Tara - I think the big question is what kind of weight did you lose - was it water, fat, or muscle? Muscle loss = bad, fat loss = good, water loss = not significant. Unfortunately, there probably isn't any way to figure that out unless you've been tracking your body composition all along - have you?
As for calories, the only way to answer your question is for you to experiment with different calorie levels and see what happens. I know you track meticulously, so it should be easy for you to figure out how your body reacts to more or fewer calories. You could try adding 200 calories and going back to your usual workouts and see what happens (I'd give each change at least two weeks before judging results - things don't happen overnight though people tend to credit their pigout at Don Pablos for their three pound loss the next day ) Chances are pretty good that you can maintain on greater than 1200 calories, especially since you're a very healthy eater.
Do you do any exercise in addition to cardio? You possibly may have lost muscle mass when you lost the fat and thereby slowed your metabolism, since muscle is your body's calorie burner. Adding some weight training into your exercise routine is a surefire way to boost your metabolism and allow you to eat more and maintain.
If you do experiment with your calories, be sure to come back and tell us the results!
Thanks. I haven't been tracking my body composition. I do have one of those scales that gives body fat percentage, but I know those are not very accurate. I didn't think that it would be water loss because I think I've stayed well hydrated, and I don't think that I could explain lots of water loss given my diet/activity level over the last two weeks. I do some weight activities...usually the last 15-20 minutes of my cardio classes involve some small weights/sit-ups/push-ups/resistance exercises. I have an athletic build, so I hadn't really considered the possibility of low muscle mass playing a role, but who knows.
I'm still a bit nervous about the raising calories thing, but I think I might need to find a way to get over that. I've said before here, that I feel pretty satisfied with my food intake; I would probably be more motivated to up calories if I was starving all the time! I'm at a point where I SHOULD be ok with going up a couple pounds, so if I can get the courage I should probably give the higher calorie thing a try. It's just weird after so long at lower calories.
I just had a thought. When I look back, I have realized that I have tended to lose weight when I've gone out of town during the last 6 months or so. I think I've posted about that, but at the time, I thought it was more related to very careful eating at restaurants, rather than the stopping of the exercise. This has happened a few times. Really makes me wonder!
Be brave and experiment! If you're pretty well satisfied with what you're eating, how about adding something like nuts? Higher calories but still healthy and it's not like you're eating a whole lot more (I can inhale an ounce of nuts in nothing flat!)
As for the stopping exercise thing, I know I'd lose a few pounds of muscle if I didn't exercise for a few weeks. It will be interesting to see what happens to your weight now that you're back at your normal routine. Don't freak out if it ges back to where it was!
I definitely lose weight or maintain when I don't weight train or do cardio. For example in the last few weeks, the Holiday season, I have gained maybe 2-4# not that much, but I have put on a whole inch on my hips , I feel like I have a jelly belly *shudder*... I have weighed this much when I was exercising regularly and still fitting in my regular pants comfortably... For me exercising is #1 key, #2 is super clean eating and specially no sugars...
Happy new year everyone! I'm back from my week home in LA eating nothing but junk. Eating at home is so weird -- my mom has lost weight over the past year and is trying to eat healthy, my sister is on a gluten-free diet, but my dad (who has been very overweight my entire life and is now diabetic) absolutely refuses to eat anything healthy. Sometimes my mom sneaks in low-fat foods and doesn't tell him, since if he knows it's lf he will claim it tastes bad.
Anyway it's frustrating because my dad will make fun of me for eating healthy, and will constantly try to talk me into going out to eat junk food (especially at breakfast), then will turn around and ask how much more weight I plan to lose (the answer has been NONE for over a year, hello!), or say how great it is I've maintained a loss. It's really frustrating.
Anyway, my fiance and I indulged all week, ate tons of junk food, and didn't do any formal exercise (although we went hiking and went for walks a good deal). But we were good and didn't bring home any of the goodies -- all that came back to Indy with us was a bag of tangerines from the tree at my parents' house and a couple crackers. When I weighed in on my parents scale the first day home it said 133, and the last day it was up to 135.5. I know it is largely water since we eat low-sodium at home (my fiance has high blood pressure) and ate a lot of salty stuff in LA. Anyway, after that binging we are totally ready to eliminate the junk and eat right.
Also, my fiance had a health screening at work and they told him to lose 15-20 lbs, so I think we'll be jumping in to find a new gym and get working. He usually doesn't worry about his weight but I think he got a scare when they told him his body fat was over 20% and his "bad" cholesterol was borderline. He's weighed between 185-200 the whole time I've known him (weighed in at 197 at the health screening), but he used to be more muscular.
Anyway I'm thinking it's a good thing since we need to get back in shape. I have to say I'm getting sick of people talking about losing weight for weddings. I got pretty angry at my dad when he asked me "How much weight do you plan to lose for the wedding?" I was like, NONE! Geez, I was too fat at 185 and that's true, but I am not too fat for a wedding dress when I am a size 6 and I certainly don't want to look like I'm starved in my wedding photos. Ugh.
