How many calories do you eat a day?

this is a really good question!!!!!! i wish i knew EXACTLY what i should be eating, but i don't :P Right now my MFP is set to 1250 cal/day and of course, my exercise calories. i'm just trying to maintain right now plus maybe lose another 5 lbs slowly.... but i've googled this lots and some site calorie calculators say i should be eating like 2000 cal to maintain based on my weight/age/height which sounds like ALOT to me and then some sites say 1200-1500, so i really don't know. i wi sh it was 2000 cal. LOL.... sometimes it doesnt hurt to up your calories a little bit though....

5'4" 237# female set to lose 2#/week
MFP says eat 1260 calories. I normally eat somewhere between 1250 and 1300 with or without exercise (I exercise pretty much every day). I don't normally eat my exercise calories **YET** because my BMI is still very high. So, I'm set to lose 2#/week just with eating 1260 calories/day, and I also normally burn about 3500 calories/week with exercise. All the numbers MFP gives must be pretty right on for me because on average I've been losing about 3 pounds/week (34 pounds in just under 12 weeks).

I stick with MFP as well, though a lot of days I'm over- which works out ok since I have a 1000 calorie deficit to begin with. Right now I'm at 1380 calories/ day + exercise calories. I'm actually pretty inconsistent, but my body seems to like that (for now). lol

Hi I'm new to MFP. I logged on Livestrong (The Daily Plate) for a long time until it became too bogged down with ads and errors.
I am 4'10" and 128 lbs, 40 years old. MFP says my calorie goal is 1200 but Livestrong said it was closer to 1475. The mindset on the forums there is to try it out and if it works, great, and if not, adjust your calories accordingly. Personally, 1200 calories is too low for me. Even when I eat back my exercised calories, I feel starving. If I had to stay at 1200 calories I would never lose weight because I couldn't stick to it. I think I will try in the middle, maybe 1300 - 1350 cal.
PS I did lose about 18 lbs in about 9 months that way.

Edit: that is to lose 1/2 lb per week.

Age, height, sex?
36
5'7+
F

With exercise? (varies)
Pretty much eat the same everyday with or w/ out exc which is 1600-1650
Try to work out 6 days a week and burn 300-400 cals

Without exercise?
1600-1650

I'm going to stick with what MFP says.. I didn't eat enough last time I did this and gained it all back really fast.

Mine is set for 1350 calories a day right now.. I'm 5'6, weigh 250, and I have it set for 2 lbs. a week

I'm 5'0, 130-135 lbs depending on the day lol, 22 y.o., F

I eat 1400 cal/day on lifting days and 1500 on running days. Lifting is ~45 min with ~ 20 min cardio, and running days are 50 min of running outside. I lose anywhere from 0-1.5 lbs a week like this. But I really don't pay much attention to scale weight.

I am 5'2", set at 1400 cal/day, that is from my trainer, I just started eating my exercise calories. When I wasn't eating them I wasn't loosing any lbs. Between getting muscle and body fighting to keep the food it was basically going to starvation mode.

That is different for every person. My trainer tells me that we need to eat 1/2 of our exercise calories, and make sure to eat after a good work out!!!

well, I'm no longer trying to lose weight, and of course I'm a guy so it's different than most of you ladies, but for the record, I'll give you all my numbers, as more than just calories should be taken into account when you are deciding how big your deficit should be (IMHO), and I use all of them when figuring out where I am.

I'm 36 years old, 6'2", between 183 and 186 lbs (depending on the day), My maintenance cals are about 2950, and on cardio days I burn about 450 to 600 cals, and on weight training days I burn between 200 and 400 cals. Sessions are between 35 and 50 minutes a day and I take 1 day off a week. I do now, and always have eaten all of my exercise calories. I don't take any pills or supplements, my blood work is all in the "excellent" range for my age (or so my doctor says, Cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure...etc).

Lets see, my VO2 max is about 52, my BF% is about 10.25 right now, ahh, my BMI is about 23.6 (usless number at that range but there it is), and my waist to hip ratio is about 0.81.

I feel like everything I've listed here (with the possible exception of BMI, which can be a misleading stat.) are helpful in gauging where you are and should be, and so I use them all to a degree, I don't really think any one of them is the critical number, more of an overall picture, if one is bad, it indicates an area that I am slacking...etc.

I forgot to add, I'm 22, at 5'2, 149lbs., and have my daily activity level set to slightly active, with a goal to lose 2+ lbs. a week. My calories have been set to 1200, since May, & I'm sure that's due to selecting the 2lb/week option. I don't exercise a great deal, so I guess that's why even when I do, I find it hard to exceed my 1200 without feeling like I over-ate!

As soon as I get to my goal of 135, I want to up my calories to a maintaining level. I've been told to take it to 1400-1600? Not sure how accurate that is, but I'll talk to my physician as I get closer to my goal!

Cool, thank you, I really appreciate it! I haven't been diagnosed w/ health issues, but I don't regularly exercise either, & I know I should! lol I have two small children so I'm definitely not sedentary, but I really need to get a workout routine going! When I first began my journey, I exercised at least 3x a week, but that fell by the wayside when I started this past fall semester! I have a month off until spring semester, so I will get it going again!!!

I'm Female, 26 (well, 27 in less than a month... :P) and 5'7"

With exercise, I'm eating about 1500 calories per day. Without, I'm eating 1250. That's aiming for a 2 pound per week weight loss.