I need help learning how to count calories...

Hi everyone. I am new to this site and have already lost 25lbs on my own. The thing is, is that I didn't use any type of method. I just ate what I thought would be appropriate and would weigh myself like 7 times a day just to make sure I wasn't over eating. Anyways, weighing myself 7 times a day is exhausting and I would like to start counting calories instead... seems like so much less work! lol The problem is that I don't know where to start, I don't know how many calories I should be eating, I don't know how much fat or sodium to eat daily. I'm just really lost. Everyone on this site has had so much success counting calories and I was hoping someone could help me start.

Specs: I am a female, 5'5", and weigh 218lbs. I don't get much exercise in, maybe twice a week I will do Wii Fit yoga & weight training. I slowly added in those exercises and the more I lose the more I'll add in.

I only drink water, no juice or pop or anything like that. I am considering having two cups of chocolate milk a day because I hate dairy and it's the only thing I can see myself eating or drinking to get calcium. I literally get nooo calcium (I can feel it in my bones I am only 21 years old). It's bad.

Any kind of help would be really appreciated!

Use the calorie count tools to figure out your daily calorie intake. go under my account....account settings.... then at the bottom it will say daily calorie goal....click on advice .... enter all your personal information and calorie count will do the rest. Get a food scale and measure/weigh everything you put in your mouth.  Enter it all into caloriecount.  Then as you eat you can check your intake of certain key nutrients under analysis.  If you hover over the highlighted date with your mouse cursor, it will tell you how much vitamin a, c, iron, calcium ect   you are eating.   Lots of other tools on the web to calculate daily calorie intake.  Honestly though if you are eating healthly,( low fat meat, whole grains... fruits and veggies)  and weighing yourself works.... why change?   Its alot of work to enter all your food choices too. 

Looks like zenmama got this one, so I'll hit the calcium deficiency.

I hate milk.   Hate hate hate, but you know what else has calcium?  Cereal bars, which I love love love.  And broccoli, which I love love love.  Etc etc.  Just google "calcium rich foods" or something, milk is NOT your only option!

I used the tools and it said I should consume 1350 calories a day, for a lose of 1.5lbs a week, and would reach 120lbs April 16, 2010.

Isn't 1350 calories too little? I would have assumed I'd be able to eat atleast 1500 calories with my weight?

It seems like you should be eating more. Did you count your activity in? That will make the number go up. Also it all really depends on how much you actually want to lose in a week that will mess with the numbers.

I put sedentary since I don't exercise much at all, or should I put light? With the light exercise the calories are 1650, which sounds a lot better.

if you can motivate yourself to just go walking for a few miles or something 2 or 3 times a week, light should be fine

I agree with the other posters, add some activity and your calorie count will be higher... and, you will feel more satisfied on a day to day basis... I average 1500 calories a day, exercise 4 times a week, and am still losing weight... (starting weight 160)... good luck!

Activity does allow you to eat more.... so does your age... so does your muscle mass.... If you are not comfortable eating 1350.... try more....see if you still loose weight..  If you dont... and still want to eat more add more movement.. every "body" is different and so you may have to experiment to see what works for you.  I am also a firm believer in watching how hungry you are and what you ate.... some foods trigger me to eat more... some keep me satisfied for a long time and I don't even think about food until my bodys telling me to eat...  For me I cannot eat much refined sugar/ flour in the morning... no donuts...bagels or even bran muffins...  otherwise I am in the cupboard all day looking for something else to eat.  I think the real key is awareness.... what you are eating .... how much.... why.... what you ate before that did not satisfy you  .... how much movement you are getting in.   I read some study that showed people lost weight just because they were recording what they were doing... apparently just the act of recording makes you aware and I am guessing encourages you to eat less.

Well, there was just a recent post about calcium-rich foods http://caloriecount.about.com/calcium-ft12613 0

There are a couple of things you wanna keep in mind that nobody else has mentioned:

1.  Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is 1810 calories a day.  That means, if you were in a coma, that is how many calories your body would burn.  That is the minimum number of calories you should be eating as that's what your body needs to keep your organs functioning.  If you eat under that, you'll lose weight at first, but eventually go into starvation mode since your body feels like you're not feeding it enough to survive, and instead of burning off your excess fat, it'll stall your metabolism and start feeding off your muscle mass instead, which has a lot more nutrients.

2. A pound of weight is equal to 3500 calories.  Which means that if you want to lose 1 lbs, you have to eat 3500 calories less then you burn.  For example, if you eat 500 calories less then you burn every day, that will work out to be 1 lbs a week weight loss.  A deficit of 1000 calories a day will equal 2 lbs.

3. You should never have more then a deficit of 1000 calories a day, give or take, as again, your body will feel like you're depriving it too much and will stall your metabolism and weight loss.  It's not a race - nice and slow will keep the weight coming off and will make it easier to keep it off.

So, in summary, you should be eating no less then 1800 calories a day, and in order to create your deficit, you'll need to add on some activity so that you can burn more then that.  At sedentary, you're already burning about 2100 calories a day, so if you keep your activity the same, you'll lose about 0.6 lbs a week.  I'd suggest adding in some walking every day, even if it's only for about 20min or so.  It'll make a huge difference.

One last thing - those numbers will go down as you continue to lose weight, so you'll want to recalculate every so often to figure out your new bmr.  How much you're burning a day will be calculated for you on here if you keep your weight current on the website and keep adding in your activities.

Hope that helps and good luck! :)

PS.  I calculated your BMR from this site:

http://www.tlbc.ca/blog/index.php/bmr-calcula tor/

Suggestion #1 - start reading the Advice section.  There's a lot there, so maybe start with Mary Hartley's expert articles.  You'll learn about what works and what doesn't, how to plan your meals, and how your metabolism works.  The branch out and browse the other articles.  We all need to educate ourselves.  This is a whole new ball game.

Suggestion #2 - take a calcium suppelment and log it.  You won't have to worry about getting your calcium from milk.  Personally I like milk, yogurt and cheeses, but if I see my analysis is short on the calcium, I chew a couple of Tums.  There are other foods that are high in calcium.  You can google "calcium rich foods."