I am stressing! Help Please!

Go out tonight and have fun. Celebrate with your family and eat what you want I wouldn't worry about this one meal - you can get right back on the diet tomorrow. You need to treat yourself once in awhile. If 80% of your days are good and 20% are days where you cheat, you will still win the diet wars.

If you don't know how much you weigh, how do you know you need to lose 15-20lbs?

Also, 1200 calories is the bare minimum your body needs just to function. You shouldn't be going under this at all. If you are exercising you should eat back at least some of those calories you burn as well - your body needs fuel.

Don't stress out over food. You can eat whatever you want to eat and still lose if you do it in moderation. If you mess up one day and go over, it's still ok. Just pick yourself up the next day and move on.

Hi
If it was me, i would go and enjoy myself. I would eat all of what I like but in moderation. Then get back on track the following day. You may gain a few pounds , but you have to enjoy what your doing or you will come off plan. Maybe exercise a bit more to cover extra calories. Dont worry or you will not enjoy your healthy eating. Have a good time

I believe to take everything in moderation. Don't eat everything is sight, just have a little. With myself If I completely cut sweets out, I will have issues! ha So ill allow myself to have a piece of dove chocolate or something. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi Lindsey,

I have lots of thoughts about your post but first and foremost I would suggest you go out and celebrate your brothers birthday without any guilt about what you eat. It sounds like you've been working very hard and eating well and one meal will not make you fat (just as someone pointed out one healthy meal will not make you thin!) Food should be enjoyed but for the majority of the time we need to monitor what we eat so we do not get into bad habits without realising it. I know I can overeat all the wrong foods and I had no idea how many calories I could consume so easily so this site is helpful for that.

I'm a bit confused about how you know you only need to eat 1200 calories if you don't know what you weigh. When I joined this site I had to give my height and weight to help it work out my calorie intake. If you don't know how heavy you are, how do you know you need to lose 15-20lbs. That's quite a lot of weight to want to shift, especially if you don't need to. (By the way, this is rhetorical mumblings, I'm not asking you to state how much you weigh if you don't want to!!)
Also re calories, having so many left over by the end of the day doesn't sound too healthy. While eating less will help you lose weight your body will also go into starvation mode if you don't eat enough and this is when it stores every ounce of fat possible to try and keep you healthy. Maybe eating a bit more and doing some good exercise would be a more helpful way to shift weight if you need to, and tone up.

For what it's worth I would go and enjoy a meal of my choice tonight and be happy and laugh a lot with my family. Then tomorrow I would wake up happy and think what lovely memories I had helped to make. In that mood you're much more likely to want to go for a nice walk or cook some healthy breakfast than if you're miserable because you feel you missed out.

Whatever you choose, have a fab night! )

Don't stress, eat the jumbalaya and have fun. You have the calories to spare. I've been told that if you eat under the 1200/day calorie limit you put your body into starvation mode and your metabolism slows down so you still don't lose weight. I had the same issue, wondering why I suddenly put on weight while not really eating much. Still struggling myself to find a good healthy balance each day. I'm a coffee fanatic and like it sweet so my sugar intake is too high. I've also been on a hot apple cider kick recently and that has too much sugar. So it looks like I'm going to have to cut that out and severly limit my coffee. Also struggling with getting the right balance of carbs/fat/protein. Using the online version is helping with that since I can see the break down and where I'm going off the rails. Good luck and keep with it. And enjoy the birthday party.

Welcome aboard! I think you will find an abundance of help and support here! This site is all about learning to eat healthy and how to reap the benefits of that, such as weight loss and better overall health. As for going out tonight, go and enjoy yourself! It's one day, one meal really. It's okay to treat yurself once in a while, if you don't you'll just start to resent what you are doing!

Reply to Fast_Eddie_72 about under eating. I eat oatmeal for breakfast and loads of fruit, veg, salad, tuna and chicken etc on a daily basis but because I can't eat bread, potatoes, rice and have quinoa for my carbs my total is easily under 1200 on a daily basis so I have to 'top up' with nuts and seeds. Sometimes i have to remind myself I have to eat as I don't feel hungry and drink lots of water so it doesn't necessarily mean I, or anyone else has 'an eating disorder'

Girl! Eat some more please, atleast net 1200 calories like everyone else said. Also, Go out and enjoy yourself!!! We all need a little sanity sometimes and that's what lifes all about. Order what you want, try to stay away from deep fried items, maybe eat half your meal and save the other half for tomorrow! That's what I always like to do. Enjoy!

I'm concerned.
From what you say you are eating too little.
What is your height. your current weight and your goal?

a banana is not sufficient for breakfast.

You are over thinking it. Most of us have "cheat" meals once a week and still lose. You are consistently lower than your goal, so one meal is not going to kill you. Think of it as a weekly goal, instead of a daily thing. You are way under for your weekly calories, so even one meal is not going to make you gain weight. It is the over all picture. Try to focus less on the short term, and keep your eye on the long term. Slow and steady. As long as your progress is better than your regression, you will be fine.

go enjoy the birthday party. weight loss is a journey and one meal won't wreck you. as to only eating 1200 calories. That might not be enough your your body already and then you are working out to?... your body might end up in starvation mode.

You probably have your goals set for 1.5-2 lbs per week, if it wants you to eat only 1200 calories. if you only have 15 to 20 lbs to lose you can do .5 to 1 lbs a week and that would be better. I would eat more than 1200 calories per day. 1400-1600 may be better for you. But it depends on how active you are. The only days I eat in the 1200s and low 1300s are days when I do not do a lot of exercise.

Also, you should enjoy being out with your family and eat what you want! It won't mess up your entire progress! I ate from my favorite pizza place last week and still lost weight ( 1.5 lbs down ). And had McDonalds the same week ( not proud of that, but not the most horrible things were ordered haha )

I have to agree with everyone else. If your eating less than 1200 calories, you have nothing to worry about. The truth is that your stomach has probably shrunk a great deal so you wont be able to eat as much as you used too, so even if you go crazy you can't do to much damage in one sitting. When I'm on a diet, I order off the kids menu or the seniors menu when I have to eat out. The portions are much more appropriate for what people should be consuming. You could try that. Then you can enjoy the meal without feeling bad latter, but your body could use a fuel up day every once in a while too. I don't like to call them cheat days, they are days to rest and replenish glycogen stores so you can continue to work out and push yourself. Enjoy!