[kimpo101]

Hope everyone has had a great weekend. I havent gotten my books yet (they are in the mail, and i might add i got an awesome deal, the new book and good carbs, bad carbs for a whole $8.00 off ebay)anyway, what should the daily calorie intake be? I would like to make menus for the week, i find it is easier for me if I know what im going to eat for the day other than searching for what to eat. If I just look in the fridge it winds up being the same old thing, spinach with tomatoes and cucumbers with roast beef. I have found some awesome recipes on this site along with a guide to what you should have with each meal (protien, vegs, dairy etc) and plan to use that as my guide when making my menus.

[femmecreole]

kim, don't worry about calorie intake....at least right now. Wait till your books come in an read all about the plan and how/why it works and you'll see that calories aren't really a "big deal" with this plan, especially with phase 1. At some point, portion control comes into play if you find you are "stuck", but for right now, just stick with the foods to enjoy till you beat the cravings etc.

[Barb0522]

The main way we worry about calories is to make sure you get at least 1200 calories. Some people cut too much and then their bodies go into starvation mode.

[beachgal]

, Kimpo! I'm glad that you are planning on reading the book and that you got such a great deal.

While I totally agree with you on planning ahead (that's what works for me, too!), calories aren't reallly a big part of the planning on SBD (other than, as Barb said, making sure you get enough). The only real calories you need to watch are to make sure you aren't eating more than your daily allotment of "sweet treats" (these are non-nutritive SF sweets, like Jell-O and hard candy) because they are often made with sweeteners that can cause intestinal upset if you eat too much. Otherwise, watch your portions of nuts (the book lists a serving and you can have one a day). That's about it!

In time, you may find that you want to pay attention to how many calories you eat. There's no strict guideline, though. BTW, I went to a recent conference and heard there that 1,500 calories a day is used as the cut-off for malnourishment when working in countries with starvation issues. That's pretty scary, isn't it? Obviously how many calories we eat matters, but what's making up those calories matters more, IMHO.