Ask Me Help Desk - How many calories do I need?

I am a 27 year-old female, 5' 7" and weigh 134 pounds.

I have worked out off and on for a while, but recently I started exercising for 1 hour every day.

My routine is as follows: I run a 10 minute mile for 30 minutes on the treadmill OR do the stair machine (actual stairs, not stairmaster) for 30 minutes.

Afterwards, I do about 30 minutes of strength training.

My goal is to improve my overall fitness, but also to lose between 5-10 pounds over the next month.

How many calories should I be consuming each day to accomplish this goal?

Quote:

Originally Posted by applehead2007

I am a 27 year-old female, 5' 7" and weigh 134 pounds.

I have worked out off and on for a while, but recently I started exercising for 1 hour every day.

My routine is as follows: I run a 10 minute mile for 30 minutes on the treadmill OR do the stair machine (actual stairs, not stairmaster) for 30 minutes.

Afterwards, I do about 30 minutes of strength training.

My goal is to improve my overall fitness, but also to lose between 5-10 pounds over the next month.

How many calories should I be consuming each day to accomplish this goal?

Hi, I am not a professional but would suggest looking at this site Calorie Counter Database - Free Online Diet Program useful tools plus there is a free food log, workout log, that calculates all the calories for you!
Hope this help

The new average caloric intake for women is considered to be 1600 calories a day. You need approximately 6 oz. of grains, 2.5 cups veggies, 1.5 cups fruit, 3 cups low fat dairy, and 5 oz meat/beans. But truly you should be looking into what your eating and the portion sizes rather than exact calories, unless of course you looking at losing a lot of weight. The nutritional labels that on most foods will give you a realistic guide to what you should be eating, the exact potion size. For instance 3 Oz of meat, lean, skinless chicken, turkey breast, loin type meats, and fish, and with this add veggies, legumes, beans and fruits. You should incorporate 3 servings of skim or low fat dairy, milk, yogurt or hard cheese. And if you are eat white flour products like white bread, rice, pasta, cereals, choose whole grain wheats rice, cereals, pasta and breads. And instead of presweetened drinks like soda, 100% fruit juices or water, Especially*** water throughout the day! Along with this, it goes hand in hand, exercise, which from what I see, your doing a great job! Try working in other exercises, (crunches, pushups, jumping rope, swimming... )for a total of 60 minutes a day 4-5 times a week and vary the workouts, this way you confuse your muscles and they work harder. So what I'm trying to tell you is eat smaller potions of healthy foods, cut out excess sugar products, fatty foods, and fried foods ( as well as all fast foods). And keep up the good work, you will see great results!

Thank you jonath85 and lovelesspa! Great recommendations. I am already eating wheat and multigrain products and I drink only water right now (except my morning coffee... can't seem to give that one up just yet!) I find it is necessary to eat small meals throughout the day, as lovelesspa recommended, to keep my blood sugar up. I'm eating a bowl of cereal with 1 percent in the morning plus a banana or apple; lunch is usually something easy like a lean cuisine; then a Zone bar around 3 or 4 in the afternoon; something low cal/low fat for dinner, and then a snack around 8 pm or so. I'm at about 1200 calories a day, which might be a little low, but I just want to lose 5 lbs. and then I am going back to 1500 - 1600 per day and continuing the exercise routine. I will also begin training in April for a triathlon in June... so I will be swimming, biking, and running A LOT! I'll be training with a friend who has done triathlons before, and I'll probably be back on here to ask about calories/portions in a few weeks once I'm in training.

Thanks again!

applehead2007, You sound like you have a perfect program for yourself! And this is a major key, there are all sorts of program out there, the real key is to adapt one that works for you! You are doing great, so great results will follow, this is a lifetime change that will pay dividends. I can't think of one thing that your doing wrong, good luck in your future training, and remember there is always someone here that can and will give you great advice! Good luck, we are rooting for you!!