Hmmm ... I was pretty envious of Miles too. I am not getting more organized at all!

Don't feel bad Michelle I had a hard time with it at first too.

Do you use FitDay? That is the first place to start to find out your calories, then you add in your extra exercise like walking or gym work in the exercise section.

You take your total calories for the day and subtract them from your total (including the basal) calories burned and that number is your deficit.

Fitday does all the work except the subtracting.....

Hope this helps and maybe someone can explain it better.

Phyllis

Hello! Folks! 3FC withdrawl here. Computer trouble argh! I'm on the college boy's laptop just so that I can have a small fix. Be good everyone!

Good morning!

I'm back after a prolonged 4th July holiday :D. We went out of town for the long weekend, got back Tuesday late so I took the rest of the week off. Oops!

Oh well, back on the wagon today :).

3 pages of posts into July already! When I have time I will catch up and read them all, until then I hope you all have a good Monday.

Michelle - I'll try to explain the deficits thing, forgive me if I'm either too slow or too fast. Your body burns x amount of calories just by existing. This number is based on a number of factors: age, height, weight, muscles, etc. On here some of us have figured out what that number is, either by keeping close track of our intake of calories or perhaps by mistake. For instance, if you've averaged 1600 calories a day for 2 weeks and in that time you lose 2 lbs, you know you've created a 2-week deficit of 7,000 calories (3,500 calories in a pound). Divide that by 14 days and you'll find you had a daily average deficit of about 500, therefore when eating at 1600 your exercise and metabolism must mean you maintain at 2100 calories a day. Does that make sense? Susan's better at this than me but sounds like her computer is broke.

I'm behind a few days so I'll catch up:
Friday: 125
Saturday: 241
Sunday: 542
Went wedding dress shopping on Saturday, and got the dress so that is all over and done with. Luckily, wedding dresses can be pretty thinning but I think I'll have to focus a little on weight lifting for my arms between now and October :D

You did a fine job Miles :) and congratulations on the dress!
Can we click thru to Michelle's fitday? I wish I'd checked before I started posting. Hmmm ....

Joining you all!
 

On July 5th I started to change my life. I decided that after hitting *my personal* all time high of 202 I didn't want to do this anymore. So, I joined
3FC and decided to count calories. In order to lose the weight I want by December 25th, I have to lose 2.75 lbs a week. Well... I've lost 1.5 so far this week and have 1 more to go!

I also got off the shot last month and am awaiting the arrival of my favorite Aunt so that I can get rid of some of this excess water! I'm so happy to be a part of 3FC and the Calorie Counters!

Just wanted to introduce myself!

Hugs,

Amy

Miles great job with your deficits! Congrats on the wedding dress. You'll have to post a picture!

Amy welcome to calorie counters! It sounds like you're off to a great start!

I had an ok day. I was snacking crazy in the afternoon. I had a deficit of 800 & worked out at curves for 45 minutes.

Morning! Ya know gals. Those daily threads in the support forum are good. The ones where folks post what they plan to eat today. You know the old adage thos who fail to plan, plan to fail?

Good morning, all!
Can I post my weigh in here? I lost 1 lb. this week and met my weekly goal!!!
My average daily calorie intake was 1560 cal/day and I had 2 "bad" days (where I went over my calorie allowance) and 5 good days!
Yay me. :D

Morning all :).

700 cal deficit yesterday, would have been more but I fell face first into a block of cheddar cheese last night. How does that stuff manage to get into my fridge?! :sssh:

Congrats on the dress Miles!

Miles-congrats on finding your dress...

well I had a good week of eating except on the 4th but I didn't have any loss last week....I'm still struggling to start exercising again..only thing I managed last week was 3 days of doing 20 sit-ups..boy is that sad..

Lynne & Valerine-great deficit

Amy-welcome...your off to a great start

You can do it Donna, I'm proud of you for doing the sit ups, you did something rather than nothing!

I took last week off and I'm wishing I didn't, the gym kicked my butt today, I only managed two sets of the circuit training. I'm stuck in a weight loss rut too, still bouncing between 173 and 176. I'm not weighing myself until next Monday either, I want the after effects of my vacation eating to have worked themselves out my system :lol:.

Hello everyone
 

Hi,

I hope you won't mind if I join this group. I have been on one board or another on this web site for the last 4 years or so but am now in the process of trying to kick this weight the old fashion way. I actually have an account with Ediets but don't like the boards...not as friendly and open as 3FC. When my account is done in 3 months I will use my FitDay software at home.

I was reading these posts this morning and I too was confused and frustrated at the prospect of a deficit each day.....*scratching head*...but then I figured it out! "They" say I should have 2349 calories a day and as a rule I consume 1400 a day...so that leaves me with a deficit of 949 calories...which in a week equals 6643 which should amount to about a pound and 3/4 or so a week. I GET IT!

