I was going through some labels today (just random stuff as I popped in the shop) and all these numbers went *whoosh* over my head

Is it the energy figures I should be looking at?

I don't want to crash diet as I don't think I would be able to handle it.

Is there some kind of formula or set number of calories you should eat to lose weight? If I did want to diet hardcore is there a minimum calories you shouldn't go below?

Minimum should be 1200 but that doesn't take anything into account like your weight/height. Everyone will have different needs.

There are loads of apps you can get that works out how many calories your body will need to lose weight each week

Whats your age, weight and height and how many times a week do you exercise and I will work it out for you.

It depends on a number of things such as current weight, height, gender, exercise level etc. The minimum is 1200, but you're better off sticking to a healthy diet that you can continue long term even when the weight is off.

I'm on around 1700-1800 calories when trying to lose weight as I need more as still breastfeeding. When I stuck to 1200 calories I went a few weeks with no weight loss. As soon as I upped my calories I had weeks of rapid weight loss!

Sometimes it just takes a few weeks of experimenting with different calorie intakes to find out which one works for you