Posts by robynready

I just wanted to chime in here because I have exactly this situation only smaller...  My daughter has always been very small and doesn't eat very much.  Her pediatrician once told me any calorie is a good calorie.  She be will turn 12 this month and just made 70 pounds on the scale. 

She plays hockey and decided to try out for a new team this year which would have her playing with girls and sometimes boys who are 14 years old (and really big).  Well, she made the team and then stated she wanted to play this team and her old team.  After much debate we agreed, but then she went through a growth spurt where she got taller but not any heavier.  She looked like a stick figure, all muscle and no body fat.  Off to the doctor we went and he sent us to a nutritionist.  The deal is she can't play both teams if she loses weight so we have put the plan in her hands and she can choose to do this or not, I don't want food issues.  Here is the food plan from the nutritionist:

Breakfast - Two eggs, english muffin, fruit, 1 cup vanilla soy milk

Snack 1 - 1 ounce walnuts or other nuts, capri sun or juice box

Lunch - 6 ounces protein, one cup starch, two serving fruit or vegetables

Snack 2 - two snacks like cheez-its or crackers, 1 cup vanilla soy milk

Supper - 6 ounces protein, 1 cup starch, two serving fruit or vegetables, 1 cup vanilla soy milk

Snack 3 - Something sweet, cookies, cake, ring dings

Protein Drink or Ensure after every practice and game.

She has done a great job sticking to this plan and according to the nutritionist (we don't weigh her at all) she has gained plenty of muscle eating this way through the summer.  We hope it will continue through the season which goes from 8/17/09 - 5/15/10.  Sorry this is so long, I hope it helps you get some ideas for your daughter.

Alexandra,

At the top of the fitness forum there is a read this first post by Melkor.  It will give you some great ideas.  I have been doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women (NROLFW) and I love that one because it was good for me as a beginner.  I had never worked with weights before but I love it and have seen many positive changes in my body composition.

lagralet,

I am hoping you check back on this thread.  I ran your numbers as well and your BMR is 1680.  You should try to not eat below this number.  You didn't list your activities in your email but at Lightly Active, which most of us are at least,  you could eat 1800 calories a day and see a loss of 1 pound a week.  One of the dangers of eating 1200 calories which is below your BMR is that you will lose weight quickly but it will come back just as quickly.  The idea is to lose as slowly as possible with a reasonable calorie deficit and some exercise so that the loss is permanent.  As you have seen with Atkins when you eat low calorie or extremely low carb and then begin to eat normally the weight can come right back.  Good luck to you too!  I hope this helps you on your journey to get healthy.

I am 5'3" and an hourglass.  I have lost over 30 pounds since last July.  I now weigh 121 and don't have much jiggle except in my bust which has remained larger in comparision to the rest of me, my only complaint.  I am currently wearing a 4 US but they are starting to get big now.

I have eaten an average deficit of 300 calories a day and walked 3 days a week since July 2008.  In January I started the New Rules of Lifting for Women (NROLFW) and can't believe the difference.  I have definiton all over my body, including some in my abs which I never thought I would see.  I lift heavy for me, which means deadlifts of 100 pounds, and squats and step-ups with 120 pounds (almost to body weight).  After only five months I am totally hooked on weight lifting.  I have added extra aerobics in the last two weeks just because I am getting close to my goal weight and body fat percentage and don't want to eat less.  I eat an average of 1650 calories a day.

Good luck to everyone, I hope this information is helpful.

Wow, I ran you through the calculator and your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 2935 calories per day.  This is what you need just to survive.  To maintain your current weight you need 4540 calories and to lose about one pound a week you need 4100.  I put you in at moderately active because you said you were not doing any extra exercise outside of the heavy construction work.  You are a big guy!  You should not eat below your BMR as this may slow weight loss.  At your size you could have a deficit 1000 a day but you have been having deficits much higher and that also can slow weight loss.

You could eat 3500 a day for a 1000 calorie deficit or 4100 for a 500 a day deficit, but you should not ever go below 2935 a day.  Also, eat lots of lean protein (chicken breast, fish, turkey) you are going to want to maintain as much muscle as possible while losing the extra pounds and that may help.

