Whats your daily calorie goal?

tdmaus · January 2012

I've started using fitnesspal the last few days and during the setup, it told me that my daily goal for calorie intake is only 1210...which adds up VERY quickly. I just want to lose 10lbs til May... the calorie goal indicated by that website just shocked me...

entropicbeauty · January 2012

Well it is computed by taking into account how much you weigh now, your height, your age and how much weight you want to lose.

If you are already within a pretty healthy BMI then it makes sense that you would eat that few calories to try to lose 10 lbs.

I am pretty overweight and my calorie goal per day is 1650 to be on track for losing 1.5 lbs per week.

honeysbee5 · January 2012

my calorie goal is 1200! I know what you mean about it adding up quickly. I have a desk job and I'm a student so it doesn't give me a lot of intake since I sit most of the day. That's also to be on track for losing 1.5 lbs a week.

kristinanddan · January 2012

1200 is probably way too low for both of you, that's the miminum your body needs to function. If you're exercising and not taking into account the calories you burn and eating them back, you're doing serious damage to your metabolisms.

The best way to determine how many calories you should be eating is this:

1) Calculate your bmr - this is the number of calories your body needs to survive if you were to stay in bed all day and not even move

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

For reference, my bmr is 1447.

2) Use the Harris Benedict equation, which takes into account your activity level, to determine how many calories you need to be eating to maintain your current weight. Be honest with your activity level (20 minutes of cardio a few times a week doesn't make you moderately active). I'm half marathon training at the moment, so I used the moderately active number of 1.55 x 1447 = 2243 calories to eat daily to maintain my current weight (see how many over 1200 I already am?)

3) To lose a pound a week, you subtract 500 from that number, so to lose a pound a week I should be eating 1743 calories a day. To lose 1.5 pounds you subtract 750, but you should never go below 1200 a day.

AllyG303 · January 2012

I just signed up for myfitnesspal after lurking on here for a while...Mine is 1320 to lose 1lb a week, working out 5 days a week for 30 minutes.

LDYGTR13 · January 2012

1650 - which, now that I see y'alls food intake makes me feel lucky, but it's really rough! I'm also 5'11 and built large, though. I started out at 1950 and then, 1800 and now 1650. Are you trying to lose weight too fast?

ETA: I see 10 lbs by may, but did you say you want to lose 2 lbs a week? That seems to make a difference in the calorie intact.

anna.oskar · January 2012

I'm calorie cycling to break a plateau so it changes daily.

This is pretty close to my goals and factors in the calorie burning I do:

barrelbabe004 · January 2012

Mine is 1480-1830 according to Sparkpeople. My trainer told me 1200-1400 but I tried that for one day and wanted to gnaw my arm off by the end of the night. I'm a teacher and on my feet all day, everyday as well as working out 4-5 days a week.

So short story long, I stick at about 1600 calories a day.

meg65 · January 2012

I tried myfitnesspal for a minute, it gave me a 1200 calorie limit too, for just a pound a week.

That's why I like WW better, fruits and veggies don't count toward my overall intake so I have more to use on real foods. Like cheese!

mercy4 · January 2012

When I counted calories I became too fixated on it, but when I stayed busy and ate to the point of satisfaction I lost weight quickly. Just what works for me. May work for you if you're interested.

quiggels219 · January 2012

Mine is 1300 to lose 1/2 lb a week. How much are you trying to lose a week? You have until may so should be able to do 1/2 lb. 1210 seems so low to me (not that 1300 is that much different) but 1200 is as low as is recomended for anyone, below that can be counterproductive. If it were me I would probably just eat a little more than that and change my goal in my fitness pal

RussoWill · January 2012

Mine is between 1200 and 1550 to lose 1.5 lb per week. I was doing really well at first and definitely fell off the wagon in December. Back to where I was in October when I started. I recently decided to give up alcohol/soda/juice for a month to jump start my fitness/ weight loss routine. I'd like to use my calories on food and not drinks!

MerAndTrick · January 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_whats-daily-calorie-goal?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:238Discussion:500ab3f2-60e4-4695-a656-2a2f9153090cPost:0a79aec7-4d1a-46ac-9a41-a1f9c3adb5aa">Re: Whats your daily calorie goal?</a>:
[QUOTE]When I counted calories I became too fixated on it, but when I stayed busy and ate to the point of satisfaction I lost weight quickly. Just what works for me. May work for you if you're interested.
Posted by mercy4[/QUOTE]

<div>^---- THIS</div><div>
</div><div>My calorie goal is between 2500-3000 a day. But my base metabolic rate is like 1900 (tested by one of the trainers at our gym with one of those nifty tester electrode things). I'm not trying to lose weight, but lose body fat %. Right now I'm at about 19% and want to get down to 16-17%... its roughly a 10lb loss of fat. But I'd be ok with putting on 10 lbs of muscle and staying where I am in terms of weight.</div>

bertke10 · January 2012

I just signed up for my fitness pal as well. I was shocked that it told me I only got 1200 calories, but if i exercise, I get to eat more. The first day I tracked I went 1000 calories over - talk about a wake up call about how I was eating!
I am hungry ALL THE TIME usually. I wake up hungry in the mornings. Sometimes even in the middle of the night. I am finding out that's becuase I'm eating sugary crap that digests too quickly.
So NOW, typical day is right at 1200 and includes cereal and milk for "1st b-fast" yogurt or bagel and eggs for "2nd breakfast" at work. A late lunch that's about 300-400 calories (you'd be amazed what you can eat for that). Then a snack of dried apricots (less than 200 cal) and then a 300-400 calorie dinner. If I exercise after dinner, I have a snack before bed to even out the deficit.
It's only like my 4th day, but wow - what an energy difference in eating the right stuff!
We had spaghetti made with spaghetti squash for my first "healthy" dinner. i was skeptical because I love pasta, but it was delicious! and I found a chicken pot pie recipe from WW that I added 4 more crescent rolls to (because their's did NOT have enough bread!) and it was still only 315 calories a serving.

CN: I also only have 1200 calories/day. I eat small portions all day as I get hungry. Works out amazingly. I'm seriously being enlightened about my eating habits!

[Deleted User] · January 2012

1200 per day. When you work out you can enter it in and depending on how many calories you burned you can eat that much more for the day.

shannie11 · January 2012

I also belong to Sparkspeople. I am allowed 1200-1550 a day to lose 1.5 lbs a week. I also workout for 500 calories , five days a week.

raelionheart · January 2012

Apparently I need to eat at least 1800 or so just to maintain my current weight. In order to get up to a healthier(heavier) weight I would need to eat about 2000 calories! I don't think the half a grapefruit I had this morning is going to cut it....

Whats your daily calorie goal?

Re: Whats your daily calorie goal?

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