I did an hour+ of yard work yesterday (yanked ivy that was threatening the house for an hour+). It was a nasty job but, it was a good trade, Nelson did dishes.

I ended up with a 750 calorie deficit yesterday and was borderline hungry last night. Not bad enough to get up and eat something, but I thought about it. But was laying awake thinking of food, which I don't really like.

I'm shooting for a 400-500 deficit today.

Scale WAS down, to 127.5, so WOOO HOOOO I'm back to the weight I was when I got back on track 110%, 18 days ago.

Hungry is actually a good thing.

I don't know if it is because of the cancer or the chemo or the bone marrow transplant but I don't get hungry. I don't wake up hungry, I get breakfast just because I am "supposed to eat breakfast" when I get up. I wish I did get hungry because if I don't remind myself I should eat a snack or that it is lunch time or dinner time I will not eat until I suddenly "fall apart" with low blood sugar shakes, sweats and rubbery bones. Then I have to have something right then, even if it is not something good.

quote:

Originally posted by Sandy:
OMG- an average night's sleep is not figured in?!
I had no idea.

I don't know if they changed the program, or what.

But, first thing in the morning... Fitday gives me the number of calories I would burn if I stood all day and did NOTHING else.

So basically, I put in:

my hours of sleep
the 20 mins I'm lying in bed before and after sleeping.
the time driving in the car or watching TV or reading or sitting
exercise
yard work
household chores that involve walking around
playing trombone

And then the rest of the hours (usually about 10) are "standing" and Fitday doesn't seem to care that much if I'm standing wiping the sink, or standing eating, or standing at the stove or standing typing on the computer, or standing in one place like an idiot doing nothing.

i am glad i am not the only one experiencing hunger, accumulated over a couple of days. tomorrow, i should be tired in the morning and ready to eat more. this is my pattern

OMG- an average night's sleep is not figured in?!
I had no idea.

I did well today- Ate about 1700 calories and am good with exercise.

Tomorrow I am going for a 1400-1500 calorie day.

Am about to head out to rehearsal so my kitchen is closed. I had another on plan day with 8 miles done this morning.

Tomorrow is the start of the long weekend parties. Dinner is going to be tough. I will need to do some strategizing between now and then.

Yeah... we "waste" like 200 calories sleeping. If you never sleep or lay down... you burn more calories.

Actually, logging the calories burned is really easy on Fitday… they have EVERY activity in there, pretty much (will have to check and see if "Go Crazy from Sleep Deprivation" or "crying" is in there [nope, just looked "crying" is not an "activity"]). I do the same 6-8 things every day… sleep, shower, drive car, clean, exercise, play trombone, pull weeds, watch TV. Oh... "Eating while Standing" IS an official Fitday activity.

When I crunched the calorie numbers in Spring 2007 or last September... my assumption was that I was burning about 2400-2500 calories a day and eating about 2000 and losing about .75 pounds a week.

So it is bothering me that I'm using the same food counting methods... and things seem slowed down.

But we'll see how the next couple of weeks go, since the scale IS going down now... and at least I'm not gaining on 1800 calories a day.

My plan is to add in about 150 calories a day for a week or two when I get to 126.5 or 126 (and I‘m actually feeling optimistic that I might get there!).

That is how they/we do it on WW'ers... When you get to “goal”, you slowly add in points/calories to find your maintenance level. I haven't formally done this since October 2004.

Usually, I drift up 2-3 lbs for 2-4 months... go into losing mode for 2-3 weeks (which reinforces some good eating and exercise habits) and lose 2-3 pounds of fat. Then I stop tracking (or at least writing it down... like I keep weighing my half and half... but don't write it down) and just get by on mostly good habits and a minimum of bad habits. Then I slowly drift up again over 2-4 months and rinse and repeat.

This time, I'm going to add in the calories in an organized way and keep tracking.

I know people on WW’ers who are maintaining and have tracked every single day for 5-7 years… and they still drift up 2 lbs and have to go into losing mode every couple/few months. I just think that is what “normal” maint is… I’m not sure that tracking every single day can save a person from little gains. Just have to nip the little gains in the bud.

But, at this point, I want the information of what happens when I add in 150 calories and go up to an average of about 1850 calories a day.

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
I HATE being hungry.

Brie and Sandy can do 1300 calorie days.

I can't do that over more than a day or two. My hunger starts to "accumulate" over time if I push a 1200-1300 calorie day into another and another.

Yesterday I was at 1300 or 1400- can't remember. Today I had to go to 1700 because I could tell I was gonna be hungrier. My plan is to stick to about 1500 tomorrow. I've had to learn to play with it a bit.

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
Plus in the past... I never used to put "sleep" into Fitday... so I used to get "Calories Burned" numbers of 2500.

Now, I'm putting in "sleep"... and getting Fitday "Calories Burned" numbers of 2200-2300 calories.

That's too funny! I had no idea that fitday calculated people being up 24/7 : )

Plus in the past... I never used to put "sleep" into Fitday... so I used to get "Calories Burned" numbers of 2500.

Now, I'm putting in "sleep"... and getting Fitday "Calories Burned" numbers of 2200-2300 calories.

When I'm in "loss" mode I weigh veggies too but I certainly could be eating more than I think. But, when I shoot for my under 1400 number, the weight usually comes off fairly easily regardless of whether it's really 1400 or 1600 ; )

I find that with my salads I need to add certain things to them to make it more filling - stuff like shredded red cabbage or crunchy cucumbers. Also, If I'm eating salad for both lunch and dinner there is usually 1/3 of an avocado in my lunch salad and some kind of lean protein with my dinner (salmon, grilled chicken or beans) so my salads are more than 250/300 calories.

I really, really enjoy my salads, especially in the summer so I don't feel like I'm depriving myself at all.

