I need help calculating how many calories I need to lose

[Cohanl]

weight...all these diff sites give me diff numbers...i am 5 ft 7 1/2 i wegh 154 and goal is `140...some sites tell me i need 1800 cal a day to lose weight..others say less HELP!!

[knewell]

Hey, first off, when designing a diet for 'fat loss', it has to be functional, meaning it works for you and you can stick with it. Seeing that you are a female and currently weigh around 155, I would start you off at 1200 calories per day. No, your body will not think it is going to starve. If you are a in a relative caloric deficit (BMR-500-800 cals), you are good to go. Once a person drops into an absolute deficit (BMR-1000 or more cals), all hell breaks lose. In a relative deficit, leptin levels should stay normal, in absolute, they drop signalling metabolism to slow. Let me know if this helps-Kyle

[cassiegose]

Hey, first off, when designing a diet for 'fat loss', it has to be functional, meaning it works for you and you can stick with it. Seeing that you are a female and currently weigh around 155, I would start you off at 1200 calories per day. No, your body will not think it is going to starve. If you are a in a relative caloric deficit (BMR-500-800 cals), you are good to go. Once a person drops into an absolute deficit (BMR-1000 or more cals), all hell breaks lose. In a relative deficit, leptin levels should stay normal, in absolute, they drop signalling metabolism to slow. Let me know if this helps-Kyle

With all due respect... I couldn't disagree more... well except I do agree that a diet has to functional. I'm an extremely disciplined person and theres simply no way I would be able to maintain a diet of 1200 calories per day. Thats just too low. I wouldn't start less than 1800.