Hi everyone! I'm new to the Calorie Counters forum, and I have a question.

My basic story is - I started counting WW points a year ago, April 16, 2007. I have been successful so far by doing the free version of WW - borrowed materials from a friend, following the points myself, etc. My fiance is doing it with me so he is my support system. I have lost 50 pounds over the last year. I am currently trying to lose the last 10.

On WW I am currently allowed 20 points a day - I have been feeling hungry at that amount, and I was curious last week about how many calories I was eating on 20 points a day. I sometimes eat over 20 points a day, but I try to stay within a 20-22 point range. I also exercise 4-6 days a week - cardio and weights - so I am getting at least some calories burned from exercise.

I started keeping track of my calories on the daily plate and I am shocked - I have been eating anywhere from 900-1100 calories a day, plus I'm exercising at least 1 hour a day 4-6 days a week. I've heard over and over that you shouldn't eat below 1200 a day, so I was shocked by the small amount of calories I was eating, plus burning more through exercise.

So I decided to stop with the WW points for a couple of weeks to see how I do with counting calories (I am still adding them up in points just to see where I am, but I'm paying more attention to the amount of calories I eat every day). I have been reading about your calorie intake to lose weight, and I found several different BMR calculators and formulas online - I put in my numbers and I got an average of 1415 calories. Then I continued with the formula and added in the exercise I get every week, and it says I can eat about 2190 calories a day to maintain my current weight. If I want to lose 1 pound a week it recommends I eat 1415 calories a day - and this doesn't even include exercising! My stats by the way - 25 years old, 138 pounds, 4 feet 11 inches.

So, the thing I'm a little baffled about is - could this number be correct? 1415 just seems like a lot of calories to be able to eat daily to lose 1 pound a week, especially since it seems i've been eating only 900-1100 calories a day on my WW points.

I want to eat a little more than 1000 calories a day because I am hungry on that - could my body be going into starvation mode on only 1000 cals a day plus exercise 4-6 times a week? My weight loss has stalled a bit and I'm wondering if it could be because I was eating so little and exercising so much.

I am going to try this calorie counting thing for a few weeks and ccontinue exercising - I am going to shoot for 1200-1400 calories a day, and maybe 3-5 days of exercise to see if the change in routine helps make my weight loss go again.

Any thoughts on eating 1400 with exercise and still being able to lose weight? It seems like a high number to me to still be able to lose weight but I'm willing to try a change in routine to get my weight loss going again. (BTW - even though I am going to be eating more, I am not going to be eating junk food just to get the calories - I have been eating more fruit, yogurt, veggies and protein to add the calories. As much as I would love to scarf down some cookies I won't do it just to add calories.)

sorry this is so long!

1400 calories doesn't seem unreasonable to me. I rarely dropped under 1500 while I was losing and I had no problems. I wasn't exercising that much either. Everyone's body is different though, so I'd try 1200-1400 as a range and then tweak as necessary.

The point you bring up is one of the reasons I chose not to do WW. I converted points to calories and was appalled at how little I could eat on the program. Now I think WW is great for a lot of people (my sister being one of them), but it just wasn't for me. I love calorie counting.

When you do the WW point system, it is designed so that most people eat a few ) Point foods per day (like an apple...) and also there is a weekly allowance of Flex Points that you are supposed to eat as well.

If you are on 20 points a day, and only eating 900-100 calories, are you utilizing an occasional 0 Point food, or using your Flex Points? This could be the reason that your calories are too low.

Aphil - I do eat low point foods like fruit (they are usually 1 point fruits like grapes, small apple, orange, etc) every day. As far as flex points go, I do eat at least anywhere from 5-10 a week (we are allowed 35 a week I believe) but I try not to use more than that because I feel like using the flex points, even though we are allowed, is kinda going against trying to stay within your given points in a day (20 for me). Sometimes I am so hungry after 20 points I have to sneak in 2-4 extra points. I also exercise a lot so I usually get back some activity points, but I try not to eat all of them back.

As far as 0 point foods go - these are mostly veggies as I'm sure your aware. I don't have a good relationship with veggies. I try to eat some salad with lunch, and dinner always has veggies, sometimes more than others, but I don't tend to snack on the zero point veggies throughout the day. I have tried munching on celery, carrots, snow peas or peppers, with salsa sometimes, and it just tastes rotten to me. I am not a big fan of steamed veggies - I really prefer my veggies mixed in a dish with other stuff. So, I don't really get to satisfy my hunger with zero point veggies because they just taste like cardboard to me - I definitely eat more veggies then I did the first 24 years of my life, but I still wouldn't say I enjoy it.

Also on the WW plan, i dont know if it is still this way, but if you eat something with low fat and high fiber it counts as a lower point. So basically you get more calorie for less point. It depends on what foods you choose as to how many cals you get for thost 20 points. The only reason this is important to me is fiber is the main thing that keeps me full. If i dont eat high fiber/high protien...i am starving all the time and have bad sugar cravings.

But 1400 sounds about right. I definately dont rely on what any automated website tells me i can eat and maintain...those things are NOTORIOUSLY wrong, wrong wrong.

I have done WW and i have done calories...right now i am liking calories but i lost over 100 pounds on WW, so i dont really have anything negative to say about it. And i wasnt hungry all the time, but like i said, i chose HIGH HIGH fiber foods always.

I have to say that I disagree. If you are given 35 Flex Points per week to use, and you are not using them...and you are finding that your daily 20 Points is putting you way too low in calories per day, then you need to use them. WW would not give them to you, if they were not there to use.

If you were actually using your allotted Flex Points, then your calorie range over the course of the week would be at a better level.

If you switch to calorie counting and eat around 1400 a day (from your current 900-1100 average) OR if you stay with WW but decide to eat your allotted Flex Points through the week...it is essentially the same thing.

I think you would be good doing 1200-1400 calories a day. Give it a try for a week or two and see what happens. Your current calories are definitely too low, especially with all the working out.

NoVaVtfan? Have you read Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Venuto?

I'm not going to ramble on, about how wonderfully enlightening it is, here just now but ... I'm wondering if that's the kind of fine tuning you're looking for at this point.

Not to hijack, but did you buy the e-book? I've heard a lot of good stuff about this and I'm trying to decide if it's worth a purchase. Usually I avoid 'buying' my weightloss except in the form of really good quality food, but I may make an exception if the good reviews keep coming!