Need help figuring out a calorie target
 

I need a bit of help thinking through what daily calorie target I should be shooting for. I already have so many opinions that my head is swimming so a few more can't hurt, right? Three years ago I saw three different (all horrible) dietiticans and was given the targets of 1200, 1400, and 1600. FitDay is giving me a target over 2000, and the previous software I was using was at 1150. These are all based on stats of female, 48, 5'4", currently 257 lb.

For the past 45 days I have been near 1300 cal per day and lost 14lb over four weeks. Over the last two weeks I've regained 2 lb with no change in diet or exercise. The voices in my head are going nuts. The sensible voice says to ride it out while the more hysterical voices are trying to outshout each other to either raise or lower the target.

Does anyone have a reliable way to calculate this?

I looked up a Resting Metabolic Rate calculator on a Bodybuilding site.I would post a link but this site would probably remove it.
It uses several systems and averages them out.Your average would be an RMR of 2,012.The lowest daily calorie amount would be about 1,800.
So if you are getting less than 1,800 calories a day you should be in a deficit.
And you have to remember this is not taking activities into account.

Another thing you have to think of is body type.How broad is your body structure? Do you have much muscle mass.People with greater muscle mass will be burning more calories at rest.

I have to say your stats aren't to far off from my own.But I have been lifting weights for most of my life.So I may be burning a few more calories at rest.

Don't panic about the pace of your weight loss.Your body is going through an adjustment, and it may not drop every time you weigh yourself.
I think most people lose more at first, and then the pace will slow a bit.

Since you already have a 4 week baseline then finding your calorie targets is just a matter of a little math. I you lost 14 lbs. in 4 weeks (and a pound is approximately equivalent to 3500 calories) then you burned 49000 calories (14 X 3500 = 49000) more than you consumed. Thats an average deficit of 12,250 calories per week (49000/4=12250) or 1750 calories per day. Working backwards that means that if you ate 1300 calories per day then you burned a total of 3050 calories per day. That 3050 is a total of your Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) and your Activities. If your BMR is around 2000 (if you have filled out all your information you can see what Fitday is calculating by just clicking on your Activity Tab and seeing the number) and your exercise/Activities would account for the remainder.

1750/day is a fairly large deficit (although not unreasonable with your stats) but everyones body reacts differently and your may be trying to slow down your metabolism because it thinks it is starving due to the large deficit. Some time just increasing your calories by 200-500 is enough get your body back in line again. The balance of your FAT, PROTEIN, CARBOHYDRATES could also effect how you lose. I lose better when my protein is about 30% of my calories (again everyone is different so you may need to experiment some to find what works best for you).

If you set up a Weight Goal in Fitday it will calculate the deficit you need daily to attain the goal. The deficit is the important number. You can eat as many calories as you wish as long as you are willing to exercise enough to maintain the deficit. The more active you are the more you can eat. Let us know if tyou have more questions or need clarification.

I'm going to take a deep breath and raise my calories to 1600 and monitor the results. It is the target I was given by the least horrible dietician. Was it just bad luck to hit three bad dieticians in a row? Has anyone had successful interactions with one?

Fatcatnap to answer your questions I have a fine to very fine bone structure depending upon chart used and where the measurement is taken. I've been lifting weights consistently for 18 years due to an osteopenia diagnosis so I am pretty muscular under the adipose.

Best of luck to you Mel-Mc.
It's really good that you have healthy muscle under the adipose.That will serve you well.