Calories

I am one year out and I'm down 143 pounds..I've reached my surgeons goal but not quite at my personal goal.  Lately, I have been slacking.  BIG TIME!!!  I acknowledge that and I am making the necessary changes to get back on track.  I'm just not sure how many calories I should be eating.  I have been taking in waaaayy too many calories but I don't know what to cut back too..any suggestions?

it depends on how much you weigh and how much you should way

there is a formula doctors use to figure out how many calories your body burns just to function

First congratulations on a great WL job.  Second that is a very personal question.  How many were you taken in before you slacked off?  Were you losing, gaining or staying the same.  Journal your intake.  If you were losing or maintaining set that number as your goal.  If you want to lose lower it 200 or so for a while see how you are doing.  If still not losing lower 200 more.  Find what works for you.  For me, if I go over the 1200/1500 I gain.  Being older/younger, male/female or taller/shorter can make a difference.  And of course, activity level.

Its wonderful that you've lost 143 pounds in a year.  great work!  To get back on track, first I'd look at carbs.  Carbs make me crave food, so I have to limit them to 25 g per day.  You might try cutting carbs for a few days and see if that helps you stick to plan. Second,  Log your food.  Its so easy to eat more calories than we realize.

I think "how many calories you should aim at" is dependent on your own physiology and you'll have to experiment.  At one year out, I'm eating about 1000 calories a day and I'm losing weight at between 1 and 2 pounds a week.  Some people can eat more, some need to eat less to lose weight.  I'd pick a calorie goal and see how it goes.

best of luck,

You can do this!

Carol

Thanks Carol!

There are so many variables to account for in a proper answer. Some days you need more and some days you need less. I'm reading Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat and it's all about mindful and instinctual eating. It's teaching me about listening to my body giving it what it needs when it needs it, not when the clock tells me it's time to eat. I sighed when I saw the 1-10 hunger scale and sighed again when she said to not let yourself get to a 1 and eat when you're a 3 or 4. Same stuff I've heard and read many times before. But then she goes on to explain why. Now only if I could wave a magic wand and make my brain unlearn 36 years worth of bad information...  sigh....

I know you can read some of the book on amazon.com and download a free chapter from the book's website.

Edit to add: Of course this is not the only or even best way to go about eating, but it appeals to my logical brain so it's worth my further exploration. The bottom line is you need to find what works for you!