Quote:
Originally Posted by freelancemomma
<<One method I've heard of and like is to just choose a reasonable calorie level you can live with (e.g., 1700, 1800, etc.) and eat that that level to see where it takes you, weight-wise. >>
I like this idea, though it's a bit scary. Right now I find I can live quite comfortably (i.e., without undue hunger) on about 2,000 calories a day, so I'm thinking of seeing where this takes me. I suspect I'll be able to either maintain my current weight (145 lbs) or a slightly higher weight on this amount, as long as I keep exercising fairly regularly.
Freelance
I believe it's definitely possible. Even though I would have denied it in the past, I think I'm able to eat so many calories because of my activity level. I'm short (5 ft 3), 43 years old, and 134 according to my weigh-in last Tuesday, so I would never have guessed I could eat even 2000 calories much less 2100-2200, but I can. I do one hour of intentional exercise 6 days a week, but I also move
a lot---chores, errands, etc.
If you (and the OP) are interested, there's a book that someone here recommended to me entitled
Calorie Queens. It's written by a mother and daughter who lost about 100 lbs. each. They started the process by figuring out how many maintenance calories were needed for their goal weight and then just started eating at that calorie level. This is a different approach than most people have taken---i.e., start at a lower calorie level and increase calories at maintenance. Their approach makes sense, though, because it really helps you keep in mind from the start that the habits you're adopting are
for life.