Le sigh... Even when I was in the 150's-160's (back in high school) I can't remember having collarbones (visible ones, anyways ). I can't see them in pictures of me. I wonder if I'm just an anomaly whose collarbones won't be visible? 'Cause that would stink!

I agree with so much of what mandalinn says. We have two teenage daughters and they know if they're going on a wild junk food binge (which they are entitled to do), they need to keep the crap upstairs in their rooms. They eat pretty healthy most of the time, but every so often I see an empty Doritos bag and an empty oreo pack in the trash. I'm fine with that, I just don't want the darn things sitting around where I'll be tempted to eat them.

On the other hand - I bake pretty much every weekend. Brownies, chocolate chip bars, something. I need a break, my husband deserves a treat, and my kids eat most of the pan, so we don't do too much damage. I had to get past the "forbidden" food thing. If there was something I couldn't have, that's all I wanted. So I eat everything. Just in a completely different ratio than I used to. I even eat McDonald's when we're traveling to the lake. But instead of a Big Mac meal, I eat a chicken nugget happy meal with apple dippers and iced tea. I even get a toy!!!

I guess it's just deciding to think about the food you eat instead of eating without thinking. And at the same time, don't let food run your life. When you start thinking about a lifestyle change you really have to be able to live with what you eat. I don't know if I'm explaining what I mean at all, but I hope you can understand.

I just want to say that mandalinn and robin have given excellent advice!!

DO think about eating more than 1200 calories/day. First, if you eat too little, you are MORE likely to binge and feel defeated, etc. Second, it's harder to get in all the nutrition you need if you eat too little. Third, it often helps people to start higher and then drop calories a little as they lose. If you start near the bottom, you have nowhere to go.

DO think about exercise. For now, that might just mean parking a little further away... moving around in the house more.

DON'T feel you have to make every change all at once. Or, if something isn't working after a while (and Robin's right, it may need more than a week), feel free to change it!

Finally, DO keep coming here!

Sometimes it is best to make small changes over time. I went from adding an apple in every day, to adding a banana in, to now eating on most days 6 servings of fruit!

Same thing with exercise. Start slow and most important, make it a habit. If all you can manage is 15 minutes 3 times a week, then do it. Slowly increase to 5 days a week. Then see if you can do 30 minutes 5 days a week. Then 30 3 days a week and 60 2 days a week, and so on and so forth.

I have and most likely always will, want a going out to eat day once a week. That usually meant, diet soda or crystal light plus water for drinks and one day a week I would go out and get that cheese burger and fries, or that pizza and crazy bread. I would have regular soda, if I wanted onion rings I would have them. (Now a days I keep diet soda to almost never and crystal light once in a while. Mainly it is iced green tea and water, the occasional soda)

But the rest of the time I would eat healthier. If I were out in town I would brown bag it.

I changed from potatoes all the time to once a week. I changed from red meat most of the time to 1-2 a week. The rest of the time it is turkey, chicken, and I am just recently working in some canned salmon for lunch a few days a week.

We still have things I enjoy, like tacos. I LOVE tacos! I just don't fry them any more. I use chicken or ground turkey as a filling. I portion the cheese. Sour cream is a rarity now adays and I make home made salsa with lots of tomato and onion, plus tomato sauce, chili flakes. I love spanish rice. I use a little bit of olive oil, bell pepper, onions, garlic, tomato sauce, some water and brown rice instead of white.

I make my own brown bread instead of buying white bread. If I do have enchiladas or lasagna, I portion mine out carefully.

I make a big pot of chili beans once a week. We usually have that with corn bread once for dinner and then I will have it for a few lunches. Beans are very healthy for you, add a bunch of salsa with it!

When we do bar b que we grill chicken, or if we want burgers, I get the 4% fat ones.

What I am trying to say is decide what you can give up and what you can't give up. Include more whole foods into your plan and fill up on those. This is a link to a woman's health calculator. It was very helpful to me. It tells you waht your maintenance cals are, what you need to drop to to lose, and how much more you can burn adding exercise in.

Too many people drop cals too quick and then get frustrated and go off plan.
My "maintenance cals" are 2200 a day, if I walk 60 minutes a day it is 2800 a day to maintain this weight. So basically if I walk 60 minutes 7 days a week and eat 1800 cals a day, just by the sheer numbers I CAN Lose 1,000 cals a day. Every 3500 cals =1 pound So I can lose 2 pounds a week and still eat 1800 cals a day. Now obviously different things work for different people but this has worked for me and others I know on here.

I ran yours and at 20 y/o 5'2, 228, wanting to be 115, this is what I get.:

http://nutrition.about.com/library/b...tion_guide.htm

So basically you would need to eat 2391 cals on average a day to maintain your current weight. Maybe think about dropping to 2000, or 1800? Plus adding in some exercise!

