Hello all. I'm new to the forum but not new to dieting. I've decided to count calories and NOT starve myself in the process so I'm going with 1800 calories. I'm 5'7 and weigh 242 lbs (down 3 lbs from New Years Day). I quit smoking on New Years Eve and my weight loss has been slow to say the least. I exercise almost every day.

I guess I am looking for reassurance that if I go with 1800 calories a day that the weight WILL come off. If I have to drop down to 1200 calories or something ridiculous like that I will end up binging and giving up for sure. I've ordered the Calorie Queens book and look forward to reading about that.

Me! I've lost 7 pounds in the last two weeks once I started to track my calories. My daily caloric intake goal is 1860. Some days it's around 1400 and others are closer to 1800. Technically I've lost 11 pounds if I take my last doctor weigh-in that was after Christmas. I signed up with TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) so that I have a local weigh-in and support group and I'm using my starting weight with them to track my weight loss. I'm following the Calorie Queens (book) mentality of "practicing maintenance" by eating what my goal weight daily caloric intake is. You figure that out by taking your goal weight and multiplying it by 12. So... 150 (goal weight) x 12 = 1860. When I get to my goal weight, I won't have as hard of a time keeping it off since I already know how to eat to maintain the weight. As I've read, LOSING weight is the easy part.. keeping it off is where it gets hard. Well, I've experienced that too.

I definitely do NOT feel deprived. I have cereal, yogurt and a banana for breakfast. A ham and cheese sandwich with baked Cheetos for lunch and then a decent supper with my husband. Well, my lunch varies but that's what I had today. Ü I have 1396 calories left for the rest of the day. Today might be a day that I don't hit the 1800 calorie range.

Kimberly

I too eat between 1700 - 1900 calories. I do Curves ~3 times a week and try to run on my treadmill once a weekend. It's been about 3 months and I've lost over 10 lbs. It was hard to stay on track with Thanksgiving, X-mas, and New Years!

I think it's a healthy choice. I could never dip down into the 1200 calorie chasm!!


~jess~

Well, I eat 1680 calories a day, but I don't count fruit or low starch veggies, so that obviously brings up my total. I am thrilled to have lost 10 pounds so far eating this way.

Also, I'm only 5'4". All the years I wasted starving myself.

Thanks for replying. Anyone else?

Well, not intentionally. I thought I was aiming for 12-1300 cals but a fitday reports session tells me that I've been averaging 1741 for a month and have lost 4 lbs.

Hello everybody . . .

I definitely think you are on the right track. Feed the body you want to have. I know from experience that I can lose weight on 2000 calories a day. If they are the right kind of calories. In other words, lots of fruit and vegetables, lean protein and good complex grains. Stay away from the junk food.

I just posted this on the How Many Calories Do You Eat thread:

I lose on 2500-3000 calories a day, when I can keep that up. This is because I'm (1) male and (2) get a lot of exercise. According to fitday.com, I burn on average 3300-3500 calories a day, including exercise.

Now if only I could keep it up for more than a couple of weeks at a time.

I have been losing steadily on 1900 calories/day (average). WHen I weighed more, I lost on 2000/day.

I was eating around 1400-1600 and losing 1 lb a week. I decided to give it a try and increased my calories to 1800-1900. I lost 2 lbs last week.

I'm plateaued right now *grumbling* but I was steadily losing 3 pounds a week eating between 1600 and 1800. Twice a week I would have 2000-2200 days so it averaged out to right around 1800 or 1900 a day. I do exercise a lot though. Cardio 6 or 7 days a week and weights 3 days a week.