How many calories should we eat a day?

Hi Everyone, Happy Early Mother's Day for all of you Mothers out there. My question is how many calories should we have each day? I checked my reference materials for 3 months and it tells me to get 40-60 grams of protein each day but it says nothing about how many calories. The sample menu has 108 gr of protein and 1300 calories. I am still at 198 lbs and I was wondering should I eat more to get my calories up? I am eating about 40-70 gr of protein but only 600-800 calories each day. I'm still getting my 3 days of walking in and 3 days of upper body using weights. Any thoughts on how to kick this back into gear? By the way, I have been 199 for 2 weeks now 198 for 2 weeks.

I continue to have this problem..I try to shoot for 1000 calories which is what was recommended for me at about the 3 month mark out..I think goal is actually 1200 under my plan but my nutritionist knew there was no way I could hit that..still on average I only get about 700..mostly because I can't really eat meat at all so all my protein comes from shakes and yogurt and cheese...its like im stuck on the soft food stage forever!! But I actually don't mind..Anyway, if you are in a stall I would suggest bumping up to try to hit a 1,000 and see what that does..make sure you get at least 60 grams of protein in, maybe another protein shake? If you can tolerate milk you could have a protein shake with milk and that would be around 200-250 calories so there alone would boost you up to closer to the 1,000 calorie mark and would up your protein too...Just keep it up, you will get there!!

 My plan specifically does NOT count calories.  The only thing they are concerned with is protein and low sugar.  A two week stall is not unreasonable and be prepared to have several along the way.  You need to be at the upper end of protein for best results.  My calories seem to average about 1200 because I do not rely only on shakes to get my protein.  I do feel more energized and the scale seems to move (slowly at this point) when my protein is between 70-90g a day.  I have yet to make 100 grams!

Don't let the stalls defeat you--the scale WILL move when it is ready.
Janet

Great, thanks for your responses. I will try uping the protein and the calories to see how it goes. I understand stalls but I just thought that I should at least try to do something more or at least check and see if what I'm doing was right. My plan doesn't call for a specific amount of calories. When I asked, she said when I ate too many she would let me know. LOL

My surgeons office would not tell us how many calories either.  I tried to stay between 600 - 800 while loosing.  I now try to stay between 1000 and 1200 unless I'm going to exercise alot and then I increase it some.

A lot do the percentage of protein, carbs and fat.  When I counted everything I tried to keep carbs and fat around 30% each of my food total for the day.

I use protein drinks so my protein is usually over 100 grams per day.  The protein drinks help me to not snack on other things.

Lots of people stall, just hang in there and it will start back.  Good luck.

Linda

My plan doesn't count calories but when I am adding up my protein, etc, it shows on my tracker.  I am usually over 100g of protein and 750-850 calories.  It could certainly be more because I'm bad for forgetting to put in salad dressing, etc. Our plan was for the same from 3 months to 9 months.

OK, I will work on increasing my protein and see what happens but I will stay at or below 1000 calories. Thanks

I wasn't told calories either just the proportions of protein/fat/carbs and how much liquid.

When I do count mine up, I'm running about 800-1000 a day. IF I am exercising, it's closer to the 1000 than other days.

Don't worry about the scales stalling...it could be a few days to a month or more but you can check how you are doing by measuring yourself monthly. Cause even when your scale isn't moving, the tape measure is.

Liz

 There is  a very  big difference  in the Quality  of calories  .... 

I  think one of the reasons  they dont tell us eat a certain amount is  because they dont want us to make the mistake of eating  less of the foods that made  us huge in the first place ...

now its very EASY  to  say  go to Panera bread or  wendys and  get relatively low cal  selections and stay within allotted limits but Ull find u dont lose weight .... and maybe  crave MORE  ...

whereas  is U get the same calorie count  from say fat free shakes and a little  fat free cottage cheese  and refried beans with melted fat free cheese  and  skinless chicken breast with fresh veggies ..U  lose  like  gangbusters .  

particularly  if U do Zumba !! ( or at least walk every day ) ... which also REALLY  helps Ur shape and skin bounce-back ..

I will watch what I eat as well as the protein and calories. I do Zumba on Mondays and lift weights 3 days a week and try to walk 2-3 times a week. I am so tired most of the time though so that looking at some of the posts I may be able to get more energy by increasing the protein.