Q: What is r/caloriecount?
A: It's a subreddit for people that are looking to lose weight or have lost weight by counting calories.
Q: Is it ok to post recipes, questions, ideas?
A: Yes, yes, and yes.
Calorie Counting
How do I know how many calories I should be eating in a day.
That is determined by your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and your activity level. This number is a great guideline for determining where you might want to start on a caloric reduction plan.
How can I determine my BMR?
There are many BMR calculators online.
How do you know how many calories to cut out of your diet?
Each pound of fat represents approximately 3500 calories. If you want to lose one pound per week, then you need to cut your calories from what your body requires by 500 calories a day/3500 per week.
But I did that and I didn't lose the right amount of weight!
It's more than likely water weight, or a million other things. Try to take the long view on it. If, after a couple weeks, your weight loss hasn't evened out, you may have esitmated your BMR wrong from your activity level and you may want to lower your caloric intake a bit more to see if that can kick your plan into gear.
I lost too much weight!
Same problem as above but in the other direction. Add some daily calories so you can get to the loss you want.
Is there a lower bound on how many calories I should have per day?
Nutritionists indicate that it would be very difficult to get your correct nutrition from anything less than 1200 calories a day. As always, listen to your body and consult a doctor before starting any weight loss plan.
What should I eat to lose weight?
In itself, it does not matter what you eat, as long as your caloric intake is lower than your expenditure.