Im new here but not to trying to lose weight.

larrynlight

I am 34 years old and I have been obese most of my life since 11 years old. Recently in the last year I finally topped 550+ pounds. I freaked add to this that I ended up in the hospital with high blood pressure and I am having a hard time staying motivated. It seems like there is so little that I can eat that doesn't also have a lot of salt. I know salt occurs naturally in some foods but I am constantly on the go for my job and rarely have time to cook. lately I have lost almost 40lbs in the last 5 months. I am truly happy that I have done this but I have soo much more to lose. I don't want to stop till I hit 300lbs then I can reassess and make a new goal. I am really tall so my body can handle some weight but I am not trying to go out because of a big mac. Any help you can provide even if its just an word would be appreciated. Im getting tired of just eating tuna and backed chicken. I want to join the real world again.

acorsaut89

First off - congrats on the 40lbs loss!! It can be hard to stay motivated if you have a lot to lose but people have done it without surgery and I believe if you really want to do it you will

When it comes to eating - it definitely sucks, I know!!!! I have about 80 more pounds to go before I hit my first BIG goal and I can relate to feeling like your choices are limited. If my friends or colleagues want to go out after work I have to base my whole day around what I'm going to be eating that night or if I know I have a week coming up where I'm eating out a lot I have to base my meal prep on that and it can seem restrictive but I have found there so much I really can eat, I just have to be open to trying new things.

For example, I started making my own tandoori chicken - which doesn't have a lot of salt in it, which is good because I react to salt and bloat like crazy! I eat a TON of fresh veggies/fruit - like I eat vanilla yogurt, blue menu chocolate protein boost granola and some kind of fruit every morning for breakfast. It's not bacon and eggs BUT because I am sticking to this 6 out of 7 days a week, one day a week I can treat myself. It's so much about balance and just know that you can treat yourself every once in a while but it has to be controlled. BIG TIP: if you know yourself well enough to know that introducing even a little bit of that "good" food back into your diet will result in you overeating and bingeing on it, don't do it. Do not attempt to re-integrate these foods until you know you can control it. My thing is chips and french fries: I could eat a whole meal on french fries so I had to stay away from them until I knew I can just have a few.

If you ever need to chat or anything, feel free to add me It can be daunting but it takes dedication and if you can do this, you can do anything and you're way more dedicated than a majority of people in this world. Best of luck to you

peachyfuzzle

You don't specifically have to eat those foods if you don't want. Foods like tuna, and baked chicken are pretty much just high in protein with low calories which is good for a healthier diet, and necessary for anyone with any sort of workout schedule.

Technically, you could eat whatever you want as long as you stay under your TDEE. I'd recommend looking into that, and using that to figure out how many calories you would have to cut in order to lose weight. From there, you can basically eat anything you want as long as you don't go over your calorie count. If you just strictly want to lose weight, and absolutely don't care about anything else, what really matters is that your calories in are less than your calories out meaning that if you weren't to work out, you would have to eat less calories than your body naturally burns by just keeping itself alive.

Of course, that number will change the more weight you lose, so you'd have to adjust it every so often.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

CupcakeCrusoe

peachyfuzzle wrote: »

You don't specifically have to eat those foods if you don't want. Foods like tuna, and baked chicken are pretty much just high in protein with low calories which is good for a healthier diet, and necessary for anyone with any sort of workout schedule.

Technically, you could eat whatever you want as long as you stay under your TDEE. I'd recommend looking into that, and using that to figure out how many calories you would have to cut in order to lose weight. From there, you can basically eat anything you want as long as you don't go over your calorie count. If you just strictly want to lose weight, and absolutely don't care about anything else, what really matters is that your calories in are less than your calories out meaning that if you weren't to work out, you would have to eat less calories than your body naturally burns by just keeping itself alive.

Of course, that number will change the more weight you lose, so you'd have to adjust it every so often.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Seconded. Congratulations on your loss so far! Use that website: it will give you excellent information to help you make this not only a lifestyle, but an enjoyable one. You don't have to limit what kinds of food you eat, just how much food you eat.

acorsaut89

peachyfuzzle wrote: »

You don't specifically have to eat those foods if you don't want. Foods like tuna, and baked chicken are pretty much just high in protein with low calories which is good for a healthier diet, and necessary for anyone with any sort of workout schedule.

