BMR of 2000. He cannot eat less than that safely on a regular basis. This site will, unfortunately, let him choose to eat less, because the tools here assume you do know your BMR. He really should be eating around 2200+ for weight loss. I'm sure he has a fairly active life at his age. Even if he is only going to school or a low-energy job, he should be eating more than his BMR. And he should eat back all his calories earned by exercise.

cmriverside

Wait but I though you needed to eat less then your BMI in order to loss weight? o.0 to....like I'm at 1966(I forget the right amount) however I set my "NET" to 1500...should I eat more then my BMI to loses weight?

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). And yes. Like we talked about in the exchange above, you said you were told to "Eat 1985 to lose weight, and 2481 to maintain."

You want to eat below your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) You can Google both BMR and TDEE for more in-depth explanation. The 2481 number is your TDEE.

The absolute minimum calories you should be eating is 2000 (1900ish). That is just to cover your basic body functions like your brain, heart, lungs, blood circulation. If I were you, I'd eat 2200 or 2300. Because you are doing more in a day than circulating blood. You are taking a shower, going to school or work, brushing your teeth, walking around, etc.

I don't know your height or how much you move around during the day, so even that may be low.

ANY planned, sustained exercise you do will also require you to eat a few hundred calories more.

Just set your Goals here for "Lose one pound a week" and set your Activity Level at Lightly or Moderately Active.

Eat what it tells you, and enter exercise and then eat those calories too. Don't overthink this. And don't set your weight loss goal at "Lose two pounds a week and Sedentary" . You don't have enough weight to lose to be able to support that aggressive of an approach. And I'm sure you are not Sedentary at your age.

Use the numbers you get for one month, recording everything. Then in a month you can revisit this.