Ok, I gave in to that evil scale:: 144.6
I guess it was "water in my head"!
Loss of 1lb for the week (from last Friday).
Hey, for once, I was right on!!
I said after spiking I was intending on losing a pound this week and I did
I'm excited!!

Oh my goodness, I am only on day 2 of my reset, do you guys have to post such good losses right now???

jk, Congrats to you too Krystal, that's awesome!

i calculated my BMR just out of curiosity and it says at my height, weight, age i should eat 1644 calories a day to maintain....so assuming i subtract 500 per day to lose, that means i should eat 1144 calories a day?? how can that be right? arent you supposed to be above 1200 a day?

If that was your bmr, that is the minimum amount of calories you body needs as if you were in bed in a coma all day, just for breathing, digestion, and other bodily processes.
Most of us that try to lose weight eat under this number and then exercise on top of that so essentially we are asking our bodies to function on less than half of what they need as a baseline. So where does the body take what it needs from? Unfortunately it is not always from the fat stores. More often than not, it is muscles, organs, hair, skin, nails. No different than an anorexic that only feeds herself a couple hundred calories a day. Scary. And when we do splurge because we can't hack it anymore? Yup, our body hangs onto that fat for dear life. I have done so much reading on this lately and I will never starve my body again. I will do this the right way. You have to eat to lose fat and gain muscle. I cringe at how much muscle I have lost. So anyways, I ramble. . .
You need to calculate your TDEE which stands for total daily energy expenditure. You will be multiplying your bmr by your activity/exercise level. I would bet you are at least moderately active, if not heavy due to your active job and how many workouts you do. Here's a cool calculator that I have used, but there are many out there and they all come to around the same numbers.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
Remember, with TDEE, your exercise burns are already factored in, so you just have to do a cut with food to lose weight (in theory).

thank you jo! ive always been worried about eating too little and have been trying to keep my net calories to about 1200-1400, and counting back exercise calories to really my gross calories are about 1600..i also dont count veggies and fruits, but i should start doing that

this calculator says 1638 BMR, 2539 TDEE and 2158 to lose...im VERY scared to eat more but maybe i will try for a week or so and make those extra calories the very BEST possible of foods and see what happens...i gain weight SO easily though that i would hate to undo all of my work and get right back to 200 again im still right at 195 and have been maintaining that for a few months...and it's hard to beleive that with all my workouts, and eating that few calories, that i havent lost any more weight

Congrats to Chels! Have fun today Krystal!

Just a warning, you may gain initially at first, lots of people report gaining around 5 pounds. It is hard to see, but it is most likely not fat if you are eating clean. Just extra water, glycogen, waste and all that. For most, it comes back off in a week or two/three. Some people ease up slowly because of that, adding 1-200 cals/day a week. I just jumped in with both feet like I always do right up to maintenance. I just felt like this is what I needed to do though. Everyone is different and are at different places in their journeys. Let me know if you have any other questions, I have done a lot of reading on the subject lately.

ETA: if you weren't counting veggies or fruits, I bet you were closer than you thought, good job! Your metabolism is most likely not as messed up as mine.

Sum, I am trying to find the recipe you posted for chili that had pineapple and ground turkey??? I have some ground turkey to cook up and was thinking regular chili, but then I remembered that one. Maybe it was on the previous thread.

ETA: found it! I have never heard of pineapple salsa, will have to run to the store for that one, but I have the rest! Hope it was good?

I had none this time, but I had peach mango salsa and I added canned green chilies....yum!

I couldn't find the old elpaso at Kroger or Meijer, I just ended up buying Meijer gold grilled pineapple chipoltle salsa (which is really good by the way, who knew?). We haven't eaten the chili yet, but I have been tasting and it is good! I added one can of tomato soup just for personal preference and also added the a small onion, red peppers and corn that you made a note of at the bottom. My calories came out a little higher, but that may just be a portion thing, I have to see how much we get out of it and adjust from there. Oh, and I started too late to do it in the crock pot, so I just cooked it on the stove top. Thanks so much, I think 3/4 of us will really like this! My youngest considers this "mexican" I don't think chili is mexican do you? Weird kid.
Where did you find the old elpaso spicy pineapple chile salsa (or whatever it is called)?

