How many calories?

[laurenmay]

Hi everyone

After an unsuccessful struggle with the Cambridge diet, I've decided that slow and steady wins the race and I'm turning back to CC and exercise!

I've done various calorie needs calculators online, and their all giving very different answers ranging from a 500 calorie difference in some!

I'm 5ft 3, 21 years old and female, I'd say at the moment I'm lightly active and currently weigh 168lbs but would love to get back down to 140lbs. Also a mummy to a 10month old little boy and work 40 hours a week.

I used to CC but stayed below 1000 calories a day, sometimes going as low as 600-800 a day, along with regular exercise at the gym, and I got down to 133lbs and kept the weight off for a while, until Christmas came and went and took my willpower and strength with it!

So here I am again, wanting to lose around 2 stone and I'm willing to put up with it falling off slowly and steadily so long as the weight loss is sustainable and I'm feeling happy and not deprived or struggling!

So how many calories would you all recommend I eat to lose around 2-3lbs per week? I've been thinking about 1200 on the days I'm not at the gym, and around 1350 on the days that I am... Advice?

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

 

[Danii]

Hello I'm very interested in your replies back as I'm on a vlcd exante looking at swooping over next weekend. I reckon people with advice u to start at 1200 a day chick.
But can I ask when u ate below 1000 cals were u exercising more than 4 times a week?? I may start on 1000 a day next week and do plenty of exercise classes a week. ( I'm trying to plan ahead)
best of luck x

 

[laurenmay]

Hello I'm very interested in your replies back as I'm on a vlcd exante looking at swooping over next weekend. I reckon people with advice u to start at 1200 a day chick.
But can I ask when u ate below 1000 cals were u exercising more than 4 times a week?? I may start on 1000 a day next week and do plenty of exercise classes a week. ( I'm trying to plan ahead)
best of luck x

Yeah I thought people might say 1200 a day, which is fine by me cause I love my grub!
When I ate below 1000 a day I was at the gym every morning 6 days a week, I was desperate to lose my baby weight after having my son so really pushed myself..
I'm a planner too! Wondering what sort of calories I should be eating so then I can do some online shopping (considering my kitchen only consists of CD shakes!) and also plan calories and exercise.
Best of luck to you too! x

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

 

[Danii]

Yeah I thought people might say 1200 a day, which is fine by me cause I love my grub!
When I ate below 1000 a day I was at the gym every morning 6 days a week, I was desperate to lose my baby weight after having my son so really pushed myself..
I'm a planner too! Wondering what sort of calories I should be eating so then I can do some online shopping (considering my kitchen only consists of CD shakes!) and also plan calories and exercise.
Best of luck to you too! x

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

Thanx for your reply back when will u be changing over? x

 

[TracyGWill]

1200 calories a day is the vety minimum you should be eating if you want to lose wright sensibly and sustainably. A better idea would be to start at around 1500 to give yourself the possibility of reducing gradually down to 1200. If you go too low, your body goes into starvation mode and you won't continue to lose weight. So if you really do want to lose steadily, and stand a chance of keeping it off (which, remembet, 95% of dieters don't manage!), then don't eat too few calories and sabotage yourself. xx

 

[laurenmay]

Thanx for your reply back when will u be changing over? x

Well I decided to admit defeat with CD today, so not really following any kind of plan today but just eating when hungry so to speak.

Our food shopping is being delivered tomorrow, so I'll probably start CC on Monday but just unaware how many calories I should have!! x

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

 

[Danii]

Well I decided to admit defeat with CD today, so not really following any kind of plan today but just eating when hungry so to speak.

Our food shopping is being delivered tomorrow, so I'll probably start CC on Monday but just unaware how many calories I should have!! x

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

I will start with low calories and work my way up to 1200-1400 soon. Do u have a diary as I'd like to follow your progress lol. I can't wait to change over I hate weekends on this diet. I have 15 lbs to lose CCing.
X

 

[TracyGWill]

1200 calories a day is the vety minimum you should be eating if you want to lose wright sensibly and sustainably. A better idea would be to start at around 1500 to give yourself the possibility of reducing gradually down to 1200. If you go too low, your body goes into starvation mode and you won't continue to lose weight. So if you really do want to lose steadily, and stand a chance of keeping it off (which, remembet, 95% of dieters don't manage!), then don't eat too few calories and sabotage yourself. xx

PS. Your BMR, based on the info you gave, is 1580 calories, and it's quite often recommended that you don't eat less than your BMR. I'd say start at 1400-1500 and work your way down a little each week. xx

 

[laurenmay]

PS. Your BMR, based on the info you gave, is 1580 calories, and it's quite often recommended that you don't eat less than your BMR. I'd say start at 1400-1500 and work your way down a little each week. xx

Thanks for your reply I was thinking about starting with higher calories and slowly working down if my weight loss plateaus.

