I have had alot of people tell me that 1500 calories is a good amount. Many of those people are in the health care profession. One person (my aunt) works with a doctor and he believes that lowering my calorie intake this dramatically will help me in the long run. I will try to explain it the way he did...
Because this weight loss is a lifestyle change, he believes I should get into the habit of only eating to survive (and occasionally to celebrate). Which if you think about it, is what food should be used for anyways. Food is awesome, and people eat for reasons that they arn't supposed to (which is why they gain weight). People eat because they are bored, because they are sad, happy, lonely, etc... But people don't realize that they are depending too much on food for all the wrong reasons... You can compare eating to drugs, alcohol, and anything else that is ultimately destructive. The only difference is, we NEED food to survive. But we only need a certain amount of food...
Dramatically decreasing my calorie intake now, instead of slowly lowering it, will help me get into the habit of my new lifestyle sooner. Let me break it down...
Option 1: Slowly lowering calorie intake over a number a years with your body having to get used to a new calorie intake amount each time you change it...
Option 2: Start off with the lowest amount of calories and take 1-2 months for your body to adjust to it.
Option 2 is my choice. I know some of you wont agree with me, and maybe none of you will, but everyone has their own opinions and ways they PERSONALLY want to lose the weight.
I started dieting maybe a week before I joined this forum at 307 lbs. and when I joined I was down to 304. It has been a month and I am down to 297 lbs. as of today. 10 pounds down and I am no longer starving all the time. The only problem I am having is being overly tired which is where I am hoping these multivitamins come in. *waves to Jessica
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I will totally admit that IT WAS HARD to reduce my calories that much since I was easily eating 3000+ calories a day before I started, but it was and will be all worth it in the end.
Like I said, not everyone will agree with me here and some of you might even get angry at this (i hope not lol I dont want to start a war) but just remember, everyone has different views on things and their own way to succeed in their weight loss.
Thanks everyone for the wonderful advice,
I plan on listening to 99% of it.
You guys ROCK
EDIT: BTW, i messed up in the original post and corrected it. It has been about a month on the diet not a week. Also, I eat between 1200-1700 per day. Not exactly 1500 everyday.