Lose pounds and inches - What should my daily caloric intake be if I want to lose 30 pounds?

What should my daily caloric intake be if I want to lose 30 pounds?

I am 5'1 and weigh 145 pounds. I am very unhappy with my body right now, and I dont want to go to the extreme of not eating but I will. I want to lose 30 pounds. It is still healthy, and its just me that is unhappy. Not my boyfriend, not my family, just me. I need to do something. I dont look overweight, but I think I am and that is all that matters. So please dont preach on how I should love my body, just help me get it to the place where I will love it.

Public Comments

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Instead of starving yourself, why don't you try exercise?
The lowest docs recommend is 1,200. Thats the lowest. With cutting down to that, you can lose up to 2 pounds a week, which with take you 3 months to get to your goal. Its going to take me 6 months.
You should cut 100 calories per day from your diet. You'll loose about a pound a week. I would suggest the South Beach diet, or some varient of it. It'll cut sugars and other carbohydrates from your diet for 2 weeks, then slowly reintroduce them until you can find which sugars your body can more easily process, and, since you can eat some of the things you like, you won't be starving yourself, and you'll be more likely to stick with it.
There are about 3300 calories in 1 lb of fat. If you want to be a certin weight you should eat that weight times 12 in calories. If you wanted to weigh 115 you should eat about 1400 a day. If you current weight is 145 right now to stay that weight you should eat 1740 calories a day. Everything you eat under this will loose you pounds. A normal person at 150 not moving and just in bed all day will burn about 1800 calories a day. The more calories you burn the more you will loose. Just figure that every calorie you save and add up to 3300 is a pound of fat. Go to http://www.howstuffworks.com/diet.htm to learn a lot!
The first thing you should do is talk to a doctor. You should also find out how much of your weight is fat. And keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat, so if you exercise and gain muscle you won't lose as much weight (but you'll be healthier). But in general, you want to burn more calories than you take in. The best thing to start with is eliminating all soft drinks. Just drink water or unsweetened tea. Next, work on cutting down on dairy products and sweets. Becoming a vegetarian or vegan will probably help, but you'll have to make sure you're getting enough protein and vitamins, so that's another thing your doctor can help you with. Exercise is another important component. Choose a kind of exercise that you will enjoy. Something as simple as walking several blocks daily will help. Start out slowly and work your way up in intensity so that you don't injure yourself.
I know exactly how you feel. I, myself weigh about 176 and would love to lose 30 too. Anyways, in order to lose weight with the caloric intake solution, you must cut about 500 calories a day. To lose a pound of fat (and not lose calories from energy and muscles), you must lose about 3500 calories. Ofcoarse, exercise and choosing healthier foods. Now, I dont know your age or how active you are, or what you normally eat, but here is an online calories per day calculator that may beable to help you determine a good solution: http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.htm Remember, do NOT eat less than 1200 a day. Your body could start burning off energy calories instead of fat calories. It's better to have an energized, healthy, weighty body than to have a skinny, weak, lifeless body =)
"You should consume about 1200 calories a day to reach your goal weight of 115 kgs. This is at a reasonable weight loss average of 1 lb per week, which should be reached by April 15, 2007. Remember that this estimate is based on your body weight, height, age, gender, and activity level. It may vary slightly depending on other factors. Generally, women should not consume any less than 1,200 calories per day, and men should not consume less than 1,500 calories per day."