Calories

Ok, I am new here......I have been reading thru the posts and I am in need of some help.  I am 5'8, 24 and weigh 165lbs.  My goal is to get back to my prepregnancy weight of 130.  I would like to try and get there in the next 6 months.  So, I filled out the profile and it said 1600 calories a day in order to do this.  I was just wondering if that is tooooooooo high???  Alot of other post talk about 1200 calories or less daily.  What is the norm here?  I am confused!  Should I lower my calorie intake in order to loose weight or is this a good number to stick with?  Please help......lol

LORI

The posts usually say that 1200 calories or less puts your body in starvation mode. So I dont think you should go there.
But I am not sure. A lot of people here have had success by going the recommended calorie intake. Lol sorry Im not that much of a help

Lexy

i personally try to stay around 1200 calories a day but alot of people on here say thats too low. the site says that i should have around 1500. i'm also 5'8", 23 and weigh 173lbs. my goal is to get down to 145lbs by september.
 
sinse we are so close in everything maybe we can kinda stick together and give each other tips and stuff to help each other out. my weight is also baby weight. i have a 2yr old and a 1yr old that are only 11 months apart so it's been kinda tough getting all the baby fat off.

anyway, i don't know if i've really answered your question or if i've just rambled on....i'm sure there are people on here that know more than me that can be much more help lol

Thanks.  I understand what you mean on the 11 months apart thing.  My sister has two that are 11 months apart.  Thats crazy!  My son Austin is 19 months old.  When me and my fiance got together I was wearing a size 5.  Of course, I was only 18 at the time too.  After some time, I went into depression and went all the way up to size 11.  Well, things got better and I got back down to a size 7.  But of course, I then had a baby.  So, now Im back to size 11-12.  We are getting married June of 2007 and I really want to be back to 130lbs.  Its sooooooooo much harder to loose weight now than before.  Nice to meet you

My sister and I are doing this together as well. LOL

hey i've got one pair of strech 12s that fit (gotta love the strech!) but 14 are what really fits me. i have kinda a large build so i don't wanna get to small or i just look too skinny. i'd like to get into 6s or 8s like i was when i got married. it's been 4 years and soooo many pounds ago.
i'm gonna add you to my friends. hope thats okay

Yeah it is.......I added you as well.....

So, what do you eat daily?  Just curious.....I posted diet logs so you can see what I have been eating......

I think 1200 is kind of the bare minimum.  It does seem like a number of people here at that, but I don't think I could. . . at least not right now.  I'm still having trouble some days sticking to around 1400 :-P .

morning lady's, it depents on you activity level, the higher that is, the higher the calorie intake.

To lose weight, you should burn more calories then you take in. But that's just a little explaination. For a better one you have to weight, until someone who can go in details, ~can't make myself completle clear at time~ get's up and reads this posting.

That is fine!  People who have 1200 calories daily want to acheive their goal sooner than you.  Your body needs at least 1,200 calories a day to function, so if you're trying to loose weight I've read it is usually good to eat between 1200-1,700 calories per day... don't worry!  If you do see that you're not loosing as much weight as you'd like fast enough you can take it down to 1,300 or 1,400 a day, but like I said, 1600 should be fine.

ruman79, if you want proof it can do it, here's mine.  i started logging on this website on jan 14, 2006 at 182lb, and TODAY i reached my goal of 160!!!  YES!!!  it's me celebrating here in michigan.

i kept my cals at 1600 with my fats and proteins 25% of my cals and carbs 50% of my cals.  and fiber average of 30 gms.   drank lots of water, and walked on average a mile a day, and worked out at curves three times a week. 

i'm a little taller than you, close to 5'10" and much, much, older, but i have to say (again) this is THE BEST WEBSITE EVER MADE.

thank you erik & company!!

My calorie intakes depends on my activity level that day -- I try to stay 1000 calories below what I am expending -- 1 pound a week would be 500 calories below so I am aiming for two pounds a week.  I have been here since 2/21 and I have lost 16.4 pounds -- which has made a huge difference in my body size.  I was wearing 10 & 12's and now I am wearing 6& 8's.  

I added you to my friends list -- I am in IL too :)

The website told me tated as well, I think it makes a big different in what activity level you are at, and how often you excercise. Try changing you activity level around to see what other calorie intakes are recommended. I originally had moderate, and it said 1600 calories, after changing it to light I was down at 1400. I'm probably not as active as I think (at least not until summer gets underway). I thought it would be better to log my daily activities in, than I can more easily track my expenditure, which is your best bet. So if I'm still hungry after 1400, and my expenditure for the day is high above my intake than I can have acouple more calories, and if not, I actually know before I eat too much.

I tried to keep my cals around 1200 which is hard to do it seems to be easier at 1000 or 1400 for some reason 1200 was tuff for me.  Any way I lost 5 pound and went into starvation mode gaining back 2 lbs.  Once I bumped up yo 1400 for a week I started loosing again.  I'm also bigger 5'7 and now 152.5.  Keep in mind us bigger girls will need more cals to carry those muscles!  Since you want to lose your baby weight in a small amount of time just make sure your intake stays out of the starvation zone.  You don't want to have to make up for lost time.  Congrats and keep up the good work

My goal is to stay between 1,000 & 1,300, but I usually have a couple of days a week where I go over 1,400, and I'm slowly losing.  The planning tool says that for me to get to my goal weight by Christmas of 2007, I'll can eat 1,400.  This is taking into account  my sedentary lifestyle.  If I can increase my activity it will go as high as 1,500 or even a little more. 

I think the important thing is to make the healthiest food choices you can.  To for nutrition packed foods that are low in fat and sugar.  Don't bother with the empty calories of some "diet" foods. 

You need to make sure your body is getting the nourishment it needs to keep your organs and bones healthy.  Just don't load yourself down with fats and sugars and you'll be fine.

Good Luck
Claire

Hi I am 5'7"at 167 and the site tells me to eat 1200 cals a day. The weight does come off but really really really slow.  Don't know if that helps or not.

My doc said to eat 5 times a day.. so I dont go into starvation mode.. so I eat Cheerios for breakfast, I eat a apple and other fruit at 10ish, then I east a nice turkey sandwich at noon, another snack at 2-3:00 and then a dinner at 6pm or so...

I hit about 12-1600 cal per day...

But the MOST important thing i do for weight loss is I walk. every day I go on a walk for about 1 hour. and what I have noticed is if I do not walk i just stay the same.. If I do walk I loose weight.

since Jan 4th till now I have lost more than I expected.. about 2-3 lbs a week and I feel great!!

Thanks for all the replies........I really love this site.  This is the first week at this site for me.  THANKS SO MUCH

I am doing 1200 cal per day and trying not to go over by very much, i think that 1200 a day is good for us since we dont exercise that much more than normal, if yoiu intake more then you have to up your amount of exercise to off set it!!!We will get tehre girl.

For the past few days, I have been walking with my son in the stroller around dusk.  The only other excersise I have been getting is around the house.  Normal everyday duties, such as cleaning house.........  I don't know how you stay in the 1200 range.  Im struggling to stay under 1600.  LOL

What are you guys eating??????????

I'm usually in the 1300 to 1600 range, depending on the day and how much exercising I'm doing.