RunbikeSki

Nottango,
I am really glad you added your experience to the conversation. Several others have noted that the zig-zag approach with calories works for them too. It certainly makes sense to me.

Welcome back bluejay77, good to see you again. In one of our earlier discussions we were talking about the benefit of working on relatively short term calorie restrictions. That is what I am doing now. I gave myself the month of March to greatly reduce carb intack, and calories in general. So far I am about 4 or 5 lbs down. We see what happens when April rolls around.

Megan, let us know how things are working out, and what seems to be working for you. It is always helpful to read other's experiences.

Hi Ruby, good luck getting back into the pre-prego pants. I am pretty sure that with a little exercise you'll be there in know time. And how is that new little person?

I woke up with a migraine this morning - a pretty rare event. It was probably due to a combination of work stress, trying to get a ton of chores done over the weekend, physical soreness, and the diet. I pretty much hung around the house all day, snoozed, did a few gardening tasks and felt useless. Tonight I am feeling much better, but not very enthusiastic about anything - including dinner. But I am making myself eat a nice meal of shimp on pasta w/peas.

sjpisjabba

Hi Megan,

I just thought I would share with you what I've learned from visits to a Registered Dietician. We tested my resting metabolic rate with a machine and at that time (a few years ago) my body burned 1540 calories a day without any movement at all, that's just what it takes to keep my cells/organs alive.

Based on that, she gave me the following guidelines to eat a day to lose weight healthfully. I've noticed that if I follow this carefully by eating small meals throughout the day and take a vitamin with iron, I don't go hungry, I feel energetic and balanced, and I lose fat but not muscle. I'm following it now and as of today it's been 4.8 pounds lost in 32 days!

Grams per day:
fat -43
carbs - 188
protein - 85

I think this comes out to about 1400 calories a day. Also, she says that no one should ever go below 1200 calories a day. That's the rule of thumb for when your body starts to lower your metabolism and conserve fat because it's not getting enough calories to keep your organs alive.

rubypeanut

My son had his 1 mo appt yesterday; he's 11 lb 4 oz! I was shocked at his 3 lb weight gain. On the other hand, I said "shame on me" since I'm exclusively breastfeeding and have not lost a pound since his first pediatrician appointment! I would think I would have lost at least one pound! Tee hee, at least it's a wake-up that I must have been eating way more than I thought I was so my goal/chore is to actually measure and log calories (sigh!).

Sorry about your migraine!

megan5555

Sara, thanks for sharing your info, I am relieved to see that you also keep your carbs low.....now I am convinced that I don't need more than 180. Now you said that your dietician tested your metabolism. That number seems low compared to the "Fit Day" amount burned. Mine says I burn 2500, is this right? Is yours similar? Does this include sleep?

I agree that 1200 calories is a good minimum, for me I know this. Getting the hang of this, thanks

jonjaxmom

Weigh in day...
Down -1. And I busted my hump to get there this week. The kids have been bugging me, why Inever take them to chilis anymore. Well, we all know WHY, it's because I can't stop eating the chips and salsa!! But I needed to see if I could get thru it. There are going to be times where we have to make good choices. So we went, and I realize that those chips are indeed a trigger for me. I can't stop at 3 or 4 of them. More like half the bowl! So I spent the next 5 days being reeeeaaallly reaaaaaly good to Make up for all the calories and sodium. Sheesh, the things we do for our kids!

But I did learn a lot about myself. I can resist the bread in any resteraunt, but Mexican food is my struggle!

Have a great week everyone. Stay strong and upbeat we all can do this!

canary52

Hi Guys,

Everyone seems to be doing so well. Very inspirational!

I am 136. I was down to 135 then back up to 137. So holding my own. I am back to tracking and I have to say it's been helping. Even when I go off, I track; it keeps me in line lately. We'll see how long I can keep at it. I see from the posts that others have found FD helpful too.

Ruby, way to go with the post partum weight loss!!! I think my child was at least 3 before I lost my "baby weight."

dear_abby

Canary –I’m most like you – floating around 156 which is fine for my height – I want to get to 149 just for the fun of moving the big weight, but I don’t seem to want it enough. Today’s weight is same as last week 156. I’m going to have to do som e real change to drop those six – I know what to do, but actually getting it done, well, that’s another matter.

