Am 61 year old newbie to program...Want to lose 15 pounds.....Can we do 1100 calories instead of 1200????

Chat with your counselor. They will help educate you on calories and what you need. I know a lot of people who don't eat the full amount of calories that you are supposed to, but you do need to chat with your JCC.

Best of luck!

JC never recommends lower than 1200. I'm curious as to why you want to drop to 1100. Do you think it's too much food? Are you not active at all? Are you wanting to lose the 15 more quickly? It takes 3500 calories to lose a pound, so at -100 per day, it would take 5 weeks to lose an extra 1 pound. With that low of intake, you're at greater risk of shutting down your metabolism, going into starvation mode, not getting enough nutrients, and not losing any weight.

That being said, my mother is in her mid 60's, is not active at all (although still mobile). She eats maybe 800 calories a day, not because she's trying to lose weight, she just doesn't care. She's about 5'3" (although used to be 5'6") and weighs about 115... 130 is a much healthier weight for her. She's not unhealthy, but neither does she have much muscle tone or stamina. She also drinks maybe a total of 40 oz of liquid a day, half of that being coffee.

1100 may be an acceptable level for you, but I would recommend discussing it with your doctor first. Be upfront with your consultant as well so that she can give you accurate advice.

Hi Sedonall - glad to have you posting in this thread: )) We need all the older chicks we can find as we have different issues than our much younger friends here do ... like, could I really be able to grown a decent looking goatee now or shall I continue to tweeze?

As to your question about daily calories, like da' MudMouse, I eat fewer than "required" when I am just not hungry. You have to understand that NOT feeling hungry is a brand new experience for me and I am excitedly embracing it. I own it! I am dumping weight like crazy eating Jenny Craig and my body is again not, I repeat not going "into starvation mode" as I am fat and taking in fewer calories than I need to maintain this weight thus I lose weight each week. Simple Diet Math 101 ... if things change, why then I will revisit all aspects of my restricted food intake but until then let the good times roll!

Welcome to our little corner of the world ...

suzanne

Dear Double M - I was just reading your weekly WI's which I love, you never panic when you show a smaller lose for any week but at the end of each month you always have a tidy total lost. I am learning from you to see the big picture of an entire month of losses EVERY week, be they large or small.

Speaking of "bags of potatoes" lugged around, I like to think of my losses in terms of bags of dog food - think of dragging around a 50 pound bag of dog food 24/7/365 - it never leaves you alone, it is always there to carry around - I can't wait to get 100 pounds or (2) 50 pounds bags, off of my body. This is why I eat the menu only, I am sick from my weight and I am sick of being sick. Not exactly great writing or poetic but just darn straight.

suzanne

I would say check with your doctor first, then work with the JCC on calorie restrictions. Only your doctor or health care provider will know what is the safest calorie level for you. Your doctor can do some blood work for a balance check and make suggestions for nutritional levels. (calcium, potassium, minerals levels etc)

After that you can work with your JCC on your goals and stay within safe and healthy limits.

Hi Sedonail... just hold in there. You gave yourself your answer... 'newbie'.

When I was a 'newbie', Jenny put me on 1500 calories... but I was a sedentary person... with physical limitations... and 1500 calories did not work so fast or so good....
So, jenny put me on 1200 cals. and asked me to check off EVERYTHING eaten for the day. And I did. I was never hungry! And I lost weight.
More importantly -- I lost several inches! I never thought of inches! That thrilled me more than anything. Just a better diet plan! A much better food plan! A new way of life. It does not happen over night. But it will work on 1200 cals. I'll betcha'. Just have fun on this new journey.

How many calories do you think you ate before this Jenny journey? I'll bet it wasn't 1500 calories.... if you're like me, I was way over a normal calorie diet and I had no idea my food choices were the worse kind! You do not have to starve your body to lose weight!

Here's the problem if you eat too little / too little calories: Your body will think it is starving. When you have an 'off dy' and eat more calories, your body will store EVERY calorie it got (as FAT cells) because it thinks tomorrow it will STARVE again. So.... DO NOT STARVE YOUR BODY! Stay with the plan.

jo