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How many calories do you need?

Those of you that follow my blog or that of our Fitness Club Queen know we have been discussing eating habits for quite some time. Suzanne follows strict rules that if I understand correctly says something like if it tastes good don't eat it. I on the other hand have always had a hefty appetite and although I try to eat healthier I do not banish any foods and on occasion still enjoy some thousand calorie snacks.

The other day while out with some guys I had a larger than usual lunch, Pepe's Pizza, four of five slices if I counted right. Later that night my wife and I headed to TGIF's for her dinner delight. I decided to eat light and ordered the Atkins meal of Sizzling Chicken with Broccoli.

Suzanne suggested the meal was still out of whack, implied it was filled with calories and way to much fat. I have been the same weight most of my life and since I'm a numbers nut I keep important junk filed just right. The graphic above is my actual body fat analysis from 1994, my first day at the gym. Coincidentally an inch here and there has shifted around but my weight is only one pound less today.

The BMI calculator used today confirms the reading from all those years ago but I have never really known how many calories I should be eating. The first site I found had an easy way to Calculate the Intake but I wanted to confirm the results with a little more sophistication.

The information at the left shows I need 3350 calories per day to maintain my current weight and when putting in a target of losing 1 pound per week the daily intake drops to 2850 calories. Exactly correct since 3500 calories are equal to one point and dropping 500 per day will allow me to slowly melt away, theoretically..

The Quickie Calculation was also quite accurate. Activity level is somewhat subjective. Based on the more sophisticated calculator that show me requiring 3350 calories I am considered a little above moderately active.

For sedentary people: Weight x 14 = calories per day
Moderately active use Weight x 17 = calories per day

Active People use their Weight x 20 = calories per day

Suzanne..... Test out the calculators and let me know what you think!

Dan Cummings, Connecticut's Running Real Estate Agent

Posted by Dan Cummings - Connecticut's Running Realtor on 07/28/2007 09:11 PM

Comments (16)

dan cummings, running, realtor, real estate

Originally posted at: Dan Cummings - The Running Realtor: How many calories do you need?

Post is included in group: Active Runners

16 Comments on How many calories do you need?

JUL

2007

This is way to complicated for me Dan. I ascribe to the theory of eat what I enjoy, but eat in moderation. That seems to be working for me, and I never fix what ain't broken.

Dan,

You ran with this one! LOL! This is quite impressive, I will play around with the calculators. I will have to take some measurements to do the more sophisticated one, my initial discovery tells me that my caloric intake is less than half of yours just to maintain. If we ate the same things I would be gaining, while you maintain. Good job! :)

JUL

2007

George... A mortgage guy like you should be able to chew through those calculations pretty fast...

Suzanne... I figured a little thing like you would be maintained on less... Now get out that tape and tell me what it all means... Fats, Proteins, Carbs, Sodium, Potassium... Maybe I should just take a Pill!

Dan--My mom has had much success with Weight Watchers and has passed on the information. The numbers do seem very similar if you do the calculations.

Dan - I have been meeting with a nutritionist twice a month for about 6 months -and every-time she says "you have to eat more" how do you guys do it.... I struggle to find enough calories to meet my daily needs - oh I could fill them up with chocolate - but that is not what we are looking for. My average intake is 900 to 1200 calories a day - I am 5'7" and weigh over 200 lbs.... we tried weighing every day - my daily weight can vary by 7 lbs and most days is 5 lbs up or down.... I walk - and have just started with some core training to build up some strength to get further into a program.... I wish someone could just tell me how to get all that food into my body - breakfast is tough for me.... so I generally have a slice of toast with peanut-butter..... but then I have a fruit and nut snack before lunch - salad for lunch sometimes throw chicken, salmon or tuna on it..... a veggie snack and dinner well what ever I can find.... on a good day I co manage to get 1800 calories.... but if I am showing property or at the office it all goes to hell in a hand-basket.

LOL ....... Dan. Very little fat in those calculations these days, so it does not take much to work off those calories.

Although I've taken the time in the past to figure out how many calories I need to maintain and/or lose a pound per week, I have a hard time actually doing anything with the numbers. If I were to try and count calories for breakfast and lunch, I could probably do it and keep in check. But by dinner.... forget about it!

Teri... Thanks for verifying the formula... Now I just need to find those tasty low cal recipes.

Thesa... I read somewhere that no one should eat under 1200 calories a day otherwise your body goes into starvation mode and stores the calories instead of burning any.... or something like that.... My weight varies a bit also but think is more like 3-4 pounds, usually weigh in first thing in the morning and consider that my weight.. also the lowest number.... :-)

George... I'll be getting my fill of fat tonight.... Off to the Outback!

Sandi... I have the same problem.. All day I do great but dinner can be a dozy.. Been on that lose a pound a week plan for about 18 months now but in reality it more like a pound every few months...

The things you guys worry about.....I don't worry about my weight.....I eat when I'm hungry....Stop when I'm full. Don't worry about calories, low cal, high cal, low carb, high carb. whatever. If it looks good, smells good I'll eat it, if it don't I won't. This has always worked for me. You guys should try it : )

Sandra

Suzanne.... HELP!... Hypothetically lets say I have a "wife" that prefers junk food over healthy eating and knows I have a weakness for saying NO to her desires. Several times a week dinner magically gets left in the freezer so we need to go out for a feast. Once or twice a month she must have Cheese Fries and the Special. She usually adds a Fancy Potato but I try and stick with the Steamed Vegtables and wash it down with a beer.

According to my calculations our meal works out to a wopping 2000 calories...

Wondering if she can be salvaged or should I trade her in for a low cal Model? LOL

Sandra, if I weighted what you weight, I would not worry about what I eat either. But unfortunately Dan and I probably weight twice as much as you so we have to watch our boyish figures .......... LOL

Dan: LOL - yeah go ahead trade me in for your new model ! (what the hell is she making?) By the way, I didn't eat the "fancy potato" I was full.

George You are too kind. I don't know about that you and Dan look good to me. george and dan

Sandra

Dan,

I have the same problem with my hubby, love to eat JUNK! Everybody is different and Sandra is lucky that she has found a formula that works for her. :)

JUL

2007

I realy don't know how many calories I need. I don't dwell on it.

I eat when I'm hungry and don't eat when I'm not. I will occassionally binge on chocolate cake with a glass of 1% milk.

I try to exercise at least 4 times/week, weigh 158 lbs, 5' 7", 54 yo, bodyfat 17%, 50 bpm resting HR.

Thanks for the calculators and tips!

Armando... How do you measure body fat?.... Curious because when I was playing around with the BMI calculator for myself at differnt target weights it was no where near 17%... Plugged in your height & weight and the results say over 24.7%. Wondering if the calculator is correct.

Yea, I always wondered about that BMI. I'm more muscular than average. I think that muscle weighs more than fat. I use a Tanita scale that measures body fat, and I've also used the calipers.

I found the following at CDC website;

"If an athlete or other person with a lot of muscle has a BMI over 25, is that person still considered to be overweight?

According to the BMI weight status categories, anyone with a BMI over 25 would be classified as overweight and anyone with a BMI over 30 would be classified as obese.

It is important to remember, however, that BMI is not a direct measure of body fatness and that BMI is calculated from an individual's weight which includes both muscle and fat. As a result, some individuals may have a high BMI but not have a high percentage of body fat. For example, highly trained athletes may have a high BMI because of increased muscularity rather than increased body fatness. Although some people with a BMI in the overweight range (from 25.0 to 29.9) may not have excess body fatness, most people with a BMI in the obese range (equal to or greater than 30) will have increased levels of body fatness.

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