Posts by bunnigrrl

How did this expert determine your BMR? Did you have to lie on a hospital bed enclosed in a sealed tent/bubble whilst remaining perfectly still for at least 45 minutes, while the gases from your breath were measured? Did you have to fast   beforehand? If not, I would take his advice with a grain of salt. There are plenty of calculators online, including CC's calculator, that can spit out a range of arbitrary figures depending on what algorithms they are based upon.

Technically, what i've described only measures RMR or resting metabollic rate, as BMR testing protocols are more stringent. However the terms are often used interchangeably.

I'm just over 5'2 and about 105lb. I've had my metabolism professionally tested, and it was determined to be 1205 cals per 24 hour period. Of course this is just the amount i burn at rest, and should be adjusted to account for activity.

i somehow survived on 1200 cals a day for years. that was with working out almost daily also. i thought i would gain weight if i increased my calories and was scared to do so for so long. however, within a couple of weeks of going up to 1500 calories, i went from around 16-17% body fat where i'd been for a long time, to about 12%. i am super cut now. i've also dropped a couple of kg in bodyweight and am now fluctuating between 46kg (101 lb) and 48kg (106 lb). my waist has gone down from about 60cm to between 57-59cm. i'm still working out 5-6 days a week (incorporating weight/resistance training, cardio, flexibility etc), but i feel a heck of a lot better and i am not tempted to binge like i did when i subsisted on only 1200 calories.

it's amazing how much more food you can fit into a day, and how much more satisfied you will feel too. i've had probably 10 serves of vegetables today, 200g lean meat, and yet still managed to fit a magnum icecream, chocolate and shortbread into my allowance. that's another thing i changed about my diet - i stopped worrying about counting carbs and eating late at night. my heavy training schedule probably demands that i eat a lot more carbs (including simple carbs) than i previously had.

i suggest you give it a try - maybe work your way up over the course of a couple of weeks. if you gain or maintain you can always go back down.

i should also add, although there's been tremendous improvement in the skin tension, it's still probably not as tight as someone who has never been overweight. i can see that there is still a little bit of laxity when i bend forwards. but overall, the improvement is amazing, and even my friends and my spray tan lady have noticed the difference.

mmm... I am the same. it's bordering on eating disorder for me as i try to avoid occasional restaurant dining with friends because i won't know the exact calorie content. i also sneak my own drinks into clubs so i won't have to drink high cal ones. I've been counting calories for years, so it's a very hard habit to break for me. If you've only just started, please take my advice and do not count to the single calorie, or worse - to decimal points. I would also suggest making estimates when cooking, as opposed to weighing every ingredient to the gram. 

calorie counting can really screw with your head

As someone who recently quit ciggies about a month ago, after smoking a pack a day for 10 years and a number of failed attempts, my advice is to try Champix.

it's a new drug you take twice a day. doesn't contain any nicotine but it really helps with the cravings. it took longer to start working for me than i was told it would, but once it gets to the right level in your system, it really works. i still had to get over the psychological/habitual addiction to smoking. and sometimes, even now i would probably like a cigarette. but, you won't be climbing the walls to have one. i found when i'd tried to quit cold turkey or with patches in the past, cigarettes would totally consume my thoughts. i hardly ever think about smoking since champix kicked in. i even work around people smoking and i'm no longer tempted.

patches keep you hooked on nicotine. you might as well light up another cigarette.