I have just started doing some exercising...I recently had shoulder surgery so can't do anything fancy. I have been walking and doing some ab work as well as small weight exercises that my physical therapist gives me. Think it is really making a difference.

It has been a while since I checked in on a thread everyday so give me a chance to get back in the swing of things. It is really helpful to have other people you can chat with who are in the same boat as you. We understand each other and support each other and that is what I need.

Well...back to work. Check in later.

Jane

Hello ladies, another newbie jumping into the chat here. I am an oldie on the 20 somethings forum but looking for something a little more about food and specifically calorie counting.

Food is my own personal demon. I am a runner, play tennis, workout very regularly and then I eat junk and see no progress...hmmm I wonder why. So starting tomorrow I am going back to good old fashioned calorie counting and food logging in my fitday.

Very nice to meet you all!

Hey, welcome ChasingAmy, Booskibabe, Jane and Stephie! And :cp: for figuring it out Jane, sometimes that is half the battle!

Yes, I will post a picture of the dress when I get a little less lazy, the best photo actually has my head cut-off so that might work ;)

Forgot to post earlier this morning like normal, just been way busy with school and work and wedding and well...all of it! Deficit of 910 yesterday. Didn't get in any exercise other than about 20 minutes of walking but feel good about the deficit. Might have lost 1 lb (whee) or re-lost, depending on how I look at it, waiting to see what the scale says in another day or so though. Take care ladies!

Deficit of 401 yesterday. Still slacking on the weights but I'll get back to it.

Think things are moving downward this week...I didn't lose at all last week but hopped on the scale today even though I won't officially weigh in until Friday. Going to try and get some exercise in tonight.

Kind of hungry today and thought I brought enough food....2 fruits! But nibbling on pretzels right now. :fr: I could have bought the Doritos out of the machine!!!!!!!!!

Jane

Hello everyone. Nice crowd here lately!
I had about a 600 cal deficit yesterday. I was waaaay under cals later in the evening so I made up some with not so good stuff. But I'm good. Don't feel too bad about yesterday at all.

Well i wanna welcome everyone and jane good choice i would have done the same pretzl's over doritt's and i dont know my def calories yet cause im still try to figure it out LOL but i will i know one thing is for sure i am SOOOOO on track with the counting cal's and walking daily i will do this !!! (smiles)

Hi everyone!

I had an ok day today. Still higher on the calories then I would like. I did 50 minutes at curves w/an extra time around the circuit then they recommend.

1747 calories, 947 deficit

So first day counting calories went really well (gotta love nutridiary) So when you all post your deficit is that your total deficit for the week or for just the day you are referring to? Dont want to be confused anymore rofl.

Weighed in/Measured today and I am down a lb since last week and at least a quarter of an inch on all my measurements since the last time they were taken. I am so psyched.

Going out of town for work tonight till Monday...not comp access could be a possibility so I will have to hand track these calories which may throw a wrench in the works.

blues - Good luck with that weigh in. I know how it is to be busy.

jane - way to go on avoiding those doritos!

susan - Everyone needs a little treat every once in a a while and you did have the cals left to be able to do it. I would not feel bad either.

707 - you sound so confident and motivated! That is awesome.

valerie - Great workout :)

Well i did it i lost 2 of th 4 pounds i had gained YES im so excited now to see the results its the thing to keep me going

Afternoon everyone! Yesterday was good again. About an 800 cal deficit. You're right Stephie ... a deficit is a deficit!

I'm just flying by again, work chasing me down...deficit of 475 yesterday. Feel good about my eating, just need to hop back onto the weight-lifting bandwagon again soon here. I have arms that need a little work before my October wedding :D

I weighed myself this morning and stepped off then back on the scales! I couldn't believe my eyes! In a weeks time I've lost 5lbs! WOOOHOOOO!!! I'm going to walk 1.4 miles tonight to reach my 8 miles for the week, and I'm just so excited.

I'm very proud of myself to not giving in to the delicious Spaghetti Dinner that I always make... instead, I gave my family their meals and i'm making a lean cuisine!

It's hard to lose weight... but man is it worth it!

I know this was explained before so I'll go re-read it again, but i'm trying to figure out what the deficit is.

Hope you are all well!!

Amy

Just a quick hello...I'm still putting in alot of hours at work again this week so I've been super busy and tired.so far my deficits for this week are
Mon=482
Tues=981
Wed=745
Thurs=764
all that without exercise...I could just imagine what it would be if I would get my butt moving again..
I will try to get on again tonight to catch up with everyone

Deficit of a mere 216 yesterday, but am still feeling good about finally getting in some weight lifting again. Hope to get some more in this weekend.

