Need help in establishing my limits in order to lose weight.

Hi,  I'm new to CC and having a difficult time with establishing my daily limits for carb, protein, fat and fiber.  I know there are tools to calculate it for me but it doesn't sound right.  Here is my stat:

Age: 40

Height: 5'2"

CW: 123

GW: 110

Exercise: 30 mins of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (level II)

I'm on a 1200 cal/per day right now.  Since I started my diet about 3 weeks ago, I've lost 8lbs (was 131) before I joined CC.  But before CC, I did not count my calories but am pretty sure that my cal intake decreased by eating lotsa greens, etc. And I'm pretty sure it was less than 1200.  Trying to stick to a 1200 cal seems like a lot of food.

Thank you in advance.

Trying to stick to a 1200 cal seems like a lot of food.

- really, ? you can't be serious.   I think if you read the links about ultra low calories, you will see it is highly NOT recommended on this site!

I "think" that it feels like a lot of food because before counting calories, I was consuming a lot less (because I thought I had to in order to lose the weight.....and honestly, I did lose 8lbs).  Counting is going to put me on a healthier path because it's showing me that I need to eat more.  Along with counting, I've realized that losing pounds quickly isn't healthy.  Now, I'm aiming for a pound or two a week.

Question....if I stick to the 1200 cal/day.....can I consume anything I want as long as I stay within the limit and still lose weight?  Or do I need to stick with 50/30/20 (carbo/fat/protein)?  I haven't had any red meat, pasta, bread, sweets in the past 3 weeks but a lot of the healthier foods that I'm eating now contains carbo.

I kind of agree. I can get extremely full at 900 or so calories. I just happen to eat a lot of foods that are extremely low in calories. I eat 1200 anyways, since I want to keep my metabolism up and running at full speed!

Personally, I watch my fat and calorie intake, and try to make good choices, but I'm not stuck on percentages and such. Once I get down to about 10 pounds before my goal, I'll start paying more attention to my percentages because it'll probably make losing it easier.

Just out of curiosity sack, what are you girls eating?  I feel hungry a lot, and I am trying to stick to about 1600 cal. a day.  Either I am doing something wrong or you are more controlled than me.

I'm with druciana!

I eat a lot of low-calorie food, just so I can eat more.  But I could definitely be happy on 2000 cal or more a day!

Then again, I'm 5'9", so I know my calorie needs are a little different.  But even so... I'd love to be able to be satisfied with just the 1200 cal/day! 

I stay around 14-1500/day, which keeps me content :)

Here's what I had yesterday:

1/2 cup high fiber cereal with almond milk 

Soy protein powder smoothie (w/ strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, almond milk)

6 oz. greek yogurt

3 oz. Boston Market  Rotisserie chicken (no skin)

21 g. almond slivers

2 whole peaches

Starbuck's tall soy cappuccino (have to have 1 every day....the "thing" that I look forward to!)

2 cooked egg whites

1 pear

8 oz. watermelon

This totaled 1056 calories (according to a calorie counter tool).....didn't even make it to 1200.  But reached high levels of Carb (166g), Fat (27g) and Protein (86g).

This is why I ask if I will still lose weight because my carb is so high.  I know that I'll have to do better at reaching my 1200 cal limit though.

Like I said before, before I started counting calorie, I might have been on a very low calorie diet and now trying to meet 1200 seems a lot even though I know it isn't. 

Ummm.. where are your veggies? :s