Ashley...
 

I have a sneaking suspicion that you may be African American? For some reason, BMI calculations don't work as well for African Americans; I suspect that in general they may have greater diversity in the weight that nature "intends" them to carry.

Would you have the same sneaking suspicion that I too am African American (which clearly by my avatar, I'm not) just because I too fit into the same mold as the original poster? I'm an inch or so taller, and still a bit heavier, but I too can carry more weight yet look "less fat" than someone else of the same height and weight. It has nothing to do with race, but BODY TYPE. Anyone, no matter their racial background, who is more muscular than the "norm" is going to weigh more and have a higher BMI than someone who isn't. :rolleyes:I swear....

:D

http://images.cheezburger.com/comple...2012804591.jpg

The number of calories you need each day depends on your activity levels and your body size. Your diet is the key factor that affects your weight and health.
How many calories should i eat
The first thing you need to do for lose weight is determinate the calories that you need a day.
The second is begin cut down the extra calories means change your diet and make exercises for burn these extra calories.
You need cut down 500 calories a day to lose 1 pound a week or 1,000 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week (1 and 2 pounds a week is considered safe rate to lose weight).
Hope this help

Make sure you don't go below 1200... but 1200-1400 is good for weight loss, but make sure if you do a heavy workout you eat extra calories in that day.

Calories?

http://www.fitday.com/fitness/forums...n.html#post276

Hey there, 1600 calories is probably appropriate for your metabolism, especially if you have a significant amount of muscle already. If you're trying to lose weight you could integrate some cardio at the gym because that would definately help boost your calorie burn. Just never, ever, eat less than 1200 calories a day, it will put your body into starvation mode and you'll either lose the important fat feeding your organs or your muscles will start to atrophe. I've heard of calorie restricting underneath 1200, but I can't imagine actually getting around the body's natural defenses. Btw, i'm 23 5'5 and 145 lbs and I eat around 1300 a day.

The sheer numbers of calories you need daily differ from one individual to another and to work these facts you're going to would like to know many elements of specifics about your self that can help you create your own working out. Down the page in this particular the number of calories must I consume a day to shed weight calculator portion we're going to offer you a quick description as to tips on how to you could make your very own formula to find out the number of calories you need to have a day.

Reference How Many Calories Should I Eat a Day to Lose Weight

Simply by giving an answer to the question 'the total number of calories do you have to have a day?' then you're purely discovering the sheer number of calories that the system necessitates to be effective normally, for all the activities that happen in your system through the day to occur correctly. The quantity you get from that calculation may see you keep up with the identical body weight when you take that particular quantity of calories every day, when you eat much more you can expect to gain pounds if you take in lower than that then you'll definitely slim down. Definitely weight is not going to truly vary daily therefore you really have to think that continuously eating more than this level will find you gain weight and systematically eating beneath the quantity will see you shed pounds after a while.