A fly by posting just to let you all know I haven't disappeared off the face of the Earth. My family needed my attention last night and this morning I got called to work. So I'm waaaay behind on a few things.
I did want to let you know that my 'nearly perfect day' turned out really well.
I felt proud of my acheivement, nicely achey and tired at bed time. I had a defict of 969 cals!
I'm not too out of wack from having snacked at work. If that thread collected some enthusiasm, I migh try it again today.

Sweet Peas?? I'll be back and help you with that.

2lbs is alot....I would be very happy with a 2lb per week drop...

I had a 834 calories deficit yesterday...did weel on eating and got in 35 mins on bike..

sweet peas-on fitday just take your calories burned under your activities tab and subtract your calories eaten and you will get your deficit for the day

I'm sorry SweetPeas, I thought you were asking how to find your base-line calorie needs. Guess I was speed reading :)
Hi Donna!

Anybody want a bit of a challenge for tomorrow?
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73345

Hello ladies.

I've been lurking around here for a while, and counting calories for...almost 2 years now.

I noticed a lot of questions on calorie-deficit, and calories required to maintain and all that. I think the times 10 and times 12 numbers are good places to start with, but only that. I use Fitday to track my calories, but I ignore their numbers for my basal calories. They seem to think I'd burn 1800 a day bedridden and from experience counting calories and tracking loss I know that to be too high for me. My estimate is closer to the times 10, but of course I know that number will get lower as my weight does.

What some others have said and I think is a good idea, is just to stick at healthy number for a while (maybe your times 10, or goal times 12) and see what happens after 2-4 weeks on plan. If you find yourself losing and you think you can eat that amount of calories for the rest of your life then keep going. If you're gaining or not losing (and you are REALLY on plan) then lower by 100-200 calories or so and try again. I think each person's body is so different, none of those calculators will be truly accurate. Also, it's considered dangerous to eat below 1200 (regularly), and you'll see that all over all the boards here. Good luck ladies, I'll be checking out your challenge Susan! :)

Hi Miles!

Good evening everyone. I've been doing pretty good these last couple days, hanging around a 400-500 deficit each day. I didn't do so great yesterday, driving home late at night from work...i just couldn't resist those golden arches! I still managed a 120 deficit though, i don't know how i did it. Anyways, i am back on track today, and that is all that matters! I'm poppin' in to a dance class tonight at the gym :) im excited! It should be fun!!

I am down 858 for the day. I exercized alot and I bet I will be paying for it tomorrow!

Deficit of 785 yesterday. :)

Mine was 513 despite the popcorn and wine!

I had a 646 deficit yesterday..I ate a little more than normal but I exercised more ..I got in 45 mins on bike..

Hi Susan--I did your challenge for today..so far I did my morning exercise

See you all later after work

Good Morning :).

Deficit of 387 yesterday though my fat intake was high so not sure how much of that will actually go towards lbs lost.

Do you use total calories burned to figure this out?

Kamily ... yes total calories.
Lynne ... it has to go towards pounds lost because it's energy your body burned to do your activities. The energy has to come from somewhere ... and it'll come from your pounds since you didn't eat enough fuel.

I had a deficit of 983 calories today.

Sorry for not getting it but - do you include all 3 categories, i.e. basal, lifestyle, activities? Or do you just subtract the activities calories burned?


Everyone is doing so good.:hug: I'm going to weigh tomorrow at work. Hope I'm doing good too.:o Most days this week I've kept it around 1500 calories, with 2 days over 1600 and today I'm only at 1185. We'll see what happens. I'm still not working out as much. I'm taking it slow right now because I'm still in therapy and basically I'm just plain out of shape:ink:

Tammy O

Hi everyone:wave:

I've been so busy this last week........my diet was shot over the weekend but i'm back on track now.

I like what Miles said.........i had to go back for pages to get what the 10times or 12 times meant........but now i Know!!! I'll be looking after that one.......but BIG question.........if i want to weigh 150 i eat 1500 calories....does that mean to stay at 180 i'm only needing 1800???to stay at that weight???

inquiring minds want to know :)

I'm honestly not sure of my deficit yesterday. Before we went to eat my calories were 685. That allowed 900 calories for supper. We ate at Cracker Barrel and they don't publish nutrition information. I was flying blind entering what I had into fitday and although it gave a very slight deficit, I'm going to say I just broke even. :)

Mornin' everyone! I cut off my nose to spite my face yesterday. I did that Nearly Perfect Day challenge again without thinking how many calories I'd burn at work, was too stubborn to flunk the challenge and was draggin' by bed time. I had a defict of 1082 calories and apparently that's too much for me.