Wow, Jasmine! What a thorough and educational post! I am going to check out that site. Posts like yours are one of the many reasons why I love 3FC!

I am so glad I can help! This new healthier way of life has to be livable, not a dread ya know? If ya need any more help, let me know.

Yes Jasmine thanks for the very informative post!

I just want to mention though that those numbers seem a bit on the high side, calorie needs wise.

I plugged in my info and it was off - WAAAAAY off. If I were to listen to those guys, they'd have me back at morbidly obese again in no time at all. So just realize that those are just estimates. The only way to know for sure what's the "right" amount of calories to eat to lose weight is through trial and error. Unfortunately all of those calculators are notoriously known for being inaccurate. Though of course for some it can be right on the money. It does get confusing, doesn't it?

Hey robin! *HUGZ*

Like I said:

Everyone's body is different. I know Glory even said she was able to up her calories after losing and is still maintaining. When I am tracking fitday religiously, I look back at that and when I average 1700 cals, 20% protein, 50% carbs, 30% fat and get my walking in of say at least 1300 minutes a month, I do lose 7-10 pounds a month. So I know the numbers work for me.

(When I don't lose is when I don't keep track, eat too much, get lazy about walking etc. lol)

I am a calorie counter and I do feel it is a numbers game. Not every one's body can fit into that mold though. I am just trying to give her an option that may work for her. If she is not able to do 1200 cals a day and winds up binging, that may only lead to giving up. If she trys 1800 cals and sees if that works for her she can then adjust it from there.

And yes it can get VERY confusing! *sigh* How many cals will you work on for maintenance?

Oh Jasmine, I know 100% that you realize it's all an individual thing. And that those calculators are just estimates and different things work for different people. I just wanted to make it crystal clear to everyone here.

Anyway, I actually just made it through my first week of maintenance and was able to well, umm mantain my weight. I started at 138 and 7 days later was still 138. I ate about 1400 calories a day and exercised 2 hours, 7 days a week. The calculator you provided, told me I could eat 1750 calories with ZERO exercise to maintain my 138 lbs. Gosh, how I wish that were the case. No such luck. Oh well. No matter how little I "get" to eat, it is all worth it. I never want to be obese again. That was way, way, WAY harder then eating 1400 calories. WAY HARDER. If all I can consume is 1400 calories with 2 hours of exercise daily - so be it.

Robin I am so proud of you!! You are a great inspiration for everyone. Maybe as time goes you may be able to inch up a little bit like Glory did. I know what you mean about it being worth it. Looks aside just knowing that you are in great health is worth it. I lost both my parents, mom at 52 and dad at 65. BOTH were diabetic! That scared me good and has been my driving force.

I just wanted to say that even when I was anorexic in high school and dropped down to under 100 pounds--I never really saw my collarbone. In my body it just isn't prominent--no matter my weight.

I honestly don't get this fascination with the collarbone that everyone has these days. When did that become in style? I never heard of people talking about their collarbone until the last few years, and now it comes up all of the time. I also think it looks sort of gross to see a really sticking out collarbone--sometimes they stick out so far on certain models, and it is not the best look!

What the heck is the deal with the collarbone fascination?

edited to add--
I think I have figured it out--the collarbone is the new fashion trend? Eek gads is all I can say!
http://www.ericacbarnett.com/2007/05...ifood_news.htm
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2007/05...on-womens.html
Don't let this collarbone craze dictate your self worth! Next year it will be all about the kneecaps anyway--so the satisfaction of seeing your clavicle will be short lived. The ultimate goal is living each day in better health and happiness, right? Not crying (or gloating for that matter) over which part of your skeleton is poking out of your body.

For me, seeing my collarbone was a sign that I was losing body fat...which was an indicator of my improving health. For some women they may not appear. For the formerly obese, who have never seen -bone- before, it can be exciting and interesting to watch these new body parts become visible.

And you don't have to be super-skinny to see them - at least I didn't. My collarbones became visible at 200 lbs or so (granted, I'm broad-framed, which may have something to do with it).

I think Mandalinn is right about that -- if you're a broader, taller person, maybe your bones are more prominent. Who knows? We're all different, I guess. I'm a tall, broad girl, and I know my collarbones made an appearance at 200, maybe even heavier. My hipbones made an appearance as well. But my bones always kind of stuck out a bit more than they should, from what I remember of being a very skinny child. I'd completely forgotten that about myself because the bones were ensconced in an enormous layer of fat for so long!

Anyway, they'll show up most likely, and they'll be just one of the MANY great little reminders of how fantastic it is to change your body for the better.