Calorie counting...ugh!

P3, Day 1
last dose weight: 132.8
current weight: 132.4 (-0.4)
overnight change: +1.2

I expected a gain, but not that much. Maybe I went a little overboard and reintroduced too many new foods at once. I know I didn't go over my calories.

That's right. Calories.

I was determined NOT to COUNT CALORIES. But I came to the reluctant conclusion that I have no idea how much I used to eat in a normal day. It was probably too little. While I don't buy into a simple "calorie in, calorie out" philosophy--it's more about the type of foods you eat and the way you exercise--the naturopathic doctors who run the Enlita weight loss program say that anything less than 2100 calories a day for the average woman is a starvation diet. The World Health Organization says that less than 2100 calories a day is starvation.

But since I hate counting calories, I didn't bother finding out what that much healthy food looks or feels like.

I also don't believe in one rule set in stone for everyone. Caloric needs could be greater or less for some people. So I found my BMR--Basal Metabolic Rate--here. That tells you how many calories a day you'd need if all you did is stay in bed all day. Then you can click the link for Daily Caloric Needs and adjust it to your activity level.

For light activity I need roughly 1900 calories a day to maintain my weight. For moderate activity, about 2100. (Bing, bing, bing. We have a winner.) I'll be starting out light until I get more energy back, then I'll be moving to my normal moderate to active (2300).

I'm so relieved the thing didn't tell me I need 1500 per day. I wouldn't have trusted that. I know it would set me up for failure long-term. It's part of the reason I had trouble losing weight. Too little food. And I'm only talking me personally. You may be different.

Coming off very low calories, there will probably be an adjustment time. I punched my food into a calorie calculator last night and came up with 1600. Close enough when my only activity was grocery shopping and cooking.

But searching for foods in the calculator reminded me why I hate counting calories. I made green bean casserole with supper. Lots of ingredients. And just how big of a serving did I have? So I had to use a very rough estimation. I'll only stick with counting the calories until I get the hang of estimating for myself.

And let it be soon!