I was expecting a big old fat gain on Monday. I was out of town three days last week and then busy, busy, busy, all weekend. I just knew I had gained. So…
I was shocked…
to say the least!
Down 1.2. Wow! My total since January 1 is…
18 pounds! YAHOO!!!
I am telling you, this year is flying by! How is it the middle of March already?!?
So, I debated about what to talk to you about tonight and then I had someone leave me a comment asking how many calories I am eating so I figured I would talk to you about that.
First of all, let me tell you that my diary on My Fitness Pal is wide open. Anyone that I am friends with can see what I am eating at any time during the day. That opens me up to a load of vulnerability but I feel like it helps some people and also keeps me honest. Friend me if you want to be nosy or just see what I consume on a daily basis.
As far as calories go, I eat around 1500-1700 a day. I know that is high. I tried to lower it to 1200 and guess what?!? I didn’t lose any weight. So, I went back in and had the program (that someone paid tons of money to develop and do the research behind) recalculate my calories for me. It calculates me around 1500 a day. As long as I do some form of getting my buttocks off the couch (doesn’t happen every day on the weekends!), I will get more than 1500. Some days I eat the extra calories it gives me and some days I do not. Most days I stick to right around 1600.
THIS IS FOR ME! It is for my weight and my height, age, activity, etc. The program (MFP) will calculate it for you. I also want to lose around 1-1.5 a week. Some weeks I lose more and some weeks I lose less. It all depends on how “on” I was with tracking that week! The more “on” I am, the better I do.
I do not think eating 1200 calories a day works for me. I think my body goes into some sort of starvation mode and starts storing up food for winter. My body seems to lose weight eating the calories I am eating. I know that because I have consistently lost weight since January 1. Actually, there has only been one week I DIDN’T lose weight.
So, I am going to stick with what I am doing because it seems to be working. If you have manually changed your calories and you aren’t losing, maybe try a week or two back at what it tells you to eat. I can tell you one thing, you won’t be starving anymore!
How many calories a day do you typically eat?
About Jennifer Swafford
