[club]

So I have been hearing a lot about fitday.com, so I went on there today and created a profile. It said that I am allowed 769 calories per day!!! I know that is not healthy and the lowest anyone should go is 1200. So should I just eat 1200 per day and forget what it says on there?

I have done really well this last week. I was down to 137.8 yesterday and 138 today!!! Which is the lowest I have EVER been!! woohoo

I recently moved in with my boyfriend, and I am learning that I don't have to eat every time he does. I am very proud of myself for listening to my body and not overeating all the time. It has been a struggle (ice cream last night), but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[BatgirlAmy]

Hun you have lost, 22 lbs already. Keep doing what you are doing, and screw that!

[zenor77]

769 is definitely not enough calories for the day. I'd stick with 1200 (or whatever else you are doing) and ignore the calorie calculators. I use fitday, but I've never had it calculate how much I should be eating.

[beautiful9800]

Club- you are doing great! 769 calories a day is not healthy for anyone, especially if you are working out!! I LOVE ice cream too, so I feel your pain. I haven't had it in about 4 weeks, but I think about it almost every day.

What are you doing to lose the weight?

[Ali87]

stick with 1200, even if it takes a little bit longer. going below 1000-1200 will just end up messing with your metabolism and it will be that much harder to stay on maintenance when you do get there.

[mandalinn82]

The reason FitDay gave you that value is, basically, because you have an unreasonably aggressive goal.

FitDay doesn't limit you to 1-2 lb a week goals, or set the calorie floor at 1200 calories...it just estimates your burn and deducts 500 calories per day for every pound you tell it that you want to lose a week. So if you set your profile to lose 2 lbs a week even though you're a smaller person and close to goal, it'll give you a calorie value that is unsustainably low.

You may want to rethink your goals a bit!

[club]

beautiful9800-- It has taken me over a year to lose what I have lost so far! I do really well and then gain again. It has been frustrating. I consider myself a calorie counter but I don't do as well as I should. I don't write anything down, I just calculate in my head (rounding up) and go by that. I need to write things down, but I can't get myself to do it, I keep thinking that if I write it down everyone will know what I am doing and how serious I am about it. I can be obsessed in my head, but to have my family know how obsessed I am with losing weight.. I don't want the riducle.

After righting this out I am surprised I have lost any weight at all.. no wonder it took me over a year to lose 20 pounds! I have been trying to eat healthier and smaller portions as well..

I exercise once in awhile.. Right now I actually have a membership to two different gyms, one in the town I live in and one in the town I work in.. I have not been to either in a long time.

mandalinn82-- I see... I had said on there I want to be at 130 by the 18th of February.. I have trouble setting realistic goals for myself. I am sick of trying to get to 130...

Any advice or wisdom, my ears are open.. Thank you

[beachbabe8406]

I use livestrong.com to determine my calorie goals and record how much I have eaten in a day. I know it tells me that I should eat like 800 some calories a day, but this is based on no exercise. When I add the exercise I have done for the day, the amount of calories I can eat increases. I follow this since I am usually not hungry if I eat the amount of calories it tells me to.

[PeanutsMom704]

are you sure it saying that you are allowed 769 calories a day and not that you aren't supposed to restrict 769 calories a day? If you are in the weight goal section, make sure you are on the Calorie Balance tab, not the Calorie Restriction one. Mine calculated my metabolic rate at 2606 calories a day and to meet my goal, I need to restrict 1067 calories a day - meaning I should be eating 1539 calories a day. But the Calorie Restriction tab doesn't explain it that clearly, it just says to restrict calories 1067, without saying how much you should have.

fwiw, I think their calorie burn calculations may be slightly elevated so I do a range of 1200-1500/1600 (meaning I don't freak out when I go above 1500, but that's still my target for a daily max, but I consider it ok when I might end up a 25 or even 50 above one in a while)

[HealthierLori]

I just started using that app too and I agree with everyone else here - the best thing to do is to revise your goal. I know that it's really hard being patient, but the thing is, is if you eat a reasonable amount (1,200 plus whatever you burn in exercise per day) you won't be so hungry and you won't gain it back as easily.

