marlu, I'm going to be blunt: it sounds to me like you are looking for reasons not to succeed. Walking 7 miles a day (35 miles a week if you work 5 days) is a decent amount of exercise, but not at a level where you're going to be unable to do the work if you cut back your calories a little. I'm saying that because I used to jog that much per week plus weight train plus bike to work for quite a while. 1600-1700 calories for your size/weight/activity level is probably going to be a comfortable level for you. However, if that really isn't working for you - remember that you can always increase your calorie level. As long as it's below what you were eating to begin with, you will lose weight. It will just be slower. Since you're averaging out around 2100 calories right now, drop that to 2000 for a few weeks and see how it goes. Then down to 1900 and see if that's comfortable. Take it slow if you're concerned! This isn't a race. If you really need the calorie level you say, then you'll lose weight at 2000! Give it a try and see how it works for you.
There are always ways to tweak your food. I love hard boiled eggs, I just pitch the odd yolk. It's a small thing but doable ... and doesn't make that much difference to the satiety value of your food.
Marlu: I understand, my job can be physically taxing, too, and I am outdoors often. Being outdoors alone in the Florida heat with no shade can speed up my metabolism and make me sweat out a couple pounds of water.
But as the others said, you should *try* 1,630 calories a day and see what happens.
Also: Yes, if you're very obese, the weight will come off FASTER, but you'll have so much more to lose! Not just that, but once super obese people actually *DO* lose the weight, they often have loose skin (that some choose to surgically remove, but that sounds expensive - I do ok financially, but I know I would never be able to afford it) and stretch marks. We're lucky that we only have a few pounds that we need to lose. It's a much longer, more difficult journey for those who have 100+ pounds to go.
I have an insulated lunch box. I cook ahead, pop the frozen items in the box, and they are usually defrosted by lunch time. I mostly eat stuff that doesn't have to be heated.
It sounds to me like you need some fun in your life! Long hours, hard work makes it difficult to take time for yourself, I know. When I was in that situation, I had a special tea that I drank in the evening, I used some special shower gel in the mornings, a nice fragrance for after shower, I bought good coffee...things that don't take any more time, but give you just a little lift when you need it. When I was drinking my tea or using my shower gel, I tried to be aware of it and enjoy it.
According to several different websites the kind of work I do (heavy commercial cleaning) burns between 200 and 225 calories an hour. That means I am burning between 1600 and 1800 calories a day on the job alone. Add in a couple of trail hikes, and house and yardwork and other exercise and I must be burning at least 2000 calories a day over and above my bmr.
That is why I can't see how 1630 would be enough.Again, as I've said before, it would be plenty if I wasn't working, or if I had a less strenuous job. (By the way all of my jobs have been very physical, some of them much more so than this one.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the more frequently you do the same types of activity, the fewer calories you burn while doing them. For example, if I went from never doing any exercise to walking 1 mile a day, that might burn 100 calories for me at first (I'm completely making up numbers just for the sake of illustration here). But after walking that same mile every day for, say, 6 months, I'm not going to burn as many calories doing it because I've become accustomed to it,so my body no longer works as hard (burns as many calories) to complete the same activities. By having worked very physical jobs for so long, you likely aren't burning as many calories doing them every day as someone who doesn't do them every day, so I don't think calorie burning calculators will be very accurate for you to use to determine the number of calories you burn in a day.
All that said, I think 1800 sounds like a fabulous compromise to try for a while to see how it works.
There are lots of things you can make and not have to refrigerate or microwave. You mentioned sandwiches--I LOVE sandwiches! I use a whole grain bread that's only 50 calories a slice, and I use reduced-sodium lunch meats and thin-sliced cheeses. Or I use a tablespoon of all natural peanut butter and some all natural fruit spread (no sugar added, typically sweetened with fruit juice). Or you could bring a salad and store it in an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack--just keep the dressing separate until you're ready to eat so it doesn't get soggy. Or you could make wraps on whole grain tortillas, or you could have a big fruit salad and some string cheese, or you could have a cold pasta salad (with whole grain pasta), or you could have some veggies (think cucumbers, celery, carrots--anything good raw) with maybe some dip and some turkey slices...there are a ton of things you can eat without a microwave, and ways to keep foods cool without a fridge I DO have access to a refrigerator at my job, but I still often keep things in my insulated lunch bag at my desk since it's just quicker and more convenient for me. The lunch bag I got at Walmart and an ice pack or 2 (or if I forget to re-freeze my ice packs from the night before, I've been known to just put a bag of frozen veggies into a big ziploc bag and use that as an ice pack!) can go a long way!
People have been in much tougher, rougher, busier, more desperate situations than you and have found ways to lose weight--I am a million percent sure you can handle this! No one's saying it's easy (weight loss never is, whether you only have 10 pounds to lose or 210), but we're all here to say it can be done
And being over 300 pounds, I can understand where you're coming from with your initial comment about it being easier if you were bigger, but the sad truth is, you'd eventually end up exactly where you are right now anyway--it would just take you a lot longer to get there. Starting at a higher weight, LOTS of us have fixed all of our bad habits and still find the last 20 pounds or so nearly impossible to get off--they are ALWAYS the most difficult, whether it's your starting point or your final sprint to the finish line
I've read some of your other threads and it sounds a little bit like you have a "the world is against me mentality." This is a great place to get support, but to get support, you also have to give support.
