Calorie intake

I am still confused at 5 years out on how many calories we are supposed to have.I need to know this for my personal trainer.I am not getting enough calories he says.Can someone please help me out?

Thank You,Tina

My trainer recommended that I go to sparkpeople.com and log in how much I'm exericising and how much I weigh, etc.  He said it would give me a pretty accurate goal range for calories, fat, protein, and carbs.  I can tell you that I've been using it for about 3 months and it's dead on the money for me.  I'm in maintain mode and it has helped me to get the magic number I need to stay stable.   Currently eating 2400-2700 calories, 40-80 fat, 200-300 carbs, and 110-190 protein.  I do cardio for 60+ minutes 6 days a week and strength training 3 of those 6 days in addition to cardio.

I'm only 15 months out but Sparkpeople has me at 1300-1550 daily to continue weight loss and I exercise moderately.  Plan on upping the exercise DRAMATICALLY when summer comes and I lose these dang kids I have to spend the day with!  (Wish my emoticons worked). -176 lbs.

I maintain easily at around 1800 cal daily. I work out 4-5x's per week cardio and weight training. It does seem like everyone's needs are different in this area and its alot of trial and error before you can sometimes find the right balance for you. Good Luck!

"Supposed to" is a relative term. Do you want to lose?  Gain?  Maintain? If you are happy with your current weight, and it seems to be reasonable, healthy, and comfortable for you...likely the easiest way to determine how many calories you are "supposed to" eat would be to journal your intake as you eat.  I prefer paper to web based journaling as you may forget what you ate by the time you go from table to computer.  Anyway, write down everything that passes your lips, how much you ate, and the calories consumed. It's a whole lot easier than it sounds. All you need is some paper, a pen, and a calorie guide. Oh, and measuring cups, measuring spoons, and a food scale wouldn't hurt either. BTW, this whole journaling, weighing, measuring, and calorie counting thing works at any stage of lose, gain, maintain. The secret is that there is no secret! Karen

I'm 5 years out and try to stick to about 1200 calories for a normal day. If I work out more, exercise more or have a strenuous weekend of activity I can eat more - up to 2800 calories. I use fitday to find out how much I'm burning off and go from there. Days I'm sedentary I have to cut way back.