Taking the plunge
 

Hello and :welcome: Daydreamer! We're glad you're here! Wow, congrats on releasing 50 pounds already! That's great!

I think you may be onto something with the whole mix-it-up idea. Sometimes bodies just seem to grow comfortable with the routine, whatever it may be, so changing up can provide a jumpstart.

I've only been counting cals seriously since mid-Feb, but so far, I'm loving it! Like you, I'm exercising in some form or fashion at least 5 days a week. I'm an Ab Lounge fan, too! It's goofy looking, but I really feel I get a good abs workout from it.

I agree with you about Atkins. I did it for a few months a couple of years ago. While it *did* work, I missed having breadstuffs. I don't think I could make it a rest-of-my-life thing. I can see myself counting cals from now on. Maybe not restricting them, but definitely being aware of them!

Good for you on getting in the water. It's not the easiest thing to do for some (I have to force it in) but it can be done. If I were you, I might think about upping the daily calorie allowance a bit -- at 1,200, you don't leave yourself much wiggle room if you need to tweak for plateaus, etc. Have you tried journalling? I find that's really helpful. There are several online (and free) food journals you can try.

In any event, make yourself comfy -- lots of really friendly folks here!

I'm with Jill, I like 1500 cals for you better. Do you have a fitday.com account? You could post a link and we could help you tweak what you have been eating.

I agree as well-1200 a day is too low for your current weight. If you stall again at 180, or 160 pounds-then you have no where to drop your calories too.
What I really recommend as well for keeping your body from "adjusting" to what you are doing-is CHANGE. This goes for your diet, and for your exercise regime.
If you walk-don't do the exact same thing each day. For instance walk 2 miles a day through the week-but maybe a 3 or 5 mile walk on the weekend. If you normally do one certain workout video-throw in a couple more and alternate them. When you go to the store to buy fresh fruit-buy apples and bananas one week, and maybe strawberries and cantalaupe the next. Don't let your body adjust to the exact same routine of diet and exercise every day-because it does adapt.

Oh and I checked fitday.com out...a lot of their calories are way off because I checked on my labels and on a lot of the foods they added on about 100 calories. I'm just gonna keep track of my food intake on the journal's section on this site. Thanks for the info though : )

"Hi ladies! I'm new to this particular bored so I thought I'd make a post and introduce myself. I lost my first 50 pounds by counting calories and fat"

You lost 50 doing it this way ....just keep it up

Fitday
 

Hey, just a little tip...if you ahve the nutritional information on your labels you can actually enter them in as "custom foods" rather than having to do it in the journal section. They may be higher or lower if you use the generic. I do custom foods for all except vegetables and fruit and if I don't know than I look it up online to find out. It's really helpful to have the running tally on calories for the week, then you can see your calorie out put for the week and if you have a 3500 calorie deficit through the week you will lose 1 lb, if it is 7000 you will loser two.

I don't use fitday, but I think in many respects, nutridiary uses the same database. I find it to be relatively accurate (if you are sure you know the weight of something) on the one hand, but often up OR down a bit from the actual number. So I don't worry about it, personally. While I want to be accurate, I want more to learn to moderate my food and eat reasonably. I also know that I've been very successful using nutridiary, so I figure things balance out in the end, and this is one less thing to obsess over, for me.

Thanks for the advice ladies : ) I'll check the custom section out...over all the site was helpful and just being able to keep up with everything is a lot of help.