THanks for your posts Robin and Shmead...you guys saved me lots of typing! I totally agree with Scmead and her theory of why you gain weight on 1300 calories a day.
Okay, I started out at 333 pounds and ate 1200 calories a day for the first 3 months. Then it was summer and we were going to parties and weekend trips and I needed more flexibility so I added 300 calories a day for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That meant I was eating 1200 calories a day Monday thru Thursday and 1500 calories a day Friday thru Sunday. And like Robin, I never "cheated" I could count on less than one hand how many times I went over my calorie allotment....and I lost at a pretty fast rate. Looking back at my 2008 calendar, I lost 100 pounds in 6 months and 1 week and 154 pounds in one year. I NEVER had a plateau, and I didn't go into "starvation mode" because I was not starving. I had oodles of body fat to burn. People who go into starvation mode are starving, as in skin and bones....
Anyway, I reached my goal in 17 months and have now maintained for 17 months...despite my little blip last weekend (that is just about taken care of by going back on 1200 calories a day for the week), I don't see myself gaining it all back because I lost it quickly. Matter of fact I'm ready to take on 5 more pounds and get down to 135...just for fun.
Thanks, but I really don't think I want to deal with this for five more years. I think that's an excessive amount of time for me to be working on weight loss, no?
Um no. Granted I had a baby and regained a lot, this journey has taken me 4 1/2 years and I don't regret a single day. I feel like taking longer reduced some of the saggy skin and instilled some long term habits and key concepts to aid me in long term success. I eat more than most to lose, and I'm glad because I really feel like this allows me to have a higher maintenance range and that's important to me. I know that many disagree but spending a lot of time at a low calorie level lowers your metabolism and means your maintenance cals will likely be lower. You can reverse the effects, but it's difficult.
And dealing with weight loss is going to be something you're going to deal with for the rest of your life - maintenance looks just like weight loss - so you might as well prepare.
The big picture is to develope a plan you can stick with long term for long term success. Good luck.
Not to mention that the great secret to maintenance is that it is often HARDER than weight loss. This is a life long ordeal and believe me - impatience never gets anyone anywhere.
Not to mention that the great secret to maintenance is that it is often HARDER than weight loss. This is a life long ordeal and believe me - impatience never gets anyone anywhere.
Not to mention that the great secret to maintenance is that it is often HARDER than weight loss. This is a life long ordeal and believe me - impatience never gets anyone anywhere.
SOOOO TRUE Sacha. *For Me*, maintenance is 10X's harder than losing 190 pounds was....but is very worth the effort. Some maintainers find it a breeze, but I find it very difficult. Maybe it's because I did lose it quickly, or maybe it's because I started out Super-morbidly-obese...or maybe it's my blood chemistry, but it ain't no cakewalk. That is for sure!
I have also been at this for over 4 years...I do understand wanting to have it happen fast but unfortunately it doesnt necessarily happen that way. That said...over the 4 years i have learnt so much about losing the obsession with food...ive trained with a personal trainer 3 times a week...so not only have i lost over 140 pounds i have also worked at improving my insides...my cardio vascular system is better....my lung capacity improved...and i rarely get sick and also have quite a toned body for my current weight. Make the insides healthy and the weight loss will happen. At my current weight i eat 1500 calories work out 7-12 hours per week and lose about 1.5-2 pounds per week
I'm kinda of freaking out these past few days. I binged, hard and now I need to get back on the horse.
But I'm at that fundamental issue of calorie counting and where to AIM!!!!
I want to lose a steady stream of weight and a GOOD pace. I've seen so many accounts of people losing 100 lbs in like six months but they NEVER say how many calories per day they shot for.
There's a lot of success here so maybe someone can give me some insight.
I've gone as low as 500 but that's ridiculous and I spent most of a month in a daze. I was thinking around 800 but I don't want to go too low.
I know that if I go above 1300 I stop losing in total. Help?
you may have heard this before but it's not the number of calories that matters but you also wanna make sure that you're eating foods that are increasing your metabolism and not slowing it down. You also want to research and avoid estrogenic foods because they make losing weight a lot slower, and instead have more anti-estrogenic foods such as passionflower, avocadoes, and nuts.
There is no magic number for weight loss because your caloric needs depend completely on your individual body. Average women seem to lose at 1500 a day. Tinier framed women approach 1200 a day. I'm a giantess, so I have managed to lose 88 pounds in the last year averaging 1600-2100 a day. You need to use a site like sparkpeople or fitday, be honest about your activity level, and let them give you a starting point.
I went with 1,500 calories because it seemed like a safe and reasonable number to me. It's what you generally see recommended with calorie calculators, etc.
I've read conflicting information about starvation mode and plateaus with calorie restriction... but 1,500 feels comfy now.
I tried 1,200 calories for a week and felt tired and miserable. Probably could have tweaked the foods I was eating to feel better, but it didn't feel too good emotionally... Too close for comfort to when I was severely limiting cals the first time I dieted.
I'm averaging 2lbs a week on this, but I've only been at it for two months so we'll see. In some ways I think a plateau would be beneficial so I can learn to deal with the scale not doing what I want... but so far, so good!
This is my second attempt at losing weight, and the first time I stuck with 1200 calories a day, every day, regardless of exercise (and I was getting a lot of cardio between running and biking every day). In retrospect, that was a mistake for me. Sure, I lost weight fast - but I felt terrible. I lost hair, was tired and hungry all the time, and whenever I went from sitting to standing I got dizzy and had to brace myself against a wall/table to avoid falling.
I regained most of the weight I lost, and I think part of the problem was that I was constantly on the edge of a binge, because I was hungry all the time. If I hadn't been burning on the order of 700 - 1000 calories a day through exercise, I probably could have dealt with 1200 calories fine. I was making good choices and eating healthy, filling food; it just wasn't enough for my activity level.
This time around, I'm sticking around 1500-1600 most days, with moderate exercise. I don't get dizzy, and I've got enough flexibility that if I get very hungry (usually in the evenings), I can have a snack instead of just sticking it out because I already ate my 1200 calories by 5pm. I've lost 30 lbs since early August, so I'm still losing fairly quickly, but I feel much better and my relationship with food is better. I'm having a much easier time turning down off-plan foods (e.g. donuts in the office) because I'm not constantly battling with a growling stomach.
So, in short, it depends on how you feel. If you can sustain 1200 calories and feel good, go for it. For me, while it did result in fast weight loss, it did more harm than good.
