Weight Loss

I am new to CC and counting calories in general. Here is some background info, I am 5'1 and now 118 pounds (EEEEK) live in NYC. My whole life untill the past 8 months i have consistently weight 102-103. I now work in Fashion in the corporate offices so i sit on my butt all day long, combined with eating out with my boyfriend every night i gained about 15 pounds!!! I am looking to get down back to 102 by Novemeber 21, our one year anniversary trip in Mexico. I need some help and motivation.

I know a balance of strength training and cardio is best, so thats what i am doing! As for food, i think i should be eating 1300 cals a day? is this right, i am very sedentary at work, at my desk all day ong, but excersize 5 times a week.

Can anyone help me out with how much i burn and how much i should eat??

thanks!!!

Diet wise, I'd cut down to 1200 calories a day on average, I'd probably shift between - 1200 - 1250 - 1100-1200-1300-1250-1100-  in an average week.

While doing this, I'd take a daily multivitamin, adding complex carbs and fruits and vegetables to my intake.

This is what my current routine is like (though I no longer take vitamins), I also drink green tea every day and nothing but water.

On Sundays because of our home traditions would be the only exception of me having a beverage aside from my normal water with food, the beverage is usually along the lines of a heavy dietary supplement like malt with barley, a coconut milk punch, a mango shake or protein shake which are all chock full with vitamins and very filling.

thanks! This is ver helpful. Why do you think switching up the calories every day is good?

actually, if you're exercising 5x a week, i don't think you should be aiming for a 1200cal average... Check how much your expenditure is (logging your exercising on the burn meter). it should be about 2000~2100/day average. As your current weight is 118lbs, and you should be losing up to 10% of your body weight, you can safely lose 1.2lbs/week, which would be 3500x1.2=4200cals. 4200/7=600cals (this is the maximum deficit you should be aiming for).

This means that you should be eating a minimum of 2000-600=1400cals/day average, for a steady weight loss. but as long as you're eating less that 2000 cals, you should still be losing weight, albeit at a slower rate.

it'd be good to cycle your calories so that you'll be eating more on exercise days and less on non-exercise days though. You need the additional calories when you exercise to repair your muscles and refuel your body. You'll probably feel hungrier as well. Switching your calories helps to prevent weight loss plateaus as well. If you consistently eat very little, your body ends up conserving its energy expenditure instead, and this will impede your weight loss. 

my advice is that you can aim to lose weight as far as possible, but do make allowances sometimes to go higher (like say 1800cal average in the week), even if it does seem that it will 'slow down your weightloss'. This is especially for weeks where you know that you'll be having ice cream dates, birthday celebrations and what not. it's better to be able to enjoy yourself (and the food) with people, than to hit a certain (very low and miserable) caloric target for each day. And if you're trying to lose weight for your anniversary, then i'm sure that your boyfriend is part of the motivation for you to shed the pounds... but it's possible that in the process, you might end up getting more fixated with the weight goal than the goal of actually feeling great and having fun during your anniversary, which i'll bet is tons more important, really. (just my 2cents!)

all the best!

Original Post by green_pepper:

Diet wise, I'd cut down to 1200 calories a day on average, I'd probably shift between - 1200 - 1250 - 1100-1200-1300-1250-1100-  in an average week.

No one should be eating under 1200 under any circumstances. I think it's actually against the rules here to promote it. You could email a moderator for more information, but basically the adult female body needs 1200 cals regardless of size. It's the bare minimum for your internal organs to function properly.

Also, undereating will mess up your metabolism and slow or stop weight loss. You will have a hard time losing the last few pounds and restricting MORE will actually make it harder. Eating more and leaving only a little deficit allows you to lose those last few pounds, albeit slowly. If you trap yourself with that November deadline, you may get down temporarily but at a very, very high price: yo-yoing back up again. It could take months to undo the damage of a crash diet.

Hi there,

I am also 5'1" (technically 5' 1/2") but who's counting. Anyway, I started on this forum a few weeks ago. My high point was 114 and I am now down to 110. My goal is 106, then I'll reassess at that point if I feel like I need to lose more.

My "goal" calorie intake is 1400 (but I usually eat around 1550). My burn meter is 1860. My setting is at "light activity". I find that 1400 calories is a bit restrictive. I'd rather do more exercise, than control my food that much. Some days are easier than others.

Bottom line, I try to make sure that the calories I eat are less than my burn meter. Therefore, if I eat more on a particular day or I know I am going out to eat, I do more exercise to compensate

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Huh? This is not a crash diet... this is shuffling calories. The pattern is eating more on the other day, this works if you are sedentary, you are blowing things out of proportion I think...