When will I ever learn?

I’ve been tracking every morsel of food that passes these lips for about 3 weeks now and have about figured out that 1200 calories is just too low for me. I noticed a trend that when I lose weight my calories are closer to 1500. I just think that the 300 difference in calories might mean the difference between my body functioning properly and starvation mode.

Spoke with a good friend of mine, who happens to be studying nutrition, and she thought that 1200 might be a little low as well. Especially since I have been hopping on the ole treadmill for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half 5 to 6 times a week. Maybe I made a mistake in the beginning when I dropped my calories from only God knows how many a day to a measly 1200. Maybe my body needs more time to adjust to the lack of food. I’m going to try and keep my calories up around 1500 for a couple of weeks to see how I do and then will revisit it later on down the road to see if it needs to be cut back further. Probably when I plateau.

I figured that with my base metabolism and what little activity I do about 2700 to 3000 calories are being burnt up like vapor trails rising from the hot asphalt on a 100 degree day. If I run for an hour and a half my treadmill tells me that I’m burning up about 750 calories and if that is so then 1200 definitely isn’t enough that day.

On another note – I ran out of steam last night. When I got home from work I got on the treadmill and was it ever a chore. I couldn’t catch my breath at all so I only went 2 miles in 31 minutes and had to force myself to even do that. Afterwards I just lounged around on the couch because I didn’t have the energy or desire to do anything. Did force myself to do 45 leg lifts (each leg) while lying on the couch but not much else.

The Mr. asked me several times if I felt bad. Yech – YES! Why yes I sure do. Today we were trying to analyze why I dropped like a fly yesterday. We went over every little thing and I think it has to do with the tortilla chips and hot sauce I ate yesterday afternoon. Then after I got off the treadmill that lone piece of pepperoni pizza in the fridge kept calling my name so I nuked it for a bit and ate it. Did pick off most of the pepperoni and fed it to my youngest as she loves the stuff.

Still I think that the garbage poured into this old body of mine contributed to the sluggish nature I felt last night. Maybe, because I’ve been putting fruits and veggies and an occasional grilled yard-bird into my stomach it had to work really, really hard to figure out what to do with all that fat and grease I shoved down my face. So today I went back to my yummy, nutritious, delicious food fare from the “I don’t want to be fat anymore” food plan and feel better (was going to say feel normal but I’m not sure I know what normal feels like).

Hope this is a lesson learned for Ms. I Can’t Fit!