TammyO ... total calories eaten from total calories burned. Don't be afraid to ask! good wishes for that weigh-in.

Hi Christine .... the 10 or 12 times is a rough guesstimate. It's just a slightly more effective than random choosing. Your body runs on what your body needs. It's a crap shoot to figure things out at the beginning. If you are losing on 1500 ... there ya go!

Carrie ... Cracker Barrel is a demon! I love it there. But, yup, it's calorific.

Good Morning!

It's been 2 weeks for me now! Worked out every day but 1. Cannot get out of the "sugar rut" though. I really want to be able to have some sugar free days. But every night I have a little ice cream or something. It's controlled and a vey conscious decision to eat it on my part. But that's going to be my goal today!

I was told the 10-12 depended on your metabolism. Whatever that means. Anyways, the gal is a dietician and she said since I've been oveweight for many years to go ahead and use 11 for starters.

When I lost nearly 115 pounds 7 years ago, I didn't eat nearly enough. I had many days where all I ate was 800 calories (normal was 1,000-high was 1,300), and then worked out for 2-3 hours, burning more than 800 calories. Sure I lost quickly, but 7 years later I was only 20 pounds away from my top ever weight. And this may just be ignorance on my part, but I honestly believe that I gain easier now than the average person. (Or do all fat people!?) So maybe it did really mess with my metabolism. I don't know how easily that happens?

As far as activities: I only count calories burned during official exercise. When I plugged in "Child care; sitting/kneeling-dressing, bathing, grooming, feeding, occasional lifting of child-light effort" I got this astronomically high number of calories burned. I just put in 3 hours I'm not doing this all day and got almost 500 calories?? I'm not running when I'm tending to my kiddos! What do you have your activity levels set to?

Morning everyone
i had a 883 deficit yesterday....today I weighed in and I've lost another 2.5lbs...That puts me at 184.5...look out 170's cuase here I come..lol

sweetpeas-If your craving sugars i found it easier to slowly cut them out by eating sugarfree popcicles....you can find them anywhere from 15 to 100 calories per bar...that way the cravings are happy and calorie intake is lower..I was losing while eating them..now I really dont crave it much anymore...also I think that when you lose weight that fast that it does seem to come back on faster....Just keep your calories in control and you will lose and at most just don't go over your maintaining calorie intake and you wont gain it back...and keep up the exercising.....Good luck

sweetpeas--I have mine set at bedrest and only add in my actual exercise...I dont even add in my work...then I take total calories burned and subtract total calories eaten..

Sweetpeas? six pounds! that's fabulous! And 2.5 lbs for Donna ... what a great group!

That fitday thing! ..... I worked away with it for a few days and came up with a number that suits me for an ordinary at home day. I only add exercise, strenuous activity (like stacking wood) and work. And I even rethink work depending how busy it is. There's no sense thinking we're burning 3000 cals per day when it's realllly not likely that we are.

Sweets? fruit, diet coke and the odd snippet of candy.

Thanks for the ideas! I refuse to have foods on "lists" this time - "good" vs. "bad". I'm really aiming for moderation in all things. I like tortilla chips, and need to learn to just like 1 oz of them! I like ice cream and need to learn that 1/2 cup is really enough to satisfy me. I'm not so crazy about veggies, but as I'm learning how good many of them are for me, I'm enjoying them more! I'm am looking forward to living the rest of my life not controlled by binges and cravings.

Thanks again for the encouragement.

-Nori

Nori! pretty name and much easier to type!

Good Afternoon :).

Yesterday's deficit was 500 cals.

Today has been a write off so far. I'm not going to dwell on it though weekends are usually a huge challenge for me to eat right. Still I'm going to try my best.

I'll try to check in with you all over the weekend but if I don't, have a good one and I'll see you all Monday.

Can I join in?
 

I'd love to join in. I have been basically watching my calories and exercising and logging it into FitDay (pc version). I have a lot to lose so I'm sure that accounts for some of the high numbers but when I go to figure my deficit the number just seems way too high. I've browsed through the posts and see I'm not alone in thinking this, but how do I figure a more realistic deficit?
For instance, yesterday it says my calories burned were 2937 and my calories eaten were 1339, which means I had a deficit of 1598? ...that just seems way too high in comparison with the numbers you all are coming up with. Heck if this is right I should be losing over a pound every 3 days, that has not been the case this past week, or could AF play a part too? :( Or am I not getting this? Help!