PS I tend to eat every 3 - 4 hours so by the time the salad isn't cutting it, it's just about time for my next meal ; )

PS... I'm not full on a 250 or 300 calorie salad of vegs. Or I'm full for a couple of hours. And then I'm VERY hungry 3-4 hours later.

I also HATE the thought of eating salads for both lunch and dinner. I'd really feel like I was eating on a diet. I really enjoy looking forward to my food and don't want to start dreading dinner.

It would also require me to make a separate dinner for myself... and just wouldn't work

I often eat a salad for lunch in the summer, but I almost always add a grain and beans to it... and it ends up being 400-500-600ish calories.

But mostly, I'm am just uncomfortably and physically hungry on 1200-1300 calories.

(PS... I THOUGHT that I was eating 1300-1400 calories in 2004-2005... but then when I started weighing my carrots and tomatoes and grapes and fruit... I realized that I was eating more like 1500-1600 on my very BEST vegetable and fruit heavy days. )

I was sort of shaky for about 3 hours this morning.

I had 513 calories for breakfast and 713 calories for lunch today and feel WAY, WAY better.

I've got 1800-1900 calories planned for today, and then I'll go back down to 1600-1700 for Thursday and Friday before the July 4th weekend.

I find that when I'm shooting to be ultra low with my calories I have to be super careful about what I eat otherwise I get too hungry (which translates to crabby and irritable).

If I'm loading up on veggies, salads, and fruits I get a lot of "bulk" in the amount I can eat and stay very, very satisfied. If I'm "wasting" my calories on a big sandwich or something very calorie dense I'm read to eat the kitchen by 4 pm.

PS... one on my biggest "fears" in Washington DC was about where to find food.

It actually worked out fine, but we did end up in neighborhoods with NO restaurants... and we ended up eating 2-3 hours late.

But generally, we were busy and doing "stuff", even if "stuff" was examining maps and looking for a place to eat. And being busy, we didn't notice being hungry THAT much.

And that is sort of what happened last night, I wasn't hungry when I was busy... but noticed it when I was no longer busy.

I also notice that I will be fine for 2-3 days... and then day 4, I could eat the sofa cushions. It is sort of like deficit build up, or something.

But I should have just eaten the nectarine after dinner last night, even if I was no longer hungry... rather than trying to save 100 calories.

i hear you denise! i need about 2000 calories a day to not feel hungry. sometimes, i think i am not eating enough because ay the time thursday or friday rolls around, i am feeling pretty tired in the morning and i wonder if i was eating enough monday thru thursday. like today, i did a long run--probably 8-10 miles. light weights, a few abs exercises, and i ran off to this place and that place, and then to work, etc etc. then i ran to the immigration office, and then to mail off some important packages for clients. run run run.
i am pretty active and you sound pretty active too. on my long cardio days, i know i need to eat an extra helping of "something" or i will be "dying" by 2pm. today, i had an extra snack of some chick peas, sunflower seeds and corn. i am not big on numbers (scales, calories) but i am estimating about 2000 every day. i do eat more carbs on weekends because by then, i feel weaker and i know i need more energy. i can tell you, i weighed myself on monday and i was 115. i have probably been that weight for several months (9 months or more). i can also say that over severla months, my hips are shrinking because my pants are falling. but i am at the same weight. go figure.

I HATE being hungry.

Brie and Sandy can do 1300 calorie days. About as low as I can go is 1500 or 1600. USUALLY, I've lost about 3/4th of a pound a week on 2,000 calories and maintain on 2300-2500. And I usually try and eat as much as I can, because I just HATE being hungry.

What happened last night... I ate dinner about 6pm and had a nectarine planned... but decided that I was full enough and didn't really need the nectarine. Then I watched TV with Nelson for about 45 mins and then went and ripped ivy off of the house for an hour+ (until 8:30pm or 8:45pm). And came in and took a shower and read the WW'ers boards for a few mins.

And went to bed about 9:45pm and was listening to the radio and dh and I were just cracking up listening to replays of the SC governor's affair explanations. A person couldn't write something like that... starting with the hike of the Appalachian Trail. (And crap... he has ruined it for me! as that was on my vacation/fitness bucket list... but NOW I can't say, "Hey, I'm going to hike the AT next summer".)

So 10pm rolls around. And I'm no longer busy or other wise entertained at the gubernatorial sob story of finding his soul mate... but trying to fall back in love with his wife... oh and there might have been 6-7 other crossing of some lines...

And it has been 4 hours since I last ate. And I realize that I'm sort of hungry. But I'm already in bed with the lights out, and trying to decide, "Do I want to actually walk out to the kitchen and make a slice of toast or half a bowl of cereal?" so I spent like 15 min trying to decide if I really wanted to get up or not. And if I DID get up... what would I eat? And going thru my food options, should I get up.

And then I just decided, oh heck, I'm staying in bed and rolled over and went to sleep. And I didn't wake up in the middle of the night hungry.

This happened to me a few times a couple of years ago when I was going thru the Beck Diet Book and the "stop when you are full" thing. I sometimes would stop when I was no longer hungry... but I hadn't eaten enough to actually be "full" and make it to the next meal... and after 2 hours, I was REALLY hungry again.

But last night, it was like realizing that you have to pee while camping... and how BAD to you have to go?... and if you do get up... how far from the tent can you get away with peeing... and are those raccoons or bears I hear?... and I can probably wait until morning.

But I USUALLY eat about 700ish calories for dinner... and ate 396 last night. You can eat 700 calories for dinner on 2000 calories a day. But I'm not confident that I won't be gaining on 2000 calories right now.

i must have a low tolerance level for hunger feelings. i hate feeling hungry. i don't know how you did it. when i feel hunger, my hands start shaking. not pretty.