How to work out how many calories I need to maintain weight?

[ambermoeba]

Hi, I'm Amber and I'm a 19 year old student. Over the past few months as part of my New Year's resolutions I've lost about 9lbs, but am now looking to maintain weight around where it is (about 7st 10lbs). I am however having trouble working out how many calories I need to do this! Generally when I stick to an average of ~1200 calories a day I lose 1-2lb a week, and a week where I averaged 1314 I maintained weight. However, in the past couple of weeks it's been like this:

Average kcal/day: 1159 Weight: -4lb (However, I ate little the day before weighing)
Average kcal/day: 1248 Weight: +1lb (However, I averaged 1165 until yesterday when I had 1661 as a treat. Feeling bad since it's like I spent a week eating under 1200 calories for nothing.)

What does this mean for how many calories I need to maintain weight? Under 1248? Under 1300? Under 1600? I exercised the same amount both weeks. I would really like to stop dieting soon but have no idea how to keep the weight off! Would it be more accurate if I ate normally today and weighed myself again?

 

[pertinacity]

Congratulations on getting to your goal weight!

I've read a bit about maintenance on various forums and am implementing something that I've read "veterans" recommend:
(1) Get a sense of how large the normal fluctuations of your weight are. For example, my weight can vary by about 2-3 pounds from day to day.
(2) Set a threshold higher than that amount. I've read posts where people say 5 pounds is a good threshold. I'm going with 5 pounds, too.
(3) If you're weight goes above your target weight by more than that threshold (5 pounds in my case), then start dieting again. (If it goes 5 pound below your target, eat more.)

Based on your numbers above, I'd suggest trying 1300-1400 kcal/day. If you gain more than 5 pounds (or whatever threshold you choose), go back to 1200 kcal/day.

Dave