Hi

I've started on my way to get back into shape. I'm currently 5'10" 185lbs. I'm looking at losing about 20 pounds give or take a few. I've started going back to the gym 3-4 times a week. I've already improved my diet a lot, drinking much more water, watching what I'm eating and trying to eat 3 meals a day well not eating late.

Basically my question is about calories. I'm just curious how many I should have, and how important are they in everyday eating? I'm curious cause I've noticed I've been eating a lot more fruits and vegtables then I was previously, and I don't think I'm eating enough food to get the most out of my diet.

Hi chadm...

There are several places online where you can find a calculator to figure out how many calories you should have depending on your height and weight. There may even be one on diettalk somewhere, maybe in the nutrition area from the home page.

My dietitian told me that my husband who is 6'3" and 235 pounds should have between 1800 and 2000 calories a day to lose about a pound to a pound and a half a week. That might give you an idea.

If you don't have luck finding a calorie calculator on diettalk, just go to a search engine and search for "calorie calculator".

Hope this helps.
J.

Chadm,
There are many handy calorie books everywhere, even a grocery store checkout line will have some. The quickest way I know for you to figure your intake. Is to write down everything you eat for 2 weeks. That is what you eat regularly to maintain your current weight. Then you add up all the #s. Divide by 14. That is your starting point. If you eliminate 500 calories a day from that, you should be able to lose a pound a week. I am not saying eat less or anything to drop more. Just an example.

Who wants to count calories for ever? Use it as a guide to see what you actually eat. Become a lable reader so you choose healthy. Other things come into play too. 3 kinds of fats, Good, bad and worst. Sugars, under many other names listed. Just switching to lighter brands will make a big difference. After awhile you will know the foods you eat by heart. :x