But after reading this I think that I might not be getting enough?? I feel full after a meal and dont usually get hungry in between meals and snacks?? So I am not sure if I should stay where I am at or move up a bit??
I usually walk a mile everyday, except Saturday. On M-W-F I do some light lifting and on T & T I usually do a DVD along with my walk.
I havent weighed myself yet so I am not sure if I have lost anything, but I know that I feel a lot better and have a lot more energy!!
Height: 5 feet, 5.5 inches
Weight: 113-115
Age: 36
Calories: 1400-1500
Exercise: one hour cardio/weights daily
Time at this weight: about 2 years- this is my maintainance level!
AngelMae - the catch is that very few of us (myself included) do the one thing we should probably all do before starting to lose weight.
Track what we're eating before we start.
If we all took a couple of weeks to do this none of us would have to ask what we should be eating. We would know what (roughly) calorie level we were maintaining at, and then we could adjust it accordingly. Depending on what diet chosen the first couple of weeks on a calorie restriction will find most people feeling great. The tendency is to cut back on junk food, eat more whole foods, and these things just make you feel batter. And if you start adding exercise as well, that will make you feel fantastic. The problem comes when you cut too much out, work out too hard, and can't allow the occasional treat. Once the body realizes that you're not going to feed it all the food it got in the past it has a tendency to fight back (hunger, fatigue, etc.). I think the reason most people will recommend that you start higher is that if you're not losing weight you can always cut it back. If you start at a low calorie count there's nowhere to go if it stops working.
For me, it was about finding a new way of eating, and moving. One that I could maintain. So I needed to keep the calories up high enough that I could work in things I wanted. As it happens, I rarely do that, but I have that capability. For those that might find less processed foods are more filling (which they are) don't be afraid to add a portion of nuts or oils to boost your daily calorie count. Just be careful of portion sizes.
FB - thanks for your kind words. I'm learning more as I go along, but by no means am an expert. I've really just found what works for me. However, I think it is important for people to know that they really may not have to starve themselves to lose weight.
Thanks for the advice RealCdn! You are a wealth of knowledge!! I think that I am going to try to stay around the 1600-1700 mark and see how I do this week.
I get very very very little exercise in. I have a step counter, and sometimes I don't even walk a 1000 steps a day!! Shocking!! If I do exercise (every now and again I do a 5k fun run), I usually up my cals by 100 to 300 cals.
Planning to start going to the gym soon - will then up my cals a bit.
5'5" (and a half)
just under 160lbs
26 years old
around 1000-1300 cals when eating clean
weight slightly up from lowest ever so obviously eaten more than that recently
At your weight I would probably start a little higher. Depending on a number of factors perhaps around 2000 calories. At 1500 you're going to see a lot of weight come off fast, however, you might see a point where you stop losing on that amount. Or you may find your energy levels affected. ie. your body will try and tell you to slow down since it's not getting enough fuel. It's not true of everyone, but it is possible. If you are going to do 1500-1700 a day, consider doing it for only 8-12 weeks, then raise your calories up for about a week (let your body replenish itself), then drop them back down. I'm eating more than 2000 a day and still losing quite well. However, I'm doing some cardio and weight training (quite heavy weights). What I have done (and will do again) is take a maintenance week. For one week I ate ~3000 calories and did no formal exercise (still lots of gardening that week and swimming). I went up by about a pound by the end of that week, but dropped 5 the week after. I plan to do it again every 12 weeks until I'm done, hoping that it means I don't have to cut my calories too low in the end.
I was just going by what I did the last time I lost 60 lbs. I was using the information I found online about Weight Watchers and the points I was allowed to have. For my weight now it's between 32-37 points, which would be 1700cals 35fat 18fiber on the highest end. What I really did that kept me losing was to fluctuate my points from higher days to lower days so my metabolism wouldn't stall. I would eat more the days I worked out and less the days I didn't, but never go under 1450cal. I would also have one really high day, like a reward day, where I would usually hit 2000cal. This seemed to work really well for me and I would always show a good loss of about 2lbs a week. I was 50 lbs lighter than my current start weight though so maybe I can eat a little more.
