Which, of course, is the real test! 
I’m wearing jeans I haven’t been able to wear in 4 years!
That’s a little low. You can use this calculator to see how many calories you use to keep your body functioning normally with no activity. Dip below that, your body thinks you’re starving, and you’ll shed muscle in favor of fat.
I seem to recall that you’re not old, so just for fun, I ran the calculations for a 30 year-old woman who is 5’1" and 90 pounds. She needs almost 1200 calories just to stay alive. Try it out yourself and see what you get.
Oh my gosh. My best friend is a fitness and nutrition FREAK. She goes to the gym every day, she’s taken a lot of classes in nutrition, etc. She knows of what she speaks. And she’s 4’11", weighs about 90 lbs., and eats 1600 calories a day.
Well, I have about 120 hours in dietetics, and for most people that is too low, but if you have a very small phsyique and a slow metabolism you will have to cut down that low to lose anything. A person who weighs 100 pounds and has a normal metabolism and is moderately active would have to have no more than 1200 calories per day just to maintain. That means in order to lose a mere 1 pound per week they would have to cut down to 700 calories! Of course, if they are attempting to lose weight they likely weigh more than 100, but you can see by this illustration that 800-900 would not be drastic in those few situations.
No fair! I’m down 26 lbs. and I still can’t fit into my 36 pants! I think I’m losing fat from the head down. My face isn’t so plump, my hebreasts are gone, but my gut is just starting to show the effects.
If I was a pessimist, I’d say I was half empty…
Okay, guys, now you’ve pulled me into this. Way to go.
Lessee - currently hovering around 160, goal = 145. By July 4. Problem is, I started an exercise regimen on December 15 and I haven’t seen much weight loss. I’m more toned now than previously, which I do take pride in, but I was hoping to lose! Plus now that I’ve gotten over the initial hurdle, going to the gym isn’t as hard as it was. So that’s all good - gotta take it where we can get it, yes.
So, here’s my latest fount of knowledge - I just bought a program for my PDA which calculates how much I burn just by living and counts my calories for me. It’s a little like points, except in calories - I know how many calories I can spend on food. If I exercise, I can spend more. It’s great.
A previous poster mentioned that s/he had to weigh in and input that weight into the PDA every day for the calculations to work - mine’s that way too. However, I’d rather weigh myself once a week rather than once a day (that and I don’t have a scale). So what I do is enter my weight for the week each day to get the calculations to work. It might mess up any charting and make it look really stepwise, but it works. Thought I’d mention that for anyone else using such technology.
Thanks, guys. I need this. Now - go to! Get out and do!
Yay!
Snicks
ACK. Okay so I’m already depressed. I got up the guts to weigh myself today at the gym and I’m about 7-10lbs (depending on the scale)over what I guessed earlier.
This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought. 
Aw, poor fizzestothetop. Well, at least look at it this way, you still have alot less to lose than me. I think I’m still at the top in that category.
Well, I had a doctor’s appointment today and had to get weighed (why do I always get that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when the doc wants to weigh me?) Anyway, I lost another pound. If I lose another by Saturday I’ll be averaging 2 per week which seems about right.
On the down side, some bitch here at work brought in one of those honkin’ big boxes of candy bars for some fund raiser or other. And it’s just sitting there on the staff room table, taunting me every time I go in there.
OK, I’m stepping in, too. I’ve lost 19 pounds now, since January 1. That averages to just under 2 lbs a week. I’m doing Atkin’s, and it’s been great. My husband has lost 23 lbs, same time frame, same plan, but at least a pound of that is hair (he got about 2 feet of hair cut off).
Oh, I sympathize! We have a steady stream of vendors bringing in goodies to our office. There are currently: a HUGE bag of Mister Bee potato chips (my favorite), 3 boxes of girl scout cookies, and a box of Krispy Kreme doughtnuts on our conference table. They’re killin’ me, I tell ya! I’ve been good but, it has not been easy.
Krispy Kreme?! You are a braver soul than I, that’s for sure! I’m so glad we don’t have a Krispy Kreme here in Rhode Island yet–damn, those are amazing donuts!
Gee, is it time for my apple and 6 point Smart Choice lunch yet?
Just got back from my WW meeting. Up two tenths of a pound. Dang, I thought I did really well this week. Thinking back on it, I guess I wasn’t as diligent as I’ve been telling myself I was.
Setbacks and delays are tiny and insignificant; they neither challenge my belief in success nor slow my progress.
I see myself at my 10% goal of 137.2 pounds and I be lookin’ goooooooooood!
Yeah, what Gazelle said. The hope that I’ll eventually be lookin’ gooooooooooood! is what’s keeping my head out of those Krispy Kreme’s.
lauramarlane thank your stars and garter you don’t have them there. They are the devil’s instruments (at least until after I’ve lost 20 pounds).
Emotions… Don’t let them sonsofbitches get to ya’.
I haven’t lost or gained any back, but I’m going through a break-up right now with a woman whom I’ve been involved with for 5 years. Outside of my marriage, which lasted 15 years, this is the longest relationship I have had, and lemme tell ya’, it hurts.
That shit will make you think of new ways to refry Twinkies or donuts, but don’t do it! Use it as a springboard, and if you have friends (like here) use them (as I am using y’all right now!:D)
Thank God for you Dopers and thank God for my bicycle! We 're doing 35 miles in the morning, come hell or highwater with George Thorogood blasting in my ear all the way!
I may be 53 and not much to look at , but I am, By God gonna be healthy!
Thanks
Q
I am IN! I am not going by pounds though because i refuse to step on a scale, i haven’t looked at one since i weighed like 150 when i looked at it. Im going so that i don’t hate how i look anymore. im trying to eat heathy and exersize though with working in a greesy food place its hard to eat heathy and i work with ice cream thats hard not to snack on at work. though they have a really good grilled chicken so i eat that or a bannana or nothing at all for supper on work nights. Good Luck to everyone
Don 't make me get medieval on Y’all’s ass now! 
(I can do R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket if I need to, ya know! ;), but for right now, I’ll be a “softie”, okay?)
**LOOK AT YOURSELF IN THAT MIRROR, LOSER!
SEE THAT FACE GETTIN’ NARROWER? FEEL THEM PANTS GETTIN’ LOOSER?
WELL THAT AIN’T MAGGOTS EATIN’ YOUR FLESH! THAT’S YOU GETTIN’ IN SHAPE. NOW GET DOWN THERE AND GIMME 1 POUND MORE!** (okay?, please? Thank you!)
(YA CUTE LITTLE HEATHENS!)
Let’s keep it up, Y’all!
Sgt. Quasi
(sorry for the caps, but the “troops” needed some yellin’ at - Ooohh-Rah)
Thanks, Quasi, I needed that 
Jumping in here myself again. Still hovering around 197-199. True that’s down 40lbs. from where I started, but I seem to have hit another ‘pause’ in the weight loss path. Oh well. These last 10 - 15 lbs. will be the hardest, but I’m upping my milage gradually, and thereby increasing the calories I’m burning. I know that for me and the wife, knowing that (on average) you burn about 100 calories for each mile you run/walk, has really helped us stay away from the munchies. Knowing that 2 Oreos is equivilant to a mile and a half of running really helps me pass them by. Good luck everyone, and keep up the great work!
Thanks, Quasi, I needed to hear that This thread has been a big help to me, guys, thanks to all of you!