I had lost nearly 60 pounds 4 years ago by using the WW flex plan and found myself unable to try that again since I am now a vegetarian. I started this weight loss round with Slim Fast, but actually gained weight! So I thought I would try just counting my calories- but am getting a bit frustrated with the process. My hubby reccommended keeping a food diary- which I have a love/hate relationship with. I like it because it is a way to be truly accountable to myself. I hate it because I feel like I am a slave to it. I am really unsure of how many calories per day I should be shooting for, in order to safely lose weight. I have done online calculators to figure it out and they all come back with different amounts. I am definetly not giving up on this, I just need to find a better way to acheive it, as I am scared I will start slacking and lose the progress I have made.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hello Vanessa,

Have you ever heard of Clean Eating? This is the 'nutritional plan' I am following. It is excellent! I have lost 12lbs in a little over 3wks. I eat about 6x's a day, real food, I am never hungry and the best part is, NO CALORIE COUNTING!!!!

If you have any questions about Clean Eating, don't hesitate to ask.

I wish you great success in your journey to weight loss.

I found what I needed to do was narrow things down. There were too many options to begin with, and all of them gave conflicting information.

So to start with, pick one method of calorie recording. For me it was Calorie King, but that's because they have an Australian website with foods that we have, and I didn't have to estimate so much. I used their calorie estimator, which ended up being pretty much accurate for me.

But if the one you choose doesn't work for you, switch. Just give it enough time. Don't be chopping and changing every week.

I've never heard of it...would love to learn more!

with how much you currently and what your goal is I would say you could eat anywhere from 1400-1800 cals and safely loose weight. I would aim for a daily goal of 1500-1600.. you can also calorie shift which means one day eat 1400 then next 1800 and then the next 1500 and then just keep alternating each day and come out with a weekly balance. sometimes this is nice because some days you feel like eating more then other days.

I also suggest finding a online food journal it's much easier then a paper journal and it keeps charts for you and will already have most foods calorie counts ready for you to enter, I personally use thedailyplate.com/ or it can also be found at livestrong.com. there are alot of other members who use fit day or spark people as well.. there are many programs.. and trust me they make life a lot easier! I just add up all my calories at the end of the day! or I plan out menu the day before with what I'd like to eat and I'll know a day in advance what my calories will be!

Don't worry so much about the calorie estimates--that's exactly what they are, just general guesses. Take the average and start with that. Everyone is going to be a little different so you won't really know what your loss/maintenance calories are until you start to take measurements.

Start eating to the average calorie and measure yourself weekly of weight and body measurements (do this first thing you wake up one day of the week to make it as consistent as possible). If after 2-3 weeks you are not losing or gaining, then reduce the calorie limit. If you are losing too much, increase your calorie limit. It will take some time to get the feel of it, but stay with it--it's by far the best "diet" I've ever been on.

Hey, and just for info's sake, you CAN be a vegetarian and be on WW since there are NO set rules. You can eat as you like without any issue as long as you account for it...

pm me if you need info or online resources to get you started!



Kira