Thanks for the welcome and the words of encouragement. I'm feeling much better today. Guess I just had to freak out and get it out of my system. I realized part of my problem was seeing my mom over Christmas. She's lost over 90 pounds and is off her BP and Diabetes meds. I'm so proud of her. However, she's gained back 15 pounds in the past couple months. She's bummed and starting to go down that old thought and food road that got her in trouble in the first place. I felt helpless to do anything for her. So I think all that emotion got me freaked out and worried about both of us. I realized yesterday that I can't be responsible for her, only me. I hope she can get back on track for her sake but all I can do is be supportive of her. Yeeeek! this sure is an emotional rollercoaster at times.
Thank you to (? I can't remeber who?) for the thought:
Breathe: It can change the pattern of your thoughts. Learn to Wait: Once you can wait, you can do almost anything. And Remember: It all counts.
I think this is my new mantra. It's so good!
This is a great group and I'm glad to have you all to learn from. I hope I can contribute something of value in return.
I just had an "a-ha" moment. Calories are like a checking account. It's like every week, your body does a direct deposit of how many calories it will need for the next week. Then you get to spend those calories however you see fit until the next direct deposit, or you can add a little extra to your account with exercise. You get into trouble when you "overdraw" your account, and if you do it regularly you will gain weight. If you are trying to lose weight, it's like trying to save money . . . a little bit every week and it adds up.
And it's just as difficult to keep calorie budgets under control as it is to keep money under control, especially during the holidays. During the holidays, you see some great thing and think "I have to buy that as a present for ___" and end up blowing your budget. With food, you see some cookies and think "I have to eat those cookies!" and blow your calorie budget.
The only thing I haven't worked out yet with this metaphor is where hunger fits in . . . like how I ate so much the past weeks at my parents' house that my stomach expanded or something and now I'm hungry at 2:45 despite having already eaten all the food that usually lasts me until I leave work at 5:00. That and at least with calories, unlike money, we don't have to save for retirement!
paperclippy, welcome back. Hope you enjoyed the time spent with family. The money metaphor is great.
I'm glad the holidays are over and I'm back on track with eating right and exercise. I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow to restock my healthy foods that help keep me on track. It's strange how being out of salad fixings now means I need to go shop. Before, being out of soda or mac-n-cheese would mean it was time to shop. If running low on fresh fruit, I absolutely have to go to the store. I have found that after doing LC for so long, that I'm sick of eggs. I now like Oats for breakfast, I never tire of them. Mainly as long as I have coffee, I'm good. Food still tastes good, but has lost some of it's importance in my life. Before, if we were taking a road trip, all I could think of was where will we EAT. Now, I try to always eat at home before we leave, it's easier this way.
Ugh - worse than I thought. I got on my own scale this morning and weighed 131 lbs. I weighed 127 on Dec. 23! Amazing how easy it is for the scale to creep up. I don't really regret anything I ate over the holidays, but I am over my "red line" of 130. Time to get serious for a few weeks until I'm back to 128-129 or so. I do have a fancy "girl's night out" for Friday, but I plan to get right back on track today!!!
It is sad how we can turn our back for a few days/weeks and when we look again the scale has moved up. Especially difficult for me was having so many people staying with me. I'm not used to cooking for such a crowd, and I know they'd probably get tired of my usual fare (chicken breast, brown rice and a veggie) so I mixed it up quite a bit. I'm sure most of my extra calories came from that and from eating out more than the usual. I know I didn't over indulge in any sweets (well, except for a cookie or two at work). Anyway, I've been exercising daily and expect to see a change for the better by the end of next week.
paperclippy--I love your metaphor. Perhaps instead of Fitday, we should track our calories using Quicken!!!
Well, I weighed this morning and I guess it took me a while to show my holiday gain. I'm up 2 lbs. today. This kind of surprised me, as I spent several hrs. yesterday shampooing carpets. Did tons of laundry and dishes, cleaned out fridge and went shopping for groceries. I did drink more water than I usually do. I am back to using my treadmill too as the elliptical shows I have only burned about 30 calories by the time I'm wore out. My legs get to feeling like noodles. . I don't know how to change my weight tracker or I would. I'm back up to 145.
I'm sick today. Chills, sweats, body aches, sore throat. Lots of liquids today. My father had the same thing a couple of days ago--a 48 hr bug. Hoping to feel better tomorrow.
I did OK in December. Came out 4 lbs lighter than it started. Much easier being away from work at the end of the month. Yesterday I came back to a giant tin full of cookies and a bunch of donuts. I caved. Sigh.
Anne- Sorry you're feeling yucky. I've managed to start the year off with a head cold. Ick!
My weight is right where it was Dec 1st. I did have 4 complete, have whatever is there days so I'm not surprised I didn't lose. Maybe the cold will ruin my taste buds, but I doubt it.
) Chances are pretty good that you can maintain on greater than 1200 calories, especially since you're a very healthy eater. 
