Hello!
I no longer want to memorize another diet. I'm just trying to eat healthy and exercise. I'm trying to eat healthy and only eat when I'm hungry, and stop eating when I'm full. I'm lost on the whole exercise part though! How do I know how much calories I should consume? How can I find the right exercise plan for me? My goal is obviously to lose weight/inches. Any websites that can help??? Depending I either go on the treadmill ( I hate it ! I hate it! I hate it!) do walk away the pounds (boring for me). I usually work with dumbells and do upper & lower body like on body for life. I can't just sit there and do the same thing over and over. I've mainly been lifting weights. I 'm going to get a pedometer off of eBay and each day try to do x amount more steps then the day before. Help please! I've tried other boards but of course, nobody seems to respond except to one which was just "hi i'm new". Kind of disappointed I've gotten no help or guidance It'd be nice if I actually got some help...

Thank you, Christen

Hello,
Here is some information that I have written down about estimating calorie amounts. I am a calorie counter myself and I find that it is fairly simple.

The first thing to figure out is you basal metabolic rate. This is esentially the amount of calories that your body uses just to stay alive if you do not do any activity. I have seen several estimators, but one that I rather like is weight in kilograms (which is pounds divided by 2.2) multiplied by .9 and the result is multiplied by 24. this is an estimate of your BMR. Of course your body also burns calories everytime you move and when you are digesting food (thermic effect). So, if you take your BMR and multiply it by an activity factor (1.3 for sedintary, 1.5 for light, 1.7 for moderate and 1.9 for heavy activity) you can come up with a rough estimate for how many calories your body is using in a day. If you are looking to maintain this is what you eat. However, if you want to lose weight you eat less. Since healty, sustainable weight loss is about a pound a week, if you eat aproximately 500 calories less than you use you will lose at a healthy rate. However, it is also important not to have your body go into starvation mode becuase then you metabolism slows way down. Generally this happens when you eat too few calories. I have heard the number 1200 bandied about as the number you do not want to go below, but of course this will vary depending on how much you weigh and how much you exercise. I do not remember exactaly where I got this formula from, but it is working out ok for me.

You might want to check out the doing it the old fashioned way thread beucasee it is full of wacky eat right and exercise types )like me). I personally eat right, but the exercise thing is always a struggle for me.

I hope this helps a bit.

Go to Wal-Mart to get a pedometer. I got one (in the pharmacy section) for about 15.00 and I love it!