Technically, you could eat whatever you want as long as you stay under your TDEE. I'd recommend looking into that, and using that to figure out how many calories you would have to cut in order to lose weight. From there, you can basically eat anything you want as long as you don't go over your calorie count. If you just strictly want to lose weight, and absolutely don't care about anything else, what really matters is that your calories in are less than your calories out meaning that if you weren't to work out, you would have to eat less calories than your body naturally burns by just keeping itself alive.

Of course, that number will change the more weight you lose, so you'd have to adjust it every so often.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Yes and no - yes that OP can eat whatever as long as it fits into caloric intake BUT if the OP has a tendency to binge and over eat with certain foods, I wouldn't recommend this.

Also, chicken, tuna and a lot of other meat have high protein counts: this will keep you full and not crave the other stuff. It's not necessary for a diet - I happen to eat chicken every day because it's my personal choice of protein but if you drink protein shakes that could be it for you or if you're a vegetarian. If you have a work out schedule: what's necessary is protein because protein helps repair muscles after a workout.

I would advise of being careful with how much you reduce calorie count because if you reduce too drastically to speed up weight loss it could have the same affect as being anorexic on your body: you're essentially starving yourself and it could lead to serious organ damage, loss of lean body mass and other issues. If you can exercise (as you said you travel with work a lot), then easy cardio would be the way to go for now. I started at 320lbs and lost 70 of it by doing spin classes 4 days/week and eating normal portioned, healthy foods. This can be done, you just have to want it

peachyfuzzle

acorsaut89 wrote: »

peachyfuzzle wrote: »

You don't specifically have to eat those foods if you don't want. Foods like tuna, and baked chicken are pretty much just high in protein with low calories which is good for a healthier diet, and necessary for anyone with any sort of workout schedule.

Technically, you could eat whatever you want as long as you stay under your TDEE. I'd recommend looking into that, and using that to figure out how many calories you would have to cut in order to lose weight. From there, you can basically eat anything you want as long as you don't go over your calorie count. If you just strictly want to lose weight, and absolutely don't care about anything else, what really matters is that your calories in are less than your calories out meaning that if you weren't to work out, you would have to eat less calories than your body naturally burns by just keeping itself alive.

Of course, that number will change the more weight you lose, so you'd have to adjust it every so often.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Yes and no - yes that OP can eat whatever as long as it fits into caloric intake BUT if the OP has a tendency to binge and over eat with certain foods, I wouldn't recommend this.

Also, chicken, tuna and a lot of other meat have high protein counts: this will keep you full and not crave the other stuff. It's not necessary for a diet - I happen to eat chicken every day because it's my personal choice of protein but if you drink protein shakes that could be it for you or if you're a vegetarian. If you have a work out schedule: what's necessary is protein because protein helps repair muscles after a workout.

I would advise of being careful with how much you reduce calorie count because if you reduce too drastically to speed up weight loss it could have the same affect as being anorexic on your body: you're essentially starving yourself and it could lead to serious organ damage, loss of lean body mass and other issues. If you can exercise (as you said you travel with work a lot), then easy cardio would be the way to go for now. I started at 320lbs and lost 70 of it by doing spin classes 4 days/week and eating normal portioned, healthy foods. This can be done, you just have to want it

I said nothing about binging. I only said that if you eat less than your TDEE, you'll lose weight, and it doesn't matter what foods you eat to get those calories as long as those calories stay under.

Binging, and going over is completely up to OP.

ndj1979

OP here is my advice..

1. Get a food scale, and weigh, measure, log everything that you eat.
2. calculate your TDEE and eat in a 500 per day calorie deficit.
3. Understand that there are no "bad" foods. You can eat the foods that you like, maintain a deficit, and you will lose weight. You do not need to eat tuna, or chicken and vegetables all the the time.
4. Carbs and Sugar are not the devil..
5. Get on some kind of work out program - strength training, cardio, etc and stick to it..
6. repeat until you reach desired results.

AliciaStinger

Congratulations on your loss so far! Celebrate your successes instead of focusing on what you haven't yet accomplished. It helps me to make several smaller goals of 5-10 pounds at a time; one easy way to focus on this is to join the monthly groups on here where you set a weight loss goal (could be anything from 1 pound to eight pounds, if losing 2 pounds a week is reasonable/possible for you).

If you're not trying to lose weight, but are instead focusing on the quality of your food, here's something quick that I make: instant rice. I know, it's not nearly the most nutritious food you could eat, but hear me out on this...