Good work Chris, I have a similar problem with chips, although we cook heathy Mexican a lot.

Pam, sorry about your migraine, I used to get them every so often – losing the job from hell four years ago seems to have been associated with them stopping!

Ruby – your son is at a unique point in his life, imagine doubling in a few months – I’d be 300!

Interesting discussion about calories.

I look forward to cheering for these Wednesday reports.

sjpisjabba

Megan -
The resting metabolic rate that I got tested assumes that I basically slept the entire day and didn't move AT ALL - it's only calories burned by organs essentially. Correct me if I am wrong anyone, but I belive FitDay estimates calories burned on an average day for a person based on an assumed "lifestyle" adjustment...so it gives an average calories burned for a woman of X age/weight/height with a seated/active/etc job/lifestyle. So the FitDay one is higher because it incorporates an average day of movement. So yes, in an average day I (hopefully) burn much more than 1500 cals!

Chris S. -
Congratulations on the 1 pound loss and enjoying some fun time with the family! I definitely believe that life should not be put on complete hold for a diet - it's about lifestyle adjustments instead of unrealistic parameters. And it's always a good thing to learn about your triggers...I've got the mexican food thing too but luckily I live in Holland where the mexican is pretty nasty.

Hope & Dear_Abby -
Kudos for maintaining! Let's be honest, that's a victory in itself!


As for me, I weighed in yesterday at 127.8 but today at 128.4. I know this is why you're not supposed to weigh yourself every day but I'm glad I did because seeing that 7 made me happy all day! My dinner last night had a bit of salt and it's time for my monthly visitor, so I have decided to officially ignore today's weigh-in and use yesterday's as my number. I need this cheat for my motivation!

nottango

Wednesday weigh-in
Down 1 hard-earned measly pound. I am glad not to have gained because I've been really wanting to eat a LOT lately. Not sure if it's due to the warm weather or stress over the upcoming vacation. I have been jogging, but just doing short runs. I know that if I push myself too much it'll backfire on me and make it even harder to get out there.
I will be on vacation next week, and plan to eat a lot (and have some adult beverages!) but also exercise regularly so hopefully wont do too much damage. I have 2 great former running buddies there, and we're planning to do a long run on Saturday morning.
Ruby - don't sweat the weight for now. It's so important that you get enough for the baby! I breast-fed exclusively, and was STARVING the entire time with both kids. I didn't lose any weight until I was done, but I wouldn't change a thing because they've both been amazingly healthy.

RunbikeSki

'morning all,
Todays weight: 135.4, exactly the same as last week. I suspect it is a little high due to a hard workout yesterday. I know from experience (and reading other's reports) that after a workout muscles are inflamed as they are repairing. So I suspect some of that weight is water - I'll check tomorrow.

You know? I have never been much of scale addict - didn't even own one until a couple of years ago - but now I am finding I may weight myself 2 or 3 times a week. hmmmm not sure that that is good thing, but at least the whims of the scale are not controlling my outlook on life as they once did.

Nottango, a measly pound is still a pound, woman. But I get what your are saying sometimes it just seems like all that hard work, restraint, and sarifices should have a bigger reward.

Sara, you earned the lower number, so yeah, go with that one

Abby I agree, maintaining is an honor all by itself. Like you said, you know what to do. I am sure when the opportunity presents itself, you'll know it and take advantage of that opportunity. Oh and yeah, right now my job is pretty hellish. It should be better in a couple of months, but in my profession I don't have a lot of mobility. Although there may be some things coming up in the next year or 2.

Hope I have been known to log my really bad days with 1 eye closed and then not really look at it for a day or 2. But when I do it is really helpful in understanding where and maybe why I went off track.

Chris I had to give up most mexican food for just the reason you experienced. Chips are def. a trigger food and once I head down that road it's Katy bar the door. Enchilatas with double cheese and big dollop of sour cream... sure why not? But you can't life in a bubble so you do what you can. Nice job "testing" yourself. I think that's worth doing from time to time.