You might just want to think about how your post might sound to someone who has 100 pounds to lose. Do you think they will read it and say "gosh, I really am lucky to have so much weight to lose"? We're all in this together and we all have challenges and we all need support.
Try some changes and see what happens. I don't think anyone is going to be able to come up with a magical answer for you to let you eat all you want to and still see results. However, you did mention your 300 calories beers. Perhaps you should try cutting those out and see how it goes.
"Try some changes and see what happens. I don't think anyone is going to be able to come up with a magical answer for you to let you eat all you want to and still see results. However, you did mention your 300 calories beers. Perhaps you should try cutting those out and see how it goes."
I stopped drinking those 300 calorie beers two years ago. Doing so enabled me to drop ten pounds with no other changes. Incidentally I don't expect to be able to eat everything I want and lose weight. Again, I just think 1630 calories is too little for somebody who exercises regularly and works a physical job
Last edited by marlu; 07-01-2007 at 01:08 PM.
Reason: additional text
Envy is easy, but it is a distraction. If you focus on why you believe someone else is luckier than you, you're too busy looking at them to look at yourself (in fact that's often our purpose in envying - to avoid looking at ourselves).
I have to admit your comment did offend me. It would be like me envying a homeless man because he couldn't afford to eat, or a starving anorexic woman because she didn't want to. Everyone has their struggles, and we really can't understand them completely, because we rarely if ever can spend a day in their shoes.
There are no magic numbers in weight loss. 1630 calories may or may not be too few calories for you. No chart can tell you how efficient YOUR body is. Your metabolism is unique and the only way to outsmart it is to experiment (based on you, not on anyone else). Count your calories (or points, if you're on WW) and SEE what you need to maintain/lose. If you aren't losing, cut back. If you want to lose 1 lbs a week, you have to cut back by 500 calories per day. If you try this and it seems like too little food, you can cut back by fewer calories, but you will lose more slowly. But rather than acting in accordance to what "seems" like too little - act according to what you discover by experimenting. Cut back by those 500 calories, if you feel weak or irritable, then try cutting back by only 250 calories. If you look at the scale and aren't satisfied with the weight loss, then you try to cut back a little more. But there really are only two options, eat less or exercise more, and usually it takes both (even when you're lucky enough to have as much to lose as I do).
(By the way, that was meant to be funny, not mean)
If you really believe that your body needs 1800 calories, than eat 1800 calories for a few weeks and see how things go. If you're not losing any weight after a month or so, then consider lowering it 100-200 calories.
Okay, apparently some people have taken it personally when I said I believe I would have an easier time losing weight if I were heavier. I never said I envied people who weigh more than I do and I never intended to imply that their struggles aren't difficult.
I am talking only about myself here.
If I were heavier I could lose weight on a comfortable amount of calories and I would have some wiggle room to drop the calories lower as my weight decreased. I would probably lose two or more pounds a week, which would be incentive to keep going.
Eventually I know I would reach the point I'm at now, but by then my new eating habits would be firmly established and it wouldn't be hard to cut the calories just a little more.
Now however, and again I'm talking only about myself here, I have to immediately drop the calories to what I perceive to be an uncomfortable hungry level and if I am lucky I might lose half a pound to one pound a week.
I'm not saying this with any ill will, but it sounds like maybe you need to ask yourself if you're really ready to lose the weight right now. I have up and down periods. Sometimes things just click and I'm ready to make the sacrifices. Sometimes (too often) I'm really not ready to give up all I need to and so I get stuck in a "this isn't fair" mentality.
I wish I knew for me, and for everyone else who would listen, what makes that "click" happen when it does. But I just don't. And so during those times I find myself seeking inspiration and sometimes I find just the right bit, usually on this site.
You know, I read someone else on here say that when they need to drop a few pounds, they actually exercise a little less to curb their hunger. I know you can't cut down on your work activity, but maybe you could cut back a little on the extra-cirricular stuff to help stave off hunger. It sounds like you're getting plenty of activity to be healthy with work alone.
Now however, and again I'm talking only about myself here, I have to immediately drop the calories to what I perceive to be an uncomfortable hungry level and if I am lucky I might lose half a pound to one pound a week.
You don't have to do anything. You can choose to do whatever you want, including continuing to do what you're doing now!
People have suggested gradually adjusting your calorie level, to see what will work best for you. A loss of 1/2 a pound to one pound a week is very a healthy rate, in case you're not aware of that. You could choose to look at this process with a long-term view to maintenance and what you're willing to do to maintain after you lose, as well. It might give you some perspective.
And word--don't take those online calorie burn calculators too seriously.
For example, I've observed that some men who weigh, oh say 200#, and work much more demanding jobs than you do not have to eat at the rate indicated by the calculators to maintain. Someone laying sod, or framing houses, or pulling green chain 7-8 hrs./day does not necessarily need to replace an expenditure of 450 cal. per hour, which is probably pretty close to what the calculators would indicate!
Last edited by mariposita; 07-02-2007 at 12:18 PM.
