So I want to make sure I'm doing everything right. I seem to be stuck at 224. I want to lose these 20 something pounds. Ugh but I've been stuck for a little while now and it's frustrating. Right now my exercise plan is for five days a week I walk a mile. I'm doing this walking video where you walk a mile and you add in a few other little things as you're walking. It's a pretty good cardio routine and you're getting a mile walk in. So I guess I'm wondering if I should be eating more or less calories? Right now my calories I'm not totally sure what they are. Usually for lunch I'll have something light and dinner what everyone else has just smaller portions and I don't eat breakfast. For example today I had some chicken noodle soup (the kind you "drink"), yogurt, and a small bowl of Lucky charms for a treat (instead of ice cream heh) and a glass of diet coke.

For dinner I'm planning on having a grilled cheese sandwich and a side dish. Not sure yet what. So that's typically what I'll do. Sometimes for lunch I'll have ramen or some other type of noodles, or pasta, or a sandwich. I don't drink diet coke with every meal. I'll switch it up between the crystal light drinks, diet snapple and unsweetened tea. So I guess I'm wondering if I should increase or decrease my calories for my exercise routine. I'm hoping to eventually build up jogging into my routine. Right now I'm on day two of the walking and still getting used to it.

I would start by starting to track everything even if its just on a sheet of paper and then calculating it. I use Livestrong's Daily Plate. You might be eating more than you think or maybe even not enough! I think i'd still be starving if i ate what you do. Its hard to tell if you're not tracking though.

I have read that people who track what they ate (even if they weren't counting calories) lost 2x as much as those who don't. I think its just a matter of being more aware of what you're eating.

I know this isn't the answer you were looking for but hope it helps!

Hi Pinky! Since you aren't really sure how many calories you're eating in a day, it's impossible to say whether you should increase, decrease, or stay the same.

I agree with Elizabeth -- why not track your calories for a week and see where you end up? Many of us are surprised when we add up our calories. It might be a lot more than we expected; it could be a lot less.

Depending on your weight and speed, a one mile walk might burn anywhere from 50 - 150 calories. Once you know how much you're eating in a day, then you can decide if you're eating enough to fuel your exercise plan. Good for you for sticking to it!!

I understand the frustration. You definitely need to start eating breakfast. That gets your metabolism going first thing, even if you don't feel hungry.

sorry but did you mean you are at 224? Is first goal to lose 20lb. Or are you at 124 looking to lose 20?

I'm being a mean mom but I have to comment on your food choices-not healthy choices ya know? Ramen noodles are known as killer noodles in my house because of the oil they are cooked with before drying. If it is budget that makes them part of your diet you can pre-cook whole wheat pasta that is less then $2.00 a box-keep it in baggies in fridge. Spoon a couple of tblsp of spagetti sauce on it and nuke it. Just as fast-no fuss-better nutrition and more filling. Try oatmeal for breakfast. Salad and soup and 1/2 a sandwich for lunch. Dinner should be a vegetable,protein and a fruit with a small portion of starch-whole grain where possible. What is your calorie goal? 1400 should do it if you let it-ie no On one day and OFF the next, unless you are the featherweight trying to lose more. And start tracking..Fitday.com or sparkpeople.com or daily plate.

I agree! Sounds like you're eating a lot of processed stuff! The additives/preservatives/artificial sweeteners combined with the lack of nutrients could be affecting your weight loss.

Heh heh I'm not starving actually. My stomach has changed since I've been doing everything at least two times now and now is the second time. I just get full real quickly it seems. I only eat a lot last night because I had some dental work done and had to have one of those shots in your mouth and it was still sore by dinner time so I ate liquid stuff a lot yesterday. So I really don't get very hungry often. Sometimes I'll treat myself to Japanese or Chinese food and I'll make at least two meals out of it rarely three. I do look before I eat I just don't write everything down... I want to get into the mode where I don't really have to totally think about it.

