FatAndDepressed

hi kimberly. i just wanted to reply real quick for ya. the way it was explained to me was take your current weight and multiply it based on your level of activity. 10 (little to none) 12 (medium) 14 (high activity level)
example:
222x10=2220 low or no activity
222x12=2664 medium activity level
222x14=3108 very high activity level
those are the amount of calories you would want to eat if you did not want to lose or gain... to lose you do pretty much the same. take your goal weight and multiply it by your activity level.... thats the calories you'd consume a day.
lets say your goal is 140 pounds:
140x10=1400
140x12=1680
140x14=1960
as you can see there is a dramatic loss in calories, if you drop your calorie intake that much, that fast, it will cause your body to start storing, so you find a medium.
low activity- 2220/1400 (820 cal. loss) split in half and eat 1810 calories a day until you reach 181 pounds. then you do it all over again. 1810/1400 would be 1600 calories a day until you reach 160 pounds, then you go for your 1400 calories a day. by this time your body has gotten used to the slow decrease in your calories and will not keep weight on you, or store fat because it feels your starving it. when i started this i weighed between 218 to 230.... usually stayed at 225, anyway i have changed my goals 2 times already. when i got to 190, i changed, and now i'm at 180 and i've shooting for 165 to 170. by the time i'm done i hope to be at 135 to 140 (praying to be there by june or july) i also go by the lowest activity level (i babysit and don't have time to go to the gym anymore) but it has been a slow weight loss, but now its worth it. i have lost alittle over 40 pounds since 6/11/02.
sorry i went on so long about it, but thats how it was explained to me, and the only way i know how to explain it to others. hope this helps some for ya. take care and good luck on your weight loss. God bless!