It also won't feel as much like punishment, if you give yourself enough calories for your body to stay healthy....and hopefully if it doesn't feel like punishment, you won't feel as frustrated if you only lose, say, 1/2 a lb. per week.

You are very, very close to your ideal weight - you might even be there already if you have some muscles, since muscles weigh more. So it's going to be tough going to lose the rest that you want to lose. Your body is going to fight you a little here. So you have to use some strategy and figure out the best way to get to your goal.

It's kind of like a maze - the straight line (no calories, starving yourself, exercising too hard at first, etc.) is not the best line to get you where you want to go.

To get where you want to go, give your body enough food so it won't go into starvation mode. Keep exercising (that's great you are exercising!) and feel very proud of those pounds you have lost already, because that is a major, major accomplishment!

[club]

PeanutsMom704-- yeah i am sure thats what I am supposed to eat... I am supposed to cut like 900 some calories and I only burn 1600 calories a day or something like that..

HealthierLori -- what do you mean when you said "plus whatever you burn in exercise per day"? can you give me an example assuming I will eat 1200 calories per day. I think part of the reason I am so slow at loosing, (not only because I have to many bad days) but because I am confused on what I should be doing; therefor I do my own thing and its wrong and it hurts me.

Thanks for all the advice and comments everyone.

[HealthierLori]

Oops I just looked at my iphone app and just realized I downloaded one called myfitnesspal rather than fitday. So ignore what I said please!

Oh, gosh, I shouldn't try to give advice - I'm a newbie here! I don't know what is best (except I know below 1,200 isn't healthy) but on my app on my phone, it adds to the calories I'm allowed to eat per day based on what exercise I do. I'm trying to follow a 1,200 calorie per day diet and see how that works for me. So today I did 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer and the machine said I burned 294 calories and I think the phone app said I burned 296.

So what happened is, the phone app added those calories I had burned on to the total number of calories I am allowed to eat today.

I calculated that I have eaten 600 calories (606 actually) today. That leaves me roughly 600 calories to eat, right? But because I exercised, my application tells me that I can eat 888 calories more per day to stay inside the limits.

Anyway that's how my application works. I'm trying to not go below 1,200 calories because I know it will backfire on me and I won't lose weight, plus it's just plain dangerous.

[PeanutsMom704]

Originally Posted by club

PeanutsMom704-- yeah i am sure thats what I am supposed to eat... I am supposed to cut like 900 some calories and I only burn 1600 calories a day or something like that.

ok, glad you had it figured out, when I first started using it, I was SO confused by that section. lol!

Anyway, I'll agree with what lots of others have said, which is that your goal of 8 lbs in a month is overally aggressive, esp. given your small size. You've lost a lot of weight so far, even if it wasn't all that fast, and that is great! I'd definitely stick with what you are doing, and focus on getting back into an activity routine. Regardless of what the scale says, you'll look better and probably fit into smaller clothes if you are more toned, and it will also help the weight loss itself keep going, even if a little more slowly than you might wish.

You may also want to check out the Featherweights section here, for people who are almost at goal and/or have a small amount of weight to lose, as the issues and timing of how you lose can be different at that point.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/featherweights-197/

Good luck!!

[squishysquirrel]

Originally Posted by beautiful9800

Club- you are doing great! 769 calories a day is not healthy for anyone, especially if you are working out!! I LOVE ice cream too, so I feel your pain. I haven't had it in about 4 weeks, but I think about it almost every day.

What are you doing to lose the weight?

Have you tried the Skinny Cow icecream? It's surprisingly god with 140 calories and 2 grams of fat. I still have icecream in my diet, but I haven't been dieting very long.

[club]

Thank you everyone... This has all been really helpful, I am eager to get back into a workout routine and start fresh by setting a new, realistic, goal.

Thanks