Funky info from....

Okay, so...seeing as I am totally confused about my daily calorie total to lose weght, I just don't get this site's burn meter and all that..I've been eating 1250 and I haven't lost...so I decided to check out other calorie info websites...I put in my information...

I'm five foot 4...which is 63 inches total...

28 years old...

Starting weight of 220

and it told me....

Your results for the Women's Nutrition Guide Calorie Calculator

These results will help you to know how many calories you need to maintain your current weight, and the number of calories needed per day to achieve your goal weight in a healthy, steady manner.

You need 2276.7 calories per day to maintain your current weight without exercise.

You need 1898.1 calories per day to reach your goal weight slowly and maintain that weight without exercise.

If you reduce your current caloric intake to 1776.7 calories per day you will lose one pound per week without exercise.

If you increase your current caloric intake to 2776.7 calories per day, you will gain one pound per week.

Exercise and Calorie Needs

If you exercise for 30 minutes each day, you may increase your caloric intake to 2530.6 calories per day and still maintain your current weight.

If you exercise for 60 minutes each day, you may increase your caloric intake to 2848.1 calories per day to maintain your current weight.

If you exercise for 30 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 2106.6 calories per day.

If you exercise for 60 minutes each day, you will be able to reach your goal weight with 2367.2 calories per day.

Okay, so is this right? have I been eating too little? Ugh I am so confused!!!!!

You would get a more accurate estimate of caloric need if you could get your bodyfat measured. With that number, I'm sure you could find a calculator online that could use that info and give you a better estimate.

ok..well I will have to go to my doctor for that. but in the meantime, I don't want to eat the wrong amount...is the calorie info right? or...is there another CC member with the same stats who could give me a baseline idea?

thanks.

1250 calories is far too little food for someone of your age and weight.  When I started, I weighed almost 180 pounds and my "don't eat less than this" number was about 1500 calories.  I actually ate between 1500 and 1700 calories (adding light exercise several times a week in the form of walks and bike rides) and lost 25 pounds over 4 months.  About half way through, I added weight training into the mix and increased my calories a little to compensate (and kept losing weight). 

This site: http://www.phord.com/cc/ is a good place to find out what your BMR is (the "don't eat less than this" number).  I got 1716 calories/day when I punched in your stats.

Original Post by susiecue:

1250 calories is far too little food for someone of your age and weight.  When I started, I weighed almost 180 pounds and my "don't eat less than this" number was about 1500 calories.  I actually ate between 1500 and 1700 calories (adding light exercise several times a week in the form of walks and bike rides) and lost 25 pounds over 4 months.  About half way through, I added weight training into the mix and increased my calories a little to compensate (and kept losing weight). 

This site: http://www.phord.com/cc/ is a good place to find out what your BMR is (the "don't eat less than this" number).  I got 1716 calories/day when I punched in your stats.

 See, thats what I thought too! even tho CC gave me that number...I'll check out that website...I just don't see why CC was giving me that number...odd....

Okay...the link you gave me said this....

Reasoning:

Deficits: Your deficit is the difference between how many calories you eat and how many calories you burn. Your recommended deficit is 343 calories. This is the least of your Activity Deficit (343 calories), your Safety Deficit (1100 calories), and your Maximum Fat Calorie Expenditure (which cannot be calculated without knowing your body fat percentage).

Activity Deficit (343 calories): This is the number of calories you burn in your daily activities (such as being awake, driving to work, exercising, doing homework, etc.). This is an estimate based on the amount of exercise you indicated you do each week in the form above, averaged out for daily deficit numbers. For sedentary individuals this is 20% of your BMR.

Safety Deficit (1100 calories): Nutritionists say that you can safely lose no more than 1% of your body weight per week. For the weight you gave (220 lb), you can safely lose about 2.2 lb per week. Because each pound of body fat contains 3500 calories of energy, your safe deficit is 2.2 lb * 3500 calories per pound per week = 7700 calories per week, which comes to 7700 / 7 = 1100 calories per day.

Maximum Fat Calorie Expenditure (unknown without body fat percentage): One study found that body fat in humans can be converted to energy at a maximum rate of 31 calories per pound of actual body fat per day. Any energy you expend beyond this rate comes from your intake of nutrients and the breakdown (catabolysis) of your muscles. Weight loss in most people consists of about 75% FAT and 25% MUSCLE. Since we can calculate the actual amount of body fat in your body using your Body Fat Percentage (if given), we can determine the optimal calorie deficit to focus on FAT BURN instead of MUSCLE LOSS. To optimize your FAT BURN instead of MUSCLE LOSS, you should choose a deficit that does not exceed this value. (Persons wishing to lose muscle as well as fat can ignore this deficit limit.)

BMR 1716 kcal RMR 2059 kcal Avg. Daily Burn 2059 kcal Activity deficit 343 kcal Exercise deficit 0 kcal Safety deficit (1%/wk) 1100 kcal Recommended deficit 343 kcal Recommended intake target 1716 kcal Recommended daily protein 80 g (minimum) Daily protein ratio 18.6 % (minimum) Expected weight loss 0.7 lb per week Age (years) 28 Weight 220 lb Height 64 inches Ideal weight (BMI=22) 127.6 lb Ideal range (BMI=18.5-25) 107.8 lb - 145.2 lb Amount to lose 74.8 lb BMI 37.8 (Clinically obese 35-40)
BMR
(kcals) Estimation methods comparison chart 1776 Harris-Benedict Formula (1919): (Female)
655 + (9.6 * weight in kg) + (1.8 * height in cm) - (4.7 * age in Yrs)
655 + (9.6 * 100) + (1.8 * 162.56) - (4.7 * 28) = 1716
1716 Mifflin-St Jeor (1990): (Female)
(9.99 * weight in kg)+(6.25 * height in cm)-(4.92 * age in yrs) - 161
(9.99 * 100)+(6.25 * 162.56)-(4.92 * 28) - 161

1716.....

Thats my daily calories to lose? seems more reasonable....I just want to be sure. :)

That looks right to me. My stats are similar to yours and mine is 1750.

GREAT! thank you! :)