On the 6th, my husband gave me a Body Media Fit for St. Nick's Day. It was originally meant to be a Christmas gift, but he knew how badly I wanted it, so it swapped it out. Best. Husband. Ever. So I started wearing the BMF, and it confirmed a few things for me right away:

1. I burn a lot of calories every day (full 24-hrs), anywhere from 2200 on sedentary days to 2600+ on exercise days. I also walk a lot of steps, averaging around 13000 a day. I even get in 10000 on sedentary days. Apparently, I move around a LOT, and my metabolism is pretty good.

2. I do not eat nearly enough. I've been doing that whole Points Plus Weight Watchers thing on and off since June, and on it, I eat around 1300-1500 calories a day. Do the math - most days my calorie differential is greater than 1000 calories. Oops. Especially oops since my body doesn't like to have more than a 500 calorie differential in a day.

3. Certain kinds of exercise is better for me and burn more calories (dancing, walking, running, even jogging in place) and certain kinds don't burn a whole lot OR boost my resting metabolism despite their claims (weight lifting interval training, elliptical). I burn as many calories doing Coach Nicole's 10-minute Crunchless Abs video as I do in 10 minutes panting away on my elliptical. Yeah.

After a week with the BMF, something broke and it would not communicate with my computer anymore. I had to send it back under warranty, and I will be getting a new one at some point. This is why I haven't done a full review - I want more than a week's worth of information before I can fully review it. But in the last two weeks, I have acted on what my limited data has told me, particularly on the fact that I need to eat more.

There's so much pressure in the weight loss world to eat less. I have seriously had people come by my blogs here on Spark and tell me that the reason I'm having trouble losing is because I'm eating too much. This happens more often than I can count, and it's ridiculous. Obviously, eating my 1300-1500 calories a day is NOT helping me. The first week I was using the BMF, I bumped my calories up to a 1700-1900 range. It was hard to eat that much! But in that week, I didn't gain an ounce, and I lost some of the swelling around my abdomen. I also felt less cranky, and had far more energy.

This week, I've bumped my calories up to 2000+, with some days going up to 2600 calories. And what happened? I lost weight for the first time in three weeks. It was only half a pound, down to 159.5, and I haven't updated my ticker yet, but I FINALLY lost weight. Not only did I lose it, but I lost it on a week when I was swelling up because of girl stuff. I also lost a quarter inch on my lower waist - despite the swelling - and I lost a quarter inch in my arm in a single week, which is the first I've lost on my arm since MAY. I sleep better at night, and when I do wake up and stay awake (insomnia does still trouble me), I do not get hungry. I feel better, so much better.

For the last 15 months, I have been eating far less than I should. I've mostly kept my calories under 1700, and often much lower than that. No wonder I've been unable to lose more than 2-3 lbs a month all that time. I need to stop listening to all the pressure to eat less, and do what my body - and now my mind - knows I ought to do, and eat MORE.