My calorie counting diet to maintain

10June2014

Full Member
Well this is it, I've reached a weight that I wanted to be and so now I plan to maintain this for life! Much easier said than done I know.

I was a very skinny kid and teenager, and stayed very thin up until my first pregnancy, where I didn't put much weight on. I always ate what I wanted, didn't even have a clue about calories, fat and all of that really, but it's age that's got me I think. I got overweight about 7 years ago, BMI still under 30 but lost it through diet and exercise fairly easily. I somehow put over 2 stone on over the last 18 months, I didn't realise even as it just seemed to creep on as it does. I had been eating a lot of prepackaged, and take away foods though and I am fast approaching 50.

I was finding exercise a struggle due to the constraints of both time and being overweight, it was painful on my joints and I just generally felt uncomfortable, so took what I considered to be a drastic measure of doing the Cambridge Diet. I've always been against that type of weight loss having truly believed in losing over a long time and slowly and all the rest of it.

My mind is completely changed now though, and I'm delighted to have lost nearly 3 stone in just over 11 weeks. I didn't do the full food replacement steps though, I had normal meals with the step I chose which involved choosing healthy foods and cooking them in a healthy way. I've enjoyed shopping in a different way to what I had been doing, and I've enjoyed planning my meals and being precised about it. It meant I had to completely stop snacking and made me realise just how much I was, I could polish off three breakfasts without realising I had. I did use the Cambridge shakes, but for my peace of mind really in that the shakes contained 100% of the body's necessary vitamins and minerals and stuff. It's completely re-educated me I have to say. I didn't realise the importance of water, sounds ridiculous I know, but true. I feel like having doing this 11 week Cambridge that I've now got a blank playing field, my body's routine for food and the type of foods it receives is so healthy now. For this reason, there is absolutely no reason on this planet why my BMI should ever go over 25 again. My highest BMI was 29 and I didn't like it, I have to remember this!

I'm tall, so although 11 and a half stone may seem like a lot, for me it means a UK standard size 12 in clothing and a BMI of 23 which is just what I want. I don't want to ever be skinny again like in my teens, I didn't like skinny and also didn't like being overweight, normal is good, in fact normal is just perfect for me.

The calorie calculators I have used, looking at BMR and that sort of thing all indicate that I should intake around 1700 calories a day. I am going to use My Fitness Pal to log everything, although I'm looking around at the moment to see there are any other similar ones too as I can only use MFP on my computer, doesn't work on my phone and I need to be able to access it daily I think, so times like holidays and being away from home I don't go astray.

So, the weight has gone, I'm at square one and I can choose how to proceed with this now. I really do hope that I can keep my BMI within this 22 - 25 range for life and the only way to do this is to keep a check on what goes in the mouth and exercise. Let maintenance commence .......... :)
 
Well done - I could have written that - I am in exactly the same position as you - now at target weight and going to stay there. My daily BMR is also now around 1700 - size 12 - live in Wales :) but i am 5ft 3".
I started off using MFP but didn't like the way it deducted the cals from exercise so now I use pen and paper - I have a small book which I have written the cals of all the foods I eat and that lives in my handbag along with the daily diary I keep next to the scales in the kitchen. I am veggie and cook most things from scratch so tend to know the cals off by heart for the food I eat.

Edit - just looking at our stats they are almost identical :)
 
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