How many calories do I need calories!?

[Beavereater]

I have to lose weight. I am at a shocking 138KGs...and its not muscle!! I just started working out. I will stay on it and get in cardio when I can. BUT, I don't know how to figure out how many calories I should be eating!! Is there an equation, or a site that lets you know!?

[Sccrhead]

Rather than worrying about how many calories you should be eating, I would start to track what you are currently eating. Take that amount of food and drop by about 100 calories a day until you start losing weight. If you lower your calories too fast, you will lose muscle with fat and that will further lower your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight.

If you keep lowering your calories than you will start using/burning more calories than you are taking in and you will lose weight. Also, go to the Diet and Nutrition forum and read the 'what a bodybuilder eats' thread:

http://www.wannabebigforums.com/showthread.php?t=46565

Also, eating 6x a day makes it easier to go low cal without feeling like crap. I think the key to getting cut is to eat until you are no longer hungry rather than eating until you are full.

[Aspect]

Good advice above - you should ideally figure out what you're eating now, then gradually reduce that amount until you start to lose weight. Target a moderate reduction - better to aim to lose a pound or two per week (0.5 - 1 kilo) than try to lose the weight too much faster than that. That may seem slow, but at that rate you could be down to below 100kg before the start of next summer, without having to starve yourself or feel miserable while you lose the weight.

[Beavereater]

Its not so much what I eat, its when I eat it. I always skip breakfast, eat a lunch which is usually rice with some kind of meat and some diet soda. Dinner is somewhat the same...and I get home at 11pm and eat again, tofu rice and veggies. I sleep around 3am. Before the other day, I was not working out much. I biked to and from work everyday (6 km back and forth). Since posting I went from whatever I ate to the 5 meals a day and low cal. I was dead...and had to fill up on tofu. I will try what you suggested. Anymore suggestions would be great!!

EDIT: I read the "What bodybuilders eat" and I know what I can eat...just not how much of it.

[Ðragons]

relax, when your at 138kg, u will usually lose a lot anyway to start off with, make sure u drink plenty of water, then (bodyweight x 12) i think it is, for your calories, and each week take them down 100 or so, eat plenty of protein, (1g per lb body weight), less carbs, and moderate fats.

[Beavereater]

I found some kind of calorie counter online
http://www.thecolumn.org/how-many-ca...-do-i-need.asp
It said that at 138KGs I would be consuming 4306 calories a day. SO, from what I read here, I should bring that down 100 calories or so a day until I see some weight lose...hope it works. Gotta get rid of this gut...

[Aspect]

No no no - why start from a number you got from some random website? Forget what anyone says you "should" be eating; only you know exactly what you are eating at your current weight. Start with what you're eating now and work down from there.

Write down what you're currently eating, and start trimming back. Yes it takes a small amount of effort, but it's well worth it - 5 minutes every day jotting down what you eat then quickly looking up the caloric content is time well spent. And the exercise will teach you a lot about your current diet that you probably overlook / don't know / hadn't realised.

[Beavereater]

The thing is, I've done that before, and it seems that I am aroudn 2400 calories a day. I figured it to be high fat though. I now wonder if my gain in wieght has to do with WHEN and HOW OFTEN I ate. I usually ate my first meal around 12pm, the second around 4 or 5 and then the third around 10 or 11 and be in bed around 2am. Could this be more of a problem than the actual fat, or calories I ate!? Could the fact that I am a teacher and not moving around much be the problem!?

[Mannequin]

If one were to eat just the necessary amount of protein per day (1g/lb BW) what effect would that have on their body? wouldn't it provide enough nutrients to keep the muscle from breaking down?

[Max-Mex]

As long as you lift, eat maintenace cals, then the muscle should stay. Granted you get enough rest as well.

[Mannequin]

My question was like a 200 lb guy eating only about 1000 cals (800 from protein) what effect would that have on his body seeing how he is still getting the protein he needs

[Max-Mex]

He'd lose weight. 1000 cals still isn't enough for a 200 lb guy to maintain that weight.