I eat a bit more than both of you. 1460 is my default calories a day usually I am under but that helps me. Was getting rundown and too tired s with my lack of sleep schedule due to working graveyards I had t do something before I got sick again. Did 2;5 hours of heavy shoveling today plus just rocked a legs workout at the gym so I'm having a 2nd protein shake for the day. Actually did 16oz both of em to balance me out a bit.

My calories are set at 1620 daily. I stay just under except on the days that I work night shift, there is just something about eating a full meal at 3am. I just can't do it. I am usually way under on those days, but I stay around 1600 on the other days. I am trying to hit the gym at least 3 days a week to do cardio and some weights. And on my off days from gym I do some body weight resistant moves that I learned from a previous Pilates class I have taken. I am trying to go to gym more often but after working 12.5 hours I am exhausted and can't physically make it to gym. I am trying to figure out a better routine.

My calories are about 1350 and I'm OK eating my exercise calories back. I only log my "workouts" and not my activity (a quick walk at lunch, my weekly volleyball league, playing with kids etc) so that hopefully I'm still increasing my deficit a bit more. I've struggled with my weight my whole life...up down up down. And finally last February, it FINALLY clicked for me. Food is meant to be enjoyed. It is fuel, but it's more than that. So to 100% deprive yourself trying to be perfect will always ultimately end up in failure. I tried so hard to be perfect, and then when I wasn't, I beat myself up and felt like a failure. What finally clicked were 2 things. 1) Life is about choices - all day, every day, in every aspect. So that includes food. I can choose to eat pizza and wings but then I'm so lucky I can CHOOSE to eat less or workout more the next day to balance it all out (just like JillMarie said). But I'm enjoying it, not feeling guilty, not feeling deprived. And 2) who cares how long it takes me to lose it if I NEVER HAVE TO LOSE IT AGAIN? Of course I would love to drop it quickly, but the reality is I'm a single mom of 3 with a full time job and a house and yard. I have to be realistic.So beating myself up for not losing it quickly isn't really taking care of myself either. But overall, just trying to eat within my macros and eating healthy clean food 80% of the time so I can splurge the other 20%.

I agree with forever4me... patience is your friend in this weight loss journey. I've lost 25 lbs last year, and I'm happy with that because I know I can loose 25 lbs this year and should be at my goal by this summer! :bigsmile: But what really matters is I know I will look better than I did last summer.

I stay between 1600 and 2000 calories depending on my day. I just got a fitbit for Christmas and I love that it verifies the calories I am actually burning. (If your a mom of small children, you're not sedentary even though you sit at a desk most of the day) I have noticed I get hungry when I burn a lot of calories, which is the way it should be! If you're hungry...EAT. I try to make better choices but I'm struggling with my macros... dang carbs! I have growing boys and the only way to fill them up is with breads pastas potatoes etc... I personally know I need to get better a food prep (time and planning) so I can limit my carbs during the day when I'm at work. I have been going to the gym on Tues and Thurs during lunch... then Mon, Wed and Friday running errands during lunch break... and fast food.. guilty! :blushing:

I started with the standard MFP recommendation of 1200 calories per day because I put in that I have a sedentary lifestyle since I work at a desk job. I didn't take it too seriously, I was over almost every single day by a couple hundred calories but just the awareness of how many calories are in various foods was extremely eye opening for me. I also started trying to use the gym membership I had had for years but rarely went other than for kids swim lessons! I started out with walking on the treadmill and riding the stationary bike since it was still February and cold in Missouri! So I was estimating about 100-200 calories burned each day from exercise and eating those back. I started losing weight pretty steadily about a pound a week.

After reading the forums a little bit and hearing about TDEE, I decided to try to figure that out. I am very analytical and loved the numbers and various spreadsheets to calculate things that I found posted on MFP. I realized that if I estimated my activity above and beyond my desk job and the 30 minutes of exercise, I really was more active and the calculators suggested my TDEE was more like 1700 or 1800. I raised my calorie goal up, first to 1500, and then later up to 1600. I was still losing, between 2-4 lbs/month.

