Confused about amount of calories

Hey,

I'm new to the site, but I am already loving it. I am 21 years old, 5'7" and 195lbs. I am looking to get in shape, lose weight, and stay there. The calculator on here has me at 1276 calories a day intake. I am totally doing okay with that. I may be a little hungry here and there, but who is not. But then i read other post on here that talked about eating too few calories. I do not think  I am doing that but I just wanted to make sure? Thank you in advance for your help.

PS. I have been exercising everyday. Either a jogging/walk or palates.

First welcome to CC, what is your level set too, Sedentary, Active etc...  If it is set at sedentary then it is to low since you are not sedentary with your exercise.  The easiest way is to eat 1000 less then your average burn meter reading.  Add all of your activities into the activity log so you get a true reading of what you are burning each day.  Do this a couple of days so you can get an average.  This will help you gage your caloric need for each day. 

That would be too low..  Someone your size doing a little exercise every day can lose weight quite pleasantly and steadily on 1500 average each day. 

You could definitely eat more calories and lose plenty of weight! I'm 23, 5'6", starting weight 173, current weight 162. My recommended calorie intake is 1450, and I fluctuate between 1300 and 1600. I've only been counting for just over a month and I've lost 11 lbs!

If you are exercising, you should definitely eat more calories! As a woman, you shouldn't eat less than 1200 calories per day, and I think you are probably cutting it too close! Good luck! If you stick to your calorie count, you're sure to lose weight!

Hi KristineLynnk -

Did you put in a goal date for your weight loss?  That could be why your calories are so low.  In general, you probably don't want to eat less than 1200 calories a day.  Also, for weight loss you will want a deficit between your calories burned and calories consumed, of no more than 1,000. 

Everyone who posted before is right...figure out about how much you are burning each day and try to eat 500-1000 calories less than that each day. 

Good luck! 

Try figuring it out this way -

First figure out what you burn in a day by using the tools.  Make sure you set your activity level as accurately as you can.

Then deduct 500 to 1000 calories a day, never going below 1200, to get the amount you should eat in order to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.

Hope this way of looking at it helps you.

ok then the calorie counter has me at 1950 calories ,1 eat around 1400 cal and  my burn meter is  over 3000,as i,m exercising very hard every day[1 hr very hard] and i am very very  at workactive  so am i not eating enough???? ive gained 5 pnds in the first week ?????