This is not a good thing, everyone!

Please do not set yourselves up for failure.

Calories are not some EVIL, to be avoided at all costs, menace to our bodies! Please remember that these are the units of energy that fuel us! They keep our muscles working, our hearts pumping, our organs functioning properly. They make sure our brains have enough energy to help us think and problem solve!

If we deprive our bodies of vital nutrients we teach them that we are in a time of famine and they will respond in kind!

Calorie counting is only half about losing weight. It's all about being healthy and giving our bodies the fuel they need to be effective fat burning machines!

It's so much better to do it right the first time than to do it fast the first time and have to do it all over again.

Trust me, I know.

Just a little PSA

Keep up the good work everyone!

Val, I was just thinking the same thing reading some of the posts this afternoon.

I cut to 1200-1300 for a while and used to panic if I was at 1150 one day - I raised my calories because I could feel myself getting lethargic, and that was at 1100-1150, not 500-750 or 600-900 like some I've seen today.

I know that we all want to lose weight and to lose it fast, but cutting those calories way too low just isn't the right way to do it. It would equate to skipping a mortgage or rent payment in order to have more money in the checkbook one month - it meets the goal of cash, but puts the roof over your head at risk.

Please everyone, be careful.

Sweet analogy, I think that is the best way I have seen this issue phrased.

Thanks for posting this! I'm noticing a lot of this talk, too.
I was on the verge of anorxia as a teen (5'8, 110lbs) and it ravaged my body. Everyone told me it would come back but I thought I could manage it and keep it away.
And here I am again, fat.
To those who are eating 500, 700, 900, calories on a daily basis - you are not an exception!! It will come back! Guaranteed. Keep those calories in check. Soon, you'll stop losing "weight" (muscle, too!) and then what? You'll drop your calories even lower??

That's a great analogy Shannon!

I'm not sure if it's the phase of the moon or what, but there have definitely been a lot of super-low-calorie posts lately.

.

Oh yeah, another thing I use to tell myself to try to convince myself that not eating was okay; "they're just jealous cuz they're fat and can't do what I can do."
No.
If it worked dont you think everyone would be doing it? If it worked dont you think the "been there, done that" girls would be doing it too? It just doesn't.

I'm praying some of you low cal girls are reading this... please, start uping your calories! 150/day every couple of weeks. Please do this the healthy way.

It just tears me up inside to see people try this, because I truly believe that crash dieting like this contributed more to my weight gain than it ever did to weight loss, and probably caused or contributed to a bunch of my current health issues as well.

I can't go back and undo any of it, but I would if I could. I think my life would have been so different if I had never once attempted dieting like this.

I think the greatest gift I ever gave myself was 2 appointments with a nutritionist. She worked with my doctor and helped me find what calorie intake was right for me. Before, I was at less than a 1000, and I knew from previous experiences with eating disorders, I was headed down a bad path.

I just looked back for fun. I started back to counting calories on in December 2007. My average daily intake since that date is 2,239 per day. Oh, and I exercise no more than 5 days a week (usually 3 lifting, 2 cardio). I'm down 92.2 pounds since that point. Why would I want to starve myself, considering when I eat less I eventually stop losing weight. Oh yes, and last week I averaged more than 3000 calories a day (with no exercise), on purpose, and ended up .2 pounds lighter. This is my attempt to not have to drop my calories too low as I continue to lose weight. My weight loss has been more consistent since I raised my calories and scaled back on the exercise (I still work hard, just smarter).

There will always people who can eat very little, lose a lot, and not plateau. However, for most people that crash is going to happen. When you're losing 4 or 5 pounds consistently every week - really, eat more. When you start too low, where do you go when you stop losing? In my case, that was the hospital.

No, it's not going to happen to everyone. There were a lot of contributing factors, however, eating too little and exercising too much were definitely a part of it. Ignoring early symptoms were another part of it but hey - wasn't I supposed to feel tired and crappy - I was dieting? The answer to that is no, not really.

I saw you mention this before. Do you have a set interval at which you do a higher week?

Alright, alright, alright ladies! I hear ya loud and clear! And ya know what, you're absolutely right. When I focus on eatting a bunch of fruits and veggies I just get so full! But I'm going to start upping my calories no matter how difficult and counter-intuitive it is, or how full I am. I was telling myself that because I was eatting a ton of healthy foods and I wasn't hungry, meant calories didn't matter... but my weight loss has slowed down a little bit. I'm going to up my calories to 1200 for now, and just force myself to eat less than usual on the weekends (usually I pig out)... say to 1700-2200?

I'll keep everyone posted, I'm curious to see what happens... thanks!

Every 12 weeks is the plan. I pulled this one forward two weeks as I picked up a virus and decided I could fight it off better if resting and eating well. The last time I did it I went up about a pound, but over the next 10 weeks went down 24 pounds (ie. so made up for the slight gain during that week). The concept is to allow the body to reset as you take it out of the deficit.

The last time I did it I was feeling a touch burned out and came out of it feeling fantastic. This time I felt like crap starting, and having ended a couple of days ago feel... just okay. Of course, the people I'm in school with still have the symptoms and I don't, so there is that.

The one thing I should point out is, that for whatever reason, I'm completely on plan. I don't do cheat meals, cheat days, etc. I'm on plan (calories/macros) every day. So some of my need for a break may be psychological as well. ie. it's nice to not have to sit down and plan my macros every night. Having said that, I've always had an issue with not knowing when enough is enough, so I still technically plan my rest week days (just not the macros).

I've thought that too! I totally understand where you are coming from. Less is more etc. etc. It's still really hard for me to 'force' myself to eat calories when I'm not feeling hungry. I keep a range of calories, 1400-1600 with Saturdays reserved for going off plan, usually just one meal. On days I'm not hungry, I shoot for 1400 calories. A lot of times that means having a glass or two of chocolate soy milk at night. On days when I'm starving and on days when I do 20 miles (2 hours) on my bike, I shoot for the high end. It's worked great up until now. I'm starting to think I might have gotten stuck, I haven't gained, but I haven't lost any weight either. I've been sick and uber stressed, so I'm gonna stick to that plan until things settle back down.

Yep, for me this is the case. I lost 112 pounds within a 7 month period (with most of it being in a 4 month period) over 10 years ago on a *medically supervised* diet where I ate 800 calories a day and exercise a min of 2 hours a day. It came back to the pound as of November 28, 2007. (I *let* it come back to the pound. I don't know why it took getting back to my all time high for something to click...but that's for another post!)

Ok, so seems how this thread is kinda ripping me, I did some research last night & maybe you guys are right. I had my weekly weigh in this morning & only lost 1 pound, where last week I lost 5. I'm thinking that you guys are prob right, I'm new to trying to lose this weight so I am open to critisizm. Seeing as how I am doing 500-750 a day now I've decided to try to up my daily intake to around 1200. That's a good number? I dont' want to go to high, I used to eat around 2500-3000 a day, and look where it got me, up to my highest weight of 231. I'm done being the fat girl ya know.... I guess if it comes off slower, it's ok, as long as it comes off right?