wooo hoooo

Wow...awesome progressive shots...I should really do something like that. It's hard to realize all that you've accomplished when you see yourself every day. I am definately back on the zig zagging train. After I lost my first 10 I struggled all week this week trying to drop anything else to I had a 1900 calorie day (which is huge for me) and then about a 900 calorie day and ended up losing 2 on weigh in day! Feels great. I am focusing this week on not only sticking within calories but also working to balance my carbs, fat and protein ratios and as well really striving to get enough fibre because I think that makes a big difference too. Definately important not to always have the exact same amount of calories I'm sure of it because you're body catches on pretty quickly. Keep on trucking!

WOW! That is awesome, I hope my progress pics turn out as good as yours CONGRATS

Hi everyone. I’m new and had a question about the daily/weekly average. Do you include all the calories burned during your daily activities (including exercise) to the minimum (resting) amount of calories your body needs and then subtract 3500-7000 from that or just from the resting amount needed?

Right now I’m at 227lbs, so I guess I would maintain my weight at 2270 a day, which adds up to 15, 890 a week, subtract 7,000 (2 pounds), equals 8,890, making my daily average 1,270. But I also exercise for an hour everyday and do the normal day to day things which require calories. So 1,270 seems really low to me. I did the zig-zag this week and averaged 1,400 calories a day.

So I’m wondering if I should up the average. lower it, or keep it the same. I worry both about upping it and gaining weight and keeping it too low and slowing my metabolism, or having little room to decrease my average as I lose weight. If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate it.

This is my first post ever on this site by the way.

First and foremost, ashlie, AWESOME progress pics!

Thanks, guys, for the welcome backs

I'm back up to about 280 pounds, though I'm not ready to admit that to my ticker quite yet.

I'm doing a strict re-focusing type of thing. I'll eat whatever on the weekends but stay low-cal all week--no more mid-cal days! Here's today:

• 8oz V8
• EAS AdvantEdge low-carb strawberry shake
• EAS AdvantEdge low-carb chocolate shake
• 6-ish ounces of lean skinless chicken and broccoli with teriyaki sauce (maybe some brown rice--we'll see how much I feel like cooking )

Forgive me for not being super enhusiastic right now. I'm quite down on myself and extremely lacking in physical confidence.

Hi SuperSizeChicky!!! I'm glad you posted! I am fairly new to this as well, so I'll leave the answers to your questions up to the veterans, they are very knowledgeable about this stuff. It can be so confusing!! Personally, I think 1200 calories may be too low for you. If you eat 1500-1600 a day and excercise, I would think you would lose weight. Good luck on your journey, it's good to have you here!

Jill- we all have our down days- it'll get better, just hang in there!

Thanks judes for the welcome and the info. I think I will up it to 1500 when I can eat again. That time of the month makes me nauseous for some reason.

. I'm quite down on myself and extremely lacking in physical confidence.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]
Hi,Jill. It looks to me like you've gained maybe 6pds? ....that's not an enormous amt....it's not as if you gained 100pds before catching yourself & getting it under control.
Hey....your posts have been so informative & helping others feel better when they needed a boost....we're glad to do the same for you.Lets get it in gear & do the best we can....that's all any of us can do.Have missed your posts....knowing there's someplace to go for answers (you)....has helped a lot. So good to see you posting. Pat C

So I'm doing the zig-zag with an average of 1500 and I feel like a total pig. I'd been so use to having 1200 to 1300 days. Yesterday I ate around 1870 and today 1950. I know that it's the high days and I'm suppose to eat that much and that I will take it down, but I have this fear that the bad habits will return and that I will gain weight quickly. Today being a high day I was very very bad and went over to my grandmother's for mexican food, then ice cream. I might as well have just shoveled the fat straight into my mouth. I know that I have to eat healthier things on my high days, but then I'd have to eat a lot more of it. I hope I have the courage to have my final high day tomorrow...with healthy food of course.

Well, I had 1700 calories today with healthy food, yea! Now I just need to exercise and make sure that tomorrow and the days after are low days.

Awesome to hear that you're hitting the higher calories with healthier food. It's a bit of a disagreement around here but I believe for proper weight loss you need to reduce calories and increase movement but I don't believe that on your high days you can just eat whatever you want. You can definately have a treat in moderation but I have cancelled out my good days with my high days and used zig-zagging as an excuse to go nuts. Days when I have more calories are days when I increase my activity level and I know that my body needs proper nutrients and enough protein to fuel my workouts.

I definitely agree that whether you're eating 1000 or 3000 calories in a day, it should all be from as much healthy food as possible (low in saturated/trans fats, low in cholesterol, not too much refined sugar, etc.). I think it makes a huge difference in the long run, not to mention I tend to just FEEL better when I'm eating cleaner.

Now, if only I could DO as I say

This past weekend, we went to Philadelphia, so my diet consisted of McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, Subway (not horrible, but still very high in sodium), and a few poor convenience store snacks for the ride. At least I ended the weekend on a good note with whole-wheat pasta with homemade sauce last night for dinner, and we did lots of walking during our trip, so maybe that will help to balance it out slightly.

But, onward and downward! I'm back to my weekday routine for today. Here's the plan:

• 8oz V8
• EAS carb control strawberry shake
• EAS carb control chocolate shake
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• some sort of crock pot mixture of potatoes, spinach, and turkey sausage for dinner

Well another 1.5 pounds down. Yea me.

Supersize--congrats on your 1lb...

I'm also down 1lb this week...yesterdays calories where 1421 and today I'll be around 1320 or so...

jill gald to see you back on track