2000 Calories a Day?? I don't think so!

While the number of calories a person needs to consume per day varies depending on the person, I've always heard that 2000 is an average. I guess I think that because that is what the nutrition labels are based on. With that being said, I looked at the Healthy Weight Forum's Calculator Required to Lose Weight. Using the calculator, I am able to determine how many calories a day I need in hopes of losing my 20 lbs in 2 months. I entered my gender, weight (not to be revealed YET), height, age, activity level, and desired weight loss during a specific time period. Gender, weight, height, and age are simple answers, but I struggled with activity level. I have currently settled on light activity, though the choices were: very light, light, moderate, and heavy:

• Very light: Sitting at home or work majority of day, minimal slow walking, and light housework
  
• Light: Mainly sedentary, but also includes about 2 hours of activity such as walking, gardening, etc 
  
• Moderate: Walking during the day instead of being confided to a desk (or in my case, the couch) and more intense exercise
  
• Heavy: High levels of activity at work and in spare time
  

I'm thinking I could consider my activity as more toward the moderate level, but I'm sticking with light for now. Based on how much you know me or what you've read in previous blog posts, what level do YOU think I should use? Try to post your response in the comment section at the end of the blog.

I've included the table of how many calories I should eat (based on my current information) during each week of my weight loss challenge.

Wow, I'm not supposed to eat much at all! This is going to be harder than I originally thought!! I'll post the actually calculator on November 1.

I have a plan for sticking to the calorie calculator: I am going to print it out and post it in several spots of the house... especially in the kitchen. It will be on the fridge, the microwave, the oven, and the pantry. The more times I see it should remind me of the path I've chosen. Sorry in advance Jason, you'll get tired of looking at it. :) I hope the calculator helps!