Newbie here!!
 

Hi everyone! I've been lurking the last few days and finally decided to introduce myself. A little about me: I'm 37, a single mom (3 kids, 2 live with me) and work full time. A year ago in September is when it all started. I was at my ideal weight then (127) but after leaving a job because of some very horrible incidences, I was unemployed for 3 months and drawing unemployment. Stressed out every day, I began binge eating and really had the "I could care less" attitude. So the weight started coming on and really hasn't stopped since then...until this past Sunday, 1/11. I stepped on the scale and saw a number I havn't seen since my last pregnancy, 6 years ago. 170.4!!! OMG, I almost had a heart attack. That's when I decided, enough is enough...not doing this anymore. So I began a 1200 calorie diet and immediately felt better about everything. I said diet, but really I mean lifestyle change. I want to start eating healthier, not only for the weight loss but just to be healthier. It's just a much more strict lifestyle change until I'm at goal. I'm tired of having to buy bigger clothes, I'm tired of avoiding dating and going out and having fun because I don't like how I look. Anyway, today is day 5 and as of 2 days ago, I'm down 1.6 lbs and hoping to see a continuous downward trend from here. I'm excited to begin this journey and share it with you all and read all of your posts and hopefully I can be some help and inspiration to everyone here. It's going to be a long road but I think I'll make it!!

Welcome to the forum, and glad you've decided to start posting :)

I think you're going to do great, and it's so good you've caught yourself earlier than some of us have.

One little note: I'd try out a bit of a higher calorie range first to see if it works for you. You're 5'5 so 1200 calories might be a bit low. I bet you'd still lose weight on 1400 or even 1500 calories. Maybe give it a try for a few weeks just to see? You don't want to be eating lower calories than you need to! Easier not to feel miserable about it over time, you know?

Glad you are here...I'm a newbie too! Good luck on your journey!

Faiora, I hear what you're saying but the reasoning behind the 1200 calories is because im not very active. I have a desk job and haven't included exercise in my daily routine yet. According to one website, my BMR is around 1400. Im trying to make sure I have a 500 calorie deficit every day. Does that make sense??

Your BMR is the amount of calories your body needs at rest—so basically, if you lay in bed all day and don't move or even twitch. If you are truly sedentary, you need to multiply that by 1.2 to get your TEE (Total Energy Expenditure) which reflects how many calories you would need to eat in a day to stay the same weight. If your BMR is really 1400 that means 1680 calories, and subtracting 500 (one pound per week loss) brings you down to 1180, which rounds to 1200, so the calculation itself is good.

However, those websites aren't reliable because all our bodies are different (not to mention they all use different calculations and give different results). They function on an estimation of lean mass based on your height, weight, and age—but we all have different amounts of lean mass based on genetics, the types of activities we do, and other factors.

One way to get an accurate measurement of BMR is to find out your body fat percent (and thus, the amount of lean mass you have). Problem is, most of the methods of finding out are no good for an exact calculation—the results are only useful over time, to mark a change. The only accurate methods are underwater weighing and DXA scans, both of which are expensive (I get DXA scans done, and my calculated BMR is 1860. I am lightly active—I commute to work on foot, nothing else—so I multiply by 1.375, and ultimately I'm losing weight slowly by eating an average of 2100 calories per day).

So if you're ruling out expensive options, which would be smarter than my control freak need to know everything, that leaves you with experimentation.

But experimentation is safer in this case if you try to eat more first, and see if it works. You need to feed your essential functions first.

And anyway—like I said—it's so much easier to eat that little bit more calories that it's worth seeing if eating more still works for you.

I'd say at LEAST try eating what you think your BMR is. Then you can feel confident your body is getting everything it needs, and if your BMR is accurate you will definitely lose weight over time, because you do not literally lay in bed all day long every day. :)

(and even if you did, you wouldn't gain)