Can someone please explain something to me?

I am 27 years old, 5'4", exercise daily (4 days a week, 1-2 mile walk at 4 mph, and the other three days I do Pilates and Yoga), and am trying to maintain my current weight of 125 lbs. According to calorie count I should eat 1300 calories, to maintain my weight. Another website told me 1765 calories. Which is correct? I have been eating 1765 a day, and I am now afraid that I might gain weight this way (I have lost 2.5 lbs this week though, but am afraid I will start to gain).

Also, why is it that people that have more weight to lose should eat more calories than me? For instance, if I was trying to lose 10 lbs, I would have to eat close to only 1200 calories, but for someone 50 lbs heavier, they would have to eat 1700 - 1900 calories. Do people that have more weight to lose burn calories faster?

where did you get 1300 calories? Using the expenditure tool here, with 'moderate activity' selected I get 2100 calories for someone of your stats. 1300 calories might be you BMR (what you would burn if you lay in bed in a coma), but you do activities that burn calories all day long, even when you are not exercising. and then you exercise on top of that.

In the end your metabolism is personal. We can guess what it is, but really the only way to know for sure is to track your calories and your weight. Whatever number of calories it takes for you to maintain your weight will be the right number.

and yes, people who weigh more burn more--it just takes more work to carry around those heavy bodies--so people who lose weight end up adjusting to lower and lower calorie levels as they get smaller.

Well in my experience ive been wondering some similar things.Like why is it someone who is 200 pounds can walk a hour and burn up to 700 calories but me i can only burn like 200.i thinks its because it takes alot more for them to move their body weight .but im guessing the reason is the same with the intake ,they need more calories because they have more fat to burn then we do,so yes they do burn it faster.

and as for you i think you should choose a healthy medium if your not sure how many calories you need,but you can rely on the fact if you take in more calories then you burn ,you gain ,if you burn more cals then you ate you lose weight.

so really it all depends on your level of activity for that day.

Original Post by librarygirl:

where did you get 1300 calories? Using the expenditure tool here, with 'moderate activity' selected I get 2100 calories for someone of your stats. 1300 calories might be you BMR (what you would burn if you lay in bed in a coma), but you do activities that burn calories all day long, even when you are not exercising. and then you exercise on top of that.

In the end your metabolism is personal. We can guess what it is, but really the only way to know for sure is to track your calories and your weight. Whatever number of calories it takes for you to maintain your weight will be the right number.

and yes, people who weigh more burn more--it just takes more work to carry around those heavy bodies--so people who lose weight end up adjusting to lower and lower calorie levels as they get smaller.

I found that number on calorie count.  When you go to your goals page, and it asks how many calories you eat a day, and then there is a link next to it that says "advice" when I put my information there, it says I should eat 1300 calories a day. 

 

I hope you are right with the 2100 calories.  I have trouble only eating 1765, never mind 1300!!!  That would make sense though, b/c even with eating about 1765 calories this past week, and going slightly over that on some days, I still lost 2.5 lbs.

Yes, the bigger you are, the more calories you burn.  The reason is: in order to get to that weight you would have had to eat a lot more calories a day.  Your body adjusts to that and eventually burns that number of calories a day.  But, as you lose weight and eat fewer calories, your body starts to adjust to that and burns less calories a day.  That's why when you're trying to lose, it's a good idea to have a higher calorie day every so often so your body doesn't get too used to the lower calorie amount and it keeps it burning at the higher levels.

2100 calories for you to maintain with your activity sounds about right.  Try it out for awhile and see how you feel, and how your weight goes.  You might have to adjust a bit but it shouldn't be too far off of that.

If you're having trouble with 1700 calories, that's a sure sign that you're not eating enough.  Make sure even with all the numbers you're getting, that you keep listening to your body. :)

Good luck!

Jen,

Are you using Calorie Count Plus?  If so, go to Tools, then select Calorie Target.  Put your information in there and that will tell you about what to shoot for on a daily basis....  I'm sure it's more than 1300....  ESPECIALLY considering how much you exercise.

Also, do you log your foods on a daily basis?  Do you also log your activities (exercising, etc)?  IF you do, then on your home page under My Account you'll see your estimated calories burned for the day (the small number at the top of the blue box.)

Hope this helps!

Safiyah

My calculations show your BMR at 1550. 

If you're in maintenance you need to eat at least this much + any exercise you do. 

Thank you all so much, you have made me feel better about this. I am using CC + and the calorie target tool is what is giving my a goal of 1300 a day :(  There is no where to put in that I am trying to maintain, so when it asks what my goal weight is, I just put in my current weight.  Maybe that is where I am going wrong?  I will check out the burn meter, I do log all foods and activities. Should I am to eat what I burn then?

Just wondering... did you change your diet to maintainence from weight loss on the goals page?  That might give you a more appropriate intake.

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that alle0299.  Jen, go to your account settings page under the My Account tab and change from weight loss to weight maintenance. (It's about halfway down)  THEN go back and do the calorie target tool, I'll bet you get a different number then.

Safiyah

Original Post by jenspangenberg:

Original Post by librarygirl:

where did you get 1300 calories? Using the expenditure tool here, with 'moderate activity' selected I get 2100 calories for someone of your stats. 1300 calories might be you BMR (what you would burn if you lay in bed in a coma), but you do activities that burn calories all day long, even when you are not exercising. and then you exercise on top of that.

In the end your metabolism is personal. We can guess what it is, but really the only way to know for sure is to track your calories and your weight. Whatever number of calories it takes for you to maintain your weight will be the right number.

and yes, people who weigh more burn more--it just takes more work to carry around those heavy bodies--so people who lose weight end up adjusting to lower and lower calorie levels as they get smaller.

I found that number on calorie count.  When you go to your goals page, and it asks how many calories you eat a day, and then there is a link next to it that says "advice" when I put my information there, it says I should eat 1300 calories a day. 

 

I hope you are right with the 2100 calories.  I have trouble only eating 1765, never mind 1300!!!  That would make sense though, b/c even with eating about 1765 calories this past week, and going slightly over that on some days, I still lost 2.5 lbs.

 Heres the explanation ive been given bigger people need more intake to function. You might need 1500 cal a day to move but they might need 2000 depending on their level of activity.