[1200cal_gal]

Hello everyone- I am new to this board- I've been "lurking" for a while but am coming out of hiding today. My name is Ro, I'm 33 years old, wife and mom to two boys, ages 8 and 2, and a teacher (on summer vacation ). I'm trying to lose about 15 pounds. I weigh about 148 or 149 now and am looking to get to 135. I've already lost 7 pounds in about a month following a 1200 calorie diet and actually (gasp!) exercising about 3 times a week. I guess I'm frustrated about how slowly the process seems to be taking. I'd love to find a group of others who are also looking to lose 10 or 15 pounds in a healthy way. I get the munchies at night which is my main struggle! Hope to hear from some of you SOON! I'm so glad to have found this supportive group of people. Thanks.

[almostheaven]

Don't worry about how slow it's going. I mean...how long did it take you to gain it? Taking it slow has the effect of more often enabling you to keep it off afterward. So that's a motivator to think of when you start worrying over how slow it is. Because losing it fast, just to gain it back, that isn't something we want to do.

I'd suggest that after you have lost it...don't give up on the exercise. It's certainly good for you to continue it, and it will help to keep the weight from creeping back up.

[SOON2BE154]

Originally Posted by 1200cal_gal

Hello everyone- I am new to this board- I've been "lurking" for a while but am coming out of hiding today. My name is Ro, I'm 33 years old, wife and mom to two boys, ages 8 and 2, and a teacher (on summer vacation ). I'm trying to lose about 15 pounds. I weigh about 148 or 149 now and am looking to get to 135. I've already lost 7 pounds in about a month following a 1200 calorie diet and actually (gasp!) exercising about 3 times a week. I guess I'm frustrated about how slowly the process seems to be taking. I'd love to find a group of others who are also looking to lose 10 or 15 pounds in a healthy way. I get the munchies at night which is my main struggle! Hope to hear from some of you SOON! I'm so glad to have found this supportive group of people. Thanks.

EEK!!! 1200 calories??? Not enough and not healthy! 1200 calories is a starvation diet. I guarantee that the weight you lost was fat, water and muscle! Besides cutting calories slows your metabolism so you burn fat slower and it gets more difficult to lose the fat. Afterall you are trying to lose fat, not weight, right?

Exercise is the key but you must eat enough calories or you will lose muscle. You will get the munchies at night if you're body is starving for food.

The way to lose those extra pounds is to eat enough, exercise enough and add one more thing, weight lifting. No, you wont get big muscles but the muscle burns fat all the time even while you're asleep. And the weight lifting will tone and shape you.

At one time I was down to my ideal weight. My brothers encouraged me to go under that through cutting my calories. And what do you know I got the munchies almost every night. My body was starving!

You need to find out your BMR and then the amount of calories you need to lose fat. Fat loss can only be achieved through good nutrition and exercise. There's no other way. Research is fairly clear that exercise burns more of the subcutaneous fat, while the nutrition burns more of the internal fat, which is why to get that last bit off, the cardio becomes essential.

I exercise 20-30 min per day/4 to 5 days a week, lift weights 30 minutes per day/3 days a week and eat between 1800 and 2200 calories per day. I fluctuate it to fool my body so it wont try to hold onto fat.

[Mel]

Soon2BE154-Would you post the research you've cited? I've done a lot of reading and haven't seen that. I'd be very interested in reading the original sources. You could shoot me a PM if you'd rather. Thank you.

1200cal_gal- Eating 1200 calories a day occasionally as part of a calorie cycling plan is not going to cause starvation. At your weight, taking off the last 10-15 pounds is tough. I found that exercise (heavy weight training and some cardio) and absolute honesty with my nutrition was the key to not only getting the last ten pounds off, but keeping it off long-term.

Mel

[Meg]

EEK! I averaged 1200 calories/day for at least the last four months of my year of weight loss without any ill effects. I had my body fat % checked every four weeks and lost fat, not water or muscle (of course I did five days of strength training a week in order to preserve my muscle mass). So, for me, 1200 calories was healthy and was enough. And it certainly wasn't a starvation diet!

Like Mel said, those last pounds can be stubborn and that's what it took for me to get the last of the weight off. Matter of fact, if I want to drop a few pounds these days, that's exactly the calorie level I shoot for.

[Mel]

And it's not much less than my MAINTAINANCE level. I do a 5 day lifting split of 45-75 minutes per day depending on body part, and about 4 cardio sessions a week. Additionally, I have a non-sedentary job as a personal trainer.

During my initial "losing phase", I doubt that I was eating more than 1200 per day. I wasn't lifting heavy in those days, and don't advocate losing the way I did, but it works. Make sure that you are getting 1200 healthy calories, however. You can lose weight on 1200 calories of lattes and doughnuts or 1200 calories worth of chicken breast, brocolli, and oatmeal. You'll be a lot healthier with the second menu plan

Mel