What's up with calories???? DANDR says eat 'til satisfied but not stuffed, don't worry about calories, Protein Power says maybe worry about calories a little, folks on this board say don't starve yourself, some folks say eat tons of fat and to %^** with calories.... What's up??????????

I'm a 5'6" female, 150 lbs. size 10, I run 30-40 miles per week and do weights and Pilates. I want to lose 15 lbs of post-baby fat and take inches off everywhere. Eating until I am satisfied seems to add up to a LOT of calories, even with loads of veggies. I tried Fitday, but their estimate of what I am burning each day seems way high. Any help????? How many calories should I eat???? Thanks!

It really depends on the person. I have to stay between 1100 and 1300 or I won't lose a single lb no matter how much I work out. The rule of thumb is to take your goal weight times 13 and that is how many cals you should stay around, an inactive person would want to take their goal weight times 10. However, when it comes down to it that is not very reliable either. If I were you I would start at a certain # of cals and if you don't lose, take a few away. Since you are using fitday it should be pretty easy to keep track. I would guess that with how active you are you are probably able to consume 1700+ but I'm not really sure. I only run about 20 miles a week and I do yoga in the am. I try to have 3 main meals and some decent sized snacks in between and it keeps me full and I'm quite the pig. You just have to see what works for you. I skipped induction because it was too difficult for me to keep my cals down.

10 to 12x your weight is the suggested amount.