Help with calorie counting please!!

Hello,I kind of need help with a little issue that im in...this is long so have patience.  My starting weight was 242 and now im 200 and obese. I cant see the end of the tunnel and dont think that i will see it for a while now and that depresses me. Even if i lose 20 lbs i will still be a cow and this is why i am constantly tempted to drop my calories more and more. I was doing weight watchers and that was fine. They had a set of rules such as you must eat this much and this is extra to treat yourself, but if you eat all of it you will have to exersize your fat ass to get more food. I got that. I swiched to calorie couonting because its cheaper and simpler...or so i thought. I started at 1400 calories and then i droped to 1200 because i was told that that was the minimum amount i could eat so i figured why not. Then some one tells me that i need to eat 1500 minimum because im a teen, and that my metablolism has probably slowed down. Also if i eat 1500 i will lose like 1 lousy pound a week and that depresses me. Then i read that you dont really lose too much body mass if you cut under 1000 calories while lifiting weights, or if your obese because your mostly made up of fat and you have excess musle any way so who cares. There was even a study were a group of people went on a 800 calorie a day diet while lifting weights and dident lose a stich of mussle. All fat and more than usual. Does anyone have any information as to if any of this is true and what i should do. Also i have been over eating a lot and have maintained for like 3 weeks or more. I was wondering if you over ate one day of the week can you eat very little the next to make up for it . Does it really work like math? Ill post more later...heheh sry again i need a damn nutritionist dont i. :D thanks if you can help please dont insult me hahah <low self esteam :)

I know losing weight seems like a simple math equation:  Weight Loss = Calories Consumed - Calories Burned.  Which is true, to a point, but if you drop below the basic number of calories your body needs to function, your body thinks you're starving it and will make like a squirrel in fall.  That is, it will start hanging on to EVERY calorie you consume, and will make it impossible to lose weight.  And, it's true, you do need more calories because you're a teen.  Our bodies continue developing through the late teens and into the twenties, so it's important to get enough calories.

Bottom line, I'd stick with 1400-1500 calories.  A pound a week may not seem like much, but by the end of the year you'll have lost 50 pounds!  Patience really is a virtue, even if it's a hard one to cultivate.  You want to slowly change your lifestyle to gradually get and maintain a healthy weight. 

hey sillybunny, just food for thought (heh heh sorry) the thought that helps me be okay with "only" a pound a week is that I'd be really pissed if I were gaining a pound a week, so I guess losing a pound a week isn't so bad!

I'm leaving your other questions for the experts here, as they know better than I. Good luck!

Hey! I completely understand your impatience, but the general consensus is that the slower the weight loss, the more likely you are to keep it off. If you start a crash diet, your weight will yo-yo, and you will find yourself wasting even more time going up and down on the scale, and ending up probably around where you started..

And that study you posted - I doubt it was conducted on teens. If you eat less than the bare minimum you are not giving your body enough calories to grow and develop strength of bones and organs, among other things, which can only lead to serious health problems in the long run.

My two cents is that if you want to accelerate your loss you should stick to 1500 but become more active. When you are not doing weights, make room in your daily schedule for a brisk walk, or take a class of something fun like martial arts or dancing. I swear the fat will melt right off and you will find yourself feeling more energized and optimistic. :)

(off-topic: to posseof1, QC FTW! :D)

It's taken me over 3 years to get from 225 to 165.  There is no "light at the end of the tunnel" just a process that requires long term committment.  I only lose an average of 1/2 pound a week, then hit plateaus that can last for months.  Yet I've never given up and all that weight has stayed off.

So change the way you think about it.  It's an ongoing process that will last the rest of your life.  Make permenant changes to the way you eat and exercise and the weight will slowly come off.  The good news is, if you continue with your sensible plan, it will stay off forever, not just for now.

Agreed.

I think you should change your attitude about "dieting". Don't even call it a diet. Call it a lifestyle change. Because even when you're done losing weight, you still have to eat healthier and control your portions and you still even have to excercise. I'm doing fine losing "a lousy pound" a week, because its better than nothing. And yeah, I'm still a cow right now, but I'm 30 pounds lighter from when I started last year, and you are 40 pounds lighter. Think positively. It has taken me 7 months to lose 30 pounds, but thats okay because I know it will stay off when I start to eat my maitenence calories.

And I've gotten used to eating lesser portions, so you might too. "Dieting" is second nature to me now.

Not sure how old or how tall you are, but I started at the same weight and am now at 200 as well.

I lost most of my weight eating 2000 calories a day and exercising.  I am now consuming between 1700 & 2000 calories a day.

You need to fight that urge to eat less calories.  You need to make health food choices.  Just the way I eat now is so different than the food I was consuming four years ago.

This is a life long journey for me to get healthy.  Every year that I start weighing less than when the last year started is a bonus for me.

You also need to change the way you think.  You are not losing weight.  If you lose something you are always trying to find it and get it back.  You want to release your fat.  If you release something you are not looking to find it again.

Good luck with your journey.