Im am currently weighing in at 180 right now .. have been sitting at this weight for 2 weeks now aside from my diet change and my workouts.

My dad is retiring the last day of March (yay for him .. 34 years put in at our local Police Dept ) .. anyways .. we're all going on a cruise for a week starting April 15th and I am not trying to go lookin like a beach whale!! lol ..

I understand that quick weight loss isnt always a good thing. Im hoping to at least lose 10 to 15 lbs before we ship out.

Before meeting with a nutritionist last week I was keeping my calories around 1200 ... I've been told to bump it up to 1750'ish. Since I've met with him I've changed quiet a few things ... My daily diet normally consist of ..

Breakfast =
1 slim fast
1 package of 50% less sugar oatmeal
2 pieces of turkey bacon

Snack =
Cottage Cheese
3 or 4 Celery Sticks

Lunch =
---varies between either ...
Lean Cuisine Panini -or- Tuna Salad on Wheat Bread -or- Lean Cuisine Flat Bread Pizza (each equaling around 300 calories)
A Small Bag of Sunchips

Snack =
---varies between either ...
Protein Shake (mix and recipe from the gym .. all around 300 calories)
Cottage Cheese (I love tha stuff .. lol)
Zone Perfect Bar
2 of the 100 Calorie Snack Packs

Dinner =
... Cant really get specific here cuz it normally depends. Example for last night I had two of the Snack Wraps from McDonalds with the Grilled Chicken rather than the fried .. and one of the Fruit/Walnut Salads.

My normal work outs are done on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I had been walkin at least 30 minutes .. no more than an hour each day at the gym wtih light weight training. My trainer told me to change it around to weights first .. then about 20 minutes on the treadmill. Told me to keep my calorie intake around 350 per meal / mini meal (wants me around 5 or 6 meals/mini meals a day)

I am trying so desperatly to lose this weight before April .. and Im up for ANY suggestions whether it be .. stick to what you're doing .. or change it up a bit .. Naturally I love seeing all the success stories, but I must admit I get alittle jealous and I wanna throw the scale out the window when I see no changes ~ lol.

Any ideas???

That is certainly logical in the sense of a goal.

How long were you eating 1200, did you just jump straight to 1750?

Now if you were baby stepping your way to getting in shape my comments would be different, but if you are truly trying to optimize you goals then you are going to have to pretty much scratch your whole diet. This is not a diet for optimized fat loss. A calorie is not a calorie, you want the BEST of nutrients going into you body to get the most out of your plan.

Check out these links to get a better feel for what a diet should be.
John Berardi - 7 Habits
John Berardi - Lean Eatin' Part I
John Berardi - Lean Eatin' Part II

The over all plan isn't bad but "light weight training" isn't going to cut it. This doesn't mean you have to do Barbell squats, but you need to be hitting the exercises you do hard. Also your cardio sessions should be shorter but of higher intensity. The highly recommend the use of HIIT for fat loss.

You have a trainer and a nutritionist which is great and they seem to not be to off, but if talking about optimizing your plans I would personally make some changes. Regardless I think you would see results going at it this way,just saying I don't think they will be as fast as you hope so don't get frustrated as these are healthy ways to lose fat, just not optimal.

Hope that helps.

Very cool .. Thanks a lot Leigh. I am totally up for any helpful information I can recieve.

Yeah, I pretty much did go from the 1200 to the 1750 (or close to it) within just a day or two. My eating habits will change soon. The nutrionist that I met with gave me some layouts of meals and mini meals that have the exactl calorie, carb, protien, etc count already added ~ and its the proper foods .. ie ~ chicken, fish, veggies ... so on and so on.

Im just afraid that Im gonna get stuck .. then I'll get frustrated .. then I'll quit ~ lol ... I know myself too well!!!

That is great, you seem to be on the right track. Note though that a quick raise like that in caloric intake can bring about a slight regain until your BMR adjusts. So if that scale goes up understand that could be why. It doesn't mean you should be eating less calories, it just means you body has to play a little bit of catch up.

Good luck.

Thanks again Leigh .. I find all your information very helpfull .. and right now, Im needed alittle help .. or maybe just that extra boost!! lol ..

ps ~ Thank you for your msg ... being new to the boards I cant reply yet ~ but all in due time! lol ...