Instant rice takes about five minutes to make. I make two cups of rice on Sunday night, get one bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables, one can of beans (whatever kind you like), some protein (chicken, beef, fish, or tofu), and seasonings (Sriracha, soy sauce, sweet and sour, sour cream and/or cheese, or whatever you like). From these ingredients, I can make a week's worth of meals in a fairly short period of time:

-Rice, ground beef or chicken (fry it [no oil needed] to cook the meat faster) with beans and cheese, sour cream, or tortillas for makeshift Mexican food. **(NOTE - this is a meal you may wish to pre-log on MFP because the calories and carbs add up super fast. I sometimes eat just beans, rice, and sour cream to cut down the calories.)**

-Rice, frozen stir fry veggies with salmon (or tuna) and just a touch of Sriracha is healthy and has a lot of flavor. If you're not into spicy foods, swap out the Sriracha for another sauce, or skip the sauce; it's good plain, too.

-Rice, stir fry veggies, chicken or beef, and soy sauce (salt alert) or sweet and sour makes an excellent stir fry that can be made even by a beginner in 20 minutes total.

-Rice, steak or ground beef, onions, diced baked potato, some pepper or chili powder, and canned tomatoes/tomato sauce/maybe sloppy joe sauce (salt alert) would probably make an excellent chili-esque stew.

You can also make a boatload of recipes with pasta. Look at Noodles and Company's menu (or whatever restaurant you like) for some ideas. Like the rice recipes, you can fill it up with veggies and protein, but watch the carbs and calories if you're trying to maintain or continue losing weight. These are just some ideas for quicker meals. Congrats again on the progress you've already made!

ETA - I don't eat pork, but that is another option for protein. I tend to stick to leaner beef and chicken. Also, as the post above me said, protein shakes are out there if you want them. Some of the diet shakes have a lot of protein and taste okay, and might make a nice (chocolate flavored) backup to a meal that is otherwise lacking in protein...but I'm not a doctor or nutritionist, so you may wish to double check that out for yourself.

logg1e

What, exactly, do you want advice on?

acorsaut89

peachyfuzzle wrote: »

acorsaut89 wrote: »

peachyfuzzle wrote: »

You don't specifically have to eat those foods if you don't want. Foods like tuna, and baked chicken are pretty much just high in protein with low calories which is good for a healthier diet, and necessary for anyone with any sort of workout schedule.

Technically, you could eat whatever you want as long as you stay under your TDEE. I'd recommend looking into that, and using that to figure out how many calories you would have to cut in order to lose weight. From there, you can basically eat anything you want as long as you don't go over your calorie count. If you just strictly want to lose weight, and absolutely don't care about anything else, what really matters is that your calories in are less than your calories out meaning that if you weren't to work out, you would have to eat less calories than your body naturally burns by just keeping itself alive.

Of course, that number will change the more weight you lose, so you'd have to adjust it every so often.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Yes and no - yes that OP can eat whatever as long as it fits into caloric intake BUT if the OP has a tendency to binge and over eat with certain foods, I wouldn't recommend this.

Also, chicken, tuna and a lot of other meat have high protein counts: this will keep you full and not crave the other stuff. It's not necessary for a diet - I happen to eat chicken every day because it's my personal choice of protein but if you drink protein shakes that could be it for you or if you're a vegetarian. If you have a work out schedule: what's necessary is protein because protein helps repair muscles after a workout.

I would advise of being careful with how much you reduce calorie count because if you reduce too drastically to speed up weight loss it could have the same affect as being anorexic on your body: you're essentially starving yourself and it could lead to serious organ damage, loss of lean body mass and other issues. If you can exercise (as you said you travel with work a lot), then easy cardio would be the way to go for now. I started at 320lbs and lost 70 of it by doing spin classes 4 days/week and eating normal portioned, healthy foods. This can be done, you just have to want it

I said nothing about binging. I only said that if you eat less than your TDEE, you'll lose weight, and it doesn't matter what foods you eat to get those calories as long as those calories stay under.

Binging, and going over is completely up to OP.

Have you ever been seriously overweight though? There's a big psychological component to it and sometimes for those of us who don't just have 10 or 20 to lose, just making sure it fits into your calories isn't always enough there can be more to it. Restrictive dieting is not what I'm saying either - it's just different when you have a lot to lose. I started at 320 lbs as a 5'9 woman. I didn't have a food addiction, just ate the wrong thing however even when I started working out and reducing portion sizes and such, I still had cravings and it wasn't until I learned how to control myself and the amount I ate that I could let myself have those foods - whether they fit into my calories or not was a different story.

