maintenance 9.13.07

I should be glad I'm maintaining, and I am. But I still want to lose weight. I have begun doing cardio 4-6 days per week and strength training most days. As a result, I am hungrier. I have been thinking about what to do about the hunger. What
I really want is to do some research on nutritional needs while strength training. Interestingly, I haven't found that info on the Internet. I'd like to know how much protein I need, so I can tell the difference between my body needing protein and my simply craving it. I also really want to learn about how much exercise a body needs. It really helped me to lose weight when I found out how many calories it takes to create / lose 1 lb. I also learned how many calories you can lose through exercise and all the details of how many calories are in various foods. I want to know the same things about exercise. I really did not find any good books about this at borders. I am thinking about taking some classes on personal training. Since I don't feel that my free personal trainer at the gym is helpful in these areas.

I think that if I do the following:
focus on drinking more water to quench hunger cravings,
snack on veggies and protein and maybe fruit
control portion sizes
add healthy fat to my diet
keep lean proteins available

I should be back on track to losing. But I really want to cut my calories back but don't know how far to do so while strenght training.

At the gym, I don't enjoy strength training. I feel self conscous. Plus, I like to have lots of options for how I maintain my healthy lifestyle-stuff I can do at home as well as at the gym, so I don't want my stenght training routine to be dependent upon the gym.

I know I still need to lose about 30 lbs to get to what the Dr calls healthy. I really want to get htese. I guess the question is, how bad do I want to get there?

If I knew what I was supposed to eat I would make myself do it. That kind of thing really helped me to say no before. Just knowing I did not physically need 2 slices of bread at each meal helped me to not eat it. I really want to know how much excercize I need-cardio, aerobic and strength. It is the type A / control freak / OCD / ADD part of my personality. I need to know why.