[rose madder]

Hi everyone!

First off, I don't have a lot of weight to lose, but the last ten pounds have been really tough....
As I've been reading more and more posts, I see that most people here seem to eat around 1500 or fewer calories a day. Honestly, I don't know how you guys do it! I'm pretty active, I bike to and from work every day which adds up to about 40 minutes (more if I'm going out again.. I bike everywhere!) and go to the gym about 3 times a week. (I try to do circuits for about an hour twice a week, the third day I usually just do an hour of cardio).
I've been using the iphone app Loseit! which automatically deducts exercise calories from what you eat. (Mine is set to about 1500 a day). I know this is stalling my weight loss, but if I don't eat back my calories, I get so hungry....

My diet looks something like this; (I'm a vegetarian and eat very little dairy)

Breakfast; whole wheat bagel (scooped out) with tofu cream cheese
or soy yogurt and granola
Coffee and soy milk

Lunch: Salad (vegetables, vinaigrette, walnuts) and 2 pcs Ezekiel bread with 1/2 T butter

Snack: Luna bar (with protein)
or an apple with 2T peanut butter

Dinner: Big salad with olive oil and lemon juice and a veggie burger
Edy's Acai/blueberry popsicle

According to loseit this usually adds up to around 2000 calories... minus my activity, the net is somewhere in the 1800 range. I haven't lost any weight in months.... how do I get satisfied on fewer calories?????

[thesame7lbs]

Boy, written out that sure doesn't look like 2000 calories. What contributes the biggest chunk of calories -- the ezekiel bread?

Does LoseIt tell you how much carbs/protein/fat you are getting? I wonder if you're getting enough protein. I'm not familiar with the nutrient balance in tofu cream cheese or soy yogurt & milk.

I find that carbs, even good whole grain carbs, are satisfying in the short term but leave me hungry sooner than I'd like. Protein seems to help with that -- especially at breakfast.

Do you weigh your food? I wonder if you're overestimating. Really, I think I eat a lot more than you! (but maybe the eggs/dairy help with that).

[ddc]

Hmmm. Could you cut one pc of Ezekial bread, some of the butter and some of the peanut butter? Maybe half of a veggie burger?

As for hunger, I came to embrace my hunger as an unfortunate side effect of weight loss - lol !!

Good luck

[bargoo]

Are you sure that adds up to 2000 calories ? Doesn't look like it to me.

[littlefishy]

Do you eat the veggie burger on a bun? If so, consider taking it off. Cutting down on the soy milk in your coffee might help too, the calories in soy milk stack up fast. And maybe you're using too much olive oil on the salad?

Also, if you're using regular peanut butter in a jar, you might want to switch to a low sugar or all-natural kind. I think it tastes better and you usually end up with 30 or 40 fewer calories for the same amount of protein.

Good luck with your diet! At least you're making very good choices even if the calories are a bit high.