How many calories do you eat in a day?

[waterflow]

I am going back to the 1,200 calories a day diet......again ......have used this diet since the 80's. It works but I am really tired of having to calculate calories again but need to. haven't lost one pound since Wednesday. Think I should have lost as least ONE!

[meme]

Hey! Thought you weren't going to weigh yourself for a while!!!! I still haven't for fear that I'll get frustrated. I probably eat about 3000 calories a day, which I know is way to much! I tried sticking to 1600 and was able to do it for a couple of weeks, but then I just couldn't do it anymore. I'm trying now to really focus when I eat. Take really small bites and chew 20 times and all that. Worked last night. I ate really slowly and was full with just a half a sub sandwich, I didn't even want dessert later-really odd for me! I'm trying to savor my food more cause usually I'm in a mad rush just to get it into my mouth!

[waterflow]

Yeah, I know I wasn't going to weigh myself but it was just too tempting. Probably should take the scale out of my bedroom. From the book I read you multiply the weight you want to be by 12 and that gives you the total amount of calories you are allowed to weight that much. 1,200 is way below the amount I am allowed but if I can stick to it I will lose 10 pounds the first week. The hard part is STICKING TO IT! One good calorie lunch is a dill pickle sandwich. You can eat the whole jar of dill pickles and still come ahead of the game. Wouldn't actually suggest eating a whole jar of pickles. You might turn green. You're doing the best part with exercisine. I am going to start big time with that again tomorow. I used to walk at least 3 hours a day and I'm going to start shooting for that. Never and I mean never did I sit as much as I have been doing that last few years. Actually, with the computer came the sitting. NEver had a computer and didn't know how to run one before the IC. Are you still walking 1/2 hour on your machine?

[irishnan3]

Hi, What kind of food intake are you using for 1200 calories a day????
I am stuck at a certain weight, but I know it is because of the carbs I eat. Using the IC diet is a pain. Do you have any ideas????

[Moonheart]

Mary,

It isn't wise to try to lose ten pounds in any week. It's unhealthy and even if you can do it, it's usually short lived and only water weight. It comes back on fast with a bunch of friends also.

Excercise, lots of water, and eating whole grains and fruits and vegetables, along with legumes, and getting most of your sleep before midnight is the answer.

[sandberg4]

I've read that if you restrict your calories that much all you will lose is water and much needed muscle. You just need to change your lifestyle, eat healthier and start walking. I've been strength training for the last ten years and its a Godsend in more ways than one.

[ICNDonna]

I have read that to determine how many calories you should eat, you should multiply your ideal weight times 12 to 15, depending on how active you are. And if you are trying to lose weight, you shouldn't reduce that number by more than 10% to 15%, again depending on how active you are.

Donna

[waterflow]

Trishann, I'm doing the slim fast shakes for breakfast and lunch. Think it makes it easier getting in the 1,200 calories. Then I have a snack (anything really) in the afternoon and then supper. I've done this diet lots of times and it helps to kick start it for me. You do multiply what you want to weigh by 12 and that gives you your total number of calories. Got out the water cup measure too today and going to try and get in my 8 glasses of water.

[SrMaggie]

my appetite has dropped off considerably since I started taking topamax. The last few weeks have been extremely stressful on top of it, so I have no idea how many calories I've consumed. I've never been a calorie counter. I've tried to eat vegetables and fruit, but since IC it's hard to find enough of either of them that I like and can eat on the diet. Then the water thing is out of hte question. I can just about live with 3 glasses of water - meaning the trips to the bathroom. If I did more than that I might as well set up my office in the restroom and work from there. I'd never get out. I truly think that is part of the weight gain problem too.

[kjd]

Hey Ladies
The safe calorie intake for a women is no less than 2000 a day. anything less than this should only be for a short amount of time so if you are having only 1200 a day (very low!!) you will be missing out on a lot of nutritian and will probably lose a lot of water weight which unfortunately goes quickly back on!
I would NOT recommned eating this many calories as its just not good! Just ensure you get lots of fruit, veg, water and do a little exercise (if you can manage it with you IC)!

Good luck

[waterflow]

For me to weigh 120 I can have 1,500 calories but it is only if I am active. The more I sit the less calories I need. 2,000 would be way too many for me. The shorter the person the less calories too. I only put the weight back on after this diet due to the pills I was taking for the IC and now with being older it seems to be harder to get off. The other times I put the weight back on was due to stress and over eating. Other wise this diet plan worked.

SrMaggie, I could only get 6 cups of water in. Seems all the bladder can handle. I heard that Topomax can be used as a diet pill. Are you having any side effects from it?

[mary124]

I really don't count calories anymore, I know I do watch what I eat. (sometimes though there are days that I eat more than I should. But no matter what I eat, I can't gain weight. Part of it is probably the Topamax that I'm on - think its keeping me at my current weight, but would like to gain some back that I lost last year. What I weigh now, I haven't weighed since my firstborn was a baby and that was 23 years ago. (last year I lost 35lbs, due to illness and really haven't been able to gain any of it back.)

[vegacula]

I eat anywhere from 800 to 1,000 calories per day. I can't eat much because everything I eat tends to nauseate me.

[blueeyes46]

Since my IC appeared I am eating about 1000 calories a day. Sometimes a bit more if my tummy can handle it.

[kadi]

You might look at www.sparkpeople.com

It's a free weight loss website, very positive. Has meal plans or you can just record your own food & it gives you the calorie count & nutrition analysis of whatever you set it up for. Like I figure we IC patients are likely to be short on vit. C, so I set it up to track that. And also calcium since osteoporosis runs in the family.

What I really like is it has a healthy living checklist you can do every day & it tells you how healthy your choices were that day (diet, exercise, sleep, water intake). It also has message boards, including one on chronic illness & there have been several IC patients posting there.

Good luck!

(I just cleaned out the pantry of almost all junk foods. I kept the 100 cal packs of pretzels & the small packs of Inka chips (roasted plantain chips-yummy!) - I figured with the heat wave having a few small servings of salty snacks around is not a bad idea).