Need help with calorie intake

[pimpinpurplepon]

I've been researching the recommended calories for my height/gender and finally have a good idea about how much I should be eating, but I wanted a little advice as to how to manage them.
They said I need about 1300 calories to lose one pound/week without exercise or 2215 calories to lose one pound/week with 60 minutes of exercise. I would like to try for about two pounds every week but I don't know if there is a healthy way of doing it. I thought you need to cut about 3500 calories weekly to lose one pound, and to achieve the 7000 needed for two pounds loss, I didn't think the amount of calories I'd be eating was healthy, or effective, for the amount of activity I'd be doing. Can this be done?

 

[TomO]

PPPP, please take a look at the Index of WLF "Keepers". There are a few posts there that will answer your question directly.

 

[HSA MOM]

Really, if you cut 500/day calories from your diet and exercise 500 calories, it should be pretty healthy and you can reach your goal of 2 lbs per week. It is a pretty aggressive gaol, but do the math. 1 lb of fat = 3500 calories. 1000 calories/week = 7,000 calories = 2 lbs of fat. Keep in mind water will play in to the number and most people will eat more when they exercise, so counting calories along with exercise will help you reach your goal. So really, there is no magic number of caloric intake that will cover everybody. If you are larger, you will need to eat more than someone smaller in order to lose weight.

HOWEVER, it is unhealthy for a female to drop below 1300 calories for her nutritional needs, so you may need to adjust how much you are cutting down too. Too drastic of a calorie cut will ultimately make you overheat due to hunger and fatigue, or your body will start storing your fat because it thinks it is going to be going through a famine (think the cave folk way back when).

Hope it helps...

 

[Blancita]

Its impossible to figure out your daily calorie needs without knowing your current weight and height. If you start out really low, it is hard to adjust down as you lose weight.