So, I had not been losing lately, and I had been doing the same thing as usual... 1600 calories/day + exercise (~1 hour running, most days, or 1 hour gym on the other days). I had been eating back my exercise calories, so I stopped that (considering my exercise as a deficit, that is) about a week and a half ago. I gained 2 pounds.

So then I cut out all sugar, sweets, etc. Only whole foods. I gained another 2 lbs.

So in addition, today, I decided to reduce my calories to 1400, at least for a while.

So that leaves me eating 1400 cal/day, exercising (when I run, I run about 5-7 miles, so I've been figuring 500-700 calories, similar work load at the gym). Does that sound ok to y'all? Why did my original way stop working?

Oh, and, how can I feel full with only 1400 cal? It's good so far today, but I usually get hungry before bed, after I take a medication that makes me hungry. How do I deal with that?

Take the med later or earlier. If you take it before you eat dinner, then eating dinner helps. If you wait until right before you go to bed, then you can sleep through it. I take a med that does the same thing to me and I either take it as late as possible and as close to bedtime, or I can take it a little earlier if I know I will be eating a snack later. Usually it isn't a huge issue if you take a med at a different time by just a couple of hours. If you are supposed to take it with food, then have a very low cal but protein dense food to take it with. You can ask your pharmacist to help you know the best way to take the med and how to work around the hunger versus diet issue.

Good luck and hang in there!

Barb

Reducing your calories to 1400 is probably what you need to do to lose weight. As you lose weight your body doesn't need as many calories to function. Stick to whole natural foods and don't eat anything white( potatoes, sugar, flour, Etc.) it will work. I'm 5'3, when I was at your weight I was only eating 1000 calories a day tops. I know it sounds low, I am shorter than you, but it worked. The only exercise I did was walking 2-3 mi. a day. After maintaining for a while I upped my calories a bit, I weigh alot less and I'm still maintaining.

Thanks, you guys. Both of you had very helpful comments. As far as the med goes, I try to tell myself how I'm not hungry, and it's just the med. But having it before food will help!

I was wondering if my calorie intake was too low, but I'm thinking now it's right. It's hard to re-calibrate my brain, though. It's used to pigging out!

Are you drinking enough water?

Maybe your exercise needs tweaking. Can you try some hiking or an eliptical, maybe a bike. Your body may have adapted to your current routine.

Maybe zig zag your calories. I love this trick and am actually doing this permanently. It's too early to tell if it's stopping plateaus, but it's working like a charm right now.

I wanted to also ask, how long have you been running 5-7 miles. I also think your estimation of your burn is off. I run 2-3 miles and walk 2-3 miles at a fast pace and am burning 500-700 cals so you have to be burning more if your running all 5-7 miles. There is a chance that you might not be eating enough at that calorie level. I know that once I started running my weight loss stalled because I wasn't eating enough and I had to increase my cals to 1650 before the it started back up. If you've just started running or gradually increased your distance you might want to consider increasing your cals, especially if you're hungry. Your body needs fuel and if it doesn't get it it will start storing.

I love this idea, but if it were this easy non of us would be here

Interesting, ncuneo. I use three different devices to track my exercise calories, gmaps ped (website), lose it app, and my new nike + thingy, and they come out about the same. I remember learning in high school health class that it's about 100 calories/mile, give or take.

Just to update you all, I went down to 1400 calories for a few days, and then got really lightheaded on a walk to the supermarket. After sitting down for a while, I got me a banana at the store and felt better. I went down to 148.
Yesterday, I ate out and went back up to 1600 calories. And this morning, I clocked in at 151 again. Getting off of my 165lb plateau was hard, but really crossing the 150 mark is even harder. Back on the horse today.

I'm pretty sure you being back up at 151 is not due to 200 measly extra calories from yesterday, but more from all the salt they put in restaurant food because you ate out. Just a blip! Keep going, you're doing great, the plateaus don't stand a chance

It's hard to say, I think unless we're wearing a heart rate monitor that is taking into account our age, height, weight and gender there is really no way to know how many calories we are burning. The device I use doesn't take all this into account and yesterday it told me that I burned 300 cals more than usual on one of my usual route, so who knows. Just hang in there, but be kind to you body, it worries me that you were light headed. Because of the fact that I run 5xs a week I really struggle with finding the right calorie level that keeps the hungry at bay and keeps me losing, it's a fine line. In the end you just have to keep healthy no matter how long this journey takes. Good luck!