Everyone talks about reducing or increasing calories for weight loss - this is a SCIENCE, not guesswork. And it is really easy to calculate your individual needs.

The first step is to calculate your BMR - or Basal Metabolic Rate. This is based on your age and height and is the lowest level of calories your body needs to survive, breath etc. Do NOT eat lower than this level for any significant period of time as you will massively mess with your metabolism, which will assume you are starving and slow right down, making it near impossible to lose.

Then once you know your BMR, calculate your TDEE or Total Daily Energy Expenditure calories - this is based on how active you are. Unless you are a genuine athlete most of us are classed as "sedentary", especially if you have a desk job. Don't make the mistake of over (or under) estimating your activity levels. I work out gently a few times a week and am still classed as sedentary.

The number of calories you have here are your MAINTAINANCE level calorie needs.

THEN once you have this calorie number, you take off 15%-20% for weight loss, or about 500 calories below maintenance.

Here is a handy calculator that does it all for you!!! https://tdeecalculator.net/

It also gives you suggestions on MACROS to eat at, and what percentage of protein/carbs/fat you should eat for your individual weight loss or maintenance needs.

ALSO important to note that the number of calories you will need to eat for weight loss will decrease as you lose weight! So you will need to reevaluate the level of calories you need to eat regularly depending on your current weight.

This calculator has been truly invaluable to me!! I hope it helps others.

How far out are you ?

Don't eat less than your BMR? A lot of us as sleeve paitents can't get in more than 800 cals for a long time. Which I would assume is a lot less than what you are recommending. That we have been told by our surgeons team.

Is this link showing what sleeve patients should eat ? That tdee calculator is for what a person who isn't sleeved should eat. ..

Confusing. I'm sure it will help someone.

My bmr 1,400 thanks for the advice but I won't be going against my surgeon and eating that much. Many people have success following their instruction.

How many calories are you eating a day? Your surgery was April this year. ? And you had a bmi of 29 on day of surgery. Weldone. But generally people who have surgery are not eating 1,400 cals a couple months in from what I've seen.

Edited September 23, 20178 yr by dreamingsmall

Yes, I am 5 months out but as you say, at a lower BMI so perhaps this is more appropriate for those closer to goal than those just starting out? I don't know.

Initially, I was eating 800 calories a day (and even that was hard) but as per the recommendation of my dietician I aimed for 1000 by 1 month out. It was hard! I needed protein shakes.I am 5 foot 3 so according to the above calculator I need to eat only 1037 calories to lose weight. I found I barely lost weight when I was even eating 1200 calories.

What I am saying is everyone has different calorie needs so one size does not fit all! And this calculator scientifically shows that. My calorie needs are not the same as someone taller, younger, with a higher BMI, or someone who is a teacher and on their feet all day...We can calculate our individual needs.

I have been trying to hit 1037 daily - not under or over. I was surprised that my optimal calorie level was so low, which is why I thought this would be interesting to share. As you rightly say, it has been HARD to get this level of calories in - I still have at least 1 protein shake a day to accomplish this. Many days I don't quite reach it but I try to reach the desired level and find I honestly lose more weight when I eat at this level rather than undereat!! If I see on MFP I've only eaten 800 calories at the end of the day, I eat some yogurt with a teaspoon of peanut butter for example or some chicken chunks etc. I try to make it to my recommended level and I have been having pretty good results with it.

I have currently lost 48lbs which is 80% of my excess weight. I'm losing an average of 10lbs a month (some months less, some months more). I absolutely take my hat off to those starting at a higher BMI and with a longer journey. I know it is super hard and those people have my absolute respect !!

This is a tool to inform, that's all. Science can help us. Calculate your PERSONAL needs, try to meet them, see how it goes!

ADD: But yes if your doctor has given you a specific plan which goes against what the calculator says, absolutely follow the doctors plan first!! I was not given a specific plan; maybe there are others in the same boat

Edited September 23, 20178 yr by NightPilgrim

For us, it is still largely guesswork, albeit somewhat scientific guesswork (we call it a SWAG - scientific wild-assed guess - in the business.) The problem with most of these online calculators is that they use body or scale weight as their basis rather than lean weight which is what is really needed to figure BMR. This particular calculator does offer the opportunity to enter a body fat %, assuming one knows it, which few of us do (and they offer an opportunity to sell you a set of calipers to measure it by far the least accurate way of making such a measurement.)

The biggest problem is that most in the WLS world have metabolisms that are damaged to one degree or another by their lifetime of obesity and dieting. This is where two people of identical age, height, weight, body composition, etc. are put on a treadmill - the person who has been through the life of morbid obesity and yoyo dieting will usually burn fewer calories on that treadmill than the never-fat person, sometimes substantially so.

So, take these calculators with a grain (or kilo) of salt, look at them with some interest but don't take them too seriously, particularly if they are trying to sell you something. The protein maintenance suggestions they make for me are between 180 and 240 g per day, which is roughly double my physiological maintenance requirements and well into the protein supplement selling zone.