Who's Had Success Following the CC Calorie Target?

How has following the CC cal target pretty closely work for you? Did you have to make any changes to it in order to reach your target weight? Or did it work perfectly? What's your experience?

I lost 15 pounds since feb. I'm on a plataeu now (about a month) but that's due to my body getting used to things. I'm taking a break from deficits on days I don't work out and only having deficits from activities on days I do workout. June first I'm going back to what cc recommends in hopes to break a plateau.

How far were you into the plateau when you stopped still eating CC's recommendations?

Just over a month. I just started eating maintenance on Friday and will continue until Monday. I know I wont gain weight so it's okay to take a break.  Hopefully this will get my body to recognize weight loss again.

Remember to be patient and that plataeus come and GO.

I don't follow what the target says. I have lost 11-12 lbs since end of January while maintaining what I think is about a 500 cal deficit each day.

When I fist joined CC told me to eat about 1400 cals a day. I would have starved I thought! So I started with like 1600 -1700. Through being on the site I re-evaluated what I was eating and what made me feel satisfied  and was able to lower my "target'" to 1500. I rarely eat just 1500 though-only on non exercise days and on the weekends I still usually eat maintenance.

I don't have a lot of weight to lose and I am pretty happy with slow weight loss. When I stall I try something different-sometimes it takes a couple of tweaks to get going again. (And I do get frustrated about stalls!)

Just for fun- before I put this post up I redid the calorie target and it told me to eat 1200 cals to lose my last 7 lbs by July 22nd (not counting exercise). No thanks!! I would rather it take a year and not suffer. So that's my experience.

I use the 1250 recommended calories a day since Jan 1, 2009, and I've lost 26 pounds with very very moderate exercise. I took about a month off as I believe I reached a plateau but I'm back on track. Good Luck!

if you put an unrealistic date for a large drop in pounds, the cc tool will still give you a number, like 1200. but if you put a date out there farther, it will give you a bigger daily calorie number, like 1500-1800. so, when i started here, i was eating 22-2000 calories a day. with one date, it told me 1300 calories. another date, a more realistic target 1700. its not a very wise tool, it will tell you totally unrealistic and unhealthy things. thats my observation about it. 

and is why i use the www.phord.com/cc tool instead. it was apparently developed by a fellow cc'er who recognized the lameness of the cc tool here and did something thats a bit more sophisticated. 

sorry, i love the community here, but about.com certainly does not put much investment into the programing and i.t. development budget. . . . despite the obnoxious splenda ads that click themselves! 

Original Post by veritasaaequitas:

I use the 1250 recommended calories a day since Jan 1, 2009, and I've lost 26 pounds with very very moderate exercise. I took about a month off as I believe I reached a plateau but I'm back on track. Good Luck!

 How much more did you eat while on your month off? Did you lose any weight from it?

Original Post by bubbles556:

if you put an unrealistic date for a large drop in pounds, the cc tool will still give you a number, like 1200. but if you put a date out there farther, it will give you a bigger daily calorie number, like 1500-1800.

 Just FYI-when I did it tonite I left the date balnk and it still came up at 1200 recommendation.

I've lost 21 pounds so far using the tools here.  I've gotten a calorie amount of 1300 - 1400 a day and stuck to it for the most part.  I do keep my exercise level low so i allow myself a few more calories on the days i exercise a lot.  I also don't worry if i eat a little too much or too little a certain day, one day wont cause massive weight gain or starvation mode as long as you average the right amount weekly.  Really this site has worked almost perfectly for me.  I do sometimes use the tools here http://www.freedieting.com/ instead though, i especially like the one that estimates when you will reach a certain weight based on you deficit because i think the deficit is much more accurate and important then the intake because of exercise and activity level.

It has worked brilliantly for me.  I started mid Feb 2009 and since then have lost over 30 pounds and are still losing around 2 lbs per week.

I find that I don't match my calorie target exactly each day but I tend to be within 10% of the target figure and without too much of a struggle.  The day that I eat a bit more I just walk a bit extra to increase my burn rate.

I have it easier than anything else I have done mainly because it nutrition grades my food so that its easier to understand how healthy or unhealthy something is regardless of its calorie content and also means I don't cut anything out I just have to be aware of daily limits and therefore have smaller portions of the higher calorie items ie chocolate.  Because I don't have any forbidden foods I don't crave and therefore don't binge and can stick to it easier.

I started at 95kg (around 210 lbs) and am now down to 79 kg (around 174lbs) and I am aiming initially at the 70kg target and then will reassess on how I feel and how I look as to whether I stop.

Original Post by future214:

Original Post by bubbles556:

if you put an unrealistic date for a large drop in pounds, the cc tool will still give you a number, like 1200. but if you put a date out there farther, it will give you a bigger daily calorie number, like 1500-1800.

 Just FYI-when I did it tonite I left the date balnk and it still came up at 1200 recommendation.

right, me too. and if i put a date 8 or 10 months out, which is more realistic for my weight goals, it gives me a more realistic number, like 1600 ish. so for me, using these tools, i have to ask myself, does it have enough information? if im 208 lbs, which i was when i started, 1200 is totally unrealistic, even now, my bmr is 1520, so 1200 would be unhealthy, which is why i use the other site to get a more realistic gage of whats a safe rate of calorie restriction for me personally. just my opinion. im glad its working great for some! 

i too do like the food grades tho, it helped me learn how to eat a balanced diet,

and the most important thing i've learned on this site: whatever you do, it has to be realistic and sustainable for you personally! if its not, it wont stay off, and lord knows, i want it to stay off! 

best success to everyone, regardless of what tools you use! 

CC has always given me a target of 1400, even with a long-distant goal date, and i have always lost on considerably more than that (1600-1800).

burn is always an estimate; there's far too much individual difference for any calculator to come up with truly accurate numbers.

Original Post by bubbles556:
its not a very wise tool, it will tell you totally unrealistic and unhealthy things. thats my observation about it. 

and is why i use the www.phord.com/cc tool instead. it was apparently developed by a fellow cc'er who recognized the lameness of the cc tool here and did something thats a bit more sophisticated.

Whoa nelly, I used that tool and it told me to eat five hundered calories a day more than CC says to! Lately I've been feeling realy sluggish and tired (and I've pretty much stopped losing) so perhaps there's something to it!

I lost five pounds in a week using the cc tools, but that's likely way too fast. I'm gonna bump up my intake a little bit 'cause this seems a tad scary.

I love that link!!  Thanks for posting it!

Ok, well here's the deal as far as myself...when I wasn't exercising at all I restricted myself to 900-1000 calories a day pn food alone w/ no exercise and I lost 60 pounds in one year. After my husband died I gained 30 pounds. I went back to eating 900-1000 cal per day for 3 months and lost 15 lbs. My church friends decided to do biggest loser and so therefore it required at least 30 min of exercise a day. So I went back and recalculated and it told me to eat anywhere between 1200-1335 cal perday. I have followed it for 3 weeks and have lost 5 lbs. I think its pretty accurate for it being an online calculator and not a human. I'm happy so far!

Original Post by darcyskywolfe:

  I do sometimes use the tools here http://www.freedieting.com/ instead though, i especially like the one that estimates when you will reach a certain weight based on you deficit because i think the deficit is much more accurate and important then the intake because of exercise and activity level.

what a great website! so many useful tools and great information!