How does everyone figure out how many calories they need? I used some of the online calculators and it indicates that to maintain, I am to have a caloric intake of about 2200 cals and to lose, about 1500. I've been having about 1500-1600 (with exercising WT X3/Wk and Cardio 5 days) and the scale and fat aren't budging. I'd really like to tweak it to perfection but .. maybe I'm still eating too much???? :confused: enough cardio? I had knee surgery at the end of January so I am a bit limited in which cardio exercises to do too.

Thanks for your help.
Danielle

The estimate of 2200 base is probably pretty accurate. To lose you'd want to eat between 1500-1900 Calories a day. If you have been doing that you should lose between 1 to 1/2 pounds a week.

Give it at least a month or 6 weeks before you decide it isn't working.

If it really isn't working then you are probably under estimating the amount of Calories you are eating.

-Allen

One of the general guidelines is 10 to 12 times your weight in calories to loose weight (e.g., if you weigh 150 then you should consume 1500 to 1800 calories per day).

I've used this method to loose 30 pounds ... only ten more to go for me.

Good luck!

I haven't seen this idea discussed in the forums, so I thought I might just throw it out there. Net calories = Gross calories - exercise/activity.

So if you determine 10x body weight for your optimal calorie amount for cutting then that is the NET amount of calories you should be eating after you calculate how many calories you burn through exercise and daily actitity. This method insures that you get sufficient caloric values to keep you metabolism revved, but still creating an overall defecit at the end of the day.

Personally, I have found that this calculation method results in a nice gradual weight loss without feeling overly hungry or fatigued.

I'd love to see what other people think of this concept

It could be that your limitations (aka knee surgury) may be effecting your work out? You need to ask yourself the following questions:

Is the level of cardio I am doing having the effect I desire (in other if you are not able to do HIIT then are you at least getting up to minimum of 70-80% MHT)

Am I doing my cardio at the best time of day? (Mornings are generally the best...this keeps your metobol high all day).

If you have a significant amount of weight to lose (I consider fifteen pounds significant) it may be possible that you are losing fat and gaining muscle and the trad-off is not noticable both in the mirror and the scale.

How does everyone figure out how many calories they need? I used some of the online calculators and it indicates that to maintain, I am to have a caloric intake of about 2200 cals and to lose, about 1500. I've been having about 1500-1600 (with exercising WT X3/Wk and Cardio 5 days) and the scale and fat aren't budging. I'd really like to tweak it to perfection but .. maybe I'm still eating too much???? :confused: enough cardio? I had knee surgery at the end of January so I am a bit limited in which cardio exercises to do too.

Thanks for your help.
Danielle

This is how I started two years ago. I bought a book called "Calory Count." Today I use This online databse (http://www.calorie-count.com/) )
I weighed myself on Sunday morning and for the next week just wrote down everything that I ate and counted calories. Following Sunday I weighed myself again. I then computed the average daily intake. In my case I did not gain anything during the week, so I knew my average daily intake and I slowly dicreased it by 100 calories every month. During that week I did not exercise and did not eat as I do now. THat was the beginning of my transformation that helped me to analize my eating habits and to construct a diet. If you gain within a week then you should lower intake by 150 calories and try it for another week. I know that this method is lengthy, but it worked out nicely for me. (I was not in a hurry). Since then I lost 120 lbs.
Here are my before and after shots (http://www.body-for-life-tracker.com/showphotos.cfm?id=4234) . Althoug I still have 30 more lbs to go, but I am working on it hard and plan to see my 6-pack on June 1, 2004.

Good for you! You're pix look awesome! Hey, where is that cave? Looks kool! :tucool:

Good for you! You're pix look awesome! Hey, where is that cave? Looks kool! :tucool:

That is in Niagara Falls (Canada's Rilpley's Believe it or not Museum). I went there with my wife just before I started my transformation in 2002. It is actualy one of the few pictures of myself before I started workingout. I was so disgusted by my looks that I did not want to be a part of any photo shoot at all. Believe it or not, but I used to be 155 lbs just about 9 years ago. Luckely, I have only 30 lbs more to go. But thanks for checking out my pictures.

D_samuylin, Nice work. You are going to have alot of fun the summer with your new physique!

On daily intake, I have been using the DietPower [DP] program to track my intake and nutrients. My cutting goal is 9%. DP uses the information you enter about your workouts to determine what your intake should be, given your calculated metabolic rate and weight loss goal. I exercise 4-5 times a week with ski skating, which if you choose can be a very high intensity workout. Anyway, DP kept raising my suggested intake level based on my workouts, from 1800 a day up to 2500. I chose to not increase my intake that amount but to just eat a few more calories during periods of increased workout intensity. I think the key is to pay attention to your body. If you don't adjust your intake based on a varying workouts, and you are already eating a low number of calories, you risk not getting enough. I felt like 2500 was too much, but did eat 2100 or 2200 when I felt my body needed it. I have had good luck with this so far, 15 pounds lost since late December, down to 12.5%.

There are ways to "estimate", but the ONLY true way to find the right amount of calories is to find a gym or someplace that has this: Body Gem (http://www.healthetech.com/consumer_bodygem.html)

I go to Bally's Fitness here in Cincinnati and they have it there. I haven't got a test with it yet, but I plan to this week. It costs $40 per test to see what your RMR(resting metabolic rate) is, so you can easily fine tune your caloric intake to meet your standards.

You didn't mention HOW you're getting those calories?

Just a thought, but to take it to the extreme: if you go hungry most of the day, then eat all your 1900 calories in fatty foods and high GI carbs in one sitting just before going to bed, you're much less likely to lose weight.

Are you spreading your meals out over the day, and avoiding late meals?

You didn't mention HOW you're getting those calories?

Just a thought, but to take it to the extreme: if you go hungry most of the day, then eat all your 1900 calories in fatty foods and high GI carbs in one sitting just before going to bed, you're much less likely to lose weight.

Are you spreading your meals out over the day, and avoiding late meals?

Yep...spreadout meals.

Typically I have proteinshake/oJ 9am
Cottagecheese/fruit 11am
WW Pita with Tuna,onion and nonfatmayo
Cottage cheese/fruit or a protein bar
Dinner: often chicken with a potato or rice
Oatmeal with water, sugarfree syrop and protein powder with water

OFcourse,I do no always eat thisbut it is a typical type day for me.
Any tips?
D.