I am really interested to see how the upping calories works for you. I have worked out my bmr and tdee and all those other numbers on so many different sites and I just get so lost. It never really made sense to me that there was such a thing as under eating. I always thought if I eat less I will lose more but I guess it kind of makes sense that if you eat a bit more that will give your body fuel so you can burn fat and not muscle leaving the muscle which burns more calories on its own which in turn leads to more loss. I don't know seems like I am talking in circles now.

I am really considering changing to a set calorie goal and not eating back my exercise calories. I don't eat them all back and average about 1400 total a day with a mfp goal of 1200. I work out 6 days a week and burn anywhere from 400- 1200 calories (have to love my bike rides!) and usually average around 500 calories a day for the week.

@maoribadger Lise, I agree - with someone well qualified, calipers are decent. I didnt' know that about fatty breast tissue, and lordy knows I have a lot of it! HEE HEE.... I wish you the absolute best on this new leg of your journey.

@Wennim (for the life of me I can't remember your first name ....bad Carly)... Why do you feel guilty about eating them? You earned those B-witches! Your blood, sweat and damned tears earned each and every calorie...

I had to sit here and laugh my @$$ off at your statement - "can't be slowing down any more...only 10 since Christmas!" I had a brief water weight deal that pushed me from the mid 250's up to 262 when I was sick. I was 255 on 1/15. Today I was 247.2. I haven't even lost 10 pounds, and I still feel like a rock star. It's all perspective, I guess.

I get most of my protein through meat. Pork tenderloin (not center cut, just the regular one) here is super cost effective. Around $2/pound. You can cook it a million different ways. One portion last night by recipe was like 25 grams of protein. I had two pieces for lunch, and one piece and an egg on some salad with some cheese and such. I do not drink milk at all. Too much sugar in it. However, I do have cream cheese, sour cream, heavy whipping cream (called double cream in the UK), and butter nearly every day, in addition to standard cheese like cheddar, mozzarella, and/or parmesan. Feel free to check out my diary. It should be public if we aren't friends yet. You'd probably be shocked at how I get what I need.

And remember, you only need as much protein to support lean body weight. At last check, my body fat was about 48%. So, at 250 (for calcs), 52% of my body is not fat, and therefore is considered to be lean body mass, which is 130 pounds. You need 0.6-1 gram of protein per pound, depending on how active you are and strength training and such (which is why Lise needs so much - she's a damned beast right now!). I usually use 0.8 just for giggles. So that is 130 x 0.8 = 104 grams of protein. I have mine set around that right now. So 2-3 servings of pork, some eggs, and I've just about knocked my protein out right there. I don't know how you eat, @wennim, but it is worth checking out a few options! Milk is definitely not necessary. And as for protein in your ice cream, try pumpkin flavor!