Introduce yourself

kae_blah

Hi, I am Kat.

I have been using MFP 4 days a week for a few months (skipping Fri, sat, Sun when I know I eat a lot more junk). My next step was to join a gym and start going regularly (I am halfway through the C25K).

Now I am using MFP daily. Most days I am aiming for 1200, though sometimes I eat my exercise calories and I am trying to to get too upset if I go over (usually when going out with friends for dinner and snacks during and after a movie).

This group interests me as it seems busy, friendly, and has like-minded people.

P.S. I am in New Zealand so will be posting in metric. I'll try to remember to convert to US friendly measurements.

GC2B

Hello.
I'm Gem, 31 years old, Mum of 3.
MFP suggested my calories to be at 1200, so I do think the 1200cal bashing is silly.
I've not been counting or keeping a diary for long so I'm still learning.

As I have had food issues before I have to keep small goals in mind and look to how healthy I am and feel rather than the actual scale measurements. I would like to be at 133lb (think that's about 61kg??) currently 10lb off that, but as I said I have to make sure I'm not number chasing and going 100 miles an hour when I need to focus on the healthier picture.

I have an elliptical machine now which I hope to get some good cardio from.

xx

JULIEdance

Hi, I´m Julie, I´ve been using MFP for some time, but only found this group today.
I´m trying to maintain (more or less), eat mostly vegetarian diet with a rare exception of fish once in a while.
1200-ish on low/moderate activity days, I eat some more on my most active days.
I´m definitely not a gym type, my workout consists of dancing (mostly ballet), figure skating, swimming and lots of walking.

Trilby16

At 1100-1300 a day, I can lose a steady pound per week. What, pray tell, is wrong with that? I don't feel like I'm starving. I invite anyone to look at my food diary. I eat mostly wholesome real foods, mostly made by moi. Sometimes I grab a low-cal convenience food like a Light 'n Fit yogurt.

I think that people who say you need to eat more to lose more must have a very different metabolism from mine!

Trilby16

PS-- to those who say "Yeah but can you keep it up after you reach your goal?" I say, yes, absolutely.

alaskanaomi

I'm Naomi, I'm 28 and live in Alaska. For two weeks out of every month, I have a very sedentary job - answering phones for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. But then I have two whole weeks off of work to do whatever I want with!

I am at 180lbs and want to lose 40. MFP told me I should eat 1200 cals a day, I think that's reasonable. I have been working out pretty hard for about a week, so I eat a little more on those days. I've lost a little but would like to lose more.

PopCorn_Said

I've seen some talk about eating below your set 1200. If you're going to do that you might wanna talk to a nutritionist. My nutrition professor is a nutritionist and registered dietitian and I asked her about it and she said that if you eat less than 1200 you are starving your body. Yes, you may be losing weight, but you are losing it in the wrong areas. Your body will feed off it's muscle and not it's fat if you don't eat enough. Just want everyone to be healthy

I don't know about that... I am on the 1200 cal plan and I exercises almost every day so I never reach the 1200 cals... I am not losing weight like crazy... an average on a pound a week. If I get hungry, I eat an apple or something that is low cal...
I consulted a personal trainer and a nutritionist and they both said I could keep up doing what I was doing, that there was no risk for my health... I guess it depends on the person, right?
I am 5"1... small frame... petite everywhere but my bum... haha!

ONA79

Hi- I'm almost 34- mother of two. Been overweight since junior high but the added weight is catching up with my health and I need to get serious about it. Tried Weight Watchers after each of my kids- ate their recommended points and gained weight; and the response is generally that I must somehow be cheating. MFP tells me to eat 1700 calories a day- my Dr told me to track without dieting and see what I normally eat, which was 1400-1600 a day; so he told me to eat 1200 a day. I am rarely hungry in between meals and it has helped me focus on when I'm eating out of hunger/meal times vs boredom and when my eyes are bigger than my stomach. I cook. A lot. I like the control of simply not adding the cream to the end of the soup and trimming 300 calories. I've never been great at tracking food intake because I like to cook and it takes a lot more time. I meal plan on Wednesday. Thursday I enter the recipes here and sometimes tweak them to cut calories or sodium and then spend all day Friday cooking. Leftovers generally last until Wednesday or Thursday the next week. I have heart problems and cardio is a challenge for me so I really have to focus on what I'm eating since I can't burn it off as easily as others.

jeannate52

Hi I am Regina, PLEASE count me in, anyone that would like to add me as a friend please feel free. I was seeing a lot of discussions about 1200 not being that great for you so I up'd my calories last week to 1300 - 1400, I GAINED 1.5lbs in a week. 1200 works great for me. I have 35lbs to go to reach my UGW of 145. 1200 works for me. I have come to the conclusion that if it works for you go for it!