Hello everyone,

I see that a good percentage of people have voted that calories do matter. Honestly I havent been counting these and am curious to find out how people determined what their caloric intake should be? Also how many calories do you average per day?

Thanks all!

Shauna

What YOUR calorie intake should be is probably substantially different than anyone elses. I just kept lowering mine until I found a spot where I wasn't hungry much yet was losing weight at a nice clip. That seems to be around 1200-1300 calories. I do go up 200 or so on the weekends, but I work hard in my yard so I earn more calories.

I'd say figure out where you stand now. If you're losing weight, great! Don't change anything. If you're stalled, try going down 100-200 calories per day and see how you do after two weeks. If its still too pokey, go down another 100 and keep at it until you seem to hit a point where you're content with the amount of food and the rate of loss.

Also, it took me a little while for my appetite to adjust to fewer calories. But it did after a couple of weeks.

I am curious. Excellent poll idea.

I've heard that higher calorie higher fat results in better weight loss.

Maybe we'll find out on this poll.

Thats exactly what I am curious about ....6 months ago when I started the major school of thought was ignore calories, high fat/calorie works well (keeping it somewhere above 70%. So I am pretty relentless with my use of olive oil and mayonaisse. Now I am reading posts that suggest something quite different than this - that caloric intake does matter. I am way too neurotic about my diet to not be doing it correctly :^)

I didn't actually vote in your poll cause I didn't want to throw off the results but I thought I would share with you what I have experienced. Before I was pregnant I was consuming anywhere from 800 to 1200 calories a day ( I NEVER counted calories prior to being pregnant so I really had no idea my caloires were so low until I used fitday and realized that I had to raise them. I read DANDR and was going purely off the carb count like I was supposed to. I am now eating 1800 calories a day and anywhere from 100 to 130 NET carbs a day and gaining VERY slowly. At 1700 calories I maintain perfect, scale doesn't move. If I have a bad day and dip below 1700 at all I begin to lose again. So even with being pregnant, I am realizing that yes, calories do matter. Goodluck on finding what works for you, should be interesting to see other peoples responses to your question.

JENN

>>And please if anyone has negative comments about my calories bite your tongue. My doctor is perfectly aware of what and how much I eat. I am gaining just as I should, baby is growing just fine and is perfect via the ultrasound pics. I don't care to hear anybody's smart a#* opinions. Thanks in advance.<<

I get about 2200-2400 calories per day and 17-19 carbs.

It didn't seem to work for me. I was eating about 70% fat, 1700+ calories and still not losing.

It'd be real interesting if we could correlate this with weight and # pounds lost in the last month at these calorie levels.

i find a lose anywhere from 1-2 pounds a week eating the eay i have been eating. i feel a little hefty this week, but i think TOM is coming. I never know when it'll be here because of my thyroid prob, but im definitely feeling a little bloated. i hope it's water weight!! my weigh day is coming up though. if the scale's up a lot, i'll probablt try lowering calories. the weight really started coming off once i started watching them, and i'm satisfied with my food. it works for me.

Guess I consider myself of the "lower" carb WOE rather than "low carb". 6 days a week I keep my calories around 2000. I consume around 160 to 180 gm of total protein a day (150 from meat and dairy sources), between 60 and 80 (sometimes a little more) carbs (carbs minus fiber that is), and the rest is fat.

I derive my numbers from a calculated RMR, then multiply my RMR x 1.5 to calculate my total calorie burn, then maintain around a 900 or so caloric deficit (btw, I got this from hussman.org).

On the 7th day, I attempt to eat around 3000, and have a higher carb food I like, such as a slice or two of pizza. I say attempt because it is easy for me to throw down!

Btw, I am following the BFL workout plan as noted in my profile, with the goal of decreasing body fat while increasing muscle mass.

I first did atkins last year around may, and over several months lost 20 some pounds. I also found myself to be consuming around 1800 calories a day during this time, down from the 3000 ish I was eating.

I do about 1800-2000 calories a day. At my weight that certainly has not stalled my progress thus far and I am not hungry for sure at that rate.

Charlie Girl

I never count calories. EVER. I have lost 28lbs without ever having to. To continue to lose wieght however, I am going to eat less carbs.

Counting caloreis reminds me too much of my previous starvation trying to lose weight. I'm afraid of counting calories, I'd rather eat less carbs.

I was eating about 70% fat, 1700+ calories and that's what I lost weight on. Now the numbers are probably a bit higher. But I'm at 12 calories/pound of body weight which I've heard is a good yardstick.

Not that active now, but not a couch potato either. I used to work out a lot, for almost ten years, so I think that put my metabolism in pretty good shape and contributed by my results.

I never count calories while low carbing. I went back and checked my Fitday. But I was very mindful to eat only until I wasn't hungry any more. It's rare for me to eat more than that.

I have severe problems with believing that calories don't matter. It astounds me that people could think that to lose weight, one should eat MORE. It is simply not accurate. I consider starvation mode a much overused excuse. On these forums (which i love and help so much,) people are regularly advised to eat more, even when they're NOT HUNGRY, when they ask what to do cuz they're not losing. That, IMHO, is critically absurd.

I really like the 12 calories per pound concept. It means I would need 1,788 calories a day to maintain at 149...As of right now I eat an average of 2200 calories a day and have stayed in the 180's for 4 months..I bet its because my calories are just too high. Any other insights?