Calculator: Calories your body needs to survive.

[YorkieMommy]

http://www.apexfitness.com/html/tools/fit_calc/metab/

Just seeing some posts about people not getting enough calories. This link takes you to a calculator that lets you know your resting metabolic rate. I've been experimenting with slight reductions by eating less and exercising. Seems to be working. I think most of us are used to the "crappy starving feeling means you're losing weight" and it doesn't quite work so well.

I included a poll because most of us say we eat around 1000 a day, thought it might be insightful to see how much this calculator says we really need and then set appropriate calorie reduction needs.

Hopefully, increasing calories helps other people too.

REMEMBER: THE CALCULATOR GIVES YOU THE CALORIES YOU NEED TO MAINTAIN. Reduce calories and increase exercise to create a deficit of no more than 1000 calories per day. Beyond 1000 calorie deficit your body may go into starvation mode and hold on to everything. It's an estimate. Choose healthy calories and still follow band rules. Have fun experimenting!

[shrty835]

Are we sure this is correct, its telling me that I need 1,759. Its been hard enough to get the 1200 that Dr. Miranda told me to get in.

[MamaMichelle]

When I was losing fast I was eating about 1,000cal a day and burning about 300 in exercise but I bet my resting burn rate was about 1,700 then which gives me a negative calorie balance of -1,000calories each day, if you times that by 7days that is a total of negative 7,000cal per week.. If takes burning 3,500 calories to lose 1pound then that averages out to 2lbs per week and a total of 8lbs a month which was my monthly average loss...

NOW at 176lbs it says I burn 1600 calories a day... and I am eating about 1,200 calories a day and haven't been burning any through exercise so that leaves me at a negative calorie balance of -400 per day, or 2,800 for the week which means that my monthly total for this month will be -3.2 lbs which seems pretty on target since I have only lost 2lbs so far and have 2weeks till the end of the month is over..

Clearly I need to rework my diet and get back to working out if I want the pounds to keep coming of the way they were before but I'm kind of ok with where I am now so I'm really not obsessing over it like I have in the past!

[YorkieMommy]

Are we sure this is correct, its telling me that I need 1,759. Its been hard enough to get the 1200 that Dr. Miranda told me to get in.

This is to maintain. So getting in 1200 calories is 500 less than what is needed for you so with just eating alone that would be 500*7=3500 calories a week which is a loss of one pound per week.

[cckcsharp]

I am not sure if I get this. I did the calculator and it said the result was 2840 calories per day. I assume that this was so high because I have not yet been banded and my weight is still pretty high. So does this mean that if I am only eating say 1200 calories a day, then I am short by 1640 calories which is 11,480 calories a week which then calculates to 3.28 pounds per week lost? I am understanding this correctly?

Thanks for sharing this.

Jessica

[YorkieMommy]

I am not sure if I get this. I did the calculator and it said the result was 2840 calories per day. I assume that this was so high because I have not yet been banded and my weight is still pretty high. So does this mean that if I am only eating say 1200 calories a day, then I am short by 1640 calories which is 11,480 calories a week which then calculates to 3.28 pounds per week lost? I am understanding this correctly?

Thanks for sharing this.

Jessica

Here's another site that might help.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

The calorie calculators depend on the formula that they use to ESTIMATE how many calories you need to maintain. Notice that the article states that 1000 calories or more below maintence puts your body into starvation mode which usually results in yo-yo dieting. And of course, we are all different, have different metabolisms and everything, this is just a guide for all of us that are nearly 300 pounds and don't understand why we aren't losing on only 1200 calories a day. And as we lose weight we have to come back and check the calculator because as we keep getting smaller and older we will need fewer calories.

Hope this helps make sense! I posted the calorie calculator after so many people were posting they were at a plateau and other people told them they experienced the same thing until they added in more calories.

Also it's important to point out where the calories are coming from. 300 calories of chicken breast doesn't react the same as 300 calories of mint milano cookies.

Again, disclaimer, just for estimating purposes to help us all try to understand our bodies better.

[Paula Bee]

Here's another site that might help.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

The calorie calculators depend on the formula that they use to ESTIMATE how many calories you need to maintain. Notice that the article states that 1000 calories or more below maintence puts your body into starvation mode which usually results in yo-yo dieting. And of course, we are all different, have different metabolisms and everything, this is just a guide for all of us that are nearly 300 pounds and don't understand why we aren't losing on only 1200 calories a day. And as we lose weight we have to come back and check the calculator because as we keep getting smaller and older we will need fewer calories.

Hope this helps make sense! I posted the calorie calculator after so many people were posting they were at a plateau and other people told them they experienced the same thing until they added in more calories.

Also it's important to point out where the calories are coming from. 300 calories of chicken breast doesn't react the same as 300 calories of mint milano cookies.

Again, disclaimer, just for estimating purposes to help us all try to understand our bodies better.

OMG... this site says that I need even MORE calories per day. It also says that I should be eating hearly 1900 calories per day for extreme weight loss! Dang!

[julieburns]

I am amazed. I am supposed to get 1840 calories per day. When I had it do amounts of each catagory it said 180 gms of protein, 115 gms carbs. That double the protein I have been eating and triple the carbs. And this was the low carb calculation. Maybe there is something to this that will help speed up my weight loss. Very interesting :-? :-? :

[YorkieMommy]

I am amazed. I am supposed to get 1840 calories per day. When I had it do amounts of each catagory it said 180 gms of protein, 115 gms carbs. That double the protein I have been eating and triple the carbs. And this was the low carb calculation. Maybe there is something to this that will help speed up my weight loss. Very interesting :-? :-? :

Remember that this amount it to maintain, so if you want to lose 1 pound deduct 3500 calories per week (500 per day). But yeah, it is fun to experiment and see what happens! Mine says to eat 2100 calories a day so since Monday I've been having 1600 calories AND working out and I've lost 1.5 pounds. I'll take it! haha!

[julieburns]

Remember that this amount it to maintain, so if you want to lose 1 pound deduct 3500 calories per week (500 per day). But yeah, it is fun to experiment and see what happens! Mine says to eat 2100 calories a day so since Monday I've been having 1600 calories AND working out and I've lost 1.5 pounds. I'll take it! haha!

Thanks for the clarification, my brain is not awake early in the morning. :dash2:

[OSuzanna]

This was right on for me, it said I should have 1507 calories a day to "maintain", so subtracting approx. 500 calories per day, leaves me a around 1,000 calories and that's what I'm doing and I am losing weight steadily. I don't lose every week, but averaging about 8-9 pounds a month, which is fine by me!!!!