Quote:
Originally Posted by Michelle2008
Reading this I may be about to have a regret. I am calorie counting and limiting to 1,000 a day. I feel that I am getting enough to eat and I am losing weight - but maybe I should increase the calories?
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...Don't be afraid to eat! lol ooooh if I knew then what I know now...I would have never weighed 200 + lbs...I would have also gradually decreased my calories and focused my 'diet' on eating smaller portions of real food combined with exercise. I KNOW! How's that for a revelation?! ...there's no need to deprive, and then punish if full deprivation isn't met...it only adds fuel to the fire and leads to unhealthy behaviours.
The most important thing about 'diet' is that you need to be able to do it forever; that is, of course, if you want to keep it off. ...the gal who works in the cube next to me lost 50lbs on Jenny Craig's 1,200cal/day diet...she's just changed her goal from 145 to 150 as she's been struggling like you wouldn't believe to lose those last few pounds. ...she also started smoking again (I quit smoking in October, and LOST nearly 25lbs thereafter).
Question begs to be asked: what will she do when she hits maintainance?! Certainly if she increases her calories by even a few hundred calories she will see teh scale creep up. This will freak her out, so she will do one of two things:
further restrict and punish or throw all caution to the side and re-gain 50 lbs +. how long can one maintain this?!
I also fell into the 1,200 cal/day trap. I lost most of my weight this way (DANG was I hungry! I COULD NEVER do this again; don't know where the willpower came from?!). It wasn't until december that I started to eat a bit more because i was reading everywhere that 1,200 cals may not be enough, especially for those who are engaged in regular exercise (plus I started getting involved in buying tons and tons of junk, eating all of it in 20 minutes or less and then purging until nothing came up- thats a very big flag that something's not right; I used to binge before when I was morbidly obese, but never did purge!)
...I upped my calories and upped my exercise and managed to lose several pounds (I finished 2010 at 132 and at end of Jan I hit 125 now I range between 122/126 (water weight, hormones, etc, measurements = 32/26.5/35.5 thighs = 22 = PEAR but that's ok!
)). I have been averaging about 1,700/cals day and I do anywhere from 45 to 90 mins (long runs) of cardio 5 days a week and I strength train 120 mins (three 40 min sessions)/week. I stand at work...walk everywhere and eat probably 1,000 cals before 6 pm.
The first 45lbs came off in 2006. I regained about 15...and then I lost about 55/60 in 2010 (May to end of Jan. 2011).
I no longer feel hungry. I no longer obsess over food (I log EVERYTHING still though and will continue to as I'm a data nerd). I know I can do what I'm doing until the cows come home
...FREEDOM from my image, and weight, is FINALLY in sight. ...Addiciton too. ...I no longer smoke (I smoked 14 years age 12 to 26) or binge drink or engage in cocaine. ...nope not my body. its an AMAZING engine that I love, love love! It's amazing that I can run uphill and take stairs two at a time and run almost 10 miles now (I've only been running since end of April).
Think Lifestyle, healthstyle. Not skinny. There's no such thing as skinny. Skinny's gross. Fit, lean, agile, limber, strong. that's what we should be aiming for. HEALTHY, happy: BEAUTIFUL
GOOD LUCK!