No Cravings Monday!!
Beef Cabbage Quinoa, Orange: 200
FF Cheese Omelet, Ezekiel Raisin Bread: 264
Beef Cabbage Quinoa, Broccoli Potato Mash, Cottage Cheese w/pineapple: 377
1/2 Protein Shake, 10 Hazelnuts: 362
Total: 1203

Exercise: BodyRock, Plateau Challenge (weights), 30 min K9 Walk: 309
Water: 80 oz

No for me! I'm OWNING this week!!

OK ladies, I need some input, from the "regulars" on this thread, pls
Here are my stats:

BMR according to MFP: 1330
Height: 5'3.5"
Current Weight: 146
Age: 36
Goal Weight: 140 or less

Since Jan 1, I have been doing Spike Day--as you all know.
I've been trying to do (3) 1200 cal days, (3) 1400 cal days, and the Spike Day ~2800 cals.
I am extremely realistic and would be ok w/losing 1 lb/week.
I would change anything about my regime to reach my fitness goals.

I typically burn anywhere between 2000 and 3300 cals per week in exercise.

I consider myself pretty active. These exercise cals are just the ones I burn running, doing BodyRock, doing my Plateau Challenge exercises, and walking my K9s. I don't include things like cleaning, shopping, and doing daily chores.

Here is my dilemma: I don't think I am eating enough calories. I have been doing alot of reading and everything I come across suggests I eat more. But, how much more? The only thing that could happen badly is that I would gain a couple of lbs, which would be bad, but I just am really unsure.
Suggestions appreciated.

K9, I do think the 1200 days are pretty low, for how active you are. Maybe going to 1400 and 1600 and spike days would be a good experiment? I think the commercial diet programs (like Nutrisystem) which have you at 1200-1400 are for the average person, but the average person is a lot more sedentary than you are. And the incidental activity you get from moving around throughout the day (the non-exercise stuff) can really add up. If you can afford $100 to spring for a Fitbit, it might be just the thing you need to give you some kind of measure of that. (I'm a runner, but currently inactive, because I have to focus on my thesis -- and I've found that I can burn a lot of calories just from being fidgety and walking around the apartment. So I'm glad to have a device for measuring that!) Otherwise, trial and error are about the only thing you can do. Do you spike your exercise, too? That might be another parameter to adjust. When I have a high-calorie day, and then a low-calorie day, I try to boost my activity on the low calorie day, and I usually drop a couple of lbs that way.

Yesterday after my night class, I ate a lot of snacks, and undid all the walking I had done, leaving only a 30 calorie deficit. Some days are like that.

K9 -- this calorie counter site gives you 'zig-zag' calories within a range for fat loss and for extreme fat loss. I think zig-zagging is great, as it keeps your body guessing (just like with exercise your body gets used to whatever it is that you do/eat and becomes more efficient, thus making it harder to lose weight.) Maybe this will give you an idea of how many cals to increase.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/cal...alculator.htm#

b: coffee, chicken, sauteed veggies, cheese on multi-grain low carb wrap, 16oz water - 350
l: WW pasta primavera (I added some leftover chicken to it) - 350
s: got the awful 'sweet munchies' after lunch so nommed on some HN Cherrios - 200
d: slumgullion (browned hamburger, tom. paste, garlic, seasonings, elbows) - 400

Total: 1300

Really wanting something sweet . . .

and that never went away so I had 1 tblspn of raisins w/a 2 tspn of natural p. butter - 100

Total: 1400

Ah, now that nommy demon is asleep!

WOW!!! That is awesome. I sure do appreciate you sharing that link. That helps out a lot. VERY useful tool. Thank you!!!

K9Owner- I am new to this and no expert, so I will regurgitate things I have read (in my obsession of spending HOURS online looking at ways to eat for training and weightloss). Queen Sarah probably has the best plan, getting the fit bit, but I wont be right away either.

I have read some stuff about how there is often an optimum calorie range to be eating in. There was astudy where they found that when people ate less than that they wouldn't lose weight any faster with the less calories. Our bodies are incredibly adaptable, and we are designed to maintain homeostasis. Unfortunately that means that our bodies work to conserve when we have a calorie deficit and even waste and burn off when we have too many calories(I don't know about you but I have had periods in my lifetime that I ate so much food I should have landed at 250 or more instead of only getting up to 186). We can still lose weight and gain (obviously), but it doesn't always equate exactly to the deficit that we expect.

