i just started tracking my food intake, and i noticed that ive been eating aloooooot of calories. like almost 3500 a few days there.. now i havent gone over my carbs. i keep them between 10-20 and rarely go over.. now i lost fast in the begining.. but ive noticed its slower... and i was wondering if i need to cut my calories if im eating that much. .. anyone else run into this problem, or am i just a freak?

awwe thanks, but i do feel like a freak sometimes.

anyways, i actually eat just about the same stuff everyday-- but on some days i eat more of it.. I do exersize, not a whole lot yet, but im building gradually. im at about 10 minutes a day on average. ( stair climber)

so should i cut my calories? i hardly ever go over in my carbs. -- im really strict about that.. but i will eat till im full of other stuff..

Nayex, I think you probably do need to look at cutting your calories. 3500 is high. At your current weight, I was eating between 1800 - 2000 calories per day. I ate a lower carb diet, but never as low as your eating though. I think it's smart to be concerned about your calorie count, because I do think that after the initial flush of water weight from a very low carb diet, you will stop losing if you're eating that many calories. Honestly, I know that I would gain weight at 3500 calories per day.

Good for you on starting to exercise. Building gradually is a great way to start.

well i dont eat 3500 every day! but a couple times a week maybe. i just kinda over-eat on the higher fat stuff.-- im still losing. just not as much in the begining. (which is normal but...) sometimes i swear my pants feel tighter.. but than i go to buy new jeans and im a size smaller... go figure? i think i'll try for around 2000 calories. . im a binger see.. so sometimes i 'binge' on low carb food. (mostly meats)

but i dont think i can continue on this way-- i need to change my behavour and not have such a free-for-all. i do well during the day, than at night i tend to over-eat. (even though i DO stay within my carb count!)

so i joined a binge-free challenge, and have decicded to make sure i dont go over 2000 cals. and well see how i do. . i feel like such a freak though! i have the hardest time eating normally-- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Nayex, I too think you need to limit your calories to about 2000 a day to lose. I don't know your age, so am basing this only on your height and current weight. And it doesn't matter if you binge on one or two days of the week and not the others...it's the total calorie count for the week that you need to track if you want to lose weight. You should be aiming for about 500 calories a day less than you need for maintenance (once you determine what that is) to lose, so if you stay 500 under for five days (2500 calories cut that week) and then go 1500 over for two days (3000 calories over), you will eventually gain, because you've actually consumed 500 over your maintenance needs for that week. That would be a very slow gain, but still a gain, not a loss.

You still may be seeing losses on the scale, because your body is losing fluids due to your limiting carbs, but I don't think that is sustainable.

The more you exercise, the more you get to eat each day...but you will need to be doing at least 30 min of aerobic exercise daily before you start to see much difference. Ten minutes a day is still not enough to alter your metabolism that much. Try to push yourself to move more (even if it's just walking more during the day as you work, shop, clean). A pedometer might help you..instead of concentrating just on your exercises, try to increase your daily walking as you slowly increase your stair stepping every day.

On the binging, if you plan your food out each day so you don't fix more than you are allowed, it might be easier to stick with it...and if you need to binge, binge on veggies (without added fats or carbs) to help you through the tough times. Evenings are hard for many of us. I drink a lot of green tea with lemon in it and it helps to curb my appetite for some reason. I also save enough calories for snacks in the evening that I don't have to go for too long without having something I can stuff in my face.

thanks for that post recidivist! -- well first off, i went 3 years without exercising-- so 10 minutes on a stair climber is as much as i can do-- and yes, i do go for walks when i can- 2 miles the other day! whoo! but i live in alaska-- and it gets waaaay to cold to venture out for too long.

next, i think if i can get the psycological part of the binging under control, im pretty sure id be waay under 2000 cals. -- a huge benefit from low carbing is the appetite is surpressed. however i had a couple of days OP and it screwed that up so ive been trying to get back to square one ever since. thanks for all the replies.. im really working this. . and just want to make sure im doing what i need to to lose weight.. and BTW-- im 26

I know you can do this...it's just wrapping your head around it and working out the quirks...it works a little different for everyone. You just have to want it enough to stick with it...it's slow progress that eventually gets you where you want to be that counts. If you try to push it too far too fast, you can burn yourself out and give up.

When I said walking more, I meant incorporating a little more walking in everything you do, especially for someone who is really out of shape (like I am ). It will add up over the course of a day. For example, if moving from your chair to the refrigerator has a short way and a long way, take the long way. I have three dog bowls to fill every day and I take them to the kitchen counter where I add hot water to make a gravy and then place them down for the dogs. But rather than fill all three bowls at once, and then stack and carry them to the kitchen counter, I fill one, take it to the counter, go back and fill the next one...and so on. So instead of one trip back and forth, I make three. That's what I meant by incorporating more movement in your daily life, not just by increasing your workout time. Here is another idea. Instead of folding all your clothes at the dryer, and stacking them, and carrying them all at once to put them away, fold and put away one item at a time. Or a few at a time...add some extra trips in there. This is especially helpful for someone who is basically sedentary, because of health issues, and moves rather slowly. At least you are moving more, albeit slowly. The more you move, the faster you burn fat, and the more muscle you build, which also increases your stamina and your metabolism. Just make it a project to add a bit more to each day. That's where the pedometer can help you keep track and increase slowly but steadily.