[sakurasky]

Ok, so I'm just starting out, I'm only about 2 weeks into this and I don't really know what I'm doing. At 314 lbs, I started by calorie goal at 2000 calories. My calories do vary, a couple days over, most are under, with an average of 1,675. That's not the major problem though.

According to http://www.freedieting.com/tools/cal...alculator.htm#, my calorie goal is supposed to be 2,408??!? What the??? Are you kidding me? Should I trust this? I mean, it just doesn't sound right at all. If it is though, I am WAY off.

How do I fix this without gaining a bunch of weight? If I 'up' my calories, is there anything I should expect, weight-wise, so I don't freak out if I gain a couple lbs in the process. How much do you usually gain at first, if at all? I'd really appreciate some advice to set my mind at ease.

Also, what's the best way to up your calories? Just have a cheat day? Add more food for every day? I've read about cooking with olive oil and eating almonds, but that's only like 200-400 calories right there. And supposedly I need to add about 800.

[aphimira]

sakurasky

I'm right there with you. This calorie thing is crazy. I'm so confused about calories too. I've never been a big eater and I've been counting everything and 2000 calories seems so unattainable. I would literally have to eat all day, and I feel like I already am. Adding breakfast for me is a whole new ball game. I've scoured the forum and noticed most people seem to eat anywhere from 1400-1600 calories. I also noticed several of them were impacted by their doctor to pick that amount. So I'm going to follow your thread too...and see what other's say

[Madison]

I am sure that others will have different opinions, but if it were me the questions I would ask are:

At the current way I am eating:

- am I feeling satisfied?
- am I getting enough food/feeling hungry?
- do I feel I can keep eating this way for the long term?
- am I losing weight?

I think we all get too caught up in the "stats" and the numbers (which definitely DO have their place) and forget that we can be intuitive too. I dont know that I would eat for the sake of eating unless I felt that I needed more food to keep me going.

[Madison]

ps. & congrats to you both on the weight lost so far!

[misspiggy408]

you know, i went to fitday.com after hearing so much about it. And it actually lets you set your OWN weight goal and tells you how many calories per day you should be eating to reach it. And it's free, which is always good.

[sakurasky]

I don't feel tummy-hurting-full, but I don't feel tummy-hurting-hungry either, if that makes any sense.

My previous diet consisted of fast food and rich sweets and NOTHING else, so it didn't take a lot of that kind of food to get to 3000 calories or whatever I was eating before I started this. So now that I've cut out that crap and started eating healthier things, it seems like I have to eat 3 or 4 times as much volume(?) to get to that level. And I don't know if I can do that comfortably with healthy food, but I really don't want to go back to eating crap again. *sigh*

misspiggy:
I actually track my calories with the Daily Plate already, and since it let me use my own calorie goal, that's what I did. But now I'm afraid my metabolism is going to slow down and even though my weight loss has been great the past two weeks (almost 13 lbs!), I'm scared of that progress taking a HUGE nosedive because of my metabolism. So I'm very confused right now.

Inside I feel "Don't fix what ain't broken", but then I'm hearing "You're about to break it, so fix it." Know what I mean?

[rileyozzy]

I plugged in my stats on the link you posted and I got that I should be eating 1500 for fat loss and 1100 for extreme fat loss. My current goal is 1400 and I usually hit between 1400 to 1600 each day. It is time consuming to calculate every little thing I eat so I am sure I am off one way or the other. I don't have a scale though. This is only my 2nd week of calorie counting and I've lost one pound which is good for me. I think you have to go by trial and error on the calorie counting and see what fits your needs.

[Idealmuse]

Those calorie calculators all give you different numbers so I'd take what they say with a grain of salt. When I was your size I started with 1800-2000 a day and I didn't have any problems losing. It's still plenty of room to work your way down in calories as you lose weight.

Part of the problem is those calculators all estimate your daily activity differently... if you're not that active I'd stay with what you've been doing but if your super active 2500 might be more on target.

[sakurasky]

That calculator asks you what your activity level is and I put "little or no exercise", and that's the number it spit out at me.

