Getting into a 'fitness' mindset

Kieke no one should try to do a calorie intake of less than 1200 a day. Everyone needs 1200 at least or their metabolism starts to slow.

On my lapband forum, people's weight loss stall when their calorie intake is too low. You see it all the time. We tell them to up it to 1200 and bam! they start losing it again. Every time.

Check your BMR regularly too. As you lose weight, your BMR drops. Mine started at over 2000 and is now 1267. So you'll need to adjust your diet and exercise as you get lighter and fitter.

It's really important to eat all of your calories too (the amount worked out by Fitness Pal or Calorie King or whatever for weight loss). So, for instance, if they say eat 1800 calories, DO IT!!! That is the best for sustainable weightloss. Don't be tempted to eat 1200 or whatever, thinking it will help you loe weight faster. Although it seems counterintuitive, the larger you are, the more you need to eat to lose weight.

Many people also advocate eating back your exercise calories to maintain that level. So, if you burn 300 cals through exercise a day, add another 300 cals to that day's caloric intake.

As Sushee said, if you eat too few calories, your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism slows. It thinks you are starving so 'holds onto the calories'. It is counter productive.

Well done on your loss :D

Oh, does that mean I'm supposed to aim to be eating 2200 calories daily? Obviously not adding it up with chips'n'chocolate, but that the 1500 is too low?

Lol no 1500 is good. It's GREAT. But in an earlier post you said you were beating yourself up for not eating less than 1200. No one should eat less than 1200.

Sorry I just read n2l's post in full. I didn't count calaories when I was losing. I ate well and I exercised at least 3 times a week. But by my rough calculations, I was eating about 1200 - 1500 calories a day in my losing phase even though my BMR was over 2000. I have to admit at the time, that my lapband helped a lot with portion control, I couldn't PHYSICALLY eat more than 1500 even if I tried if I ate 'good' food. But now my lapband is leaking and I have no restriction, I have found that the lessons I learnt about 'good' food has stayed with me and I can still eat around 1200 calories a day without really thinking about it (and I eat back my exercise calories to maintain my weight).

I believe that I maintained my metabolism by exercising. More muscle = higher metabolism. Your metabolism also stays up at a higher rate for a few hours after exercise.

If you're eating 1500 cals a day easy, then stay on that, I would say. But start exercising. I cannot stress enough how much exercising is the key to weight loss. If you want to lose, if you want to sustain, you have to exercise. No one really likes doing it, but do it enough and it becomes habit. And you can get very addicted to how it makes you feel *afterwards*. Trust me. :)

4 kgs is amazing Keike!! Well done!!
Agree with the others, under 1200 is a no no. My plan is a 1200 cal diet and to not eat my cals back and it works for me. I do sometimes bump it up to 1400 or 1500 to keep my metabolism on it's toes ;) hehe

You're doing an amazing job! Well done!

Oh and I thought I'd mention that the first time I got on my exercise bike, I did 6 min and about 2kms and felt like I was going to have a heart attack. But I got better and faster as I kept doing it, and eventually, after 6 months, was riding 40kms each session. Exercising is a pain in the ass, but so rewarding if you stick at it.

I've just started exercising formally again after 18 months of just incidental exercise. I am feeling the pain of starting from scratch too, trust me. So curse and swear and hate it, but do it. I am exercising 30 mins Mon, Wed and Fridays, rain, hail, shine, sickness or just plain laziness. Walking, cycling, running. Whatever.

30 mins a week is just 90 mins in a week that consists of 10080 mins. Not much at all when you think of it.

I wanted to add about the exercising that it doesn't take long where you get to the point where you feel crappy if you DON'T do it every day. I started on Jan 3 this year and I"m averaging 9kms a day, over 3 sessions a day. Either walking outside or on the treadmill and I feel a bit antsy if I'm pressed for time and I dont think I can fit it in during the day. So it is something you really have to make yourself *do* in the first week or so, but after that it's easy to keep doing. If I'm struggling to keep the motivation, I just use the treadmill instead and put a DVD on - so easy to walk for an hour if you're watching a show that goes for an hour kwim?

If your anxiety problems prevent you from going outside, then look into hiring a treadmill or exercise bike etc so you can't use it as an excuse to not leave the house to exercise. It is really easy to become self defeatist and look for ways to avoid it. Things like weather - 'oh it's raining, can't exercise today', but if you have a treadmill there is no excuse!

We actually have a treadmill and a stationary bike, so I don't hafta go outside :) This morning was our first 'together' session - we got outta bed at 5am, did a half hour workout alternating between bike and treadmill, and then Professor got ready for work. I feel awesome, and also sore because I neglected to stretch, so I've hurt my back like a dipstick :doh: So, doing stretches every so often today to work it out, and then making absolutely sure we do a proper warm up from now on!

I don't stretch before. I do a slower pace warm up of 5 mins before I go hell for leather for as long as possible, lol. But stretching afterwards is so important. Take note of where it hurts and stretch those muscles. Doing it now and throughout the day is actually very, very good for those sore and aching muscles. And gentle exercise tomorrow will help them heal faster too.