Hey guys! Thank you so much for all of the support you have shown me thus far. You have really helped to motivate me. I have decided to start this public diary to force myself to be brutally honest about my eating. I really want to do this right, and come out of this healthy, happy, and strong.

According to the calorie calculator at the freedieting website, my daily caloric goal should be 2080-2580. That seems really high to me actually, but lets see where my eating falls...

5/10/2012

Breakfast Total 240 Calories: 1/2 cup Grapenuts with 1/2 cup fat free milk
Lunch Total 630 Calories: 2 slices of bread, 1 Tb maya, mustard, lettuce, 2 slices roast beef, 1 can CocaCola
Dinner Total 738 Calories: 2 pieces BBQ'd chicken, 3/4 cup chicken flavored rice, 1 cup green beans, 1 glass of milk.

5/10 Total Calories: 1608

This was a pretty typical day for me. I didn't do anything different than I usually do, I just measured and kept track. And I still fell almost 1000 calories short of my bracket. How the heck am I not losing weight!? Do you guys see any red flags? I will continue keeping track and posting what I eat and my calorie totals.

5/11

Breakfast Total 285 Calories: 1/2 cup Oikos vanilla flavored greek yogurt, 1/2 cup grapenuts
Lunch Total 759 Calories: 1 tortilla, 2 TB mayo, 1 TB Ceaser Dressing, 4 slices Roast Beef, Lettuce

Today I am trying for a higher calorie count. From what I understand, if I shoot too low I won't lose any weight?

Ok so I was able to eat less than half my lunch. So it's more like 375 calories for lunch. Plus 140 for a can of soday. So about 420

Generally (and this is very general) you need about 12-15 calories per pound to maintain your weight where it is. To lose you need a deficit of 500 calories from that number to lose 1lb a week (a deficit of 1000 to lose 2lbs a week). So what you've gotten from that site seems pretty accurate.

The only red flag for me is the soda. IMO its just empty calories. You can easily replace that 140 calories with fruit or veggies. Also you can take a closer look at the breads/carbs you eat, maybe your body doesnt do to well with carbs?

You're doing great so far though. I think accountability bites us all in the behind.....I know I'm bad at it sometimes too

this^ I think you may be eating way too few calories to fuel your body properly.

I started back on this WL journey a few months ago and stalled after just a few weeks. When I actually calculated my calories, I was 500-600 below daily recommendations. I know this sounds crazy, but pick a spot in the range follow the recommendations for a couple of weeks. I picked the mid-point and added 400+ calories a day and am now losing 1.5lbs/week consistently after being stuck for more than a month.

I know it doesn't sound logical - calories in, calories out, right? Fewer calories = faster weight loss. That wasn't my experience, YMMV.

Hmm. Well, I won't lie. The concept does seem strange to me. The idea that I might be eating too few calories never even entered my mind. So I guess now I need to figure out how to get more calories into my diet. Most times, I can barely finish the portions I serve myself to begin with, so this might actually be a struggle. Do you guys have any suggestions for me? Maybe a protein bar in between meals or something? The thought of eating *more* to try to lose weight has me nervous. I don't want this to backfire and put me further from my goal....

Apparently my appetite still thinks I'm skinny

Consider trading your milk for full fat (I know, gasp!), add a slice of cheese to your sandwich, have some veggies and hummus in the afternoon, grab a handful of almonds...

You don't want to eat if you're not hungry since that's how many of us ended up here. If you know your body will only *accept* a certain amount of food you've gotta make it count.

Give yourself a week or so and see if things settle down as you get into the groove. If you find you're still low every day consider adding some calorie-dense foods that will provide your body the nutrition it needs.

I agree with SUE ... add a bit more calories (aim for 1850 for a 1.5 lb loss per week; and up to 2100 for a 1 lb loss). Here's some ideas ...

