Kingkeld: Yes, I did check out your page. I worked out all the calculations for my caloric intake that you have on your page, and I was shocked at how many calories were recommended for my intake; 2480 calories a day! And of course double those calories for the indulgence day! I don't know if I could mentally let myself eat that many calories anymore. I may try that at some point if I stall again, but right now just bumping up to where I'm at is helping. I noticed I'm down another pound today! So, something was sure jumpstarted! Thanks again for your advice, I appreciate it! Rich

A quick update. I have upped my calories for the last few days, and lo and behold today my weight is down 3.6 lbs! Seems there is some hoodoo to this caloric intake voodoo! Too little=stall. Too much=weight gain. Happy balance=success. Probably a life lesson in there someplace. ;) Thanks again to EVERYONE for all the advice. I learned a long time ago, I don't have to agree to learn and grow. There has to be contradiction to build conviction. Thanks again! Rich

I do appreciate all the advice and I can certainly understand the phantom rub that I am causing in some on this forum. Needless to say, I have lost over 160 pounds on a 1500 calorie a day or less diet. To assume that I am all of a sudden miscalculating my caloric intake is a strange thought to me. I am down right religious about counting calories and have the success to back that up. I have a suspicion that dropping my calories below 1500 has messed with my chemical equilibrium and I'm in the center of that right now. I know I'm not alone on this matter and that is why I posted to this forum. There are others that have been in my very same situation, and I'm eager to hear how they approached this very real dilema. There is no moving backward, only forward. Thanks again everyone, I appreciate your advice. Rich

If one thing is true I've stuck to my guns on this lifestyle change. You don't lose 160+ pounds and then all of a sudden start cheating almost two years into the plan. I follow through, and I will see my goal. I could actually eat less if I knew it would help, but it isn't. I have made smart choices in my diet. I eat low fat healthy meals. I haven't eaten red meat in over a decade, and I don't drink milk. At my last doctor's check up (with a full blood panel) all my numbers were steller. When I started my lifestyle change I was borderline diabetic, had high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.........all of that is gone. Feel free to check out my diet calendar to see my intake. Exercise is certainly something I need to increase, and now that Summer is attempting to arrive here in the NW I intend to take advantage of the time. Thank you all for the advice, I really do appreciate it. It makes a world of difference knowing there is a community of people that have the same goals and are so supportive.

Thank you all for the advice, and kudos! It's been an enlightening (pun sort of intended) journey thus far. I think I'm going to try upping my calories and see if that helps. At the very least I will try a spike day. It's really hard mentally for me to go over my allotment. Which in the short run may be bad, but in the long run it will keep me on the straight (well zig zag!) and narrow!

Hi all, I have been on a 1500 calorie or less diet for almost two years now. I started off at 424 lbs, and I'm currently at 256 lbs. Things went great until I hit a plateau around Thanksgiving last year. I then started dropping my calories to 1200-1300 calories. It seemed to work initially, but here I am in a cycle again; up and down 5lbs, and then a little loss. I was wondering about zig zag diets, or having a spike day. Does anyone have any advice on how to get the weight loss rolling again. I really have no problem eating 1200 or less calories a day, but I'm starting to think that my body is really fighting me because it thinks I'm starving. Any advice is GREATLY appreciated! Rich