How many calories a day to lose weight?

[BigD11]

Hey everyone. Im trying to help my wife who wants to lose some weight. How many calories should she eat a day? Thanks Big

[debra86]

how tall is she? how much does she weigh? is she working out? how intense are her workouts?

[BigD11]

She is about 5'4'' 150lbs. Has a desk job. is going to start working out. Not exactly sure on the weight. She wont tell me. Isnt it liek 12 calories per lb of body weight?

[debra86]

in order to shed one pound you must burn 3500 calories. Try having her eat 1200 calories a day--you need 1800 calories a day to maintain your weight. How much does she want to lose? and in how long?

[imperfectly_lou]

in order to shed one pound you must burn 3500 calories. Try having her eat 1200 calories a day--you need 1800 calories a day to maintain your weight. How much does she want to lose? and in how long?

Unless she is a 4 foot tall, 60yr old woman, she needs more than 1200calories per day.

The number of calories needed to maintain one's weight is very individual. The advice you have given is very generic and misleading.

[debra86]

Unless she is a 4 foot tall, 60yr old woman, she needs more than 1200calories per day.

The number of calories needed to maintain one's weight is very individual. The advice you have given is very generic and misleading.

I appreciate your input. I've done the 1200 calorie diet and it worked well for me as well as a lot of other people. It's a common diet. Since his gf hasn't started working out yet and I'm pretty sure it's not going to be a heavy workout--a 1200 calorie diet should be fine. 2200-2500 calories is recommended for those that are maintaing weight--dropping the calories will increase in weight loss. It wasn't a misleading comment and if it mislead you in any way, I apologize. Google it =)

[lopaw]

I've always been told to use your BMR (plus your level of physical activity) to figure out your caloric needs. I've tried doing that in the past, but the numbers never seemed quite right to me......the calculation had me needing 2300 cals/day, which is WAY too much for me, unfortunately!

[debra86]

I've always been told to use your BMR (plus your level of physical activity) to figure out your caloric needs. I've tried doing that in the past, but the numbers never seemed quite right to me......the calculation had me needing 2300 cals/day, which is WAY too much for me, unfortunately!

yeah same with mine. With my diet now--it only adds up to about 1300 calories maybe 1350 but I'm getting the gains that I want! =) Getting all the proper nutrition and what not and still building up =)

[Miranda]

it is not very wise to START with 1200.
you will drop weight in the beginning but the body will adjust to it in a few weeks. you have nowhere to go after that.

I've always been told to use your BMR (plus your level of physical activity) to figure out your caloric needs. I've tried doing that in the past, but the numbers never seemed quite right to me......the calculation had me needing 2300 cals/day, which is WAY too much for me, unfortunately!

you're not going to lose anything on maintenance calories.

[lopaw]

you're not going to lose anything on maintenance calories.

2300 cal/day wouldn't maintain me....I'd gain considerable weight with that figure, even with my high activity level. I discovered that the hard way.

Through trial & error, I found that I needed ~ 1600-1800 cals/day to maintain.
The calculation for my BMR is WAY off......I hope it works for others, but it sure isn't accurate for me.

[MauiZos]

I appreciate your input. I've done the 1200 calorie diet and it worked well for me as well as a lot of other people. It's a common diet. Since his gf hasn't started working out yet and I'm pretty sure it's not going to be a heavy workout--a 1200 calorie diet should be fine. 2200-2500 calories is recommended for those that are maintaing weight--dropping the calories will increase in weight loss. It wasn't a misleading comment and if it mislead you in any way, I apologize. Google it =)

Google it... of course! Because everything on the internet is true, right??? Come on...

1200 cals is the absolute minimum threshold you should never go below, but that is by NO MEANS good, healthy dieting advice. You might lose weight, but you'll lose mostly water and muscle, eventually slowing your metabolism. The other problem is that people with a weight issue will lose their freaking minds trying to eat 1200 cals/day. Eventually they'll just snap, eat a 5kg bag of peanut M&Ms (or whatever), and say to hell with this dieting thing!

The best formula I've found so far is to establish your maintenance level and subtract 10%. So if you maintain at 2000, start by eating 1800 until you lose enough weight that that becomes your maintenance level. The other variable is that not all calories are created equal. Some stimulate hunger or satiety, while others take extra energy to digest, and still others stiumlate fat storage. 1800 cals of crappy, salty, sugary, processed food is a LOT different than 1800 cals of lean meats, complex carbs, and healthy fats.

If you incorporate weight training and eat lots of protein while dieting, you'll add some lean body mass which will increase your metabolism and increase the number of cals you can eat and still lose fat. I'm 5'1" and 120-ish lbs (plus or minus depending on mesocycle) and I can maintain that weight on 2500 clean cals because I have a lot of muscle. I start to drop weight at 2000 and can lose easily on 1600-1800.

[Paichka]

Apparently I must spread some love around before adding to your reps, MauiZos, but great post!

1200 cals seems freakishly low to me.

[Miranda]

2300 cal/day wouldn't maintain me....I'd gain considerable weight with that figure, even with my high activity level. I discovered that the hard way.

Through trial & error, I found that I needed ~ 1600-1800 cals/day to maintain.
The calculation for my BMR is WAY off......I hope it works for others, but it sure isn't accurate for me.

you're 5'7 145 pounds and maintain on 1600-1800? odd . . .

[valby]

what is a good web site for working out maintenance calories? If I am trying to gain muscle should I add 200-300 calories or increase by 10%? (in the same way as you reduce when you cut)
Ta

[sallyagin]

1200 calories is too low. Especially if you're doing cardio and weight training.

A simple equation for figuring calories for weight loss (and a safe method) is to take your body weight x 12. never go less than your body weight x 10, or your metabolism will slow down because your body thinks it's in starvation mode.

the only people who should be running 1200 calories a day are people who weigh 120 pounds, or who might be near the end of contest prep. No other exceptions.

[debra86]

i maintain about 1200-1300 calories a day (still) and I have positive results. Then again, I am on a high protein diet as well. Ever since I started it I continued to build muscle and I'm almost where I want to be. I've dropped about 3 pounds a week for 5 weeks doing that and I'm definitely not "starving" myself.

--about the whole google things there are articles (research, studies) on it that are from reliable sources =) It's not just the "internet" as you put it.

[imperfectly_lou]

3lbs a week is too much, especially for someone who is very small to start off with. It is likely you are losing muscle, not just fat.

[sallyagin]

i maintain about 1200-1300 calories a day (still) and I have positive results. Then again, I am on a high protein diet as well. Ever since I started it I continued to build muscle and I'm almost where I want to be. I've dropped about 3 pounds a week for 5 weeks doing that and I'm definitely not "starving" myself.

--about the whole google things there are articles (research, studies) on it that are from reliable sources =) It's not just the "internet" as you put it.

yes, but you weigh 119 pounds. that means that your body weight x 10 is 1190 calories per day to cut. women who weigh more than that should have more calories.

[featherz]

Wow, I'd chew off a foot at 1200 cals. I eat about 1800-2K/day to maintain, 1500-1600 to lose and I'm 125# (5'4) and almost 40 years old..

I hope 1200 is never necessary because I'm even a grouchier b*tch than usual at 1500!