confused about numbers

Hi, I have been doing this CC thing for a while now and I have a question about some confusing numbers.

I know that women should not go below 1200 cals a day to help prevent starvation mode... however, is that number based on an average sized woman? When I went and looked at the number of cals my body uses without workouts it comes out to 2500 a day... so to me it seems that my starvation limit would be higher since I am a bigger woman. Am I wrong in that thinking? Not that I want to have a reason to eat more, just wondering if that might be a part of my trouble with this recent plateau and why I am losing slower than I think I should be able to considerig what I eat (and don't) and the workouts I do.

thanks.

THat is correct.  If you need more calories to live day to day then you should eat more.  The 1200 cals is the bare min any person should eat.  My metabolism is about 1700 a day to live and I work out to add 500- 600 a day and try not to eat more than 1700 still leaving a deficit.  You should eat enough to survive.  If you drop too many calories your body will think it is starving.

So I am confused as well, when I go into the tools it tells me to eat 1350 cal a day to lose all of my weight by June 07' I usually eat about 14-1600 per day. but I work out 5 days a week burning about 5-700 calories per day. Then it says doing nothing I burn about 2100 calories a day. Wouldn't only eating 1350 calories put me in a serious deficit? Based on my workouts how many calories should I be getting per day? I have a hard time losing weight, so I really could use some helpful advice : )

Where in WA are you?  I'm in Spokane!

I am in Puyallup : )

I get so confused too....then someone said to look at the account page and it will show how much you burned at the bottom then with your food journal how much you ate.  I decided since I sit all day at work that I put my activity level at sedintary then put in my workouts....

My question is should those numbers have the 500-1000 deficit to loose weight?  That would be much easier to figure out instead of the other tools. 

princessjenn30 and jeunene I'm in Bellevue, Washington also, I added you guys as friends if you don't mind.

I don't mind, its very much appreciated : )Princessjenn can I add you to my friends too? Does the account page include calories burned during exercise? Should I have a 1000 cal deficit or is that way too much? Still so confused :)

Of course, add me to your friends list!  I have lost over 200 pounds with weight watchers and I find the points work GREAT!!  I count points and log calories.  I find that I eat about 1400-1500 calories a day.  24 points.  I think 1,000 deficit is WAY too much unless your very overweight.  I try to stick with 500-700 deficit.  I workout 5x a week and burn between 700-900 calories.  I think I may eat a little too little (that makes ZERO sense) but I have a FREE day, Saturday where I eat a TON!  I figure it all balances out!!!  Maybe I'll get a before and after pic on here soon!!

Wow, I didn't think it would take me this long to get back to te computer.

So, here is the next part of the question. Is there a magic formula (for lack of a better term) for knowing how many calories are right for you then? Lets say I want to lose about 1.5-2 lbs a week. I work out 3-5 times a week, each time burning approx 1000-1300 cals. through cardio and weight lifting. Without working out this site tells me I should eat 2500 cals a day... which I don't think I have been eating that many cals a day all year save for some holidays and parties and the like as I always equated weight loss with few calories...

so, what, should I add the 2500 to the average per day for the workout total (like if I work out 4 times at 1150 per time making for a daily average of 657 cals) to get 3057 cals a day and then eat like 5-700 cals a day less than that?

Did that make any sense at all?

Check out message #15 in this thread (it explains all the math):

http://www.calorie-count.com/forums/post/8532 .html

Wow! thanks.

Now, to actually give the calorie counting thing a real go... mostly I have been estimating, and I am pretty sure (from the few days that i have actually done the food log here and they were typical eating days for me) that I get about 1200-1400 a day (I was figuring that as long as I stayed above 1200 I would be okay). So that falls below the 1000 calorie a day deficit.

Could that be a part of the reason I am not losing the 1.5-2 lbs a week? Is there a way to figure out what my starvation level is so that I know what I need to avoid?

Also, one last question, is there a way to figure out how much muscle weight you are gaining? Or is that a measurement thing.

Thank you so much for the advice, I have changed my deficit to be about 700 cal per day : )