The ramen I do eat isn't cooked in oil. The calories on the one's I eat are low. In the 200 range compared to everything else. I've been doing this for over a yr now so I think I know what to avoid by now. I don't eat breakfast. I stay up late studying (varies night to night). I'm doing my classes online so I do everything on my own so by the time I get up it's no longer breakfast time. The time I do just depends on how late I stay up the night before. According to a calorie counter I used when I first began I should be eating 1600.

How do you know? I told you one example of a meal I ate one day when I couldn't eat anything else because my mouth was sore and I could hardly move it.

bits of your post:

The ramen I do eat isn't cooked in oil. The calories on the one's I eat are low. In the 200 range compared to everything else. I've been doing this for over a yr now so I think I know what to avoid by now.



How do you know? I told you one example of a meal I ate one day when I couldn't eat anything else because my mouth was sore and I could hardly move it.[/QUOTE].

OK hun if you know what you are doing is best for yourself then I wish you the best.. I'm just including this link on ramen just to let you know what I meant about the oil. but pay it no mind if you believe it is a choice you want to make. http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5420798...dles-made.html

going off your first post it does look like alot of processed foods. not too many vegetables, fruit or protein for that matter. people are probably just going off your first post there, I don't think anyone knew your mouth was sore or how you eat the other days.

One way or another, almost everyone here is tracking their food and counting, whether it's calories, carbs, fat or everything. Finding out how many calories you are eating is a good start to find out what you need to tweek to start losing again. Once you get an idea of how many calories are in things you might be able to adjust to not thinking about it, and just eyeballing your portions.

Also if you are finding the 1 mile walking workout too easy, it might be time to change up your workout.

How do you know? I told you one example of a meal I ate one day when I couldn't eat anything else because my mouth was sore and I could hardly move it.

Oh I understand. I don't cook mine on the stove or anything. The calories are in the 200's so it's not bad. I don't eat much of it but it's something I enjoy every once in a while for lunch and every so often dinner like on a Wednesday night when we usually eat whatever. The ramen I eat is the one's in those cups not those packs.

I do eat a lot of fruit at least. I'm not a veggie fan really. I love to get those bowls of fruit (plastic bowls) that have all sorts of different fruits in it like strawberries, grapes, pineapples etc. I'll probably go to the store early next week and hopefully can stack up on some fruit since I haven't had any around in a little while. So how can people say I eat a lot of processed foods if you don't know how I eat on the other days? And yes the bottom right corner of my mouth is still sore. It's almost gone but it's still to where I can't fully open wide or anything so I'm still careful with that and I eat on the right side which sucks. If it's not better after tomorrow I'm going to call my dentist and see what I can take for it and if it's just regular tylenol or what. I've never had my mouth stay this sore before. :-\

It's not 100% easy but compared to some other cardio I've done it is. My upper parts of my legs (around my thighs) still get sore. They don't turn into jelly or anything so it's not like past cardio I've done like Jay Johnson's boot camp cardio routine. Even though I could do everything fine with that my legs still felt like jelly around my calves. With this my legs are just a bit sore at the thighs area.

My mouth is feeling better the spot where I got the shot, so I was able to eat some apples today. It felt so nice to eat some fruit.

littlepinky,

In your original post you said you weren't sure how many calories you had been eating. I do hope you will try documenting your daily caloric intake for at least 3 or 4 days, just to get a handle on your current daily consumption. You may find "counting in your head" or "guesstimating" works for you, but if I don't keep a fairly accurate food diary, I find myself drifting into eating more than I think & stalling or, even worse, gaining.

Also, this may not be something you want to hear, but I have read in several different places (doctor's opinions in various diet books, studies referred to in diet books and on-line articles on diet sites) that regardless of the woe followed, 2 of the things the most successful dieters and maintainers do is: 1) eat breakfast, and 2) keep a daily food diary.

I wish you success in whatever you find works for you.