Currently I am about 158ishlbs and would like to lose about 30lbs over 4 months so about 2lbs a week.

I hope to do this eating around 1200-1500 calories and 1 hour or so in the gym 3/4 times a week.

Then when I get to my target I would hope to keeping the eating the same (as hopefully I will have got used to it) and probably still going to the gym whilst I am at uni but if I stop going to the gym will I start putting the weight straight back on? Or will my metabolism have improved? If I couldnt get to the gym I would still try and do 30 mins running in the morning and afternoon.

Well, many of us find that we can't just diet to lose weight and then go back to our "old ways". So, think long term about building good habits you will use for life. So for instance, don't exercise just to lose weight, but also because it's important for health and fitness for our whole lives!

As for food... if you are losing weight on a certain number of calories, most people find that to maintain that weight, they can increase the calories, as they no longer need the "calorie deficit" to lose.

How many calories to eat, both while losing and on maintanence are difficult to estimate. There are lots of calculators, but they are a guess, at best, and all of us seem to have to play around with trial and error to figure out what works for us..

Don't know if that helps...

Wish I could do that. Towards the end of my weight loss journey, I was eating 1200 calories to get myself down near 130, which is where I'm finally at. A little at a time, I tried upping my calories to maintain, but found I was gaining again. So basically I'll have to eat 1200 calories a day for the rest of my life. Not that I mind. I'm so used to doing it, I could probably maintain my weight without even counting and, truthfully, when I was trying to up my calories to maintain, I found it very difficult to break out of the habit/pattern I'm currently in and eat more food. I had a really hard time eating more.

So I'm just here to say that some people, yes, can increase their calories and maintain their weight loss goal. Others, however, can not. I can't eat more than 1200 calories a day on a continual basis without putting weight back on.

So yes, it's about finding your own balance. I went months playing with calorie ranges until I finally figured it out that I'm going to have to stay at 1200.

Linda -- Thanks for chiming in!

Really? 1200? I'm trying to stay at 1500 this week and I'm finding myself to still be quite hungry. I'm getting through it by telling myself it's only for a week, but I can't imagine cutting another 300 calories out.

Not to hijack the thread, but would you mind sharing what you eat for 1200 calories a day?

Today I had a homemade blueberry-oatmeal bar (oatmeal, dry milk powder, banana, unsweetened applesauce, unsweetened frozen blueberries, cinnamon, baking powder) and hard-boiled egg for breakfast, 10 cherry tomatoes for snack, vegetable antipasto (roasted asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, and red peppers in balsalmic vinegar and olive oil with a bit of parmesan) for lunch, a cup of cottage cheese (2%) for snack, and then a half cup of whole wheat pasta with a cup of tomato sauce with soy crumbles and a salad of romaine with five cherry tomatoes, a little olive oil and balsalmic vinegar, and 16 ounces of skim milk for dinner. I had a bowl of strawberries for dessert. And of course 80 ounces of water throughout the day.

That came to roughly 1500 calories (1547 or something like that).

Kara

Well I have just found out my university accommodation is a 35 minute walk from the department so I am going to have 1hr 10minutes walk 3/4 times a week so even if I occassionally miss the gym I should be fine, I hope

Karie, we don't have a car here in Korea so I walk at least two miles a day to base and back, usually more like four and sometimes as high as seven! It's been a great help in shedding the pounds, and I feel like my endurance is growing, too!

Kara

Whats really putting me off starting the diet is putting it all back on again once I have reached my goal and trying to maintain.

I am trying to lose the weight slowly 1/2lbs per week and I am doing the exercise mainly to become fitter.

I dont want to be starving myself for the rest of my life to stay slim and I dont want to never be able to eat chocolate again or have to count calories. Do you think I will get used to the portion size control?

Karie, I can't say for sure or not whether you will get used to portion size control

For me cutting back portions just didn't work. I needed to set limits for myself by actually counting calories. It's what keeps me accountable. It's all too easy to go back for seconds or take a bigger serving when you're not actually counting it. At least for me. So in actuality, counting calories IS my idea of portion control.

I measured a lot in the beginning and now I am familiar with what a 4 oz chicken breast looks like and that kind of stuff, so it's not like I'm measuring every little thing. I don't weigh my fruit. Or veggies. I just kind of "guesstimate" it. I always round up though, just in case. I don't find it a bother at all. Any time spent on it, is worth it to me.

I will always have to measure my cereal though, cause that's not so easy to eyeball and it's real easy to measure.

I also eat very similar foods from day to day/week to week, so all the actual counting of calories has already been done for me.

I am never starving. I simply could not stay on plan if I were starving. No way, no how. I eat every 2 1/2 hours or so. If I want a piece of chocolate or pizza or whatever once in a while, I have it. I just count it up and add it to my day and that's that. For that particular day, there's just something that I won't have in order to make up for it.

Karie? Have you done any reading in Maintainers? You'll find wisdom, comfort and advice there.