How many calories should I be eating?

[itsonlysubterfuge]

I've used several different calorie counters online and they all have different answers, in between 700-1700 calories. It's a huge margin. Does anyone have any reliable calculators or formulas they use?

At the moment I use myfitnesspal and it allows me 1850 which is a lot - just shows how big I am at the moment, though also I have a more active job than some. I used to do roughly 1500 a day which I will always lose weight on but is quite hard.

Use a basal metabolic rate calculator like this

www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

That's tells you how many calories your body needs if you were just to sleep/sit still/do bugger all all day

that seems quite low to me. Because I eat like a pig & don't seem to gain weight (ducking internet tomatoes now).

I'd imagine you're very active, or perhaps quite young? I have pcos which means my body is superb at squeezing the most out of every calorie though on the plus side it will gain muscle fairly easily.

47 almost 48.
What does very active mean? Yesterday was probably close to average, I cycled 7 miles & walked 1.5 miles. Quite sedentary otherwise.

I've always had a pig of an appetite. People say so. My weight was higher in my teens, didn't slim down until mid 20s.
Can only eat if I'm calm & truly hungry, though.

Whereas I eat to become calm...yes I would say you're more active than average, which sadly isn't hard in this country.

My BMR is 1,545 so I guess my eating 1,000-1,200 calories a day is okay. I just wish I was losing weight a little better.

Thanks for your replies.

It's not just the number of calories your eating but the quality. There is truth to the theory that 'not all calories are equal'

Is there ecky? Not in my experience, i have to say.

Increasing activity is probably the way to go next, but we all have limits on that one.