Calories

Wow, I've never counted calories before. I only had breakfast and lunch and was scared to eat dinner, afraid I would go over my 1200 calories. I'm 5'2", 40yrs, and have 30lbs to lose.... ugh

I'm also 5'2 and I've lost 23 pounds on this journey so far. I know you can do it. I took a look at your food tracker, and my guess is that you're probably not eating enough. It won't matter, really, if it's just for a little while or just every now and then, but if you eat less than 900 calories a day for an extended period, you could end up sabotaging yourself. I under-ate for a while, and I did lose some weight...but I wasn't doing it healthfully. Now, I eat more and I'm still losing, and my body is healthier as a result.

My biggest piece of advice is to AVOID under-eating. Skipping meals is one of the worst things you can do for your metabolism. Likewise, snacking is one of the BEST things you can do for your metabolism. Having three small but nutritious meals per day, and two or three snacks (equally nutritious, but slightly smaller) will keep you full AND keep your metabolism humming throughout the day. Plus, you're much less likely to get burned out and give up.

1200 calories might not even be enough. In general, a completely sedentary female needs 1200 calories of very healthy food with a good macronutrient balance just to properly fuel her body, even if she never gets out of bed. If you are more active (even a little bit) or overweight, you need more. Yes, you might lose weight faster if you eat less than that, but you can damage your metabolism and cause weight loss to halt.

At the same time, if you under-eat (or even over-eat) sometimes, it's not the end of the world. We are all fallible humans, and tomorrow is always a new day. Just do the best you can on a day to day basis, and if you mess up? Well, brush it off and move on. You can't let a diet get in the way of your life.

Anyway, don't be scared of starting this journey. It is very rewarding, and you will learn a lot, especially if you banish the "diet" mentality and start viewing it as a new, healthy lifestyle. Counting calories isn't the huge chore it is made out to be, once you get in the habit of it, and eating right is actually quite enjoyable, too.

Good luck!

katana_x, great advice. I was concerned myself about trying to maintain in the 1200's in that it could be too low. I'm 5'4" and a book I'm reading the calculation came out to 1600. It suggests to go higher and when plateau increase exercise. It stresses to find a level you can live on the rest of your life including once you reach your goal. So far this week I've been in the 1400's and it's good. What's important for me is to eat all meals plus snacks. Also to make good healthy choices. BUT easier said than done. Also congrats on your excellent results.

If I might make a suggestion as well. In our fat-phobic world, we take the natural fat out of everything, which makes for incomplete nutrition. I ate low calorie twice, one purely low fat and the last time where I added natural fats in and the second was much easier. Fat makes you satisfied and full. It also feeds your brain as your brain requires fat to function.

An example: I would have 1/2 cup plain yogurt with frozen berries and a little stevia for my after dinner dessert. I believe there was only a small calorie difference in the no fat version and normal version. However, with the no fat I was fighting off hunger and cravings the entire rest of the night, with the normal version I was very content and actually ate less overall.

Good luck with your plan!

I could'nt do the counting every calorie thing. I have a preety good idea of how many calories I'm taking in and what I need to do to burn them. Also eating more fruits and vegetables helped. It's worked preety well for me.

Hello and welcome to the club of counting calories and trying to lose weight.

I agree with katana_x, she just gave you some good advice.
And I agree with mountain_mama

Now that you are counting calories and have become more aware of what you are eating it will make you think twice about your choices. Now you just have to decide which foods will give you the most nutirents, protein, healthy fats which will keep you fuller longer.

Good luck with your weight loss journey. If you want this you will get to your goal weight, you can do it, just dont give up. You must presevere.

I am also 5'2", I started this weight loss journey in jan 2009 at 175 now I am 30 pounds smaller and I have 20 pounds till my goal weight.

Take care,

Sandra

Some more hints:

Go for the volume in your calorie choices. The greater the volume of food in your tummy, the easier that it will be.

Choose whole grains over refined grains.

Avoid sugars as they will trigger ravenous hunger in most people.

Choose lower carb foods over higher carbs and you may also find your hunger will be lessened.

Don't get too stressed over the calorie count numbers. It takes some getting used to it. On my plan, about the same time I started losing consistently I was experiencing an intense desire to eat just about everything. My "guide" made it real easy, she told me I can eat 1000 calories a day plus whatever I burn doing exercise, BUT AFTER I do the excersize. The 1000 number seams small, but it gets even smaller when you think about me being 270 lbs with a RMR around 2500. As a point of comparison, the daily deficit I was running was almost what some people should be normally eating to maintain.

It seams odd to send a 'starving' person out into the cold cruel world an tell them to burn whatever energy they felt like burning, but it worked for me. If I wanted to go out and have a steak with the boys, I found the hour and a half to walk 8 miles. If I wanted to eat a fourth small meal, I could get away with less than half an hour on the the elliptical. If I wanted to eat the meager amount of food you get for 1000 calories, I could do nothing but wath TV.

The weight is still going away, but more important I think I started building the good habit if modulating the both the amount and the type of food I eat to match my activity. ***The exercise definitely was key in stopping my body from shutting down on such a restricted calorie diet***

What I am really trying to say is that calorie counting isn't as much about the number of calories that you are eating as about how many less than your body is burning. Count from the burn down, rather than the bottom up. Keep at it and best of luck.