I think I'm slow. Honestly, i am not this dumb. I just think this whole new approach on counting calories and such has be a bit baffled. I was so used to eating whatever and not bothering. i thought all i was supposed to do was count calories. I didn't know that I had to figure out deficits too! ok, by deficit, does everyone mean: calories eaten-calories burned (by excercise)= deficit? So, if i ate 1600 calories and guestimate my excercise to be 700 calories it would be a deficit of 900? It doens't make sense cuz if i ate 1600 calories and didnt work out, it would be a deficit of zero. HELP!!!!
Sorry! I am sure someone has posted it before but i couldn't find it.
thanks!
Nope, you have to eat less than you use (in all things, living, breathing, exercising).
Well, let's back up a step. You don't have to figure deficits at all as long as you eat less than you used to.
Thanks Susan. Forget it. I am not going to sit there and figure out how many calories i burn in a day! Holy cow!
Good job on the weightloss! I can't wait to see my numbers go down!
ha ha ha... very true! I almost threw in the towel because i was confusing myself to a point of stressing out! (i get a bit obessive about things i don't understand, if you can't tell!)
BTW ... I like the saying in your signature about the target date. I have never met a timed weight loss target. That's what almost made me throw in the towel a few times.
I don't figure out my deficit either. I eat within a range of calories and as long as my scale moves down (I've had a few plateaus that I just had to keep moving through) then I'm okay. The goal is slow and easy and to learn new habits along the way. I think sometimes with the deficit thing people use that as a way to add a fun new tool to keep them motivated. Some people like overanalyzing things. I do, but I'm not going into the deficit game.
I look at excercising as part of a new habit. I don't analyze my excercising because it is a new habit.
Counting calories is my main way of judging my foods for the day, but nutrition follows it. I like to analyze whether I got enough water, if I ate a few things from each food groups, if I got most of my nutrients in for the day (fitday online journaling helps with that..this is one of my fun tools for motivation areas), how many calories I had (between a range so I'm not rigid), and in general I look at fat and carbs and proteins but mostly in general (for balance purposes).
Good habits are perhaps the most important part of this journey. That's what will make this a lifelong journey. I never read this book called "Change One" but I know the motto of the book is something I believe in. The motto/premise is that we start with baby steps. We do one thing, get really good at it, then add another thing and so on. Change one aspect at a time. My first aspect was to journal my foods and become aware of foods. Then it was to change different things about my food to fit the calories. Then it was to add a nutritional component to that. Then it was drink more water. Now I'm working on accountability. When school starts (work for me), I hope to rehook up with my excercise buddy and start that. It's a process. Treat it as a learning thing, fun and educational and you'll make it!
If I wasn't so tired and ready for bed, I would make this post a little less repetitive but oh well...goood luck.
I know. At first i was thinking, I wanted to lose all my weight before the New Year. Then I realized that I could be setting myself up for failure and decided to take it one day at a time. how long did it take you to get to under 130, which was on my birthday, BTW!
Just to quickly add: I do pay attention to deficits now, but that evolved over time. When I started it was just portion control (and moving more), then I started calorie counting, then nutrition and deficits, etc...
Just to quickly add: I do pay attention to deficits now, but that evolved over time. When I started it was just portion control (and moving more), then I started calorie counting, then nutrition and deficits, etc...
So you did the change one thing at a time motto too! See..it works! We can't pay attention to everything at the same time. It gets too overwhelming. It's not too bad when you add something new to a group of habits you've mastered.
oh my, yes! If you had told me a year ago all that I would pay attention to now, I would have run screaming! Though, I have to admit, using software to enter food into makes a lot of it so much easier!
I agree 100% that you do not have to figure out your "deficit". If you eat a reduced calorie diet, and are weighing in once a week and seeing a loss-then rest assured that you ARE creating a deficit. You don't have to calculate exactly what it is each day...if I had to do that, then I would have quit years ago...and I have been calorie counting for a decade.
The motto/premise is that we start with baby steps. We do one thing, get really good at it, then add another thing and so on. Change one aspect at a time.
I've done this, too, and it works well. It also works this way for me: I do something, get a little bored and plateau, so I add something new.
Huh?
Honestly, i am not this dumb. I just think this whole new approach on counting calories and such has be a bit baffled. I was so used to eating whatever and not bothering. i thought all i was supposed to do was count calories. I didn't know that I had to figure out deficits too! 
ok, by deficit, does everyone mean: calories eaten-calories burned (by excercise)= deficit? So, if i ate 1600 calories and guestimate my excercise to be 700 calories it would be a deficit of 900? It doens't make sense cuz if i ate 1600 calories and didnt work out, it would be a deficit of zero. HELP!!!!
Though, I have to admit, using software to enter food into makes a lot of it so much easier!
