Maintaining Time is Over
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| Fri, 04-20-2007 - 5:28am |
Hello ladies,
I have been absent for a while, trading my time online for time spent editing. I am not done, but wanted to pop by.
I have tried a little experiment. I, in a manner of speaking went off my "diet", which means that I ate over 1500 calories a day or rather did not geek out if I did for about a month. I still recorded the calories, but I did not negate from foods such as chocolate or crisps. So why did I do this you ask? Well I wanted to make sure that the weight I have lost will not come back on if for instance I eat 1800 calories a day; I needed to find out what my maintenance level and if indeed I would need to stick to 1500 calories for the rest of my life. I was also not working out as much; bike rides and walking are common for me, however I was not going to the gym. This is where the whole eating less without working out argument occurs. I did not lose anything nor did I gain. But I am sure that if I was working out regularly I would have seen a loss.
I also noticed that my fat percentage did not change either (I measure that as well).
For the most part I stayed between 1500-1800 a day and I did so eating whatever I wanted, within reason. I have to admit, I have been scared that I will yo yo, but keep thinking that indeed this is a life style for me now. In fact, I have also started to record my calories after I have eaten, and have found that I now naturally eat below 1500 calories a day and am content. Thus, my portions and how often I eat is a habit that is not dictated by the fitday, although I still love it!
Well now the experiment is over and I am back to the gym and refusing chocolate biscuits with my coffee. :) Gotta admit, I was feeling a bit unhealthy for a while, bloated and well just tired; so I prefer life without the crisps and chocolate bunnies. :) I have ten pounds to go, although I think another 15 might be good. :)
I still don't know what specific calorie count I should be eating because it really does vary, but I do think that the RDA 2000 is pretty close to it.
Anyone else try this?


To be honest, I'm usually quite lax about watching my calories, so I suppose I can say I've tried not watching what I eat. LOL
I think that is a great way to go about finding a healthy maitenance plan! It seems to have worked quite well for you, and it is surprising how quickly our bodies adapt to eating a more healthy diet - feeling bloated and lethargic. I suppose our bodies ARE trying to tell us something! LOL
It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job of finding what does and doesn't work for you!
I haven't purposely tried to do anything like this as I'm STILL trying to lose, but I do know that I need to be more consistent in keeping track of and watching my calories.
That's great news monetsf!
I've been rather lax myself for the past couple of weeks......but have to say that I'm usually pretty typical about the 1500-1800 a day too. I know for me to lose a couple more pounds I really have to pump up the exercise section!!
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