Ok, so I'm a calorie counter and have found in the past when I entered a "diet" I needed to go drastic with the calories.. like 1,000 to 1,200 a day to see the scale move. This time I started out at 1,200 but added exercise every day, something I never worried about before. The first week and a half went great and I lost 10 pounds. Then I started feeling like my brain wasn't processing things right so I upped my calories to 1,600. According to FitDay I am burning over 3,000 a day... but I know my metabalism is slow, always has been. Anyway I figured at 1,600 I would still be losing, but I'm not.. yes I have only been up this high since Saturday... but since then the scale has gone steadily up. I have gained 2 pounds so far this week!

What do you all think... do you think that my body is hording the calories since I had it so low and soon it will turn around and start burning them, or should I drop the calories if the scale is still going up on Monday (my official weigh day)?

This is x posted on the 100# area, but thought there would be some good answers here. Thanks!

Hey Fawn,

I'd say, you need to set a reasonable daily calorie goal--and 1200 is not reasonable for someone at your weight who is actively exercising--and then, stick with the goal. Don't try to second guess the scale, you'll get it wrong every time.

Weigh once a week, at the same time on the same day, and only record that weight. Don't worry about day-to-day fluctuations--you can vary by pounds a day just be eating salty foods.

You didn't do your body any favors by going that low. Just use the tools you have to calculate how much you should be eating for a 1-2 pound loss per week. And be aware that most estimates of calories burned with exercise are too high. It's best to just take that out of the equation.

Jay

Thanks Jay! I know I need to be above that 1200 calorie mark.. I'm gonna ride out April at the 1600 mark and see what happens. Then I will re-evaluate what I need to be doing... but I'm hoping by then my body decides 1600 is a good place to be.. I can't imagine eating more than I am now, I didn't eat alot before.. just ate more "bad" foods.

By the way... I do have scale obsession. I hop on every day, but only record on Mondays. I have found it helps focus my brain just to hop on.. makes me remember how I should eat and all that good stuff... I usually don't think too much of the number, just today it bothered me a bit.

You could even start higher if you wanted. I'm at about 195ish and and in TDP it says I should eat over 2000 calories to lose 1 lb per week. I'm not going that high unless it's a bad eating day, but maybe starting out at 2,000 cals/day for one week... then 1,900... then 1,800... etc etc. will allow you to slowly go down to see exactly where you should be to lose weight.

I'm new to calorie counting and that is *sort of* what I'm doing. I feel it's an easier plan to stick with if I start high and slowly decrease the calories than to start out at 1,200 and then slowly increase. Obviously for us to gain all of our weight we were eating well over 2,000 a day so sticking to 2000 for a week will still be a decrease in calories for us!

Good luck and let us know what works for you!

Thanks Julie.

I agree with Julie that you could probably go a little higher. You want to have room to decrease your calories as you lose weight. I started at 1900-2000 cal when I weighed 269. Now I eat between 1800-1900 and work out 5-6 times a week. It is all trial and error until you find what works for your body, everyone is different maybe 1600 is right for you. Give the calorie range at least 2 weeks and see what happens.