Take that, BMI.

[fantastilicious]

So you may remember that in recent months, I decided I was getting a little beyond my weight comfort zone. I could tell I'd gained, I felt it in my ability to do things, and my opinion of myself was deteriorating

Comments

[killer_raincoat]

I'm glad you're feeling more healthy - I think thoughts and feelings around eating can make a big difference to how you feel about your body. I feel like I should give a little bit of a warning though, just based on my own experience of calorie counting. I started much the same way you did - not realizing how much i was eating, and then cutting down to 1500 calories a day. It turned into quite an obsession, and I ended up at 115 pounds, with no period and a wickedly messed up metabolism that has followed me for the past 8 years. Part of the issue was that I couldn't stop unconsciously counting the calories in everything I ate, which is why I'm glad you're using a program to do that part, but the other dangerous thing about calorie counting and restricting calories is that it really impacts how you think about food - or at least it did for me. I didn't base my eating around when I was hungry and when I wasn't - I based it around how many calories i had left in the day. And later, when it got too difficult to maintain a diet of 1500 calories a day, it turned into binging and purging.

I'm of course not saying any of this will happen to you. You're older and wiser than I was, and I think you have a much better grasp of the dangers of dieting. But I do think 1700 calories a day is too few. You should be eating at least 2000. And I really don't think this should be something anyone should do long term. The best lesson I've learned from all my issues with food is that it often really is enough just to get more in tune with what your body actually wants from you.

[fantastilicious]

I've definitely become more in tune to what the body actually needs, not what my brain wants (SALT AND FAT!!!). I mean, I still eat salt and fat. Just less of it.

I haven't felt the need to purge after a big pigout - it's important for me to know that eating out and living large is fine to do in moderation. I was just doing it WAY too much.

Thanks for the concern, and I'm sorry that things went poorly for you. I think that had I done this when I was younger, I may have done it poorly too. Maybe compare it to someone who is completely inactive realizing that a bit more walking everyday gets them in shape. I'm already an active person, I was just way way overeating/drinking.

I don't know what I'm trying to say here. I'm keeping an eye on it, but not a SUPER close eye. Not obsessing, just thinking?