It's up to the OP to control intake - I agree - my point was that sometimes when you have more than 75+ lbs to lose it starts out a little differently. It's just as much mental as physical and controlling the amount of food eaten on a daily basis. I agree that you need to eat under your TDEE to lose anything - no argument there - but with carrying around that much extra weight it becomes a little more difficult and it's not just enough to say as long as you eat under your TDEE

peachyfuzzle

acorsaut89 wrote: »

peachyfuzzle wrote: »

acorsaut89 wrote: »

peachyfuzzle wrote: »

You don't specifically have to eat those foods if you don't want. Foods like tuna, and baked chicken are pretty much just high in protein with low calories which is good for a healthier diet, and necessary for anyone with any sort of workout schedule.

Technically, you could eat whatever you want as long as you stay under your TDEE. I'd recommend looking into that, and using that to figure out how many calories you would have to cut in order to lose weight. From there, you can basically eat anything you want as long as you don't go over your calorie count. If you just strictly want to lose weight, and absolutely don't care about anything else, what really matters is that your calories in are less than your calories out meaning that if you weren't to work out, you would have to eat less calories than your body naturally burns by just keeping itself alive.

Of course, that number will change the more weight you lose, so you'd have to adjust it every so often.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Yes and no - yes that OP can eat whatever as long as it fits into caloric intake BUT if the OP has a tendency to binge and over eat with certain foods, I wouldn't recommend this.

Also, chicken, tuna and a lot of other meat have high protein counts: this will keep you full and not crave the other stuff. It's not necessary for a diet - I happen to eat chicken every day because it's my personal choice of protein but if you drink protein shakes that could be it for you or if you're a vegetarian. If you have a work out schedule: what's necessary is protein because protein helps repair muscles after a workout.

I would advise of being careful with how much you reduce calorie count because if you reduce too drastically to speed up weight loss it could have the same affect as being anorexic on your body: you're essentially starving yourself and it could lead to serious organ damage, loss of lean body mass and other issues. If you can exercise (as you said you travel with work a lot), then easy cardio would be the way to go for now. I started at 320lbs and lost 70 of it by doing spin classes 4 days/week and eating normal portioned, healthy foods. This can be done, you just have to want it

I said nothing about binging. I only said that if you eat less than your TDEE, you'll lose weight, and it doesn't matter what foods you eat to get those calories as long as those calories stay under.

Binging, and going over is completely up to OP.

Have you ever been seriously overweight though? There's a big psychological component to it and sometimes for those of us who don't just have 10 or 20 to lose, just making sure it fits into your calories isn't always enough there can be more to it. Restrictive dieting is not what I'm saying either - it's just different when you have a lot to lose. I started at 320 lbs as a 5'9 woman. I didn't have a food addiction, just ate the wrong thing however even when I started working out and reducing portion sizes and such, I still had cravings and it wasn't until I learned how to control myself and the amount I ate that I could let myself have those foods - whether they fit into my calories or not was a different story.

It's up to the OP to control intake - I agree - my point was that sometimes when you have more than 75+ lbs to lose it starts out a little differently

I have been seriously overweight most of my life including now, so yes... I understand what you're saying.

What I'm saying is that cravings/binging/whatever else is a completely different thing than what I'm talking about. What matters when trying to lose weight is calories out > calories in. That's all. I'm not talking about control intake, or anything extraneous from my TDEE point.

3laine75

Hi. Well done on your hardwork so far

If you want a Big Mac and can fit it into your day then have one. It's much better to have some of the things you enjoy in moderation than deprive yourself.

Another option is to make your own burgers. I can have 2 homemade cheeseburgers with a huge salad for around 700 cals (with quite a decent macro profile) as opposed to my go to from mcds - quarterpounder meal which is around 850. I fit both these options into my diet.

Archerychickge

Congrats on your AWESOME progress so far! My recommendation is to set some time aside each week and cook... ALOT. Then portion the foods out and freeze them. Kind of like making your own TV dinners. Also, a crockpot can be a real life saver. Dump your ingredients in before you leave for work and when you get home, presto, you have dinner ready to go! A little planning can go a VERY long way.

Katiegirl1970

I dont think I have any good advice, obviously you know what to do since you have already lost significant weight.
I would say to KEEP AT IT..Even on days you do poorly, get right up the next morning and get back on track.
I go to the gym almost 7 days a week. I cant walk fast or jog or run, so I walk slow but i raise the incline so I can burn MY maximum calories.
From what i have read more people seem to do well with pre-planning your menu instead of waiting the day of.
Good luck to you and congrats on your recent success.

larrynlight

3laine75 wrote: »

Hi. Well done on your hardwork so far

If you want a Big Mac and can fit it into your day then have one. It's much better to have some of the things you enjoy in moderation than deprive yourself.

