[Primm]

I absolutely agree with your doctor. I'm 189 lb, and losing 1/2 - 1 lb per week on 1800-2000 calories.

Originally Posted by Thighs Be Gone

Well, I guess I have mixed emotions. In my opinion, if it isn't broken, don't fix it. At your current calorie intake you should be able to hit 150 without any problems. I wouldn't worry about what is going to happen wayyyyy down the line. Do what is working right now. You could always try to increase for 10 days and re-evaulate your progress then.

Originally Posted by berrybell

Gekster and what were his arguments in favor of upping your calorie intake? If it's about some health issues connected with you eating less then you definitely should go with it, but if it's nothing in particular and you're happy with your weightloss progress and the way you feel - i see no point in changing the routine that works

See, I guess I AM looking at the "wayyyyy down the line" picture. I'm thinking more about maintenance than losing, and I love my food too much to have to restrict myself to 1300-1500 calories to maintain. I want to eat >2000 calories, dammit! And if the way to do that is to lose on more, and then increase them later, that's what I want to do.

The problem with too much restriction too early on is that your body will adapt, and as it gets smaller you'll need less calories. So if you start too low, where do you go from there?

My philosophy is to eat the maximum (healthy) calories I can for weight loss, and then when I start slowing down to cut back *a little* and increase my activity. You need to leave yourself some wriggle room.

Good luck and let us know how you go.

[Gekster]

Thanks for all the responses. I have raised them to between 1600 and 1800. I am losing still, but at first I gained, but the bad thing is it is hard to tell what is causing it because TOM is visiting and I am working through the flu. So I will continue and see how it goes once everything is normal.

Berrybell- The doctor just wanted me to raise the calories because she said at my weight I should be fine eating more, so I should. The thing is though, I didn't just pick a number, I ate normally for a week, writing everything down, and at the end of the week I totalled the calories and was getting about 1300-1500 so I thought that was where I should be if that was what my body was happy with me eating. I just have a habit of eating low calorie foods so it works out that way.

[sacha]

Ok, here is the deal with dropping calories too low (1300-1500). Your resting BMR, for the average size woman, is around 1250-1400 calories (that is what your body needs to sustain itself if you were on bedrest or in a coma).

Eat anything at that rate or even lower (we've all seen it here), and the weight that you are losing includes MUSCLE, and lots of it. So yes, women DO lose weight at 1300 calories - but they are also losing muscle and strength. Yes, some women want to lose a "#" no matter what the cost - but how many of those women maintain for yearS (5+) and improve their health and strength? I'd like to see one. Look through the maintainer's forum and you will see a trend in how we eat - we don't drop our calories too low.

Bottom line, is that slow and steady really DOES win the race at this. 1600-1800 is a great amount - you will lose body fat and be able to preserve muscle. Most of all, you will maintain strength and stay healthier.