[MomToKaylaAndTwins]

I am glad to have found this website, I am a little discouraged that I typed a really long intro yesterday and only rec'd 2 responses.
I was hoping to get more insight from people who have "been there" before. I did take the advice given and spent a lot of time rummaging through the Calorie Counters threads as well as the Whole Foods threads.
I am on a 1200 calorie diet, all healthy foods with serious portion control if I do decide to eat something not within my diet foods.
I cut out the 4-5 cans of pop I was drinking and am ONLY drinking water or 15 calorie Lemonade (when I'm feeling frisky! lol)
Anyway, I *try* to count every calorie, but I'm sure it fluctuates (like the fact that I usually don't eat unil 2pm on weekends) and because sometimes I don't have enough patience to enter all of my foods into my calorie tracker (I'm using ballynutrition.com)
I looked at my BMR today, and it says I burn about 1466 calories a day-doing NOTHING. That's not counting the 3 or 4 times a week I go to the gym for over an hour.
Am I not taking in enough calories? I'm not hungry, so I'm not sure why a few people have told me my body might be in starvation mode and that's why I have not lost a pound in a month. If I'm hungry now, instead of eating cheese and crackers, I'll pull out fresh fruit, I won't order pizza logs and french fries for lunch, but I'll eat a lean cuisine with grapes. I won't scrape my plate clean at my favorite mexican restaurant, but I'll eat a little of everything and cover my plate when I'm satisfied (instead of feeding myself until I can barely breathe)
I never ate breakfast before now, and I can't help but feel that even though I'm watching my calories, I am eating more often than I was before, albeit much healthier, I am still as chubby as I was before.
I have really started having some health issues since I started this. I have had some really bad blurry vision spells, light headedness, and fatigue. Had a ct scan yesterday of my head and also had my blood drawn, I wonder if I'm having thyroid issues.
I am going to try weight watchers, I'd love to do nutrisystem, but its SO expensive. I did order the Cooking Light Magazine for some healthy recipes and I just need some advice here.
Thank you all.

[jillybean720]

Please don't be discouraged about "only" receiving 2 responses in less than 24 hours...I've posted on other forums in the past and never received ANY responses (never here on 3FC, though--this place if great!)! Also, if you have a rather generic question that is not related to a specific diet or plan (as I feel yours is), you may want to try posting in the "Support" section, since that tends to have more visibility. That way, you can get responses regarding types of foods, calories, exercise, water, nutrition...all kinds of stuff!

Anyway, it sounds like you're on the right track. I notice you used the term "diet foods"--did you learn much from reading through the Whole Foods section? I know a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, but when you eat calories that are highly-processed, I truly believe our bodies don't process them as well as non- or less-processed foods. Some people find that they'll lose weight more efficiently by eating home-cooked chicken and veggies rather than a Lean Cuisine of chicken and veggies due to the high sodium and additives of the prepared food.

You may want to increase your calories, but I wouldn't do so drastically--maybe try 1300 for a week or two and see how it goes. The danger I always see with starting at 1200 calories is that "experts" suggest never going below that amount, so once you hit a plateau, you'll have nowhere to go, and since you don't have a ton of weight to lose (about 30 pounds if I'm reading everything correctly), you should also keep in mind that the closer you are to your goal, the more difficult the weight is to lose.

I'm in a very different position from you (still have over 100 pounds to lose), so when I mention being close to goal and whatnot, I'm not speaking from just personal experience, but rather from observation and education. I wish you the best of luck!

[3Beans]

My case may not be typical on this website, but I lose weight eating 1600-1800 per day, depending on my activity level. I work out about as frequently as you do, and that includes cardio AND strength training, which is a very important component of any fitness plan IMO.

I think it's in my stats <---- but just to be clear I now weigh 165. Since you weight a bit less (150) you may want to up to 1500 for a couple of weeks and see how you do. I know it's scary, but your symptoms do make it seem that you're undereating. If you're not hungry that may be because your metabolism has dropped. Feeling hungry sometimes is GOOD -- it means your body is burning fuel! How OFTEN you eat is not the problem. Eating breakfast gets your metabolism going for the day, even on weekends! Lots of people have weightloss success eating 5-6 small meals a day staying within their calories for the day.

I agree with the previous poster re: nutrition. There's no such thing as 'diet food'. Just make sure as many of your calories as possible are less processed foods that are nutrient dense, and avoid high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and trans fats (hydrogenated oils). The changes you've made already sound great! Please don't assume that not losing weight is a direct result of eating healthier food. That is highly unlikely.

If you're confident that your food plan is healthy and your workouts challenge you, then it may just take some patience!

[sunshine]

Feeling hungry sometimes is GOOD -- it means your body is burning fuel!

I never heard anyone say that before, but it is so true with me. If I get noticeably hungry before meals, I know I'm eating the right amount to lose weight!

[determined2succeed]

Even if you have not dropped pounds in one month, I bet you have lost inches :-)