I"ve thought a lot about this and I wonder if maybe we truly should not watch calories until we get somewhat close to our goal weight. I mean, don't eat a zillion calories, but don't worry about being at 1500 calories either, unless you aren't losing. The way I figure it, the closer you get to your goal weight, the slower the loss. If you have been at 1300-1500 calories the whole time, you won't be able to cut calories to get things moving again, if that makes sense. I think our bodies do adjust to what we are doing and by alternating different things such as calories and the amount/type of exercises, we keep things fired up.

I've kind of run the gamut on this. For a long time I was trying to stay around 1500-1800 calories. I rarely count now, although I would guess I'm still in that range simply because that's what I eat. When I get closer to goal, I can cut to 1300-1400 if I need to, although based on a lot of posts, the weight will still come off...it just takes longer to lose those last few pounds.

You have done terrific, btw!

L


Oh and Kyrstal, you aren't getting nearly enough calories and where is the fat? You need at least 1200 calories at a bare minimum and you should try to get your fat up to 65-70% for the best results. Dr. Atkins says in DANDR that you cannot do Atkins and low fat at the same time. Your body burns fat for energy so you need to give it plenty of the good kinds of fat.