I know I'm losing, but I wonder if I should be doing more. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy as long as I'm losing. I'm committed to this long term, mainly for my health but I want to look good too. I'm not so concerned with how long it takes, but I want to make sure I'm going about this the right way.
First off, I tracked my eating for about a week or so on mydailyplate.com then I saw how many calories I needed to eat to lose 2 lbs a week. It said I could eat about 1500. I've been eating about that amount and losing about a pound to a pound and a half a week. I haven't been doing ANY excercise because of my ankle injury, but I just received my chair excercise videos last week. I know that sounds lame, but hey....I'm lame! (get it)
I guess my question is this...I feel good eating the amount of food I'm eating now. I never feel like I'm really hungry...I feel satisfied throughout the day. I could eat like this forever and not complain. So, should I lower my calories a bit or stay where I am? For some reason when I tell people I eat 1500 cal. a day, they think I'm eating way too much.
A pound a week is perfectly acceptable. You should be losing 1-2 a week to do it the right way. If you lose too fast, then you are likely to put it back on and more. The slow and steady way means that you are in fact changing your eating habits for the long term.
As long as it's working, 1500 cal/day is fine. If you find that you plateau, then you have to tweak your diet a bit- refeed then go down a bit. If you go down too far, you have no where left to go when you do plateau. It's easier to cut down 100-200 cal/week than to cut down 500.
Once you are able to start exercising again, you may feel like you have to eat more to feed your activity. That's when you have to watch it like a hawk. Go up a bit for a while, then go down again.
I say "don't fix what ain't broke". You're feeling satisfied, losing at a nice pace, so why change it? If and when your weight loss slows down or comes to a screeching halt, then you can drop your calories a bit. Hopefully your ankle will heal and you'll be doing more physical activity at this point. Maybe you'll be on of the lucky ones. You may never have to drop your calories in order to keep on losing.
The "people" who say you are eating too much at 1500 calories, hmmm, I wonder just how many calories they're consuming . I mean who are they to tell YOU what YOU should be doing? We are all just experiments of "one". All indiviudals with different needs. And we need to figure out those needs for ourselves.
Keep up the good work. You're doing just great.
Last edited by rockinrobin; 12-29-2007 at 10:19 AM.
Thanks for the responses. Sometimes I think "well meaning" people aren't really wanting me to succeed. I don't want to sound like the b-word, but since I've started this healthy lifestyle change, I've heard more opinions on how to lose weight, from fellow fatties, than ever before! I never told anyone I was on a "diet", I simply explain I am eating healthier, when these same well meaning people try to feed me. Most of these people are co-workers and I hate to say this but sometimes I think they would rather see someone fail instead of succeed.
Thanks for the advice, I'm going to stick to what I'm doing until it doesn't work anymore!
Some people feel unconsciously (or not) that if someone else succeeds at weight loss, it means they have to do something about themselves. They can't use excuses anymore. Don't let them sabotage you! Stick with your plan, and don't talk about it with them. That's my opinion.
I agree that what you're doing right now sounds great--and it's obviously working! 1500 calories at your current weight is obviously creating a deficit, which is what you need to lose the weight, so why go lower? It's not suggested that most people go below 1200 regularly without professional/medical supervision, so how low do these people want you to go? 1200? But then what happens when the losses slow/stall? You'd have nowhere to go!
You seem to have a great attitude about it all, and, unfortunately, you're also right that some people don't really want to see you succeed. It's not that they're bad or evil people or want to even see you fail, necessarily, but I really think people are afraid of change, and they are used to you being as you are now and don't always know how to react. And, like Jay said, other "fellow fatties" may feel intimidated, like if you can do it, then they should have been able to do it by now, too. It's easier said than done, but try to just shrug it off and keep doing what you know is working for YOU!
I'm hoping to go down the "pound a week" route as well and I know what you mean about people not supporting you or choosing to ignore the fact your trying to eat healthy and or lose weight.
I know who my friends are, it was those that didn't buy me chocs for xmas, and for those that did they waisted their money, I gave the chocs away!
I also track with dailyplate and am at 1552 for today's goal. I think it's too high and I've been losing if I stay under 1400. But that's me and not you. We each are different. Do what works for you.
I'd be thrilled with a consistent pound a week. Don't listen to your co-workers - you've obviously hit on what works for you, who the heck are they to tell you how to lose weight?!?
Is a pound a week okay?
) 
. I mean who are they to tell YOU what YOU should be doing? We are all just experiments of "one". All indiviudals with different needs. And we need to figure out those needs for ourselves.
