Maintain weight with this calorie formula

by Jacki Donaldson (Subscribe to Jacki Donaldson's posts)
Feb 14th 2008 9:00AM

Categories: Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Nutrition & Supplements

I'm taking my weight -- which at the moment is 135 -- and I'm multiplying it by 12. My answer: 1,620. That's the average number of daily calories I should consume to maintain my weight. Interesting.

Without knowing it, I must have been eating 1,620 calories each day for a good chunk of time. I know this because my weight has been keeping pretty stable. It could also be that I'm eating more and burning some of my calories with exercise, which is then delivering me back to that same 1,620 mark.

This simple formula, courtesy of Discovery Health and EatingWell.com, can also help me figure out how to lose a few pounds.

To produce a weight loss at the safe rate of one to two pounds per week, all I need to do is subtract calories from my daily total. For one pound, I should shed 500 calories per day. For two pounds, I should ditch 1,000. That would leave me with daily totals of either 1,160 or 620 calories which tells me something: This won't work for me.

Anything under 1,200 calories per day leaves little room for proper nutrition so if I really want to lose weight, I should reset my number to 1,200. It's still less than my maintenance number which means I'll still lose weight.

Want to take a stab at this simple formula? Tell us what you find out.

Source

Comments (12)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

rachel.smith 2-14-2008 @ 10:58AM

This is a silly formula. It just told me I should eat 1,380 calories a day to maintain my weight (115lbs). Not only would I personally loose weight on this formal, I would also be very hungry! It doesnt take into account anything like age, activity level or muscle to fat ratio. That is rediculous. To maintain my weight, I eat 2,100 calories per day, which is nowhere near what it says I should be eating.

nikkicookers 2-22-2008 @ 7:07AM

Agreed rachel... This formula is pretty stupid and inaccurate. It pretty much just plays with some numbers and comes up with a random guess on how much you should eat. There is basically nothing that would support this philosophy.

nikki cook
http://fitconnect.com/lilnicky1234

Andrea 2-14-2008 @ 5:14PM

This formula is not accurate for everyone. There are so many factors to consider when determining calorie requirements (age, height, activity level, etc.). I am 24 years old, 4'11" and 90 pounds. According to this formula, I can only have 1080 calories per day. I have kept a food diary for 10 years and eat an average of 1266 calories per day. I am able to maintain my weight at this amount (I walk on the treadmill for approximately 30 minutes per day).

Mike 2-14-2008 @ 2:17PM

That formula says I, at 120 pounds, should eat 1440 calories a day. You couldn't get me to eat that little if you tried; I am maintaining a healthy weight at 1700-ish calories daily.

Judy 2-14-2008 @ 7:24PM

I know online calorie calculators aren't entirely accurate, and I'm not perfect at estimating portions, so the numbers I get when I track my calories might be way off.

I'm roughly 120 pounds, so I should be eating the 1440 calories a day, plus some for breastfeeding (and how would I estimate that, when some days he hardly nurses at all, and others I think milk is his entire diet?) - they usually give a 500 calorie rec, but that is for infants, and mine is almost 2.

Even then, I'm at 1900 calories or so, which is less than I think I normally take in.

And even if I wasn't breastfeeding, I don't think I could make it on 1400 calories a day. I usually eat that much by 2 p.m.

Then again, I've been breastfeeding so long now (almost 4 years) that I can't really remember what it's like not to be, so maybe 1400 calories a day would be about right. But I doubt it, for me.

kat 2-15-2008 @ 7:13PM

dont u think 4 yrs old is to old to let a child hang on to u breast? r u doing it for u r the child?

Judy 2-15-2008 @ 8:24PM

The 4 year old is not still breastfeeding. The one who will be 2 in April is.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for *at least* one year and as long thereafter as both parties want to.

The World Health Organization recommends a *minimum* of 2 years, with no age at which the benefits cease.

I, personally, have no intention of breastfeeding a 4 year old, but don't think there is anything wrong with it, and can assure that in all but a very few extreme cases, no mother is breastfeeding for anyone other than her child.

leslie Mainer 2-14-2008 @ 9:17PM

i think you guys are misunderstanding, it's not necessarily that this is how much you should "eat" it's what your net calories need to be to maintain.. so for example the 90 lb girl eating between 1200-1300 cals and working out for about a half hr per day is probably netting right around that 1000 calorie mark to easily maintain

Andrea 2-15-2008 @ 6:40AM

Yes, but I would still be netting a higher amount of calories than this formula recommends. This formula is just too simple because it doesn't account for age, height, muscle mass, etc.

Andrea 2-15-2008 @ 11:20AM

But I would still be netting a higher amount than this formula recommends. The formula doesn't factor in age, height, gender, etc. It's just too simple.

mongrelzilla 2-15-2008 @ 11:21AM

Yeah, that formula is way too simple. Although I still have a few complaints about this one, check it out: http://www.dietitian.com/calcbody.php I can't even imagine "netting" just 1200 per day...that's just insane.

lilreeves 4-30-2008 @ 3:58AM

That's WAY off. First of all, you're going to go into starvation mode and lose all your muscle.

Second, it doesn't take into account how active your life is. Are you telling me that a fitness instructor who weighs 100 pounds is going to need just over 1,000 calories?

My guess is...no

People need to realize that if you do it correctly (which isn't hard), you can eat more calories and still lose weight. It's all about your metabolism!

For example if you eat 3x a day and need 1,500 calories to maintain, you could probably eat 6x per day with 2,000 calories and LOSE weight.

There is a lot to learn still - most people have no idea what's going on when it comes to fitness unfortunately! :(

You won't lose weight until you learn..

Jeremy
http://www.fitness-product-reviews.com