How Much To Consume?

I started my own diet on September 1st and have lost 3 lbs. which I am happy about :)

I am a 23 year old female, 5'7", and currently weigh 215 lbs. I consume anywhere between 1200-1800 calories a day and have recently been working out on the stationary bike, burning around 1200 calories per day. According to the site, I burn an average of 2700 calories a day (without factoring in my added 1200 calories I burn exercising).

My question is: How many calories should I be consuming daily since I am burning off around 3900 calories or so daily so that I can lose weight, but still remain healthy?

I try to eat when I get hungry (small snacks like applesauce, fruit, yogurt, etc.) and eat healthy meals most of the time.

Any help is appreciated :)

*According to the site, it says my target daily calorie intake is 2550 calories, which I am not even close to eating*

- Mary

Simply don't let your deficit (the difference between your total burned and total eaten) be greater than 1000 calories.

If you are really burning 2700 calories a day (which seems high - if you used your exercise to determine your activity level, you don't get to also count the exercise - either set yourself to sedentary and log exercise, or pick the activity level that best describes you and don't log), you need to be eating at least 1700 calories on those days, more if the exercise means you are burning more than 2700.

Ahhh, yeah, I exercise everyday, so I will change my level to sedentary. Thanks :)

Yeah, sounds like you were double counting your burn if you set you level to light AND logged your excercise. I'm also 5'7", and I started at 214, and at that time my sedentary burn was 2100.

So, reset to sedentary, then log everything.  Even housework gets counted! 

Also, you should eat more than 1200 if you are exercising.  That 1200 # is the MINIMUM needed for a petite woman who is sedentary, just to run her organs. Just aim for a 500 calorie or so deficit.  At your size I was able to get a 700 deficit fairly easy.    500 calorie deficit a day should get a 1lb a week loss.

Example:  Normal burn 2100 +extra 700 calories burned exercising = 2800.  So you can eat from 2100 - 2300 calories on the days you exercise.

I changed it to sedentary and now the burn meter says around 2660 is what I burn basically just sitting around, lol. If I factor in what I burn exercising, it is 3860 calories that I burn daily. I do eat steak and stuff occasionally and do splurge, but lately, I guess my body has grown accustomed to eating lighter meals, with snacks in between, which really only adds up to around 1700-1800 calories at the most surprisingly. Even when I add in stuff like ice cream, it doesn't make it a lot higher, lol. When my trip to Walt Disney World rolls around in January (just after my birthday), I will definitely be getting those calories, since we are on the dining plan.

When I put your stats in the calorie burned tool, set at sedentary, I get 2100 - so what thmheh said she was burning - I think you might have not actually changed your account settings (My Account --> Account Settings) to sedentary.

Also, in terms of adding activity, sedentary assumes you are doing things like getting up, showering, cooking, laundry, walking to the car or bus stop, walking around work - unless you are raking leaves or gardening or moving boxes, I wouldn't log the everyday activities, just out of the norm "exercise."

I had already changed my settings to Sedentary (Under My Settings) and the Burn Meter still reads around 2600, lol :) Oh well, I eat nowhere near that, unless I feel really hungry, which I surprisingly haven't lately.

Regarding what activities I am logging: so far, I have just been putting down if I have done any walking (like around the block or the mall, but rarely unless it actually counts) and the stationary bike (which is 1200 calories daily lately).