How do I know what my calorie intake needs to be?

Just wondering if you guys have links or info on how many calories I need to take in to be able to lose weight? I want to lose about 10 pounds and I'm just guessing at the moment as to what my calorie intake should be; I've been trying to stay between 1300 and 1500 calories and I do work out most days of the week for an average of 45 min. Obviously I don't want my calorie intake to be too high, but I also don't want it to be too low and shut down my metabolism. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Wed. Mar 25, 10:39pm

This site has a handy little calculator for you. Just take your BMR, subtract 500 and that should be what you should aim for in a day.

Link

Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 6:24 PM

My BMR is only 1300; I'd starve to death if I subtracted 500 from my BMR!! I use my BMR as my daily calorie target, which is another way you can go about it. (BMR doesn't include ANY movement or exercise - it is essentially the calories you need to exist assuming you stay in bed all day.)

The link the pp provided is a good one, and if I subtracted 500 from that number, I'd be in good shape and it's close to my BMR.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 7:42 PM

6:24 - curious...are you assuming the number you're getting from that link is your BMR? That number probably *includes* the BMR as part of the calculation, but it also includes activity - subtracting 500 calories from THAT number works.

A person's BMR represents a base calorie need - it doesn't include the energy/calories needed to exist beyond staying in bed all day. Subtracting from your BMR would be way too low for most people. To experiment, I added 80 pounds to my weight to see what my BMR would be - it was *only* 1600. Subtracting 500 calories from that is still a very low number.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 7:52 PM

However much you are currently eating, if you are not loosing weight you need to eat less and exercise more.

Thursday, April 9, 2009, 12:05 AM

how much i am eating..

i worked out my bmr its 1478
im eating 1200-1400 cals a day
and my excercises mount up to 500-600 a day
i want to lose weight yes, but cutting down cals further and excercising more is just unhealthy dont you agree?

Thursday, April 9, 2009, 4:50 PM

I agree, in fact unless you've been put on a very low calorie diet by a doctor, I think even 1200-1400 is low, if you're burning 500-600. I'd aim for 1200-1400 AFTER exercise. Anything much lower than that would be very hard to maintain in the longer term.

Thursday, April 9, 2009, 5:06 PM

4:50p - your calorie plan sounds great.

1200-1400 cals is very reasonable for many people, even when doing vigorous exercise.

Thursday, April 9, 2009, 5:20 PM

You're a long way from a starvation diet. Many times we are actually consuming more calories than we think we are, and exercising less than we would like to think we are. Your weight is determined by how much you eat and how little you exercise.

Saturday, April 11, 2009, 10:27 PM

10:27p - amen!

Sunday, April 12, 2009, 11:49 AM

you shouldnt even be on this forum, its never about starving yourself, thats as far from healthy as you can get, it takes people longer to lose weight when embarking on a new excercise regime because muscle is being gained, your weight is not just about how little you excercise and how much you eat that is so ignorant to say, we all know there are many factors to that equation. all i can say is listen to your body, it works with you not against you, and if you're patient you'll acheive what you want to acheive and thats NOT just weight loss, but also a healthier fitter person in you.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 5:54 AM

Related PEERtrainer Thread:

How Many Calories Do I Need To Consume To Lose Weight?

Thursday, September 23, 2010, 12:08 PM

I checked out that link to find out what my numbers would be. It came out to 2491 than I subtracted the 500 and it says 1991. The past 2 days I have consumed less than 900 calories a day. I cut out all sweets and that is what is left over. LOL

I started keeping track of everything I eat. I drink 99% water so that isn't a problem for me.

Link

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