1) add a fruit to your breakfast every day
2) Maybe some tomato and onion slices on the sandwich
3) you could have a cup of milk with lunch instead of pop
4) add a fruit with lunch or for a snack (i.e. an apple)
5) that protein bar idea was a good one (make it a fiber one too)
6) have 1 cup rice/pasta/beans with dinner
7) add a salad with either lunch or dinner
8) how about a cup of soup as a snack or with a meal
9) have 2-3 snacks a day
10) add a protein as/with your snack

Ok so over the weekend I didn't count. Mainly because I homecook a LOT and because we went out to eat both Saturday and Sunday with so Jamison and I could celebrate with both of our mothers. I did at least keep track of what I ate though...

Saturday:
Breakfast: Skipped breakfast
Lunch: Salad with figs, goat cheese, almonds, grilled chicken breast, 5 cornbread croutons, and tarragon dressing
Dinner: Home-made burritos with refried beans, cheddar cheese, spanish rice, home-made taco meat, lettuce, tomato

Sunday:
Breakfast: 3 egg omelotte with spinach, mushrooms, swiss, and avocado, hasbrowns, wheat toast
Lunch: Skipped lunch
Dinner: 2 bites sweet and sour pork, two bites orange chicken, 6 pieces of sushi, 1 cream cheese wonton, 1 fried scallop, 1/4 cup (about) sauteed mushrooms

I didn't count calories, but as you can see I didn't exactly overindulge. I did buy some protein bars to eat between meals, but I have to say that I already feel like I am gaining weight just from the slight increase in my daily calories. This is unspeakably frustrating. Ugh. Well, back to the grind...

Today's Forcast:
Breakfast: 1/2 cup Grapenuts, 1/2 cup fat free milk, 240 calories
Snack: Protein Bar, 300 calories
Lunch: Can of soup, Neuro Trim drink, 255 calories
Snack: Protein Bar, 300 calories
Dinner: Undetermined

I am FAR from an expert -- this is my first week calorie counting but I've been on WW for a long time. Just for comparison I'm going to post my menu for a fairly typical day for me.

Breakfast, total cals 346: Green Monster smoothie (sm. pkg. Greek yogurt, 1 cup raw spinach, 1 banana, 1 sm. can pineapple canned in juice)
Snack, total cals 110: 1 C. V8 juice, 4 slices deli turkey breast
Lunch, total cals 468: IHOP Simple & Fit balsamic glazed chicken breast, broccoli, salad w/ reduced fat dressing
Dinner, total cals 330: omelette (1 whole egg, 2 egg whites) with onions & peppers, wrapped in small flour tortilla

Total calories for the day: 1254. I also walked a mile and "earned" 212 extra calories I could consume. According to MyFoodDiary if I ate & exercised like this every day I should lose 2.3 lbs. a week.

Looking over what you've tracked, what strikes me is that your protein consumption doesn't seem high enough. I would suggest not only upping the number of calories you eat, but making those calories count by either increasing your portion size a little, adding a protein snack, or both. Protein foods are calorie dense so it doesn't take a lot ...

For dinner last night I had a burrito with 1 cup bell pepper/onions, 1 cup chicken, 1/2 cup fajita rice, 1/2 cup black beans, 1 tortilla, 1 cup lettuce. No idea how many calories that adds up to though. I have invested in a MasterCook program though which will enable me to figure out the calories in the meals I cook. I should be getting that in the mail sometime today.



Breakfast today: 1 protein bar - 300 calories




Also, I have just switched doctors and will be making an appointment soon. If my new doctor can't figure out what is wrong with me, I will be asking for a referral to an endocrinologist. I am beginning to think that my hormone issue was never resolved.



LadynRed, thank you! I have definitely tried to bump my protein levels. I haven't weighed myself recently because I don't have a scale yet, but I *feel* like I am gaining, not losing. So until I see my doctor I think I am going to go back to my lower levels of calories. TOM came to visit me this week, so that could have something to do with it though.