A
female
age
41-50,
anonymous
writes:can someone help me understand how many calories I might have to eat a day to lose weight.. I am 27 yrs old I weigh approx. 205lbs and am 5'7 , I did the bmr math thing but it doesn't seem to be rite.. im hoping to lose 2lbs a week if possible. Hoping by eating rite and losing weight I can alieviate some of this depression..
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reader, Red Green 0289  +, writes (19 January 2010):
You're likely going to get lots of advice, I hope that all of it is good... here's mine.
First, it took a long time to pile the weight on, so don't expect to drop it fast. Too fast is unhealthy.
Sadly, there is no magic cure- eat less than you burn, cut out the junk, eat at least 3 (5 is better) meals a day, with dinner being small and low carbs.
Exercise is good (I hate it), but doing it makes me feel great (after), and I'm seeing results, and feel a lot better about myself.
Along with WHAT you eat, you need to address WHY you eat. if you are using food to change the way you feel (I do) you have a more serious problem. What I discovered that as a kid (shitty home life) I wanted to change how I FELT- food did that when I overate (it took YEARS for me to connect these dots). When I get this urge, I overeat... so I've had to learn not to do this, which is hard.
I did CHOW-OEA for a few years, and lost 60 #'s, sadly I couldn't stick with it and have gained most of it bask, so here I am again... diet (this time + exercise).
You have got to eat breakfast- no if and's or buts... you have to fire up your metabolism, and failing to eat (and drink water) will slow it down and you're body will start trying to hold on to all the fat it can (your fighting millions of years of DNA here).
Drink enough water where you're peeing 3 to 4 times during an 8 hour day. If it's dark yellow, your dehydrated.
No sugars, no alcohol, cut out the flour, starchy veggies (potatoes, corn, peas)... lots of big salads and read the labels on to make sure that the dressing is not loaded with hidden fat, oil and sugar.
You can do it, if you stick with it... it's hard, but worth it. Having a trainer to work out with has been great! ANd I'm doing it with co-workers (which I thought would suck, and we're so happy to see each other that it's like we're all fighting the same fight.)
A
female
reader, pinktopaz +, writes (19 January 2010):
I'm not sure if it differs upon weight or height, but I've heard that for women if you want to lose weight, as far as calorie intake it should be around 1200 calories a day; also make sure you exercise (don't overdo it) and drink plenty of water. I could be wrong. I really like Women's Health magazine, I'm not sure if you can get it in Puerto Rico, but they always have good healthy eating tips, exercises, and questions like the calorie intake one you have. I think they also have a website if you want to look that up also.
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A
female
reader, Dazed~Confused  +, writes (19 January 2010):
 I have been through the whole weight loss challenge myself, and managed to lose 80 lbs. Exercise is probably one of the best ways of making you feel better, and it definitely helped me. The endorphins help fight depression and the exercise will help you sleep better, which will also help.
The BMI is just a very general scale on determining weight, so use it as a guideline, not a bible. It doesn't take into account lean body mass (muscle) as opposed to fat. So someone who is very fit and muscular, could be considered obese according to the BMI.
The most important thing is exercise and diet. You need to exercise regularly, and do a combination of weights and cardio. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn, even just sitting around.
The other thing is to really watch what you eat. I cut out juices, and anything with excess sugar. Low fat prepared foods (like chocolate pudding) can be deadly b/c they replace the fat with sugar. Likewise low sugar foods can also be harmful to weightloss as they contain more fat to make up for lack of flavour. So I eat lots of fruit veggies and protein.
If you can I would consult a nutritionist. I found that there were certain foods that cause a lot of bloating and water retention, and just cutting those out had an almost immediate effect on my weight.
According to http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.htm, you need to eat 2568 calories a day to maintain your current weight. They say you need to drop 500 calories a day to lose weight.
A lot of magazines like Women's Health or Shape have exercise programs on their website. I will usually choose one and follow it for a 2 months, and then switch it up so that I am constantly challenging myself. Or, if you can afford it you can go with a personal trainer, at least at the beginning. Knowing that there is someone waiting for you at the gym is good motivation and gets you into the habit of going.
Best of Luck!
D&C
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A
female
reader, ilaila +, writes (19 January 2010):
Check out www.sparkpeople.com
It's a great website where you can enter your height/weight/how many pounds you want to lose per week and the site tells you what calorie range/exercise goals would be appropriate for you to say within in order for you to reach your weight loss goal. There are also message boards and groups you can join to help keep you motivated and on track. Good luck!
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