[Michou]

I see so many comments all over the net about gaining weight if I reduce my calorie intake and that I should increase it to 1500.......general comments without any consideration of the reality of the person dieting. If I were to listen the 16 pounds I have just lost would be instead a weight gain of 5 pounds and I would consider myself a failure or one of the few people on the planet that eat nothing and gain weight by miracle.

They say in general that we need to consume 2000 calories a day but is it my reality?

I did the calculation, according to my gender, age, height and weight and level of activity to maintain my weight at 147 I need to eat no more than 1435 calories a day, mind you my work makes me a couch potato. I know I can move more, walk etc which I do but I will talk later about that.

I should not eat below 1200 calories a day under no circumstance because again I will gain weight but to loose 1 pound a week I must eat 80% of 1435 which brings me to 1148 calories. Yet many people are still insisting I should eat 1500.

My bmr is 1196 and I am supposed to eat 1148 to loose one pound, I am sure that I will enter starvation within a few minute of posting this message.

As far as exercise I am looking right at this moment I have burned 136 calories just walking around the house, again I should add those and make sure I eat them, I do not want to starve. Yet the machine telling me how many calories often calculate wrong and is so generic that it does not take my personal history to base the calorie burned.

Also I am told that I can eat fried oreos (I do not know what they are), fries, pies, ice cream, drink wine, as long as it stays within my calorie allotment. Fine but that junk full of fat is the reason why I am where I stand at the moment.

I should snack also, because I do not want to enter the starvation thing, I have never snacked in my life, I should run to the peanut butter jar.

Ok so I am being melodramatic and I am also smiling writing this but what. i want to say is that you are probably not a failure and you should not be made to feel that way, you just need to get the information relating to yourself not someone else.

Go and calculate your TDEE and check your numbers you might be surprise of the results

:0)

[lin43]

Yes, the advice one gets while dieting is often contradictory to one's own experience and, at times, contradictory to common sense. That is why you have to find what works for you, no matter how many people tell you that what you're doing is wrong (disclaimer: I'm not talking about medical advice or medical situations). I calorie count, but I had to tweak my plan to suit my personality. I like a certain amount of spontaneity in my eating, and my plan reflects that. Do what works for you, regardless of the standard dieting advice.

[Michou]

Right on common sense :0)

[nonameslob]

My bmr is 1196 and I am supposed to eat 1148 to loose one pound, I am sure that I will enter starvation within a few minute of posting this message.

I'm sorry. I just have to giggle at this and your other starvation mode comments within your post! I hear it all the time. People are misinformed. I'm glad you've found what's worked for you while being able to ignore some of the misinformation that's out there. I'm glad I was able to do the same!

[Michou]

The starvation thing gets to me real big time, I know that my metabolism will slow down but there is a world of difference between slow and gaining pounds, that kills me.

When I was 21 I moved to a foreign country and a civil war as lucky as I am started on that same day, we were actually the last plane to land before the airport closed. Many many things happened to stress me out but a few days after getting there I had a fever of 106, fainting etc. We were in the mountains where it was not under constant bombing and let me tell you doctors were rare and hospital none existant. I had dysentria, my weight at the time was 105, 20 pounds below what I should have been, there was no fat to pinch and none to loose even before all that started.

After a month of being sick I cannot describe how bad it was, if I drank water and that is all I could take I would spend one hour in the bathroom passing blood. I went down to 75 pounds and looked like a cadavre.

I finally was able to get to a plane and get medical treatment when I arrived in Canada and regained the weight slowly.

No one can make me beleive that feeling hungry or eating below 1200 will starve me.

[luckymommy]

Michou, I so appreciate your post and I completely agree with you. I think some people are certain that what works for them will surely work for others, but that's just not the case. There are so many variations in all of our situations that it's ridiculous to think that one size fits all when it comes to calorie consumption.