This was a pretty good week for me. I went off plan on Wednesday because of a business luncheon, but I was only over my calories for the day by about 100-150 calories. I had a cookie and it tasted so good, it was worth it!

I've also decided that with the amount of exercise I am doing, I can increase my calories intake by 100 per day. Those extra 100 calories the last couple of days have really been helpful; I'm much less hungry throughout the day.

If Fitday is correct about the calories I burn just being alive and sitting at my desk, then I have a deficit of about 500 to 700 calories per day at the new calorie intake level.

I dropped a couple of lbs in the first part of the week, but last night I was back up to 122 which was disappointing. Next week is my TOM, so I'm hoping those 2 lbs will come back off.

I've decided to start having a little more variety in my lunch. This week it was turkey and cole slaw on a pita. Next week it will be chicken apricot salad with toasted almonds. I'm really looking forward to it and I think it will be good to not be eating PB&J every day.

- Barbara

My intro
 

Hello Everyone,
I have been here for months but mostly lurk. I figured it was time to come out of lurkdom and post a intro.
I am a 44 year old lady who has watched alot of you folks and tried to imitate what I could of your ideas and suggestions, so even when you think your in this alone, you never know who you might be inspiring:)

I used to be the skinny minny and could eat whatever I wanted, then I had a total hysterectomy and those days were gone! After a routine visit to the Dr in January, I was told my cholesterol was high and diet and exercise would make a diference. My hubby was told the same thing. I decided that I would diet to "help" him out since he had lots of weight to lose. Somewhere along the way, I found 3fc and the rest is amazing history!

I started to exercise and watch what I eat, not just eat, but tried to eat healthier foods. Little by little the weight started to come off.

I often wondered how many times I would change my goal and I have just changed it again. It makes me crazy that it is almost like I keep my goal just out of reach! I am dying to see 139 on my scale!

Thanks a ton to all of you who have been my own little inspiration along the way on my journey.
Tami

:welcome2: littleatatime! I think lots of us have changed our goal weight along the way, it is about finding what works for you.

Day behind here, deficit of 578 on Friday and 107 yesterday. Little high yesterday and no exercise but still feeling good about my weigh-ins and now that the weekend is almost over I am confident I can make it through another week on plan. Just hope the scale continues to behave, it hasn't gone "down" yet this week but I feel good about its holding steady.

Sunday's deficit 585. Need to hang on to these higher deficits of mine, also got in a decent amount of weight lifting last night, hoping to keep that up as well think I'm noticing a little difference in my arms but time will tell.

sorry I'm went missing again but I'm still working alot of hours...I stayed OP all last week with eating but didn't find time to exercise ...I did weigh-in today and I'm glad to see that I was down 2.4lbs from last monday...deficit yesterday was 700

Congrats to all the loosers!!! :cp: :cheer:

I've been hanging in there. Yesterday was bad. I spent the day at a street festival and ended up consuming 2700 calories.. about 400 OVER my base limit.

I still had a weekly deficit of 5000 last week. Curves was closed today because of a brownout so I went home and did a Tae Bo DVD. I hope to see a litte loss on my next weighday.

I ended yesterday with a deficit of 711....this is the week that my bet with my friend starts for going to the gym 3 times a week or we have to pay the other one $5 for every day that we miss...I missed yesterday but going to try to get there today..

Calorie COunting has really opened my eyes. I exercise often and very hard. I had been plateaued for some time and could not figure out why. Then I found calorie counting. Although I am new at it, it has opened my eyes as to just how many calories are in a "bad day" for me. Yesterday for example I was almost 1100 over! In the past I would have considered this an off day but not known how astronomically high the calories I took in were. So here is to cycling around some of these calories for the rest of the week to get that average down.

yep im doing good as well im trying to exercise but it' too freaking hot yesterday here it got up too 108 so its been hard trying to get out there to walk/run but i lost 3 1/2 lbs last week

Deficit of 590 yesterday. Feeling pretty good about that, trying to keep my deficits over 500 a day but it is tricky given my recent focus on weight lifting instead of cardio as well as the food part, heh heh. Time will tell!

Hi everyone!

I have been having a rough time of it recently. Sunday I had 2600 calories, Monday I had 1900 calories and today I had 2097 calories. I just can't see to keep that number down with my schedule the way it is now.

At this point I'm pretty much just maintaining my weight.. or possibly even gaining. I weighed in at 196 today. I'm just hoping that was a fluke and I'll be back at 192 or less on my official weigh day Friday.

I hope everyone is well and staying cool!