What is a good calorie goal 13+ months out while still trying to lose

I'm 13, almost 14 months out. I still would like to lose around 30-40ish pounds. What is a good calorie goal? I work out cardio (elliptical) 30 minutes a day on most days.

Hi there! Wow, you and I were almost the exact same size at surgery. I too am about 5'3.5" and was 280 lbs. on the day of my RNY.

I believe that once I was about a year out, my lifestyle was getting to what would be "the new normal." I eat between 1200-1500 calories a day and exercise 70 minutes 6-7 days a week. I don't track carbs, but make sure that I'm getting adequate protein each day. When I'm not exercising as much, I keep calories toward the lower end of that range. If you find that you're struggling with those last 30 lbs., I'd recommend changing up your workout routine. I noticed that after a few months of doing the same type of exercise my body got used to it. Now I alternate between running, the elliptical, yoga, and body weight exercises and it's really helped me.

Best of luck to you!

Good advice, thank you! How long did it take you to get to your goal? And if you don't mind me asking, since we are the same height, what was your goal?

Originally, I hoped to be 150 lbs., but I made it to 170 at about 13 months and my weight loss tapered off so I thought I was done. Maybe a year or two later I decided I wasn't satisfied and reevaluated my diet, made some changes, and started couch to 5k as a physical challenge. That got me to where I am now, which is between 140-145 lbs.

Wow. I'm at the same place now 13 months out. 169lbs. And I feel like it has slowed to almost a crawl and felt my body thought I was done but don't want to be done yet. I guess it is time to reevaluate my diet and exercise plan. I would like to be around 140 which is 30ish pounds away. 

If your goal is 150 lbs, then cals should be about 1500 a day.  A good rule of thumb is 100 calories per ten pounds.  It seems to work.  I don't remember where I saw this formula but I have used it since about 18 mos out.  It works well for me.  When I am training, I boost my calories higher to cover the energy needed for long runs and races. 

Calorie goals are very subjective and individualized.  What I may need in way of calories may be very different then what you may need.  The only advice I could give you is that if you are not losing at the level of calories you are taking in now and your weight is stable then you have pretty much figured out how many calories your body needs to maintain at that weight.  Now you know that if you are eating, say, 1800 calories a day and your weight won't budge that you need to eat less then 1800 calories a day to lose weight.  This may not be popular or even true for most people but I have seen time and time again people talking about how much exercise they get and how they aren't losing as much (or at all) as they think they should and I have come to the conclusion that burning calories with exercise really doesn't translate into weight loss.  Don't get me wrong, I think exercise is great and very important, especially for health and mental health but as far as weight loss I think it helps more with keeping weight off then it does with losing weight.  I do not subtract any calories I think I should have burned with exercise.  It just has never worked for me.  If I eat 1200 calories a day and I am supposed to burn off 500 calories with the exercise I do, I just don't lose the pound a week that the programs say I should.  But if I subtract 500 calories a day I will lose weight, regardless of my activity level, if that makes sense.

I see too many people using their activity level as an excuse to eat more and therefore void any caloric benefits from exercise.  Keep working out but don't subtract those calories and try cutting back your calories instead.  Like I said, if you find you are maintaining at 1800 calories a day then cut back to 1600 and see if that doesn't kick start things.  Keep your activity stable but lower your calories.  I just haven't seen where increasing exercise without decreasing calories has made much difference, at least with me and many others I have seen.  I know there will be tons of people saying I am wrong and they do lose more when the up the exercise without changing their eating and if it works for them then that is great.  But obviously it isn't working for you or you wouldn't be stuck.  You need to eat less then you are now, period, to lose weight.  I don't know a nicer way of saying that.  Increase your exercise all you want but if you don't see the scale go down then you are eating too much.  Yes, some of that could be muscle but I kind of doubt you have 30-40 lbs of muscle.

Another thing is too look at what you are eating.  That is another thing that is hotly debated.  A lot of people say a calorie is a calorie and you will lose as much weight eating 1000 calories of junk food as you would eating 1000 calories of healthy food. That hasn't worked out for me, either.  If I ate 1000 calories of refined carbs I would gain more then if I ate 1000 calories of mostly protein and healthy carbs.  That is just me.  What I eat does matter.  I easily eat at least 200 grams of carbs a day, but it is all from natural sources like fruits, vegetables, dairy and whole grains.  I get in at least 100 grams of protein a day and don't worry about fats as long as they are from things like dairy and things like avocados and meats.  Also, in full disclosure, I am about the laziest person around when it comes to exercise.  I just don't like it and God knows I have tried everything.  I have wasted so much money joining gyms and classes and I just can't force myself to go regularly.  I do like riding my bike but that's about it.  Yet I have kept my weight at 105 lbs for nearly a year and a half.  I'm not advocating that, I am just saying that what I eat makes more of a difference in my weight that what I do, at least now.

In short, look at the number of calories you are taking in and where those calories are coming from.  You may find that you will lose if you just trade calories from refined carbs for calories in protein and healthier carbs.  I can't guarantee that, but it can't hurt to try.  Sometimes, also, we think we are eating a small amount of refined carbs but we are really taking in more then we think.  You know, a bite here, a taste there and it adds up more then we realize.  They taste so good and go down so easy that it is easy to eat more then we think.  I know that I fill up very fast when I eat dense protein like steak or chicken then I do when I eat things like oatmeal, which I have been doing more because I had all my teeth pulled and I can't eat meat unless it is pureed still.  I have found I am eating more then before because the food I am eating isn't as dense and I don't get as full as I used to right now.  I can eat more calories in soup before I feel satisfied t hen I can when I eat chicken.

You and I have similar beliefs, at least this is how it works for me.  I do believe it's VERY individual on how much we intake in quantity of food we can eat and the calories included in those foods.

The proof is in the pudding, as they say.  You can't argue with success and for me keeping all the excess weight off for nearly 8 years and beyond is the success I hope to achieve.

Eating back my exercise calories, as advised by many, doesn't work for me either. I have to look at exercise as a health activity, not a weight loss activity.