How many calories should I eat to maintain?

Hi. I am about 16 mos out and am pretty much at goal. I would not have minded losing about 5 more pounds but would be happy to maintain where I am at. When I talked to my Nut today, I asked her how many calories I should eat to maintain my current weight. I am 5'4" and about 140-142 pounds depending on the day and the scale. My Nut told me 1000-1200 cal a day to maintain. I have been eating probably around 1500-1600. To me 1000-1200 sounds like a low-cal diet! Does anyone know what they are eating to maintain? I am not exercising regulary but am otherwise fairly active, work on my feet 3-12hr shifts a week and climb 5 flights of stairs when I go to wor****asionally take walks or walk on the treadmill on days off. Do you think I need to cut down to 1000-1200 cals?

Your personal needs are metabolically specific. To know for sure, you'd need to have your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) tested.

Mine's 1680. This means, in theory, I can eat 1680 cals a day, never move, and maintain.

If you're eating 1500-1600 and maintaining, then you're maintaining-- change nothing.  Pretty simple, huh?

Well I have maybe gained 3 pds. from my lowest and was just thinking that maybe the 1500-1600 cals a day is why, but have stayed the same now for about a month.
So maybe I am just being paranoid and am doing OK.
How do you go about getting your RMR tested?

Like Jupiter6 said - the only way to know for sure is to get your RMR tested.  But I'll tell you that 1000-1200 cals a day for your height and weight sounds pretty low.  I'm 4' 11", 102 pounds and I need 1600-1800 a day to maintain (my RMR is 1250).  See if you can find somewhere to get it tested - it will be worth your while!

I agree with everyone who said get your RMR tested.  I did and have never been sorry!

I maintain at about 1500 - 1550 calories per day. 

Why not just continue eating 1550 cal per day and see if you lose or maintain?  If you haven't lost or gained in a month then perhaps that is right for you.  If you lose past your 5 lbs or gain you can always adjust.  By the way you are doing amazingly well.  You must be so proud of your accomplishment.  Daisy

We are all soooo different...and so many times surgeons and nuts group us all into the same protein and calorie range no matter what our age,  sex,  weight, height etc...They just give us all an average number and that wipes their hands clean of having to explain how very complex and metabolically different our bodies really are....I'm sure each of us has heard we need 50-60 g's of protein and eat 1200 calories a day and drink 64 oz of water daily winter spring summer and fall..yada yada yada...It's just an average...

It kinda irks me though....We can all tell you how much we eat and you would be amazed!  Just go look at the accountability thread for a while and you can't believe first what people eat and second how amazingly different it all is!  LOL...

When I was sick with malnutrition issues, I was not allowed to get my heart rate up and was to take it extremely easy...I am normally a very active person who can eat 1800 cals a day and maintain....Suddenly I had to cut back to 1200-1400 a day just to not gain...That lasted 6 months...AS soon as I was well again...I started back up with my very active lifestyle and I'm back up to some 1800-2000 cals a day again  (maybe even more!) with no trouble maintaining my larger weight at 165lbs where I am quite content at both mentally and physically...So you see it really is all about YOU and what YOU need to do to maintain...

You really don't need any crazy tests unless you want to...I might go get one of those RMR tests for the heck of it...but you just really need to cut back a few hundred cals if you begin gaining or step up the exercise and it's usually THAT simple with nothing all that special involved...Good luck!