OK. It's time for me to join the club. On Saturday I weighed 147 lbs at 5'7". Not considered overwieght, I'm at the high end of normal. That was also the day I got my period. So today I weighed in at 145 lb. I know from experience that my best competition weight is 135 lb. So I'm shooting for that. I've got 7 months to do it before IM Can. The problem is that I'm already training pretty hard and I feel like I'm starving all the time. I have never counted calories in my life. I suppose I should start. Need to make sure that I'm getting enough to fuel my activity but cutting back a little so I can lose wisely.

Little bit of trivia for you all. I participated in a research study that looked at metabolic hormone levels in highly active women and how they change depending on restriction of caloric intake. It turns out that the most efficient caloric levels for maintaining healthy metabolism and maximizing weight loss is 80% of caloric needs. That is, if I need 2000 cal per day to maintain my lean muscle mass and I burn 1000 doing exercise, the ideal amount for me to eat would be 2400 cal.

Just a little food for thought.