Another option is to make your own burgers. I can have 2 homemade cheeseburgers with a huge salad for around 700 cals (with quite a decent macro profile) as opposed to my go to from mcds - quarterpounder meal which is around 850. I fit both these options into my diet.

How do I find the recipes for that burger. Is there a way to find out the salt content on this site?? As I said I have high blood pressure so that is my hardest obstacle now. I have not made my calorie goal yet I still come under by almost half everyday. im not hungry but I know I need to eat. I will try to proportion meals for me to get the calories I need. Need recipes that help others

larrynlight

Thanks to everyone that has posted I really feel like this is a community and not so alone trying to win this fight. Thank you. If anyone has any good recipes that are low salt please let me know where to find them. Thanks.

3laine75

larrynlight wrote: »

3laine75 wrote: »

Hi. Well done on your hardwork so far

If you want a Big Mac and can fit it into your day then have one. It's much better to have some of the things you enjoy in moderation than deprive yourself.

Another option is to make your own burgers. I can have 2 homemade cheeseburgers with a huge salad for around 700 cals (with quite a decent macro profile) as opposed to my go to from mcds - quarterpounder meal which is around 850. I fit both these options into my diet.

How do I find the recipes for that burger. Is there a way to find out the salt content on this site?? As I said I have high blood pressure so that is my hardest obstacle now. I have not made my calorie goal yet I still come under by almost half everyday. im not hungry but I know I need to eat. I will try to proportion meals for me to get the calories I need. Need recipes that help others

The sodium in the burger buns I use are 1400 that's the only biggy in there, I think. I always just add separate ingredients then save as a meal.

I'd just seriously consider adding other meat in to your meals. I'd get sick of just tuna and chicken. Pork and beef need their place IMO if you're worried about salt the only meat I'd really steer away from is bacon and maybe smoked fish.

My diary's open if you feel like pinching any dinners ( I eat healthyish) - maybe skip today's, breakfast for dinner

Edit: just looked back about 4 days in my diary - I, in fact, do NOT eat healthy =D

bulbadoof

Sodium is somewhat counterbalanced by potassium in terms of blood pressure. It's not foolproof and definitely not an excuse to stop worrying about sodium intake entirely, mind you, but it could help a lot if you're already doing the best you think you can to limit sodium.

Bananas and sweet potatoes are my personal favorite potassium-rich foods. In fact, most vegetables have very little sodium and a decent amount of potassium.

BrianSharpe

OP, I feel your pain. Going low sodium is not easy but if you`ve had a problem with hypertension it can become a choice between meds or lifestyle modification.

Another part of the sodium hypertension equation often overlooked is potassium. While everyone knows that we eat way too much sodium few people are aware that you should be consuming somewhere in the neighbourhood of 4,700mg of potassium per day. It helps your body eliminate sodium and gets the walls of blood vessels to relax.

One of the strategies I`ve employed is cooking more from scratch on weekends and taking my lunch to the office, it goes without saying that fast food is on the no list ( a BK Whopper has approx 1,000mg of sodium, a 6 in pulled pork sub from Subway has 1,100)

3laine75

larrynlight wrote: »

Thanks to everyone that has posted I really feel like this is a community and not so alone trying to win this fight. Thank you. If anyone has any good recipes that are low salt please let me know where to find them. Thanks.

Basically anything you make from scratch should be quite low in salt. Remember not to go too low though, it is an essential mineral. If you find yourself feeling lightheaded or dizzy, you've gone too low - that's the time for bacon

sodakat

Larry, If you go to the "Food" link at the top of the page, then choose "Settings", you can select 5 things to track in your diary, including sodium. It will appear in a column to the right of Calories, Carbs, Protein, etc.

Then if you want to find out the number of mg of sodium in a food you plan to eat, just search for it in the database and select the serving size you will eat. Once it's added to your daily food diary the mg of sodium will be tracked for you and you can make decisions based on sodium content. Also, when you find a food in the database just click on the food from the list on the left then under "How Much" on the right, click on the link to Nutritional Info. You will find that entries that do NOT have an asterisk in front of them tend to be accurate and have complete nutrient info.

Kathy