I think I bought it from Kroger or Hollywood Market... I think any salsa will work. I added canned diced tomatoes this time, as well.

P just had his chili It is like all of us having dinner together -- He put in some sour cream, and liked it. I did not think of adding that....

i have been SO thirsty today, i think, because i've been gravitating towards liquids....although i don't feel thirsty....i had some granola and milk, a protein shake, some coffee, some gatorade and just now ate a few bites of cheese and meat...somehow this all totals 1065 calories and its only 3 p.m.

im planning to make my own veggie pizza for dinner...should be interesting...

gave myself a horrid blister yesterday while working out...wore a hole in my sock which in turn gave me a blister bigger than my thumbnail ouchhhh...its a bit better today, being careful walking

we just went to all three stores in town for groceries...i spent A LOT of time in the produce section and came home with oranges, bananas, swiss chard, onions, mushrooms, peppers, corn on the cob and probably more than i forgot...sadly my budget now hates me lol

I am so proud of myself!

DS had 2 games last night, and games today. -- And between games we always feed the boys.... so there is a lot of together time. -- I actually did not let my MIL get to me I chatted with her awhile and when she started poking at me, I politely got up and said; I am going to go and say hello to so and so. Today, when she started antaganising me again, I did the same thing, with a smile. I just said "uhum, yes (and smiled)... I am going to go and say hi to Kim".

I did not over eat I actually had none of the food. It is all kid food and loaded with carbs.

I am doing some personal growth here ladies. -- It is easy to tell someone to follow above advice, but actually execute it with grace is another story. Took me many years, and many pounds.

My 5 pound bloat loss last week "shaped" my body somewhat. My belly looks thinner and flatter. It makes me feel good. -- I wore a really pretty dress last night and I received many compliments. My DH said, wow you look really thin.... which was the best out of all I wore a pair of jeans today that are a true size 8 with a t-shirt and I actually had a little bit of a waist. -- The point here is. I have given my MIL too much power over me. I am done eating after seeing her. I am done feeling sad after seeing her; so today I felt empowered, almost, when I was able to walk away and not take the abuse. And I was able to walk away feeling thin...does that make sense to you?

P says I have hit an enormous milestone. I have realized, I can not make her happy.... she loves misery. She loved making me miserable and I won't let her any longer. It is almost like a switch went off....I am a slow learner (and a people pleaser what comes to my loved ones).

Thanks for listening Maybe I will approach this whole MIL thing with humor from now on.

The graduation party turned out to be embarrassment of the century!!
My sis had asked if I knew a DJ, which I did. She hired one of mine & DH's friends to do it. I bought all of the alcoholic beverages and had planned a very sentimental toast for my niece. It rained a bit, so the pool was closed of course, but the party was set up in a sunroom and a covered area on the outside patio.
All of Chels's friends hung out in the driveway--sitting on her bf's truck tailgate while the "adults" sat in the house around the table!

My BIL, who had come in later for the party from a baseball game, became very upset with me when I walked in and said, "What are you all doing in here while D is playing outside? This is so embarrassing to me!"
(He was basically playing for himself b/c all of the younger crowd was in the driveway & all the older crowd was inside the house!)
I wouldn't have cared less if it would not have been a friend of ours, but it was!
My BIL shouted, "You will not speak like this to my family."
His mom and step dad were down (for the 2nd time in 22 yrs) from Idaho.
The rest of the room was MY family!

It was by far the WORST party I had ever been too!
I was so furious!
I had bought all of the wine, champagne, and rum for this party (over $100 worth), & I am hoping I can return it!

I so wanted to tell him that DH and I paid for MOST of the tuition for her to even go to nursing school, but I just left.
Funny, after that, my sis, my mom, and my nephew came up to me and said, "What's wrong? Why are you so mad? Why are you leaving?"



I should have just been a guest and not volunteered anything.
Did I mention I HANDMADE all 30 invitations for this party and only like 3 couples came???

They have a wedding next March-- God willing--and I will be a guest only & nothing else.