[Pattience]

I have never read anywhere that low calorie diet will make you gain pounds while you are still eating low calories. The version i subscribe to is that a sustained very low calorie diet will make you gain the weight back eventually, often in a quite a short period of time. And its what i've experienced numerous times.

Secondly for your height, clearly you are going to need less.

I have spent some time with an anorexic person. She still looked nice because she had some muscle from all the exercise she did. But she clearly had more than average self-control. My sister is similar. She is a little underweight these days but eats a reasonable amount. The problem is she does heaps of exercise. The thing is she can't afford to reduce her exercise if she doesn't want to gain weight or make a concurrent reduction in her calorie intake. And in her, i notice a degree of anxiety about it all. It was there in the anorexic person as well. Its a stressful way to be having to exercise so much in order not to gain weight.

[Michou]

Pattience I am not refering to what you discuss on another post I would not do that, I am conscious that it is a very difficult battle the longer you are overweight to keep the weight off after reaching your goal.

The exemple I stated are truly being discussed on other forums and those are the advices that are given without any consideration of the need of each individuals, the sentence : you will gain weight as you are dieting because you dont eat enough. No distinction about once you achieve the weight it will be difficult to maintain because your brain was in a way trained over the years to get more food. Big nuance :0)

yep Im short and it does not take me much to exceed my calorie goal.

As far as anorexia is concerned it is a terrible mental illness and it is sad to see the outcome of those beautiful girl that cannot control what is happening to them.

[owlsteazombies]

I'm 5'1"-5'2" and I can lose eating 2100 calories a day. I'm also pretty sedentary and I usually only -walk- for 30-45 minutes 3-4 days a week.

I think you want people to tell you that it's ok to eat as low as you do. But what happens when you plateau? What happens when you reach your goal weight? What then? What about your general quality of life: eating out with friends, enjoying a home cooked meal without worrying about your low calorie intake?

Do what you want to do, but I'm in the 1500+ club.

[Michou]

I do not need anyone approval or permission to eat at this level. I am also 57 years old and I dont know how old you are but my tdee to maintain at 147 is 1435 when I reach my goal I will redo the calculation and base the tdee on that weight. Dince I want to lose weight I decresed that by 25% and that was established by a certified dietician.

I have lost 60 pounds in the past and I regained because I went to 2000 calories a day that equalled to a 30 pounds weight gain, so like I said when I get to 130. I will eat the tdee that is for me and again after a consultation with a dietician.


I have a very happy life and that includes my eating. I am 90% vegetarian so therefore 1200 calories of mostly veg, grain and fruit is quite satisfying. snyway like I said I do not need to justify myself.


I am happy that you can achieve a weight loss at 2100 calories, it is not my case. Exactly why I posted because people put everything according to their needs and not the one of the poster.

[owlsteazombies]

Age is something that probably should have been mentioned in your post. I agree that at your age your calories are probably best for you. I assumed (and I shouldn't have) that you were younger than 57.

Good for you that you found something that works for you. Good luck.

[Michou]

dont worry about it :0). menopause is a killer

[Mrs Snark]

Originally Posted by Michou

menopause is a killer

*cries*

I have recently realized I'm perimenopause. It's horrible so far. This just sounds like an extra kick in the pants.

[Michou]

lol that is putting it lightly. I had and art school for many years and could not understand all these woman, hot, cold, moody. Put the air condition on at -40, I would tell them get a grip :0)

I apologized last year to them. I sleep in winter here in Montreal it is quite cold with no heat on and both windows open and I find it hot.

On a serious note, the nutritionist explained to me that once our reproductive system stops we have a major decrease in calorie needed. The best thing to do to avoid the weight gain is to start now to slowly decrease your calories in order to maintain your weight. I want to invent a night hat with pockets to put icepack and get rich.

[Michou]

If you are interested here is a link that explains how weight is affected when you hit the magic moment

http://www.healthline.com/health/men.../weight-gain#2