first of all, my name is melissa.

i've been a little bit overweight my entire life. my freshman year of college i lost 30 lbs in 3 months, doing it wrong (i cut calories down to about 350 a day). i never reached my final goal because my metabolism was shot. i went from about 180 to 150. I recently married, and noticed my weight beginning to inch up again ( from having to cook constantly for my 130lb, 6 foot tall husband XD) i freaked out when one saturday i stepped back on the scale and saw the numbers 158 lighting up below me. I have resolved to obtain my original goal of getting healthy, weighing about 135lbs. I haven't weighed that little since i was 13. I am currently 21.

i started my diet about 2 weeks ago. I have been monitoring my calories using "my daily plate" , but they fail in that they expect everyone to consume 2000 calories a day. i can't count on them to help predict how much weight will be lost, i can only count calories. I lost the first 5 lbs of weight pretty quickly (as i put them on pretty quickly, as well). This time i am eating about 1100 calories a day, to burn off about an extra 500 each day. That should be about a pound a week.

I have been feeling a little discouraged that it's not coming off as fast as before, so i will need some support to get me through it this time. None of my friends want to hear me talk about it because it doesn't really concern them. They are all either indifferent to being heavy, or are all very fit.

i am hoping to be able to give support to others on this website, as well as offer advice on anything i can.

Hi Melly!

You know, those calorie calculators are just estimates - not accurate for everyone, and in fact, grossly inaccurate for most people I've talked to. Not to mention that sometimes our bodies just don't agree with what the calculators say! I can have a 3500 calorie deficit on paper, but might not lose a pound, simply because my body isn't cooperating. The best way I know to figure calories for weight loss is simply to experiment...try one calorie level for a few weeks, and if you're not losing as fast as you'd like, take away 100 calories a day, or if you're losing too fast, add 100 back in...adjust as necessary.

For someone your age and size, 1100 calories might be a little too low. I know that I always work from the goal of getting to eat as many calories as I can and still lose weight at a reasonable pace. Maybe add 100 a day for the next two weeks and see how it goes scale wise?

In any case, and settle in! I look forward to hearing more from you soon!

i have a -very- low metabolism. my weight hasn't really budged in about 2 weeks, i should have lost 2 lbs. i think my body is catching up caloriclly with the weight shift i had wehn i first started cutting calories. i want to lose about a pound a week. i burn about 1500- 1600/ day tops. so i think that i do eat the most that i can, but that's just what i have experienced.

i really need to get back to weighing in only once a week or every 2 weeks.

Hey there Melly

Thanks for joining 3FC =) I hope you enjoy your time on this site! Its very good, im still kind of new here adn everyone on this website have been a huge help too me!! We are always here for you, so just post away!! =)

Zoe xx