a question of calories

[*Victoria*]

Hey, i remembered reading a post about someone who had stalled, decided to run their food through fitday and found they were not eating enough calories. So I have done the same thing, now I have only one question..how many calories should I be eating?? i weigh 118, I do half an hour of cardio at least 3 times per week, and work a desk job. I have NO IDEA how much i actually need. I thought i was eating soooo much, but running it through, I'm only at like 800 for the day, and I have had breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks! Any advice would really help to see where my nutritional goals should be.

[Suzanne 3FC]

You should consume a minimum of 1200 calories per day. Many people need more than that, depending on their activity levels, but that is a good round number to start. If you go lower, the body compensates by burning fewer calories doing normal things, so you don't come out ahead. Also, consuming too few calories now will make maintaining much more difficult. Maintenance is harder than losing It's also difficult to get all of the nutrients your body needs if you don't consume enough food. The best thing to do is eat more, and don't worry if you lose at a slower rate than you'd hoped, you'll be healthier in the end. You don't have far to go, if you do lose more. At 5'3", the ideal weight can be from 111 to 147, depending on your frame.

good luck

[beach bum]

You'll never lose weight with out eating 3 meals with 2 snacks that are required on the south beach phase 1 and than with Phase 2 its the same only adding good carbs & good fats back. Phase 3 is the only time when you use snacks as an optional. Hope that Helps Hugs BB

[*Victoria*]

Thanks, that does help. I never skip snacks or meals so thats why I was so suprised to see how little calories I was eating. ( I wrote my post before dinner time..) I thought I was sure to have been eating too many! I don't have that far to go and I'm sure that is making it harder to lose those last few stubborn pounds. I think I'm going to cut the servings of whole wheats back down to one, I feel like I ate more veggies when I had only one serving of whole wheats. I'm so glad I found this website, it always seems like everyone motivates each other and has such good advice! Good luck to everyone