Do you think it'd be beneficial for me to eat 1400 calories on the days I don't exercise and maybe 1500 on the days I do? I'm looking to lose as much weight as possible per week, if 2lbs a week is the healthy amount then is this possible with the calories I'll be eating? xx

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

 

[laurenmay]

I will start with low calories and work my way up to 1200-1400 soon. Do u have a diary as I'd like to follow your progress lol. I can't wait to change over I hate weekends on this diet. I have 15 lbs to lose CCing.
X

I did have a CD diary, but that's dead now! So I will be creating a new diary based on CC instead I also use the calorie count app so I'll be on there too! I've got 28lbs to lose and wanted to lose about 21lbs in the next 5 weeks which is why I chose the Cambridge diet, but I just can't survive on it and I was so miserable! So I'd rather lose weight slower but be happy through CC'ing x

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

 

[Danii]

I did have a CD diary, but that's dead now! So I will be creating a new diary based on CC instead I also use the calorie count app so I'll be on there too! I've got 28lbs to lose and wanted to lose about 21lbs in the next 5 weeks which is why I chose the Cambridge diet, but I just can't survive on it and I was so miserable! So I'd rather lose weight slower but be happy through CC'ing x

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

I will start a diary here next week. I can't wait to do a proper food shop again lol .x

 

[laurenmay]

I will start a diary here next week. I can't wait to do a proper food shop again lol .x

Me too! Lol, I actually feel a little silly for spending £80 on CD products in aim for a quick fix and fast weight loss.. I'd much rather it come off slower but be able to eat properly again!! x

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

 

[TracyGWill]

Thanks for your reply I was thinking about starting with higher calories and slowly working down if my weight loss plateaus.

Do you think it'd be beneficial for me to eat 1400 calories on the days I don't exercise and maybe 1500 on the days I do? I'm looking to lose as much weight as possible per week, if 2lbs a week is the healthy amount then is this possible with the calories I'll be eating? xx

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

That sounds like a good idea to me! I've lost 5 stone in 9 months, starting at 1800 then reducing so I'm now on 1500-1600. I don't exercise at all due to health issues. Obviously you have less to lose than me, but the principle is that if you start too low there's nowhere to go when you plateau, as most people do. Good luck! xx

 

[TriciaM]

Hi
I did CD for about 6 weeks and lost 20 some pounds before becoming so bored I decided to calorie count

I'm using myfitnesspal and I've lost 3lb in a couple of weeks and I too am happier losing slowly and being able to eat

Good luck with calorie counting

x

 

[laurenmay]

Hi
I did CD for about 6 weeks and lost 20 some pounds before becoming so bored I decided to calorie count

I'm using myfitnesspal and I've lost 3lb in a couple of weeks and I too am happier losing slowly and being able to eat

Good luck with calorie counting

x

It is boring on CD isn't it, I found myself missing being able to eat things like chicken and salmon and having a shake every few hours just became so daunting!

How many calories are you consuming daily now? I'm looking to start at 1350, then drop down slowly if the weight loss is slow or I hit a plateau x

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

 

[TriciaM]

Good morning

I'm on 1200 calories but rarely use them all up. I think that's with being on the CD tho!

I'm sticking with calorie counting even tho the losses are really slow in comparison to the CD but I'm going to try and do a week of slim & save when I get paid next week to try and give myself a bit of a weight loss whoosh

I found I was only losing about 3lb a week on the CD and couldn't really justify paying £40 each week. I did have one week where I lost 8lb which was a result

I may still have a shake or a bar for breakfast & lunch as it's quick and easy and means you have loads of calories left for a nice dinner ;-)

 

[laurenmay]

Good morning

I'm on 1200 calories but rarely use them all up. I think that's with being on the CD tho!

I'm sticking with calorie counting even tho the losses are really slow in comparison to the CD but I'm going to try and do a week of slim & save when I get paid next week to try and give myself a bit of a weight loss whoosh

I found I was only losing about 3lb a week on the CD and couldn't really justify paying £40 each week. I did have one week where I lost 8lb which was a result

I may still have a shake or a bar for breakfast & lunch as it's quick and easy and means you have loads of calories left for a nice dinner ;-)

I still have loads of the CD shakes left, and I fell in love with the cappuccino flavour so I'm gonna incorporate them into my daily calories maybe have one or two shakes a day, seen as their packed with good vitamins and nutrients anyway! And their yummy blended with ice

I found £40 a week a bit steep too, I'd rather eat healthy foods and calorie count so at least that way me and my OH can both eat chicken and salmon and veg together, which saves a lot of money! And it gets my little one into good eating habits too

I'm considering sticking to 1200 calories a day, but then one evening a week, say a Friday, I'll up my calories to about 2000 and have a small treat cause the increase will shock my bodies metabolism and it's meant to be a good trick to avoid hitting plateaus cause your body doesn't get used to a set amount of calories! x

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

 

[TriciaM]

I missed eating with my family too. The CD is a great diet but a really unsociable diet :-(

 

[laurenmay]

I know and I didn't want my son growing up thinking "why is mummy drinking shakes and not eating food?"

- sent from my iPhone. "No one said it would be easy, they just said it'd be worth it.."

 

[TriciaM]

I've got 2 kids and they were asking at mealtimes 'what you having mum?' they'd all be sat at the table whilst I hovered about near the work tops sipping a shake!