Hello Ladies,

Starting on Friday, I will be getting my groove into this once and for all. I will be on a controlled 1200 calories of using Richard Simmons Foodmover for tracking...also walking 2 miles daily.

I had enough eating poorly, not walking enough and just want to be in shape. I have not had my period for couple months and knowing this extra ,extra weight is the caused of it. Am slighly over 400 Lbs and won't be a scale slave daily, just weigh on a monthly basis.

Wish me luck ladies, I am ready to change my shape for life!!

Enjoy your day

Hi Liliann,

you don't need luck... you've already got the mindset that you need!

But I will send you best wishes anyways!!!

I also started by doing a 2 mile walk daily, although the past week I didn't walk or exercise at all. I did however get it in today.

It would be very difficult for me to do 1200 calories, for me more calories is better it fuels me and helps to burn away the bad calories much quicker when I work out.

Do what works for you but if you find it a bit difficult at any time, feel free to tweak any part of your routine a bit to fit your lifestyle. I'm just mentioning tips that have worked for me when I needed to change things up a bit.

Go Liliann!

Good luck on your journey! You can do it!

Thank you!!

I had 1/2 c fiber one cereal with 1c fat free milk. and cup coffee. I know that I can do this.Food cost so much and was trying 2000 and just was not for me. 1200 I can do it, and will!!

Hi Lilian,

I really am routing for you to lose the weight and be healthy, but need to be honest with you....1200 calories at your weight is IMO a really bad idea. It is not enough to support you and honestly....1200 is the LEAST amount of calories that is recommended for a person of average weight. You will probably lose weight, but I also think you are going to be hungry (I was when I was at 360 and struggling not to go off plan at 1500 calories!)....and you are exercising on top of it. At 1200 calories...when the weight stops coming off....where do you go from there?!?! You could prob eat 2200 calories a day and lose weight...and not be hungry.

Here is a very good calorie needs calculator....you might be surprised at what it says.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

I am trying to be supportive, but having been there...done that.... I understand and I don't want you to go down that road.

take care........

Thank you,Torister! The site says with my walking daily calories to be over 3000 . Wow! Again Thanks!

Good luck Lilian!!! I am also using the Richard Simmons food mover and I LOVE it!!! I weigh 339 pounds, so I use the 2000 calorie card. Remember, also, for every 50 lbs above 300 you add 1 fruit and 1 protein to the 2000 calorie card. I know that I did the Blast off week when I first started the Richard Simmons program and it is 1200 calories...I thought I was going to DIE! I know I couldn't stay OP if I had to do that every week. This journey is not an easy one, but I know that you CAN DO THIS!!! We are all here to support you!

Lillian, I will add my well wishes to the others! You can do it!

I don't want to be bossy, either, but I agree with some of the other replies about not going too low on the calories at first. I know exactly how you feel, that if 2000 is good, then 1200 is better! But from what I understand, if you don't eat what is required by your body at your size, then your body just goes into starvation mode metabolism and holds on to every precious calorie you give it like there's no tomorrow! You don't want that -- you need to fuel your body enough so that it knows there WILL be another meal coming soon and it's okay to release some of the fat storage. Especially if you are going to be exercising!

How many times have (probably) ALL of us put ourselves on really, really restrictive diets, practically starving ourselves, only to have a bad day, freak out and start an eating binge that lasts a year or 2? I'm not saying 1200 calories is starving yourself, and a lot of us will probably have to go that low to lose more weight as we get closer to goal. Right now you don't need to do it, and it may very well be counter-productive.

No harm in trying it your way and seeing if it makes you feel sluggish and starving. But if you do, give yourself permission to tweak yourself up a bit. The pounds will still drop -- it's math!

YOU GO, GIRL!!!!!!

Edit, I forgot to add that I, too, am weighing monthly for now. No sense obsessing myself over the numbers on the scale when I KNOW I'm doing what's right and healthy for my body. And I'm having NSV (non-scale victories) all the time!

I want to add to this discussion ... I know I never weighed 300lbs, but I was pretty close.

When I first started to lose weight I had decided to try the 1200 calories a day thing too, and it backfired on me. My body could in no way survive off that mere 1200 calories and I became ravenous and all I could do was gorge myself on food. I ended up gaining the weight that initially had just melted off.

Instead of limiting your calories so much why not look at creating an ideal calorie deficit. What I did is calculate how many calories I burned a day just by being me, and then tried to maintain a 1,500 deficit a day. Meaning that if I burned say, 3,500 calories that day, I aimed to eat 2,000 calories. FitDay is a great website that you can use to help you keep track.

Even now, when I eat a low amount of calories [specifically 1,200 or under - which does occasionally happen] there are ill effects. To start with, I become VERY HUNGRY and it's very hard to resist the temptation of eating everything in sight, I also become irritable, and very tired. If I go to sleep like that, the next day if I work out as well I usually get sick. My body NEEDS more calories than that to function.

Experiment with what works for you, don't forget that this is a lifelong journey and you'll find exactly what works best for you.

Lilian, congrats on making the choice to take care of yourself! Do whatever works for you, it is an education process in the beginning IMO. Test out what works for your lifestyle and body, you can do it!

I eat anywhere from 800-1800 cal on any given day, I don't count calories though, I just eat when I'm hungry and enough to fuel my body. For instance, today I've eaten a 2 egg veggie/sausage frittata and 2 cups of coffee with coconut milk and cream. I'm done for the day as I'm not hungry so I won't eat. I should be hungry by tomorrow morningish so then I'll eat. If 1200 a day works for you, then go with it, you won't starve, don't worry! If it doesn't, adjust.

Congratulations on your 2 lb loss!

Lilian I wish you the best in reaching your goals. Keep us posted on what you decide to do on your plan!