In August I got a FitBit and I too realized just how active my "sedentary" lifestyle is. As a result, I realized my average daily burn is more like 2000-2200 depending on whether I "exercise" or just "move". Since I am pretty close to goal, I now have things set to lose 0.5 lbs/week or 250 cal/day, so I usually eat anywhere from 1800-2000 calories/day. Over the holidays I was over many times, but it still averaged out to be about my maintenance calories, so I think since Thanksgiving I am up maybe 1.5 lbs.

As far as what I eat, I am definitely not a good example of clean eating or even probably what most people would consider balanced. I am not big on fruits/vegetables though I am trying to do better. I still eat out, we eat a lot of pizza and mexican since the kids like it. And I still have a glass or two of wine in the evenings (sometimes more on weekends!).

For me, just the awareness of how many calories were in various foods and seeing it right in front of my eyes has been a huge change in my lifestyle. If we are going out to eat, I will try to look at options before I go, or even on my phone at the restaurant, before I order. I really like wine, more than sweets, so rather than having a bowl of ice cream after dinner I will have a glass of wine. Before MFP I probably would have had both!

I love to cook and am always interested in new recipes or meal suggestions!

I have cut out most processed foods, 1/2 of my bread intake, those nasty microwave lunches, daily fast food, and the love of my life.. pepsi. I have also started to eat breakfast. I do a smoothie in the morning. An egg sandwich or something similar for lunch. Meat & something for dinner. My struggle is I HATE veggies. So I am trying to find other options to eat with meals/snacks that are healthy and low in calories.

I tried the 1200 cal thing and it just didn't work. i was starving all the time which would then make me snack on junk food after dinner until bedtime. I adjusted MFP to lose 1lb/week which gives me 1540 calories. That seems to be working out much better. I just have to remember slow and steady wins the race. I was so used to my 20's metabolism...you know when you miss lunch and lose 5lbs, now I look at a candy bar and gain 5lbs. haha

I want to drop this extra weight this year and want to do it right. I just ordered a polar ft4 HRM so I will know the correct calories I burn working out and can track them properly on here.

Good Luck ...we can do this!

I am a vegetarian, I don't eat fish either but I do eat cheese. My basic daytime food consists of nuts, raw veggies and 2 fruit smoothies. I snack on my nuts and veggies all day and have a smoothie for breakfast and a smoothie for lunch. It keeps me full and then I have a normal dinner every night. I do go over on my sugars with the fruit smoothies, but I consider it good sugars, and I'm hypoglycemic, so I need more sugars and I like to make excuses for myself so it doesn't matter because I'm losing weight and I feel amazing, I have so much more energy since I started drinking my fruit. I don't follow any kind of routine on the weekends, I just make sure I don't get crazy. So, all that good stuff about my diet, here's my downfall. I love pasta, not spaghetti pasta or low fat ****ake noodle pasta or whatever it is called, I like pasta. I make pasta so much my niece asked me if I was italian. I make italian once or twice a week for dinner, mexican once or twice a week, and randomness the other days. I cook every night for on average 9 people, I love to cook and I know that I will not stick to a diet that doesn't allow me to cook and eat my own food. So that's my downfall, but I'm still losing weight so my one little downfall can kiss my ever shrinking behind.

I have recently changed my cals from 1860 to 1730. I have not lost weight lately. Seemed to be stalled. I had lost 50 pounds walking, doing Zumba and eating better. Not eating out, changing from ground meat to turkey ground meat. Not much of a cooker but trying a few recipes I have seen on the site. November I joined a gym and have been doing treadmill, elliptical and bike and strength training. So hopefully I will see a change in my body soon. I have a crockpot and want to try using it for more healthy meals. Hoping to reach my 2nd short term goal by August. Any suggestions?