For those who count calories..How Many Do You Eat?

Boingo1

Boingo1

Cathlete
I've gotten some very different answers from 2 different places.

I work out 6 days a week, for an hour or more each day.
I have about 5-10 lbs to lose (depending on what day of the week it is!).

At Sparkpeople , I got a range of 1350-1550 (which I thought was pretty accurate).

But then I did Tom Venturo's online formula (inputting my height, weight, age, and approx. body fat %) and got 2035-2162!!

So just wondering where most of you fall?
 
Hi Chris - I eat a lot (and a lot of fat) and worry more about the "what" instead of the "how much". However, I'm not looking to lose any weight. I'm trying to increase the poundage on my lifts and build muscle, and also maintain happiness. ;) I workout an average of 4 times per week, usually less than an hour. FWIW, my weight is staying pretty much the same.

If you want all the gory details, they can be viewed here (I'm tracking this for a long term personal experiment): What I eat

Diet is an incredibly personal variable. What works for one doesn't necessarily work for another, but in just looking at the numbers, I think there's something to be said for what Venturo recommends.
 
I work out 5 days a week for about an hour and eat anywhere from 1800-2000 calories a day, give or take. Like Gayle, I watch what I eat more than how much I eat. I get fat/protein/carbs in each meal but don't worry about overall intake of each.
 
Your weight and how active you are the rest of the day will make a big difference in how many calories you burn. I am inactive during the day at work, but fairly active otherwise and also workout about 6 days a week for about an hour.

I am trying to lose weight and eat between 1600 and 1800 calories a day during the week since I burn between 2400 and 2800 calories on weekdays. On weekends when I'm not tied to my desk :p, I eat between 1800 and 2200 calories since I burn between 2800 and 3400 calories a day.
 
I've been doing the Daily Plate since just before Easter. It orig had me just above 1800 to lose 2/lb week, now that I've lost wt its at 1731/day. I workout roughly an hour a day, but sit in front of the computer all day. I have it set for moderately active, but then don't eat back what I've exercised off. If I set it at lightly active (sitting on my butt all day) and eat back the exercise, it comes out to about the same number. So far, it seems to be working. If I set it to maintain my wt, it goes up to 2700 or so. That seems like waaaaaay to much. I'm 5'8" and currently 177.5, working to 170, and eventually 160. I try to keep sodium under 100% of their given value, my fat and carbs always come up low on their site, and my protein high. I try to keep fiber at at least 30 gr a day, I normally range btwn 30-35. I don't bother with the exact ratios of things, I just try to keep the sodium low, the fat in check, and eat as well as possible. Get the most bange for my buck. And, unless I eat out, I can have a hard time hitting the 1700

Nan
 
Well, I'm not trying to lose weight currently -- but I get my 4 days of cardio and I am about to start Meso 3 -- I go for about 2500/day. I can't do fewer than that. I just don't have the energy to get through the day. There was a calculation in WOmen's health a couple years back that I have stuick with that says I should be getting about 2500-2700/day. That freaked me out since all those women's magazines out there like to cap it off at 1500, 1800, or maybe 2000 -- no more. I wonder where all these calcuations come from anyway???

Now, when it comes to those infamous cheat days, I couldn't tell you what the calorie count is, because I can't count that high! ;0)
 
My Fitness Pal has me at 1680/day if I don't work out and on the losing 1/2 lb per week. When I do a Cathe w/o I can typically eat about 2300.

I think that magazines stating that women should eat 1500-1800 per day are assuming that women are starting out either tiny or inactive. I think that they also want to show immediate results so that women help to hype their magazine. The problem when you start out at 1500 calories/day is...where do you go from there once you plateau? You set yourself up for either not being able to eat anything in the future, or having to up your exercise to some rather ungodly level.
 
I reworked my TDEE and found that I can now eat between 1400 cals and 1600 cals and still lose weight. I am trying to drop another 7 pounds (I've already lost 19 lbs!), so I'm trying zig-zag my cals and get as hight as about 1700 occasionally. I'm finding that I'm only dropping on average 1/2 pound a week now, but that's okay! I eat pretty clean with a cheat day on the weekends.

On a slightly off-topic note. I have a question for all of you - do any of the programs you use for tracking food give you a meal planner that shows how many cals for the day your plan has, so you can tweak it as needed? I can find plenty of calorie trackers and menu planners, but nothing that will calculate my plan and show me where I need to make changes (other than Cathe's nutrition program which I can't afford to do right now). So, I'm looking for alternative options!

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Tricia
 
15 calories per pound

Boingo1 said:
I've gotten some very different answers from 2 different places.

I work out 6 days a week, for an hour or more each day.
I have about 5-10 lbs to lose (depending on what day of the week it is!).

At Sparkpeople , I got a range of 1350-1550 (which I thought was pretty accurate).

But then I did Tom Venturo's online formula (inputting my height, weight, age, and approx. body fat %) and got 2035-2162!!

So just wondering where most of you fall?
Click to expand...

That's what I allow myself, based on 5 days a week of intense exercise along with an otherwise not terribly active lifestyle. That puts me at "moderately active" - and this equation works perfectly to keep me at my present weight which is 126, the lowest I've been in years. So I get 1890 calories a day, and I sure ain't starving!
 
Hi Chris

The formula you used of Tom's, the 2035k figure, is that after deducting 20 or 25% calorie deficit for weight/fat loss?

I'm 5'4" - my TDEE is 1734, I eat between 1261 (my bmr) and 1400, staggering up to 1734 every three days.

:D
 
To lose, I eat 10-11 calories per pound of body weight. To maintain, 15 per pound. I've also read that you want to calculate calories per pound based on your lean body weight, because you really don't want to feed your fat. This would require having your body fat tested, but would be well worth the $10 or so it costs. I calculate mine based on lean body weight, and it works extremely well.
 
Hi Chris

I am a recovering lazy bum, so I am using 1.375 as my activity factor. I think there is a little bit of body-knowledge-intuition that plays into finding the "right" figure. Trusting your body and listening to it when it's telling you to eat more, and being honest with yourself when it's time to eat less.

I like staggering calories up/down...I never feel like I am starving or going without... and I am getting results.

:D
 
thanks everyone! I appreciate your answers , you've helped!

I think I'll try to up it a bit, but not every day. Maybe alternate 1500's with 1700's, etc.

My weekends are usually totally off, so I need to take that into account too.
 
I'm 51 years old, 5 feet 4. I started at 143 pounds. To lose weight I am eating 1400 cals a day, with an occasional 1600 once or twice a week at most. I've lost about a pound a week doing that. Right now I have plateud at 134 pounds. I workout hard an hour a day, but the rest of the day is sedentary. Prior to losing I counted cals and found that I was eating about 1700-1800 to maintain at 143. BTW when I was 30 I was able to maintain my weight at 125 eating 1900 cals a day. Age makes a huge difference.
Beth
 
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