Still figuring it out

When I was 19, I was at my highest weight ever. There have been lots of ups and downs throughout the years, but since then I have lost and kept off about 45 lbs.

Based on my experience, you would think that I would have a thing or two figured out about weight loss. But sometimes, it seems like I know nothing.

I posted a couple days ago that I was going to start counting calories again. I've been back on that train for a few days for a few days now, and like I said before, I really don't mind it. My problem is that I am not sure how many calories I should be eating to lose weight. It seems like when I don't count at all, I just maintain.

I know that there are plenty of calculators online to help you estimate how many calories you should be eating, but the numbers they offer are so disparate that it leaves me back at square 1. Some say eat 1200/day and some say eat 2200/day. Thanks a lot!

Last fall I was able to maintain a weekly average of 1400-1500 cals/week for a few weeks so I thought I would give that a try. I was going for 1300/day + a extra treat budget of about 1000/week. This would give me an average of 1450 or so for the week.

What I didn't take into account was that when I was eating this much in the fall, I wasn't exercising as much as I am now and I really was only able to maintain this for a couple weeks before I fell off the wagon. So, as you might expect, I spent the first couple days of this week absolutely obsessing about food. I spent hours (not exaggerating) looking at food porn and was starting to get really bitchy (sorry Andrew). That let to a total blowout on Tuesday night (frosted animal cookies and froot loops, and they were delicious). I woke up the next day feeling pretty bummed out about it but I know that I was not eating enough. So I got right back on the wagon, but this time I am going for about 1700 cals/ day.

I know I won't lose as fast as if I could force myself into a lower number, but being a crazy miserable mess is just not cool.

Important Question: For those of you who count calories, or even just those who watch what you eat, how do you decide how much to eat?

Our laptop is out of commission, and I can't find my memory card reader to load pictures onto the netbook right now, so I'll leave you with this picture of a dog driving an RV.

Have a good day everyone!