How many calories is everyone on??

[TRIVENAM]

Hi there, im starting calorie counting today and im wondering howq many is everyone on? I'd like to lose about 2-3 pound if possible a week! I have a new gym in my house so no excuses. Im so new to this i dont have a clue how much to start off on! Any help pls!!:d

 

[Marianne]

When I keep to around 1500 a day I lose an average of 2lb a week.

 

[preetone]

your bmi is close to mine,and im on 1500 cals. plus exercise 3 times a week [when its not snowing lol].

altho i have read that even if you are trying to loose weight you should eat your exercise calories, so as not to fall below 1200 cals a day.

i use Free Calorie Counter, Diet & Exercise Journal - MyFitnessPal.com to work out calories of food and exercise. also sets you an aim for how many calories you eat... might be a good starting point

 

[IrishMum]

It will vary for everyone depending on age, weight, height etc. Work out your BMR (google BMR calculators). To lose 1lb a week you need to eat 3500cals less than normal (500cals less a day). If you add 500cals to your BMR it'll give you what you need to 'burn' each day to lose 1lb a week, this will be more than your normal everyday 'burn' figure, so that will tell you how much exercise cals you'll need to do? HTH?

 

[vodevil]

i'm doing anything between 1200 to 1500 I've lost 7ish lbs in 4 weeks which is around 2lbs a week I could probably lose more if I exercised more but I dont seem to have any energy and get really bored of it. i need to find something I enjoy but it is proving difficult

 

[RachelM]

I'm currently on around 1200 a day but thats because I'm so short and not very active at the moment. I've recently gotten a cross trainer and I'm aiming to go on that for at least 4 x 30mins per week. Just finding it quite difficult to sort my timing out so I can set aside excercise time! I usually lose about a pound a week when I stick to it but I want to lose more, I'm thinking about cutting down to 1000 cals a day to see if this makes a difference, any advice or feedback appreciated!

 

[Capirossi]

Hi Rachel. We have the same goal weight, and I am also little (5'2"!!). I aim for around 1142'ish per day, as this is what Food Focus worked out for me. I have been coming in under 1000 for the last couple of weeks and I lost zilch :cry: so this week I am trying to keep to my figure (ish). I also do 3 x 45 mins cardio/toning sessions a week. If I don't lose this week I too will be looking for another solution!! But it's not advised to go below 1000 cals. There are a few good posts about this on here somewhere, try the BMR thread. Good luck!

 

[Barb]

I'm doing around 1200 weekdays and up to 1500 at the weekend. You can see from my sig that it's been pretty effective. I don't feel deprived and I can count in a treat or two when I want to.

 

[missrachyp]

id start off at 1500 if i was you then lower it every 1-2 weeks till u get to bout 1200! if u calculate ur BMR tht will help alot x

 

[serafyn]

I am doing this diet and I have started at 1000, but then I forget to add the spoonful of sugar and milk I have in tea I have found this form of dieting the most suitable for me as you can eat what you want if you can count it...

 

[Debzi]

Hey, I'm on 1200 a day but I started at 1500 and worked down. However, when I started I had a lot of weight to lose!!
Don't go too extreme to begin with - it is easy to get demoralised.
Also for anyone that finds it difficult to get motivated to exercise but gets public transport to and from work I have found that getting off the tube a few stops early and walking home is the easiest thing to do!

 

[__stac3y]

im eating 1000 cals a day, which alot of people say is low but i find aslong as i eat sensible things instead of high calorie foods, im always full. an average day i'll have ;
2 pieces of nimble toast with very light butter
a ham sandwich, 2 celery sticks, a low cal jelly (10 cal!)
and for tea.. ill have admiral pie with cheesy mash and loadsa veg.
or on a friday .. ill have a sainsburys healthy living chicken korma and pilau rice with 3 poppadoms, 500 cal!

 

[IrishMum]

It nothing to do with how 'full' you are- it's what your body NEEDS to function properly. You won't be eating little enough to see an immediate effect on your health, but undereating for any length of time will cause damage to your system? Plus losing weight eating that little will make it harder to keep it off when you try to maintian your target weight. Your body will be used to starving, so any increase in calories will pack on the lbs quicker than before.
Oh, and your dinner is quite high-fat (pie & cheesy mash)? Which may also counter-act your efforts to eat well earlier in the day.

 

[__stac3y]

i was on 1400 cals, and slowly lowered it over 1 and half years due to getting to a plateau.
and the pie and cheesy mash are weightwatchers so theyre low in fat.

 

[serafyn]

Does anyone actually know what the optimum calorie intake for good weight loss is? I know it must depend on other things like age and activities??

 

[__stac3y]

u need to find out your bmr or something dont u ?
i have no idea to be honest but im sure someone else will help u!

 

[izmirka]

i'm usually somewhere between 1150-1500kcal. i very rarely go over 1500kcal. and i'm not losing any weight well, if i eat 1200kcal i do lose a bit, but when i eat 1500 the weight pops back up

 

[izmirka]

u need to find out your bmr or something dont u ?
i have no idea to be honest but im sure someone else will help u!

i find bmr quite unreliable. mine is 1750kcal i think, but when i eat anything close to 1700 i gain weight instantly, and then i need to eat less the next day for the weight to come back down again. pointless and irritating

 

[serafyn]

^ I have to agree with you, what you should be on and what you well lose weight at seems completely different? I can't seem to lose weight if I go above 1000. Now I am about 2 stones over weight but seem to consum alot less cals than most people and if I go above this I will gain, it's awful However I am going to consume what will enable me to lose weight. I think my body is 'resistant' to dieting than most due to being on one most of my life, sometimes I think there must be calories in air lol.

You look fab in your Xmas pic above so whatever you're doing it certainly works xx

 

[izmirka]

thank u the pic was taken on Christmas Day (obviously) and since then I lost around 5lbs. I came off Cambridge Diet on the 21nd of December, so now I'm just calorie counting to prevent gaining weight
to be honest, i don't really watch what i eat, i just count the calories. so, for example, i still eat cookies, muffins, bread, rice, etc, just in smaller portions, and i pick the lighter options, such as skinny muffins, light yoghurts, skinny latte at Starbucks, low fat cookies, etc. for now i completely eliminated stuff like pizza and take aways, because i know they have the most calories in them, but nevertheless, my tummy is full, ergo- i am happy