Help!! Totally confused about calories...
 

Hey all!

I'm hoping that you can help me with my dilemma. Now, before I explain, I'm not complaining about anything, I just need some insight as to whether I'm doing something wrong or not.

Ok, I've been fighting w/the same 4 lbs. for over 2 mos. I've lost inches (11.5 in the last 2 mos.), so I know I'm not stalled, but I'm trying to figure out why I can't keep these 4 lbs. off (and lose more for that matter). I'm eating around 1900-2000 calories a day w/an average of 74% fat, 4% carbs & 22% protein. I drink around 130-140 oz. of water per day. I walk 5-8 miles a week and do Curves and/or Body Flex 3-5x per week. (I have my menus posted in my journal if you think this may be a food related stall.)

Here's where I'm confused. I've seen a billion times that a good guesstimate on caloric consumption is 10-12x your body weight. Then I read more about basal metabolic rates and active metabolic rates and how they factor in. The info below is what I got from a site that I visited (weight includes stupid 4 lbs. that I can't shake):

Input Weight is: 254 in U.S. Pounds
Input Height is: 66 in U.S. Inches
Input Age is : 29
Input Gender is: female

The Metabolism Results Are:
1867.7 calories per day is your Basal Caloric Rate.

2428.0 calories per day recommended for your Active Caloric Rate.

No less then 1367.7 calories per day recommended for safe consistent Weight Loss. At this safe consistent Weight Loss Caloric Rate, you will lose 1 pound every 7 Days.

After seeing that, I'm completely and totally confused. Am I eating too much? Too little? Just right? I have been trying not to worry about it, but it's creeping up on 3 mos. w/no loss and I'm worried that I'm doing something wrong.

Any thoughts, comments and ideas would be greatly appreciated. I've done fairly well w/this so far and I don't want to screw up now.

Thanks and happy LCing!
Nikki :daizy:

Hi Nikki,

I want to post something helpful in reply to your question, but I have no answer. However, I can certainly empathize with your problem. I just went through a five or six week period of doing exactly what I had been doing for almost a year and losing nothing (before that I was steadily losing 5 to 8 pounds a month). I have started losing again, but more slowly than I was losing before. I think that sometimes, after we lose a lot of weight (and you and I have both lost a lot of weight), our bodies just need to adjust for a little while before they can start dropping weight again. I am hoping that my body is going through a period of adjustment and my weight loss will speed up again sometime in the future. In the meantime, I'm trying to just focus on how far I have come and how much healthier I am than I was a year ago.

That's kind of interesting.. if you look at % toward goal, both of you are almost the same spot!

I'm still not sure about this calorie thingy either you know. Think I've read too many opinions on it. I do think that is I slip below basic metabolic requirement, I tend to stall.

Hi Nikki,
I don't have a cast in stone answer either, but I have to say...remember when I increased my calories...and then gained weight...so I decreased them again, and i usually am losing...slowly but at least losing.
Do you think it would hurt to just reduce things for a week or two, and see what happens...or go back down to induction for two weeks, maybe it needs a kickstart.
Just a thought..
Hugs

Hey everyone!

Thanks for your input! It really means a lot to me! I'm still at a loss as to what I should do, but I think I may work on reducing calories for a little bit. Nothing drastic, just maybe dropping down to 1500 or so to see if that gets things moving again. I also may try my luck on posting this in the Atkins forum.

Thanks again and happy LCing!
Nikki :daizy:

Thanks, Carla!

I ate around 1700 cals last night w/about 70% fat and today should be around 1600 cals w/around 70% fat. I hope that something gives soon. ;) Losing inches is nice, but I could really use some losses on the scale about now.

Together we *can* do this!!
Nikki :daizy: