So I've been on this website a lot lately reading all about everything relating to getting healthier. I have one question that may be pretty tricky, as it deals with personal calorie intake.

When I started eating healthier about a month ago, I made my goal for daily caloric intake to be anywhere from 1200-1600 calories (going higher if it was a special occasion like my birthday when I'd be eating out). I've found it really easy to stick to this, and actually find myself near the lower end of that range on most days. Oddly enough, I never get to the point where I'm really hungry. If I start to get hungry, I'll eat a snack. In fact, I eat quite often. It's just that I've changed the kinds of snacks I have. For example, I'll eat a low sugar nonfat yogurt, a piece of fruit, whole grain crackers with cheese, etc. I eat a LOT more veggies, which are low in calories, which probably contributes greatly to me not being hungry as much. Oh, and before anyone asks, yes, I religiously check the calorie counts of foods and measure and write down everything I eat in my food journal (I use a notebook because I can carry it around with me), so I know I'm not in denial about how much I'm eating.

My question is that I read somewhere else on this forum that if I'm eating this amount of calories, my body will eventually "get used" to it and I may never reach my goal, which will probably be around 140-ish when all is said and done. I do have a LONG way to go (a little over 200 lbs until I'm near where I want to be) and it would be terrible if I messed up my metabolism by eating too few calories now. I don't really know how "quick" my metabolism is to begin with. I'm a fairly energetic large person and I have a pretty high endurance for exercise from what I've read compared to others who are at my weight.

Could I offset the slowing of my metabolism by keeping up with my exercise? I've been bad about it this month, but I'm getting better.

I basically just want to make sure I'm not setting myself up for bigger problems later on. Can anyone give me some sound information and advice? Thanks!

-Lindsey

Hi there and welcome. I'm not sure that everyone will agree with me but ...no... A good balanced diet in your range should be fine. Lots of healthy, slim, active people eat at that rate for all their lives.

If you were hungry or weak, my answer would be different

Having said that, I also wanted to note that having flexible goals is very important. Never be afraid to change things up. Different foods, different exercises ...weight lifting ...

Weight loss is a journey of trial and error, learn as you go, constant tweaking ... it's fun really to discover what you can do for your body and what your body can do for you.

I agree. The best judge of what is right for you is how you feel, and how it is working for you. As long as you are comfortable (feeling good, no headaches, dizziness, weakness, hunger pains...), you're doing fine. Metabolism isn't an exact science, and even the experts disagree on the details, so a balanced diet, exercise and trial and error are your best strategies.

First of all, congratulations on your loss!
I agree with Susan and your food choices sound spot on. You're sticking to whole foods that are naturally low in calories and high in fiber (which help make you feel full).
If you find you are not losing those last pounds, a step up in exercise rather than lowering the calories is usually what will get you to goal.

Lindsey, I tend to agree with your concern that you might be going too low. How much are you currently losing per week? You weigh 367 pounds so you can probably get by with more calories while still losing weight at the right rate. We're all unique, though, so a lot of it comes from trial and error.

You might consider adding more calories and see if you still lose weight. Maybe up it to 1600 to 2000 (or more) and see what happens? As long as you continue losing at around 2 pounds per week, then you are doing really well This way you have room to wiggle as you continue to lose and may need to make adjustments later as your metabolism gets used to supporting a smaller body.

Good luck, and congratulations on your progress

First of all Susan put it perfectly in my opinion, I couldn't agree more.

I have had so many people tell me that I am losing weight too qucikly. It bothers me to no end. As of this past Monday I have been on my journey for 23 weeks. I've lost about 93 lbs., which averages out to 4 lbs per week. I've had weeks where I have lost a pound, 1 1/2 lbs, 2 lbs, and an occasional 5 lbs. While basically doing the same thing. I had no way of knowing which week I would lose the one pound or which week I would lose the 5 lbs. We can't possibly know. So there was no way I was going to ADD calories just so when I had a 5 lb week the next I would have a 2 lb loss. It's nonsense. Everyone's a critic. When I started out I had zero goals on how much I should lose per week. I just started out eating healthy foods with enough calories to get enough nutrients and stay satisfied. I vary my calories greatly, anywhere from 1100 (though rarely) to 1600, even higher every now and then. I try to stay under 1400. Certainly in the beginning if I felt I needed more calories, I ate them.

I think you're doing great!!!! You have found what works for you. Nobody knows YOU better then YOU. Don't listen to weight calculators or calorie count websites. Or to anyone for that matter. Listen to you and your body. The only thing I recommend is to add exercise to your day. I started out s-l-o-w-l-y and steadily increased. Exercising will insure that you are adding muscle to your body, very important, you don't want to lose muscle, you want to lose FAT. I do believe as we get smaller we've got to add more exercise, cause I can tell you this much I'm not interested in lowering my calorie intake. We burn less calories as we weigh less, so therefore we've got to either up the exercise or lower the calories. I am choosing to up the exercise.

Good luck and continued success!!!!

Thanks everyone for all of your replies!

I think I'm going to stick to what I'm doing for now... and then if my weight loss seems to plateau for a couple of weeks, then I'll try tweaking things a bit (slightly upping calories or exercise). I know I need to exercise more... I even made a big goal for myself this month, but with being sick and having stupid foot problems, I'm not doing so well thus far. My goal now is to get as close to my goal as possible.

Thanks again everyone!