None of my business, but my husband is 6'2" and he weighs 195 and looks very thin.  Are you sure you should have a goal of 200 at 3 inches taller?  You will probably look even thinner than he does.

I ran you through the calculator and put you at moderately active, although at five days a week you may be very active.  Anyway, without knowing your exact age but from the picture I guessed you were around 25, your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 1700 calories.  This rate is what your body needs just to survive.  At 1600 calories you are eating below your BMR. 

This can cause your body to slow down the weight loss.  To give you an example, I am 5'3", moderately active, and I am losing weight on 1600-1700 calories a day.  This gives me a deficit of about 300 calories a day. 

I calculate you need 2600 calories to maintain your current weight and that you could lose about a pound a week on 2100 calories.  You could eat less than 2100 for a higher deficit or just use your exercise to have a higher deficit but try not to go below the 1700 calories number per day.

Congratulations on your weight loss so far, if I am reading this right you have passed the century mark! I have lost 30 pounds using this method and am just working to lose the last few pounds of fat so it has worked for me.  I hope it helps you.

If I have your age really wrong let me know and I will recalculate with the correct age.  I used a calculator meant for people over 21.

We have a tradition where Easter candy and Halloween candy are bagged up and taken to the homeless shelter.  My kids get way to much due to neighbors, grandma, and friends.  We share this with other who probably didn't get anything for Easter.  You'll feel better because you didn't eat more than you need and because you shared with others.

They are not just good they are amazing.  We buy them at BJs in bulk packages.  The only problem you may have is eating them all at once.

I know it stinks to not have heath insurance but go see the doctor, you know that as a nurse you should. 

As to the baby and weight, I had a terrible time with both pregnancies with the baby growing.  It's called intrauterine growth retardation.  I would gain the pound a week but the baby would gain nothing.  I was burning way more calories than I could eat.  So I had to go to eating small frequent meals which were very high in calories, think avocados and steak.  I actually have the note the doctor wrote telling me to eat an egg, Ensure, ice cream sundae, candy bar, and a small bag of potato chips in additon to all the meals everyday.  I also was restricted to no exercise.  If you are not eating or gaining you can't burn any calories that should be going to the baby. 

It worked my first baby had been on track to weigh three pounds at birth when we discovered the problem. She was born at exactly five pounds and perfectly healthy but the skinniest baby you ever saw.  When I got pregnant the second time I went on this diet as soon as I knew, I gained over 45 pounds and she weighed exactly seven!

I am not a doctor and this was only my experience.  You need to see your doctor to find out the right solution for you.  But I can tell you that by not feeding yourself you are not feeding your baby.  I hope it all works out for you and I am sorry it's so hard for you.

Using the calculator your BMR is 1814 calories if you eat 1600 you are below your BMR and it's not a good place to be.  Using Moderate as your activity level (which is awesome by the way, I don't exercise that much at all) you should be able to eat between 2200 and 2400 calories a day and expect to lose a pound week.

edit - I have sent you a chart with all the activity levels calculated in your email because it won't post into here are a table.

I really like the vanilla because if I feel like pumpkin I add that and if I feel like chocolate I add Cocoa powder.  It gives me more options on flavors.

Actually, 1/2 cup dry is 150 calories, 1 cup dry is 300 calories, but 1 cup dry makes 2 cups of prepared oatmeal, and even I can't eat that much oatmeal.

I make a smoothy every morning with oats, pumpkin, cocoa, ground flax seed, and either strawberries or bananas.  I love oatmeal and never get tired or it.

Edited to correct spelling ;-)

I agree it is probably caused by the ice, but is it a bruise colored ring with a clear center around the blemish , like a bull's eye, or is it all one circle of bruise color?  Just asking because a bull's eye ring around any site on the body is an early warning of Lyme Disease and should be checked by a doctor.  It would be really weird if it appeared at the same time you used ice on a blemish but I thought I would ask, just in case.

I am 5'2" and wore a size twelve petite when I weighed between 150 and 145.  I started on CC on Aug 15 and weighed 150, which was my highest non-pregnancy weight ever.  I have lost 13 pounds so I am now wearing an 8.  I have an hourglass figure if that helps you to get a better idea of how the clothes will fit.