Thanks everyone!

Great job, kisskiss and Angelic, you guys are so close!

I hope everyone else is having great numbers on the scale.

I have been so sick yesterday and today, a terrible chest cold. I only get sick once or twice a year so I am having a rough time. We are trying to move and plan to be fully moved into the new house by Tue. (the 12th). I am supposed to go to the new house this evening to do a bunch of stuff but I don't know how I am going to find the strength. I can't eat anything and I am pretty weak. We are majorly downsizing. We are going from a huge 4 bedroom quad level house with an overabundance of storage to a tiny 3 bedroom bungalow with only the tiniest amount of storage. That means a lot of work trying to sort through everything. Alot has to be tossed and/or donated. We have three teens who seem to want to keep everything (especially clothes) so it is not a good time to be getting sick.

Honestly, the 30DS is tough, but not impossible. Afterwards you definitely know you worked out, but it's not so bad that you're scared to go back to it. I didn't work out yesterday at all, but I did some rearranging of furniture and other things in the house, and I'm more sore today than I have been after 30DS.

Tonight is my second weigh-in at Weight Watchers. I put away my scale at home so that I'm not tempted to obssess. Hoping my diligence this week has paid off.

Thanks for the info, ForKeeps. I wound up doing the elliptical tonight and since my lower back situation decided to act up, I decided to take an Epsom salt bath and lie on ice instead of pushing it. BUT....tomorrow, I'm going to spend 30 minutes with Jillian! Will be nice to feel a burn in hidden muscles.

Hope your night at WW went well. Impressive that you put away your scale!

Hey guys,

So I have a few questions for you all. I thought I had this calorie thing down and then started reading some threads where people eating 1000 cals/day weren't losing weight because it was affecting their metabolism?

I just want to make sure I'm calculating my calorie intake properly.

So...I used this site.

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

and for my age, height, and weight with NO exercise I need 1863cals/day for maintenance and for fat loss I eat 1512. So I would have a deficit of 351 cals/day.

But the days I workout, I work off let's say 400 cals, I'm at a net of 1112 cals for that day. So is that number too low? Am I supposed to eat back my calories? I don't want to start low and have to go lower because I have quite a bit to lose. I was keeping my cals from 1200-1500 but the 1200 end seems a bit too low now?

Hopefully this isn't confusing. I'm just sad I gained today but it's entirely my fault since I upped my carbs intake the past few days. But then I got thinking maybe my cals are calculated all wrong. Would love to hear your opinion! Have a good weekend everyone! :)

Hi HHM6,
I was hoping that there would be tons of responses to your post because I'm pretty confused about calculating the basal metabolic rate, how many calories to consume, and how much of a deficit between calories in and calories out is required to lose weight. I went to a few sites and found that 1200 calories/day was "normal" for a woman. (Totally random number, I know!)

My weight was so static after the first week of South Beach that I decided to go to my doctor to ask her what was going on. She said that 1200 calories was way too low for me (some days I ate only 900 calories and that was with expending at least 500 at the gym). She said that I had put my body into starvation mode and calculated that I need to eat 1350 calories/day....and that once my body comes out of starvation mode, I will lose weight. She said that if I have a very exercise-intense day (i.e., skiing, etc.), then I could eat more if I am hungry, but other than that, if I burn 500 calories at the gym, I should not eat more than 1350 calories.

I don't know how she calculated my target daily caloric intake (other than confirming my age and height). I went to the site you noted and for my stats it recommended 1820 calories/day for weight loss and 1540 calories/day for extreme weight loss. In light of the number my doctor gave me, the numbers your site is recommending seem awfully high.

This isn't quite an answer, but hopefully is somewhat helpful!

Hi Elise!!

Thanks so much for your response :)

Yeah I really don't know how to go about this, do you think 1500 is too high to start?? I'm just afraid of starting too low, since I've done that before and it's an epic disaster!

I'm up again today back at 190 and I'm eating all kinds of junk but even though it's in my cal range, I think it's taking a hit. Also no exercise since Sunday!! I'm so lazy to get on the treadmill when it's this cold.

Wow this post is just full of excuses :( hope the rest of you are having a good week!!

I want to reach 180 by the end of this month. I weighed in at 183.4 before eating this morning, but 185 afterwards. I feel that I'm probably dehydrated and I didn't eat much yesterday due to stress. I'll probably go back up to 186 tomorrow, so I won't change my ticker for a few days.

Hi HHM6,
I have no idea what you should do! :-o I am so confused by target calorie intake. I just wanted to share with you my experience. I wasn't giving advice other than, perhaps, to check a few other BMR calculators online.

My doc said that my weight might go up for a while....so far I'm just static. My problem is now that I've been focused on "getting to 1350" each day, I'm somehow hungrier later in the day when I have to eat about 500 to get to target...then, of course, I over-eat. So for the past few days I've eaten around 1500. Perfect. Can't wait for the number on my scale to reflect that. Plus, I've had no energy to exercise cause I'm so sad about my mother's health issues. How's that for excuses?! :-o

OK, I'm writing this on this board because I am promising myself in public that I will not give up on getting to a healthy weight and will continue to be healthier and kinder to myself in my food choices.

180 is 12 pounds away for me. I'd hoped to reach it by mid to late March, but gonna let go of that deadline since it won't matter when I get there, really, as long as I'm getting a little closer each day. (I might have to re-read what I just wrote late at night when all I want to do is eat!)

Stay strong, everyone! :-)

Devoncroix,
That is absolutely awesome!! Congratulations. :)

I keep fluctuating between 202 and 206. It might be water weight. Hoping to get to 180 over next two months. Will check in here.

Let me try this again...Thx Ruthxxx.:)

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Just dropping by to report I made it in onederland -finally!!I'm weighing 199.4 today .what asweet valentine today!! I have 19.4 to lose until I'm at my 180 goal. I'm going to get there.
Hope everyone is having agood win to their battles.

Congrats on getting to Onederland, AvalonMoon! It feels fantastic, doesn't it!

After two weeks stuck in 192, this morning my scale finally dropped to 190.6. I hope that tomorrow I can add another smiley face to my signature. I'm happy about the number on the scale, and even happier with my NSVs....it's been a crappy couple of weeks w/ tons of stresses and urges to bury my feelings in food, but I stuck to the plan and tried to be mindful about whether my mouth was hungry or my stomach was hungry.

And since I worry about jinxing myself by posting positive news, I'm going to be sure I forgive myself if I fall off the wagon! :-)

How's everyone else doing?

Hi everyone!

I've been MIA this past week or so but I'm still here and still dieting. I weighed in at 183 yesterday. That's 10,4 pounds lost so far and I'm getting so close to 180!!!

you are very close! I weighed in at 185 this morning, so I am pretty excited too :D

I'm a little late on this, but congrats!!! Onderland is awesome!

Holding steady between 184.4-184.8... I might make it to 180 by the end of this month. I've been very busy and stressed because I just broke off my engagement and moved back into my parent's house. Things should get easier again now.