Weight Loss

Two years ago I joined LAWL. I was a 5'5", 28 year old, 204.2 pound woman.

The "councillors" at LAWL laid out my eating plan - although I opted out of their nutritional bars that they were selling to go along with the program. However, even though I did not buy the bars, they never suggested any substitutes to compensate for the calories I would be missing because I was not eating the bars (2 a day). They were fully supportive of me declining to implement the bars, and I thought nothing of it, aside from the money I was saving.

Nevertheless, I dropped down to 140 pounds in about 7 months - a steady loss and not so quick that it was ridiculous. I never really exercised at all.

I started to become very confused at how easy it was for me to put weight back on - 18 pounds in total over the past year or so. And now that I input my daily eating plan from LAWL into CC, I calculate that I was taking in just under 1,000 A DAY! No wonder I gained the weight back so easily!

While I was on the program, however, they did suggest that Luna Bars were an acceptable and cheaper alternative to their nutritional bars. If I input those into the daily meal plan, the caloric total is just over 1,300.

There is a part of me that would like to do the same eating plan as I did before - because I had good success. HOWEVER, I am wise enough at this point to know that's not so smart. After all, I was always cold - no FREEZING - and my period stopped. Hello warning signs? 

I am wondering, however, if it would be safe to eat around that 1,300 calorie mark? Now I'm 30, still 5'5", and about 158 pounds. I walk at least 10,000 steps a day, and workout another 500 calories worth (verified with a heart rate monitor) 6 days a week. I'd be willing to reduce my exercise a bit, if necessary, to keep my deficit at no more than 1,000 calories.

Thanks for reading my rant/question!

Kerri

 

[EDITED TO CORRECT THE AGE 2 YEARS AGO}

BUMP! (sorry if that's obnxious!)

On those statistics I'd start the ball rolling on more like 1700 a day.  If you exercise less... 1500 a day.   Better to start a little higher and be able to come down slightly than to have what happened before.

I've been eating 1,900 calories a day to maintain a 500 calorie deficit - because it was suggested that maybe I'd have better success with a lower deficit. However, I have totally been having free-for-all week-ends...and REALLY need to reel that in! I think I'll aim to truly stick to 1,500 calories/day - even on the weekends (LOL!) - and keep working out.

I generally think it's best to be reasonably consistent.  'Free-for-alls' don't really teach you how to control your eating habits, they can end up becoming more frequent and then you're back to being fat again!  If you went with something between 1500 and 1700 as a daily average with the occasional mini-splurge (2000+) on a special occasion to maintain your sanity then you'd probably make progress.

I looked into LAWL too, and was appalled that they wanted me to buy their bars from them.  The cost was about $3 a bar, and I was supposed to eat 2 a day.  I asked if I had to eat them and they said no, but were very reluctant to have me on the program without the bars.  They tried to convince me to buy them, saying it would greatly increase my chances of losing weight.  I told them and I didn't believe in meal replacements as an alternative to learning how to eat properly and walked out.

Any company that centers their weight loss plan around you buying their products doesn't have your best interests in mind, imo.  Glad to see you're here instead. :)