I think I'm just going to see where this goes and keep my 2000 calorie goal (and actually try to meet it). I know it'd probably be a lot better if actually PLANNED my meals out to 2000, which I haven't been because it 'takes too much effort', but I know that's a lousy excuse.

[Madison]

Originally Posted by sakurasky

Inside I feel "Don't fix what ain't broken", but then I'm hearing "You're about to break it, so fix it." Know what I mean?

I think this is really important and good on you for hearing this inside you

I think when we first embark on losing weight its very easy for us to play mind games and second guess ourselves. For most of us, we are probably overweight for a myriad of reasons, but I think part of the symptom of being obese is that you start to lose confidence in yourself.

Actually, even after I had got very close to my goal weight I still had days where I would (fleetingly) question if I was doing it "right".

I think if you are not super hungry or super full and you are losing very nicely then keep doing what you are doing When it doesnt work anymore, change it up - ie. start working out etc or start trying calorie cycling etc

At the end of the day putting healthy foods into your body (at whatever calorie level even if its not "perfect") is going to outweigh the effects of filling your body with fast food - so worrying about your metabolism at this point in the game is probably unwarranted.

You are doing great!

[sakurasky]

thanks so much Danni, that really put my mind at ease!

[Madison]

[rockinrobin]

Originally Posted by sakurasky

That calculator asks you what your activity level is and I put "little or no exercise", and that's the number it spit out at me.

I think I'm just going to see where this goes and keep my 2000 calorie goal (and actually try to meet it). I know it'd probably be a lot better if actually PLANNED my meals out to 2000, which I haven't been because it 'takes too much effort', but I know that's a lousy excuse.

Those calculators are only guesstimates. Especially when factoring in exercise and activity - they are way off the mark. You and you alone will only be able to determine the "correct" number for yourself. I think anywhwere from 1700 - 2000 calories would be a good place to start.

And yes, PLANNING AHEAD IS ESSENTIAL. ESSENTIAL. Losing weight won't happen on it's own. It's too important to leave something so vital up in the air. PLAN OUT each and every meal/snack IN ADVANCE. Set yourself up for success. Don't just wing it. The effort is minimal - the pay off is ENORMOUS. And once you get used to it and it becomes routine, you will see that it is really no effort at all.

You mentioned how to get in healthy foods. Well there's:

-chicken, turkey, egg whites
-beans, legumes, whole grain breads, high fiber cereal
-peanut butter, almonds, walnuts, pecans
-salmon, tilapia, halibut, tuna (canned and fresh)
-cottage cheese, SF/FF yogurt, skim milk, low fat cheese
-sweet potatoes, avocado and every other vegetable under the sun
-fruits - cherries, all types of berries, cantaloupe, watermelon, peaches, grapes and on and on.

The list is endless. Use the internet to look for healthy recipes and idea. Just google for instance - healthy salads, healthy chicken recipes, etc..

But I caution you to really measure out things and keep track, because it's easy to overspend your calories on healthy foods too. No excuses about it being too much of an effort, ya hear? It's worth it and you need to get an idea of what a serving size looks like.

You're doing great. Just keep at it. Keep plugging away. Keep on asking questions and keeping on tweaking your program as need be. You can and will get to your goals. There's absolutely nothing to stop you.

[aphimira]

Danni
Thanks for the enocouragement!! Thanks for the information on Calorie Counting. I read somewhere that bouncing your calorie intake is good. Like one day low, one day high, but the overall week goal remaining the same? Does anyone know much about that?
Because I see several of you list ranges like 1400 - 1600 so does that mean you won't go past 1600 on a given day and you won't go under 1400. Alot of my issue is making it too that point. I was also wondering if anyone had any ideas for if you get to the end of your day and you haven't met your calorie intake what do you do?
Thanks - Mira Mae

[Misora]

Hmm if it helps I would try to withing a few hundred calories of your BMR. I started out at 286 and 1500 calories and lost a ton of weight the first month. Then it started trickling off. Then nothing came off. Calculated my BMR and got 1900 and now that I'm making a point to eat 1900 the weight's finally starting to come off again.