Not really sure what calculator to follow

Hi everyone, I have a question about how much I should be eating. I am recently 19, around 5'4" (maybe 5'5") and probably around 116, so I know I am not fat or anything but I want to decrease my body fat since I'm flabbier than i'd like and get some muscle, or reveal the little that I have....anyways I used the calculator on here and it says for lightly active I should eat around 1700 to maintain...but I used the BCM one and it says like around 2200 to maintain...now thats a big difference and I don't know what to believe...I am eating around 1600 so is that basically maintence or weight loss level since the 2 counts are so different...thanks!

Hi rosesarered12: I took the information you posted and did a Basic Metabolic Rate calculation , or BMR, for you. This calculation will tell you how many calories your body needs to function properly, without exercise. Based on your information, your BMR is 1376 calories. I don't know what level of exercise you are currently doing, so I can't further calculate how many more calories you would need. If you could provide that information, then I can do another calculation and show you what you would need.

Thanks so much. I would say daily I am nlightly active, and then I often take my dog for a 30-40 minute walk 3-4 times a week, and do some form of cardio 3 or 4 times a week with some strength training, but I can't always fit that in, but I do move around just generally fairly often...does that help?

Based on that, it looks like you are moderately active with exercise. Besides the BMR, there is a second calculation, using your BMR as part of the equation. It's called the Harris Benedict equation. They use different multipliers for how active you are. For moderately active people, the multiplier they use is 1.55. So, the calculation would be BMR x 1.55. Using your BMR, the amount of calories you would need with exercising is 2,133 calories. That number is to maintain your current weight. From here, if you want to lose a pound a week, for example, shave off 500 calories a day from the 2133, and you would need to eat 1633 calories per day.

Ok thanks so much...I hope I really am moderate...I always use light since there are days I don't workout, etc...why is the calorie count calculator so much lower? It'd have me eating like 1200 a day to lose a pound a week which seems so low for a 19 year old..

thanks for your help amb!

Oh amb, I also forgot

this means my exercise is already included in the calorie count of 2133 right? So i don't need to add it again right, otherwise i'd be double dipping..

just wanted to be sure...thanks!

2133 to mintain, excercise included.  i dont think u need to lose but you could maybe reduce or swap the cardio days for weightlifting.  ur pretty active in your day to day and 2133 might be too little to maintain on.  id say reduce cardio-wahtever that may be, and focus on a weight routine.

Yeah I have been adding in weights this week and sort of experimenting with what works for me...some of the days are a combo of weights and cardio, a bit like circuit training using a lot of the p90x videos and p90x plus total body routines, yeah I don't need to lose weight but I do have fat I could lose...i'm hoping adding weights will make a difference, thanks for the tips!

yea, DEFF do not lose weight, really.  the flab if any that you see will disappear w/ the weights which is cardio in a way. 

Hey! I think the calculator here is designed for people 21 and above, you should use a teen calculator, as your body is still developing (even though you might not see it, it is happening internally). So I believe the higher number you posted is correct, because teens need so many more calories than adults. Trial and error is the only way to know anything for sure, though, all these numbers are just recommendations, anyway. But I would assume you need more rather than less.

agruskin: yeah I agree, when I lose more weight my bmi starts to get unhealthy. last year purely due to stress i was at 100 and it was not healthy at all and it looked horrible, I am just a bit skinny fat i suppose, and have some flab on my stomach, thighs, and butt that I dislike and am so unmuscular so I am just trying to get stronger and leaner looking but don't care if the number changes on the scale since lower starts to get unhealthy; and yeah after weights I am sweating and out of breath just like cardio so I know what you mean

ily51: ok, I just wasn't sure since it seemed higher and I thought I was done growing, but I will go with the higher number and see what happens, thanks

thanks to everyone, it was super helpful!