Hi! I'm new here...but I need some much needed advice.

I have been on a very restrictive diet for the past 2 months (I started March 1st), and I have lost a total of 34 lbs. I went on a major binge last weekend. I ate all kinds of fast food, gained 4 lbs, but then immediately felt guilty for it and went back to my restrictive diet. I think I'm being too restrictive though. I eat around 900-1100 calories a day, that is all that I will allow myself. I workout 6 days a week, and I burn about 1000-1200 calories each session from cardio alone. I also lift weights 6 days a week, alternating upper body one day/lower the next. I need to know that it's ok to sometimes go over 900-1100 calories a day!

For example, just today, for dinner, I had half of a rotisserie chicken breast in corn tortilla tacos with lime, avocado and red onion. But now I feel like 4 was too many, and I should have only had 2! Grrr...It's so frustrating, but I don't know how to change my way of thinking.

I guess what I'm asking is for you helpful ladies (and men) to tell me it's ok. I've been reading the forums for a couple of weeks now, and find your words to be very encouraging. Thank you!

They say you need 1200 calories per day just to live...........

Whoa Nelly!

Yeah, you can DEFINITELY go over your 900-1100 calories! With all your exercise, you are in a negative calorie balance - that is not a good thing

That means your body is going to start to slow way down and your weight loss with it.

Technically, one does not need 1200 calories to live daily (at least short term... and depending on your body/activities/etc.) I got by on 800-900 for 3 months on Medifast, and had no real bad effects. But man, it was friggin' hard to stay faithful to it! And Medifast has a STRICT rule that the max exercise is 45 minutes cardio, or any exercise, per day. Any more and you stall out by going into "starvation mode." So... I am amazed (flabbergasted!) that you are able to exercise that much on your very limited calories. Kinda scared actually

I will let those with more hard-core exercise/lifting experience tell you how many calories you should shoot for... but I am guessing what will really be best for you is at least 1500. Maybe 2000 plus!

(It's totally understandable that you binged after that much restriction. You are going to have to let up on the leash you have yourself on to keep your health -- and keep your weight going down in a smooth way!)

I understand the drive to lose weight NOW, trust me! But you want it to last, and you want to do it healthy, so listen to the voices of experience that will chime in later, I'm sure!

Best wishes!

Wow!!! You need to eat at LEAST 1200 calories a day just to function. Please eat more. You can still loose weight by eating 1200 calories a day. Depending on your height you should probably be eating more like 1400-1500 for the amount of exercise's you do. Good Luck! : )

Just to reiterate: you may not be helping yourself in the long run by eating so little because it may prompt you to binge more frequently and then give up! Plus, it's hard to get all your nutrients in when you eat so little -- so you lose weight, but are unhealthy!

JustAGirl8 - You might want to try using FitDay.com. It will look at what your eating and exercise and help you set a healthy weightloss goal. All of us are wanting to "get it over with", but you have to set up healthy patterns to keep this up the rest of your life. Be careful not to get too restrictive, that's how eating disorders can start. And don't beat yourself up. It's not about perfection, it's about persistence. Good Luck.

Wow, 900-1100?? Holy cow! I'd be gaining weight like crazy! I normally eat between 1700-2000 calories/day and lose between .5-2 pounds a week, but as soon as I restrict myself below 1400 I start GAINING weight..

So it might be worth bumping UP your calories especially if you are exercising that much, you'll avoid wanting to binge, and this might become more sustainable. And you'll lose MORE

-Aimee

don't be too hard on yourself. definately eat more than 1200 and monitor your levels (blood pressure, blood sugar, et cetera) you have lost so much weight in so little time. you should be happy about that. everyone has little slips but you move on (like a bad relationship) don't worry if you gain a couple of lbs. compared to what you lost, this time in your diet is just a little bump in the road. what i do is i forgive myself for having a little binge and then keep going with my diet. keeping a positive attitude is one of the most important keys in weight loss.

I'll second that! Having a positive attitude is SO important. It's easy to throw in the towel when we gain a few pounds if we don't keep in mind how far we've come on our weight loss journey.

I think you might not get the urge to binge as much if you increase your calories by 200-300 a day and spread them out a bit (say a couple of 100 cal. snacks) so you keep your blood sugar on an even keel.

Thank you to everyone for your encouraging words!

Tonight, I can't say I binged, but I did treat myself to a dinner at the Outback steakhouse. I had half of what their serving is of a Mexican Martini, a few fried mushrooms, a house salad with minimal ranch dressing and little cheese, steak and a baked potato (all the way ). Surprisingly, I didn't feel disgustingly full, like I used to when I ate there. I was treating myself for reaching 200 lbs. The whole time I wanted to beat myself up for having all this, but then I thought to myself, "I workout so hard all week, I deserve this!" As long as its one meal and it isnt like last week where I binged the entire weekend. This weight loss isn't going to come easy, but it will be here if I can just keep focused and non (completely) deprived.