STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

I don't want to be a Debby Downer, but it is really dangerous to only eat 1000 calories a day. YOu should be eating at least 1400. A great way to lose weight, eat healthy, and still have your cheat day is to eat extremely healthy every day of the week and then have one big all out cheat day.

Bloomie, 1000 is so low!!! I don't know how you have any energy! I definitely agree with Farrah that you should at least be eating 1400 calories a day. Have you tried using one of those online calculators that helps you figure out how many calories you need to be taking in per day? You should consider that you're basically throwing your body into starvation mode which encourages your body to store fat whenever you're not starving it. Your body also starts to burn muscle - remember, muscle burns more calories than fat. So you're also hurting your metabolism.

Have you ever considered weight watchers? It's about making a lifestyle change, and the points system makes it so that you're not constantly watching your calories, which I feel can be a very dangerous and misleading number at times.

Weight Watchers is a good idea, especially if you want to keep it strict during the week and splurge on weekends. On WW you eat a certain number of points each day and then you have 35 extra points you can use all week, one day, or not at all. It'll help you keep on top of your "cheat" days so you don't go overboard and undo all your work during the week.

All that said, 1000 calories is too little. You could be slowing down your metabolism by eating so few calories. If your met. slows down, it could cause you to gain weight when you splurge, even though you're probably evening out over the course of a week. Trust me, you don't want to mess up your metabolism because it's really hard to get it back on track.

I bet you'd not feel like you needed days to really splurge if you ate more during the week.  I totally get what you mean about dieting being easy at work because I'm the same way (routine and everything).  But putting your body through cycles of famine/plenty on a day-to-day basis isn't a good long term plan.  The low-cal days lower your metabolism, and pretty soon your body is going to start storing Every! Calorie! It! Can! Get! from those weekends when you don't restrict.

Just FWIW, I messed up my metabolism pretty bad in high school with a too-restrictive diet and it's never been the same since.  I have an extra, extra hard time losing weight now because when I try to reduce my calories I get dizzy and lethargic and headachy because my blood sugar crashes so easily.  It wasn't worth it!

Maybe you'd be better off thinking of your calorie intake on a weekly instead of daily basis (either with WW or just with your own tracking).  It would be healthier for your body to be on a more even intake and you'd likely end up the same calorie-wise in the end.

The calculations if you eat 1000 each weekday, 2000 each weekend day, and an extra 250 at dinner on friday comes out to a total of 9250 for the week, with averages out to 1320 per day.  You should probably be a little higher than that like the other girls said, so 9800 per week would bring it to 1400 per day. 

You could even add in an extra 'splurge' amount if you wanted to just build it right in, and count regular and splurge calories separately so you know you're getting adequate nutrition from your 'regular' calories.  I mean, a 1400 cal/day diet made up of fruits and vegetables and whole grains and lean protein is very different than a 1400 cal/day diet made up of a Big Mac, fries, and a milk shake, even though they could be identical in calorie count.

Looking at it in a weekly amount seems like it would be easier to move/save calories for planned splurges (like if you know you're going out to dinner on saturday) without having to deprive yourself completely.

As far as the WW thing goes, I don't think you have to feel embarassed about going to the meetings if that's what you're afraid of. My mom was on WW for a long time and it helped her *so* much. She doesn't go anymore, but even after she reached her goal weight (healthy thin, I think she said she hasn't been this thin since her 20s!) she kept going for a while. I think they let her go for free because she was a "graduate" - but the point is, there are women who go to WW just for the moral support of maintaining their weight.

My trainer told me women should never eat less than 1300 calories a day. It is the basic calorie amount we need to keep our bodies fueled and our metablism going.

Try upping your calories in the week and cutting back just a bit in the weekend. As elle said above, you probably cheat more on the weekend because your so deprived during the week.

I have never tried WW, but heard great things about it.

bloomie wrote:

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I am pretty familiar with WW but I have never done it. Can't you join online? I am afraid to go to meetings because I am afraid if I walk through the door people will wonder what I am doing there since currently I am not overweight (just trying to maintain). I have bad memories of a diet I did one time that had a support group. I weighed 13 more pounds than I do now and I walked into the room because I wanted to lose it. As I walked through the door, this lady said to me, "What are YOU doing here? You don't need to lose weight." Well, maybe from her perspective I didn't, but from mine I did. Just for the record, I am 5'6" and weigh 123 pounds. I just want to keep it there, because at that weight none of my clothes are too tight and none are too baggy.

I also wonder if I ate more during the week if I would be less likely to splurge on the weekends?

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you can join just online.
Ive been to meetings though and have never had a problem... I had the same fears as you before I went. Everone has always been super supportive, no matter what my weight. (fwiw, I first joined weighing around 145, then I moved and started going to a different meeting when I was already at goal and there were still no problems or weirdness.)

Bllomie - I read this article on MSN today and I think you could really benefit. Enjoy!

http://health.msn.com/fitness/womens-fitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100199209&GT1=31036