New & Some Questions

[Guest guest]

Hello, all --

I am reading up here, because I have been around 34 pounds overweight

since I had my kids. My experience has been common to a few of my

friends -- pregnancy didn't mess me up, but slowing down nursing did

-- my appetite stayed up while calories burned went way down!

Right now I'm at +20 pounds, having lost around 14 pounds in the past

couple of months due to exercise. Weight was still fluctuating a lot,

so I started a calorie-restricted diet two weeks ago. I came here b/c

I think I haven't been getting enough vitamins & minerals, and would

like some input on a few things.

--Dizzy spells. These have been terrible & constant, nearly every

day. The only time they subsided was when I gave in at a social

gathering & ate a piece of cheese pizza from Domino's. I'm not sure

if it is too-low calories or MSG withdrawal symptoms, LOL.

--Number of Calories per day. I averaged these, and it is around 1100

calories/day, fluctuating from 1000 to 1400. One day I was super

hungry all day & ate around 2000 calories, but none of the days have I

gone hungry, and after that day I have gone back down. Better food is

accounting for low number. My BMI numbers say I would need around

2200 per day, so I'm running a deficit of 900-1200 most days. Is this

causing the dizziness? The thing is, I'm not going hungry or

depriving myself -- in fact, going hungry is very hard for me because

I'm close to being hypoglycemic, and usually eat a little all

throughout the day. I'm trying to adjust & get closer to 1600 per

day, for healthier weight loss & not losing muscle, but it is hard to

do if you are eating good foods. This even includes eating

whole-wheat bread every day & cereal for breakfast, having occasional

desserts.

--Weight loss is averaging 2.5 pounds/week. If this continues, will I

risk losing muscle instead of fat?

--If the problem is minerals/nutrients, is it possible to get what I'm

missing through supplements? I have some organic supplements that are

pretty good in terms of content, but I haven't been super-great about

taking them, because I have doubts about absorption. Comments?

--Weight -- the guideline in the opening emails from this list say

that my healthy weight should be around 125. When I have around 20%

body fat, my weight is around 140 pounds -- and that is around a size

5-6 (female). That is my current goal weight for the end of 2006.

Does CRON say that you need a lower body fat for health (I'm still

looking through), and should I be using body fat or another estimate

rather than weight, since mine has always been heavy, even when I am

small? For my women friends who are the same height, I am typically

the same clothes size as they are when I am around 15-20 pounds

heavier -- not sure why. Even when I was a teenager & ran every day,

did a lot of weight training, and had a very low body fat (closer to

size 4), my weight still stayed around 138-140.

I appreciate your comments as I'm just getting started & looking at

what CRON means, but I want to be healthier, maintain a good weight

long-term, and hopefully inspire my husband, who is currently 50+

pounds overweight & showing pre-Diabetes Type II symptoms & elevated

cholesterol at age 29 (I worry constantly about his health).

If any of these questions are really stupid, please forgive as I'm

still researching this. Thanks!