Help me out again. I am doing at least 1 workout video a day. It's always WATPs. Whether it be Walk and Jog, Walk and Kick, or 3 Mile Abs. I'm not getting into the running outside right now. I love all the muscles my movies burn and it's so easy to pop them in when I get home from work and not worry about if someone is here to watch the kids.

Anyway, I read somewhere that I need to make sure my cals aren't too low if I'm exercising everyday. Are these numbers ok if I'm doing some sort of exercise everyday? And remember, I walk 6-8+ miles at work in one day alone. Just wanna make sure I'm not NOT eating enough because that would be dumb!

Cal Goal:1427 according to DP
Friday: 1581
Saturday: 1518
Sunday: 1349
Monday: 1258
Tuesday: 1326

Cal goal 1316 according to DP
Wednesday: 1325
Thursday: 1238

The only thing that I would be worried about with eating as many calories as you do on the lower calorie days, is that if you get to a point where your weightloss plateaus... you can't lower your calories anymore without being unhealthy.

Take it up a little bit and see how it makes your body feel.

I thought 1400 was about right for me. I have checked a few different calculators and they just confuse me. One said 1800 one said 1300. I figure if I'm above 1200 but below 1600 I'm ok. But, I HATE seeing myself go over that 1400 mark. Even with the exercise. I'm I being too anal?

I hate when I get different views and just confuse myself. I figured everyone here would have a good idea of where I should be.

Thanks!

Hmmmm.. I think 1600 would be just fine for you since you do excercise alot. I average 1600 and I am still losing steadily, without much excercise right now.

I think your numbers look absolutely beautiful. I wouldn't change one little thing if I were you. Remember it is an average we are looking for. If one day you go a tad higher and one day a tad lower - that's fine.

Burning more calories through exercise is a GOOD thing. Exercising more is not a reason to up your calories. We're TRYING to create more of a deficit here. Upping your calories due to more exercise would be counter productive. I mean why bother doing more exercise if you're just going to eat more? Of course we're looking for fitness and heart benefits, but we're most definitely looking to create more of a deficit.

I think you need to relax a bit and not drive yourself so crazy. All the estimates in the world are just that - estimates. Even if they claim to be accurate, they just can't possibly be. Only time will tell if what you are doing is "working" or not. No person, no doctor, no personal trainer, no dietician, no one who's been through it, no on line calculator, no psychic reader, no one on no thing will be able to tell you for sure if you're eating the "correct" amount of calories. It's all about trial and error. You try something for a couple of weeks, you do the very best that you can, you see what kind of results you get. If you're happy with the results after 2 weeks or so - you continue it, if not - you change it up.

I'm with Robin. Your calories look great and there is no need to eat up your exercise calories. Just keep on truckin': you can re-evaluate when what you're currently doing stops working for you. Deficits are good! They're how we lose weight!

(p.s. This 'net' calories thing has started to confuse everyone all of a sudden. The reason 1200 is the holy grail of low-cal diets is because on fewer than 1200 a day, you're not going to be able to meet your nutritional needs. Eating 1400 gives you plenty of opportunity to get your nutrients; your body won't hurt if you burn more than 300 a day on extra exercise and you probably won't wind up in this 'starvation mode' either. Trust your body. If you're losing, meeting your nutritional needs and feeling healthy and strong, there isn't a problem.)

I agree robin...if she is comfortable with those calories then it is a good place for her to be..I just fear she might go to low to soon, and then have nowhere to go once she hits a plateau..But then again you may not plateau at all!

Well, the body needs 1,200 cals daily in order to properly carry out it's daily functions. However, according to me, lolz, there's nothing wrong with lowering the bar a bit. I always try to keep my cals under 1,000 a day. I did that last summer and lost about 10 pounds. By that time I was considered "underweight." Blah. Bull****. There's no such thing in my book, lol :X

Hey everyone!

Robin said it all, I think. Your calories look good. If it seems like you're stuck, then tighten up the top end and stay below 1500.

Brianna, I respectfully disagree! There is such a thing as "underweight" due to dieting, and people pay for it with their health. and that's all I'm gonna say on that!

Jay

Brianna, I also respectfully disagree. There is such a thing as too thin, and there is a big difference between "skinny" and fit. There are plenty of skinny women who are unfit, and unhealthy.

You can lose weight eating under 1000 calories a day, but you have to sit back and look at the facts: are you getting enough protein to fuel your muscles? Are you getting enough calcium? Are you getting enough of the antioxidants, vitamins, skin beautifying elements, and cancer fighting chemicals from enough fruit and vegetables?

When you eat too low calorie...something has to give SOMEWHERE. Depending on your diet-you could lose muscle mass from too little protein, your hair and nails can thin and break and your skin can become too dry from too little fat intake, your immune system can suffer from a lack of vitamins and minerals, and so on and so forth. You can't get everything in eating 700, 800, or 900 calories a day. Over time your body will suffer somewhere.

The goal is to lose weight, but to get fit and healthy in the process-not to do things detrimental to our health to be a size 0 or 2.

Off my soapbox now...

Add in another respectfully disagree here. If you ate less than 1000 cals a day just to lose 10 pounds just to gain it back later, its not going to help your body stay healthy. You'll be on a yo-yo dieting cycle all your life. But yes, there IS such a thing as too overweight and too underweight. We should all strive for the healthy weight.

To the OP, my cals are something like yours. I bob between 1,000 to 1,700...depending on the day. I can get out working in the yard and just kinda forget to eat and end up on an under 1,000 cal day. But NORMALLY, my cals go between 1,400 and 1,500. Somedays too I can have a high day and hit 1,700. They all even out. I don't try to eat more just because I did more that day. I count it as a good thing that I actually burned off a lot more and will maybe see a drop.

Now, if I could just stop visiting my family on the weekends. Every 2 I drop, I put back on in 2 days there, then spend a week getting it back off. Been stuck here forever. LOL

I think you need more, honestly. I think we're about the same weight right now, and I eat 1200-1300 calories/day WITHOUT exercising and lose 1.5-2 lbs/week.