:grouphug:

Lois - my deficits are HUGE like that also (yesterday activity of 2675 minus intake of 1642 = over 1,000 calorie deficit). The heavier we are the higher those numbers will be. Many of the gals here are much smaller than we are. Anyways that has worked out so far to about 2-3 pounds a week for me - so it is pretty right on. AF would for sure play a part. I haven't had AF since starting my healthy eating. I'm not dwelling on those numbers so much - I think it will mean more to me when I'm smaller and closer to goal? Congrats on your weight loss!!

Hey ladies! Can I just join this thread even though it's on page 10? I hope so!!

Hello everyone!:)

Happy Friday

Well, I got on the scales this AM at work. I couldn't believe it - up 2 lbs! I'm hoping its' because I'm getting over TOM. :?:

I went back on Fitday and looked at calories in vs. calories out. From the
15th through today, I had a deficit of at least 500 calories except for one day, I went 44 over. I did find out on Thursday though that my TSH blood level was too high, which could make me hold on to the weight.

I'm just going to keep plugging away and see what happens.

SusanB: Thanks for the information about that complicated math formula. I have my lifestyle set at bed-ridden. I only add my hours worked if we are busier than other days (I work in a 3-doctor practice so most days are kind of crazy and busy).

I went to Physical Therapy today for an hour. I'm hoping to work out some tomorrow on my Total Gym.

Hope everyone has a happy and fun Saturday.

TammyO

I think I've read somewhere that it IS easier to gain weight once you've lost it. As a person gains extra weight, your body creates more fat cells. Those cells (that hold our fat) don't actually go away as we burn up the fat...

Kimberly

My deficit today was 716. Thats pretty good but I had 45% fat day. I had Burger King for lunch. :barf:

Actually I heard the complete opposite. I heard that everyone has the sane amount of fat cells but when you get fatter those cells swell up - the body doesn't actually make more of them.

That's why liposuction is a bad idea as it removes the fat cells, so if you DO put more weight on, it goes on in weird places.

My source could be wrong of course.

Here's an article at AskMen.com. You are right that we are all born with the same amount of fat cells and the fat cells DO swell up but then they multiply. When you lose the extra weight, you don't lose very many fat cells. All of those fabulous NEW fat cells are just begging to be filled - which is why it is so much easier to regain fat. :)


Kimberly

Thank you - that's pretty scary actually. I was happier with the idea that they stayed the same amount but just swelled up!

Hi everyone :wave:

Hey BellaWelcome!!!

I weigh in on Wednesdays........I can't help sometimes stepping on the scale and getting discouraged. I know what I've eaten and I know what I've done as activities and I pretty much feel like my deficits are there............but sometimes when i sneak a peek on the scales before Wed. it says i weigh the same as I did before.........then i'm freaked and discouraged and I peek again in the Am and I'm back down..............

I guess no matter.........you should only look once a week.............:dizzy:

I joined TOPS last week for the weigh-in factor. It was $26 for the year and then $2 a month for dues. I figure it's worth the $50. (That's just a little over what it costs for a month of Weight Watchers!) Granted, if I weighed myself at home it would be free... but I work from home and I need the social interaction! :)

Kimberly

Good morning everyone :coffee2:

I just have to say that this counting calories thing is working! :carrot: Although, I do know I need to watch my fat grams. I did my weigh-in this morning :goodscale: and I'm down 4 lbs. for the week. after not having much of any change last week.

Hey Kim, let us know how you like TOPs.

:grouphug:

The TOPS chapter that I joined only had five people there (including me) last week. I guess a lot of the people go south for the winter. I guess the small number is actually a good thing because it makes a person more accountable instead of just blending into the crowd. (Like at the WW meetings I had been going to with about 30 people.) The meeting was a little different that WW also. The beginning of the meeting involves everyone standing and reciting a pledge. Then the minutes are read from the previous week's meeting. Then role call and you tell everyone how you did that week. The weigh-ins are private so no one knows how MUCH you way. I don't know if all meetings do this, but if you gained, you pay a dime. This group seems to have a lot of different contests or rules involving dimes. :) In the end it isn't a bad thing... Oh, another thing they do is that you have to bring either a quarter or a piece of fruit and the person who loses the most "wins" this. I'm hoping to win on Tuesday.

Kimberly