counting calories help?

[sassy123]

So i have started eating healthier and keeping a food diary. while doing this i am recording calories as well but.................... im not quiet sure how many calories i should be having to help me loose weight.

Does anyone know?

i am
91kg
168cm
25yo
Female
i have been tryin to get to the gym everyday and burn between 200 and 300 cals in 30min.

[Beach Mama]

Try a website like Calorie King or My Fitness Pal - both of which are free, keep a diary on your phone as well as computer, work out your calories etc. They are great - I prefer MFP. I would think under 1200 cals a day but I might be way off! good luck and join us in the the Diet and Weightloss general chatter thread if you are interested!

[~*Niadalla*~]

1200cals a day is the bare minimum your body requires and will acheive weight loss. Anything under that, and your body will head towards starvation mode... not good for weightloss.

I'm currently doing 1200 cals a day following a program. I'd suggest using calorie king and inputting your details and I think it works a calorie limit out for you based on those..... but the limits are pretty high.

Perhaps start with 1800 and see how you go. If you're coping fine but want to see a few more results (and you are training aswell), perhaps push it down 100 cals at a time. Or you could start at 1500 or even at the 1200 and see how you handle it with the option of adding cals if you feel it's not enough.

I've adapted perfectly fine to 1200 cals and I was well into the morbidly obese category. Drink lots of water... water is amazing.
Good luck!!

[Beach Mama]

See told you I had no idea! I need to lose around 6 kgs, and my cals per day are around 1300 so I was way off sorry!! I would definitely recommend one of those sites as they can help with recipes, success stories and motivation! Good luck!

[RhiChiChi]

There is actually a calculation/formula to determine what you calories should be but I can't find it at the moment

I know the Michelle Bridges 12 week body transformation recommends 1200 calories (including snacks) but if you read her book, it is 1200-1500 calories.

[nothing2lose]

Google Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator and punch in all your info. It will tell you exactly how much you should be eating. It may surprise you. The more you need to lose, often the higher it is (to a point). Don't try to eat less than the recommended calorific allowance because it will effect long term results.

Good luck!

Eta: okay, I did it for you...your bmr is 1719 cals. So that is the minimum your body uses at rest to fuel its metabolic activity. Now that you know your BMR, you can calculate TDEE by multiplying your BMR by your activity multiplier from the chart below:

Activity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. Active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

Example:
Your BMR is 1339 calories per day
Your activity level is moderately active (work out 3-4 times per week)
Your activity factor is 1.55
Your TDEE = 1.55 X 1339 = 2075 calories/day

So, to lose a kilo you need to create a calorie deficit of 7000 calories. That means from your weekly bmr (adjusted with
your tdee), you need to reduce 500 cals a day (for 0.5 kg weekly weightloss) or 1000 cals for a kg.

[Traveller]

But the basal metabolic rate calculator doesn't take into account fat vs muscle build in the body. The more fat you have, the less calories you need. So mine says I should be having 1500 calories a day and I know (due to my complete lack of muscles at present) that I would lose no weight if I ate all that at the moment. So I stick to 1200 and will increase that as my muscle build increases with exercise