Frustrated

amandamotley

Hi everyone,

I'm extremely frustrated. I know I'm not fat. 5'4", weighing 138-141 lately. In October, at my low, I was about 128. I was working out twice a day at that point, and I'm a healthy eater. I was a size 2 and had faint abs. Life is eating me alive at the moment. Studying for a huge licensing exam that's in a month, and my bf was in a bad skiing accident in February. It's been a long 3 months of recovery.

My point is that a lot has changed, and I haven't had the time to work out twice a day - even once a day - as every minute that I'm not working or studying is wrapped up in grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. I get to the gym 2-4 times a week. I lift weights and do cardio, but I can't focus on any particular plan with my schedule like this.

I've only recently started tracking calories, as the weight seems to be piling on and it's killing me. None of my clothes fit and I'm depressed. I'm trying to figure out the appropriate calorie target. If I change my profile to sedentary, it gives me a target of 1200 calories, but that seems too low. Also, I live in NYC, so even on my worst day I get a 20 minute round trip walk to work, plus walking to the grocery store, etc. Should I change to lightly active?

In a normal setting, I know exactly what to do to get the results I want, but I'm really thrown off track with the current state of things. If you look at my food log, please know it's not the norm - my boyfriend turned 30 last weekend so we had eating out and a party. I very rarely drink and only eat out 1-2 times per week, making reasonable choices even then. Any tips on how to categorize myself for the right calorie target? And beyond that, tips for slimming down with a schedule that is painfully packed? It is much appreciated!