What's going on? Am I doing this right?
 

So, my maintenance (sp?) calories are 3360. I'm not even sure I calculated that right (280 * 12). I've been eating 1600. The first week I lost 10 pounds!!! Then the next week I only lost 2. I just wanted to see if I was doing this the right way. Those numbers seem really drastic

First of all, those calculations are generally guesstimates.

Secondly, most people tend to lose a lot the first week or so because of water weight.

Thirdly, 2 pounds in a week is great. I think a healthy goal is 1-2 pound loss per week.

And last, could you give us more detail into your diet plan?

Hugs
Michelle

I don't really have a diet plan.... I just eat a lot of frozen dinners... it's convenient and cheap. and then if I have any left over calories, I snack on like rice cakes and stuff

I'm going to 2nd the first week as mainly water weight. My first week I lost 6. :) Also 1-2 lbs is a normal weightloss range after the first week or so. You might want to add some fresh or frozen veggies to your meals just because frozen dinners tend to be starch heavy and vegetable light. Also check out a BMR (base metabolic rate) calculator ( http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ ) to find a good calorie range for you. I started out at 286 and 1500 calories but very shortly the weight loss slowed. Then I bumped it up to 1900 which is my current bmr and it's started coming off again.

You might be eating too little- if you weigh 280 then 2000 calories would still make you lose weight.

Maybe try preparing some simple at home meals like salads and such? You might not be getting enough veggies and fruits with your frozen meals. A lot of those frozen foods are loaded with salt.

Prepared freezer meals can also have alot of sodium, which can cause you to retain water, which you first week when you typically loose water weight may not have caused a problem, but the second week it could be causing you to retain water weight.

The frozen dinners are not the best way to go, in my opinion. Cooking meals would most likely be cheaper and definitely healthier.