I have been eating around 2000 calories

Hi!

 Well, for starters I am 5'1'', 18 years old, 101 lbs and a female. I exercise at least 4 times a week (which is 35 minutes on an elliptical, 15ish minutes speed walking on a treadmill, and then about 15 minutes+ weights)

 Lately, I've been trying to figure out my maintenance calories. How hard is this!? Without stressing about meeting a certain number I have found myself at about 2000-2500 calories a day. 

 Does anyone else think this seems a little high? I am afraid I gaining weight, though I know I shouldn't be.

So, is this number a little high? should I scale back a little bit and see what the scale does in a week or so?

thanks ahead of time for the input!!! 

nope. keep to it and see what the pants say in a week or two. if there is no change, stick to it!

No, that's not high.  I'm 44 yo and 120 lbs and I'm on 2300 cals per day.

eat what YOUR body needs. dont base what you need on a national average, or what some calculator says. IF you need 3000 calories, then heck eat 3000 calories, and feel blessed. only eat less if you start to notice a fat belly and signifigant weight gain, thats substainal.

Does anyone know what calories I should be eating? I'm 51 years old and walk around 5-6 miles daily. I've been eating around 1600-1800 calories. One week I gain a few pounds and the next week I loose a few pounds. I just don't know how to maintain...............I'd like to cut down on the exercise a little, so what do I do about the amount of calories I eat?   

It depends on your height and weight (among other things).

How tall are you, and how much do you weigh?

Well, today I weigh 131 pounds, 5'4" tall. I'm really having a hard time finding the amount of calories I should be eating and amount of exercising I should be doing. I would appreciate any input from anyone.

Tobyholic -- at sedentary (which my calculator puts at not really moving) you burn 1730 cals

This is the calculator I used:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/calories-b urned

According to this site (CC) you burn 1500 at sedentary -- a bit of a difference.  I recommend you 1) try exercise and 2) think about dropping your calories to 1250-1300 on days you don't exercise.  Try to make sure your deficit is never more than 1000 calories.

You can do any exercise -- cardio is great as a fat burner and cardiovascular exercise -- strength is great as a fat burner (due to muscle growth) and strength enhancer. 

 

Wow.......thanks!