unforth | Diet Advice?

Okay, so I've been dieting since August, and I've lost 15 pounds or so. That's good, and it pleases me immensely.

HOWEVER. I've been eating 1200 cal/day for like 3 months. According to online calculators, this should equal about 2 lbs/week in weight loss. Instead, I've been holding pretty much steady except for in January, when I lost a bunch. This is starting to piss me off pretty seriously, mostly because it takes constant control to eat that little and it's maddening that it's not really producing results. I'm starting to think that it's too little. I'm walking 30 min/day now with the Jonie dog, and I'm really starting to think that my body is hoarding calories instead of burning them because I'm eating too little. Does that actually happen, ya think? According, again, to online calculators my body should be using about 1900 a day; I'd have to have no metabolism to speak of to not lose weight eating as little as I do.

So I've been thinking that I should up my intake to about 1400 per day. If it doesn't work, I can always go back down, right? I'm just worried that I'm running out of patience and won't give it enough time...it's not that I'm running out of patience for dieting, it's that I'm running out of patience for giving changes I make enough time to really settle in...

Right. Anyone have any thoughts on any of this? I'm not sure what I'm really trying to say, I'm just frustrated and I want to be 140 lbs again, dammit!.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What are you eating? The calories don't mean a whole lot to me - though I know 1200 is pretty low, I don't know how that compares with, say, how much I eat every day, though I can't imagine I eat either that little or a full 2000... I do know about nutrition though, and there are many, many factors to weight loss besides calorie consumption and exercise. One thing I can tell you for sure is that you need to be 1) getting plenty of sleep and 2) drinking lots and lots of water, because, believe it or not, those both have a big effect on weight loss. I've seen it myself.
Since I've had to research nutrition lately since I'm changing my diet, I can tell you some about that. Eating so few calories you might not be getting all the nutrients you need, and besides being unhealthy that probably could be hampering the weight loss. A lot of vitamins and minerals are fat-soluble, and it could be that your body is trying to keep it around? Not sure. I know you are counting calories, but are you keeping track of eating what and how much you are eating? I'd be glad to sit down and talk and see if I can help. :)

I'm mostly eating starches, with snatches of protein in there (examples include oatmeal, muffins, pierogies, pasta, ultra-lean beef hamburgers, that sort of thing.) I definitely think I need more protein in my diet. And thanks for the advice on drinking - I was wondering about that. I don't think I drink enough; I've been trying to work on that, but it's hard to drink when I'm at work. You've suggested a lot along the lines what I've sort of been thinking, actually - checking if I'm getting enough protein and carbs and, heck, even enough fat (I eat pretty little fat...).

So yeah. Thanks! :)

Where do you do your research?

More protein, less starches, more water, more small meals spaced out across the day.

Uh. Whoa. I definitely have some suggestions... o.O
In the interest of knowing what would be involved, I just recently read a book called "Becoming Vegan," which is specifically geared toward addressing nutritional needs in a vegan diet, but it has so much useful general nutritional information! I know a lot more about nutrition now! And I think I can see some definite holes in your diet. Like, oh, half the food pyramid. I can get the book back out from the library so that I can look some stuff up and we can talk.
If you're really trying to lose weight, good nutrition is the first step. There's plenty of places online to find information on nutrition. I would say keep track of your food intake for a week and then look at the overall patterns, especially how they relate to the (admittedly imperfect) food pyramid. I can say this much: a good place to start would be working more fresh fruit and veggies into your diet! Seriously. I think it could be a great idea to just leave fresh fruit out of your calorie count and allow yourself as much as you want. It's something that's good to indulge in, especially if you're not eating much of it. And I find it's a lot easier to work in veggies if you have some good, easy, standby recipes. I'm not always the best about eating enough fruit or veggies, either - I find carbohydrates a big standby like you! (Also, starches and carbohydrates are not the same thing, and I think you mean the latter.) So I will see if I have any easy recipes I think you (as an omnivore) might like. And let me know if/when you want to get together, and I will nab that book so I can look things up.

Well the thing about vegetables is that I hate them. Fruits too. I take a multivitamin to make up for this. It's not that I don't know what I should be eating, it's that I've made the conscience decision not to eat some of that stuff. I'm tackling the protein problem already. We can chat about the other stuff some time, I'll be in touch when I'm a little less busy. :)

I'm sorry, but a multivitamin will NOT make up for it. A conscious decision to leave out half the food pyramid is a completely unhealthy decision.

It's a conscious decision to not eat something that makes me generally feel physically ill. I've been eating this way my whole life (which isn't to say that I think it's "okay" because of this, but to say that I know not eating it won't kill me).

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