I guess what I am trying to say is that less calories is not always better. So I think that adding some is definitely worth a try. Like you said worst case scenario is a little weight gain (unlikely since you arent going to start eating 2000+ everyday), and if has the potential to actually help you lose better and have more delicious food while doing it!

Again I am not an expert and I am just passing out info I have read or heard.

Today was long run day! Good thing after yesterday's high calories (again).

Breakfast: Banana, orange, 2 veggie breakfast sausages-334 cals
Lunch: 2 c. spaghetti squash 1 cup homemade tomato sauce with TVP-244 calories

Total Calories: 578

Excercise: Ran 5.3 miles, 798 feet elevation gain. 59 mins- Now heading to go snowboarding a few hours. yay for active days!

b: picante omelet, piece of cinnamon/raisin toast w/bit of butter, grapefruit, coffee, - 350
l: ww spinach/ricotta pasta w/some chicken I added - 400
d: breaded chicken, rice, sauteed zucchini, tiny bit of brownie - 700 (?)

Total - 1450-1500

Yesterday was a day of the snack attack. I ended up at 2500 calories! I counted it all. It did very little damage to my biweekly average and that was 1730 so I'm ok with it.

Eating lean today. My appetite isn't nearly as fierce. I might just come in under my allowance.

Yesterday was a day of the snack attack. I ended up at 2500 calories! I counted it all. It did very little damage to my biweekly average and that was 1730 so I'm ok with it.

Eating lean today. My appetite isn't much. I might just come in under my allowance.

It was a bit hard due to simple carbs I had yesterday making me feel super carb-hungry today, but I stayed within my calorie limit. Which at the moment is quite low. I'll stick with it for another 3 days and then bump it up some.

Busy last night and today, but I'll catch up. Before anyone starts freaking out about Wednesday's low cals, I'll explain.

DH wanted to go visit my parents Tues. night--right at my dinner time! I couldn't make dinner, as he was impatient to go, so I ate there. I would have been ok with just Subway, but my brother bought us some Honey Cinnamon Almonds, and I helped myself to 360 cals worth of them while playing dominoes!

To offset the high cals and to keep my body guessing, I severely dropped my cals on Wednesday--on purpose--to offset the high cals on Tuesday.

Terrible Tuesday
Zuzana's Berry Pancakes, Pineapple, 2 Tbs Whipped Cream: 500
PB2 Greek Yogurt w/granola, Trail Mix: 316
Broccoli Potato Mash, Grapefruit, 15 Bean Stew, Coffee, Honey Cinnamon Almonds : 711
Subaway 6" Turkey Sandwich, Activia Peach Yogurt: 350
Total: 1877

Exercise: 565
Water: 96 oz


Wednesday's Menu
FF Cheese Omelet: 144
Apple, 1/2 PB2 Greek Yogurt: 132
Salad, Sweet n Sour Chicken w/Miracle Noodles, SoDelicous Ice Cream, Cottage Cheese w/Pineapple: 808
Total: 1084

If I had known we were going earlier in the day, I could have swapped some food choices around, but those almonds were hard to stop eating at 1/4c!!

Thanks to all of you for your advice on my calorie limit issue. I think I will try it next week. The Spike Day is working so well right now, I hate to break my losing streak!!

Seal: That website gave me astronomical numbers!! Gracious, I'd have to drink a double dense Green Monster every day to reach those cals! I think my tummy has shrank with being on such a calorie restriction for so long. Great info there, however!! Thank you

Well sorry I have been MIA, my calories yesterday were 1949, and tuesday was awful. REALLY AWFUL.

I need to get a grip. I have been counting consistently for two weeks now, but I am yet to be consistent about staying within my caloric goals. I feel that finally tracking all that is passing my lips for two weeks is a huge accomplishment. But now I've done it two weeks. It is time to take the next step. I need to learn that when I waste calories on calorie dense foods that simply means I'm setencing myself to going to bed hungry. If I really lay it down like that hopefully that will motivate me to up my vegetable consumption.

Anyways sorry for the long vent. It's good to see you ll be so successful and I do hope to join you all soon!

*Changed my goal weight to 146, I did the ideal weight calculator via the wrist test on the website that looseseal posted a link too for calorie zig zag.

Thanks looseseal! That website was very helpful. I am going to start doing the calorie zig zag myself. I am hoping that the knowledge that I have higher days coming will help me to better stay on track on the other days of the week.