Since reading your posts I have upped my calories a little, not being as rigid and getting closer to the 1700 more instead of staying close to 1500. I am just getting started though, so I am sure I will need to do more tweaking as the weeks progress. I am the type of person that needs to see results early on so I don't think I will up my cals too much for now. Thanks for all the advice, it did make me realize I was being too strick on myself.
I was averaging about 1475 calories per day. Not sure exactly how that happened, as I had planned on something higher, but that's where it ended up. But then I cut out dairy milk a few weeks ago, and I'm working toward vegetarian, and I haven't settled yet. It has been as low as 1200-1300 some days (since cutting the milk) unintentionally, but I wasn't about to force feed myself at the end of the day for no reason. And then I've been camping for a week and haven't yet figured out what calories I was reaching (I have the foods written down) - I ate plenty of snacks and sweets, but not way overboard either - I figured a week at a relaxed (not super high) calorie level might break up my slowed weight loss a little. And I did come home with a loss .
Now I have to get back onto more regular eating habits, and I don't know, but I'm thinking of aiming for 1500 a day. I'm starting to get nervous about getting stuck at a lower daily calorie level.
I was just doing 1 1/2 hours of yoga every morning, but a few weeks ago I started C25K, and I'm thinking a few more calories are in order.
Sometimes I do eat the calories that I burned working out, but that really depends on how hungry I am. If I worked out really hard and I just need the calories, I'll go ahead and eat them.
5'6"
191
25
1800 per day, give or take a few on a given day
That's my goal anyway. I'm off to a rocky start. After SO mows I'll be going to the store to pick up some healthy alternatives for snacking. I'm also hoping to get my whole wheat apple muffins made.
I'm doing an hour of cardio a day, but I don't have any really good tennis shoes yet and it's off to a slow start. I can do about 2.5 miles per hour for 20 or so minutes at a time before I get a horrible cramp in my calf that makes me stop for a while and then get back on. I figure that, until I get my shoes (next week, hopefully), I'll just do stretching before I get on the treadmill, during the times I have to stop, and after I get off.
5'7"
260 lbs
48yrs young
14-1500 Calories Daily
i just started Counting Calories 1 Month Ago and took it down to 1500 Daily about 1 Week Ago...
so Hopefully something will happen...
i have a Very Sedentary Job sitting at a Computer all day long...
but when i get home i DO work out a little and Walk 1 Mile EVERYDAY
I don't count calories as my method of weight loss, but at times I do analyze what I'm eating so I can look at my macronutrient ratios and check to make sure I'm getting my micronutrients.
Currently I think I'm probably consuming about 2000 calories per day and I'm losing 3 or 4 pounds per week. Up until 3 weeks ago, it was more like 2400 per day--on which I was losing 1 to 2 pounds per week. (I know, the math doesn't really work, it's kind of weird--but cutting out my 6th mini-meal of the day and one 4-oz glass of wine is all I've changed. Plus a little bit more care with what I eat on the weekends.) My macronutrients are in the range of 40% carb / 30% protein / 30% fat. I eat 2 servings of fruit, 2 servings of dairy, 2 servings of grains, and probably 7 to 9 servings of veggies per day. I eat no sugar or refined foods at all.
I'm turning 40 next month.
I'm just under 5'7".
I weigh about 250 pounds right now.
I do very little exercise, and nothing formal at all right now.
Edited to add: I just went and analyzed today's intake. It's looking like about 1800 calories, which seems very typical for me at the moment. (41% carbs, 26% fat, 33% protein; 50 grams fiber; way over the RDAs on all nutrients except vitamins D and E.) That's a little less than I thought I was taking in; I guess my glass of wine and evening snack were a little more calorie-heavy than I thought they were. I do also wonder if giving up the wine, especially, has really boosted my weight loss; because 600 calories per day less still does not add up to an extra 2 pounds of weight loss per week.
.
