I'm mearly a beggar...
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »You're right at least I'm closer to my goal. And I understand that. Of course I'm going to be hard on myself. That's just how I am.
I think we all are. It is hard to be patient. It does not help when you see all these exaggerated claims from diet plans re the amount of weight you can lose.
When we start dieting, we tend to lose weight quickly - its water weight mainly in the first week or so. The larger you are the more you tend to lose. Its not fat loss (well, not all), but people think that this is the 'norm' and get disappointed when its less.
The goal is fat loss, not just weight loss. It's the fat loss that will be getting you into those size 4's.0 -
I'm sorry if I'm not tagging anyone I don't know how. I use to eat 1200. So I reduced it. I've changed my activity level. I use exercise Eh, maybe 39-45 min 3x a week. That was just cardio then I did strength training that same day until I got tired. Then went into the sauna. Now I go to the gym everyday. except Sunday.0
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »Gosh really?! I have to 1800 to lose weight? And if I burn off calories at the gym I have to eat half of that too. Some please help me understand. Obviously I'm ignorant (to some degree) I thought in order to lose weight you should have a deficit. In order to maintain weight you should eat exactly at your specific maintenance level.
MFP builds in a deficit when it gives you a number assuming you told it you were trying to lose.
So even if you did no exercise, you'd still lose if you ate within your goal.0 -
Okay I'm reading everything everyone is saying. Gosh this is great advice!! (Most of it) okay so to bring it home. I set my active level to very active because I kick *kitten* at the gym. I should still eat half of those calories I burn. In order to lose weight. So quantitively. How much should be my deficit. Also I do restrict saturated fat. Only because I have hereditary high cholesterol. That's why.0
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TUBBS I don't care I want to be you! You're my new inspiration!
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No, if you set it at Active, that has the built in deficit. Just eat the 1800.
Do you weigh your food with a food scale?0 -
I do weigh. Like cups. Measuring cups. I don't have a scale.0
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Gosh really?! I have to 1800 to lose weight? And if I burn off calories at the gym I have to eat half of that too. Some please help me understand. Obviously I'm ignorant (to some degree) I thought in order to lose weight you should have a deficit. In order to maintain weight you should eat exactly at your specific maintenance level.
Here's how it roughly works.
You plug in your stats into MFP, and your desired weight loss. The maximum it will allow is 2 pounds per week.
If you tell it you have a sedentary lifestyle, then it will tell you how many calories you need to eat - while sedentary - to achieve a 2-pound-per-week loss.
If you exercise on top of that, then that is "bonus calories" that you now get to "eat back". Because you were already given a calorie goal with no exercise at all.
The reason why people suggest only eating back "half" of the calories is that the calorie count MFP gives for most exercises is way overoptimistic.
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »I'm sorry if I'm not tagging anyone I don't know how. I use to eat 1200. So I reduced it. I've changed my activity level. I use exercise Eh, maybe 39-45 min 3x a week. That was just cardio then I did strength training that same day until I got tired. Then went into the sauna. Now I go to the gym everyday. except Sunday.
Were you weighing your food? Was this the time period that you lost the 12lbs.
I am just trying to work out the timeline as what I think may have happened is that you upped your workouts and your body is retaining more water. it often does that when increasing the intensity and/or changing them. It also tends to do that when you restrict calories - the more you restrict the more water weight you may retain.
I would eat more than the 1,200 calories but maybe do a bit more exercise than you did (but less than you do now).
Without more details (current macros and accuracy of logging as well as personal preference and other individual factors), giving calorie targets is a bit hit and miss, but somewhere around 1,800 calories and 5 says max of exercise of no more than an hour and a half (mixing up cardio and resistance training and mixing up intensity) is probably a good place.0 -
Alright so I selected very active. It outputted 1860. So while I burn 1000 at the gym I should eat back half of those calories. Also can someone explain that to me. Eating at my maintenance level isn't making sense to me. I've always thought to eat at a deficit.0
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Well, where do I start? Yes you can lose 2 lbs. a week or more but is it right for your situation? For example when we watch biggest loser and see them posting double digit losses every week that is so damaging for us and think this is something that is not only possible but healthy. Or if we hear that people can lose 10 lbs. a week on some magic diet it does not help us individually. I lost an average of 3 lbs. a week for the first several months of my weight loss but I was 315 lbs. when I started so 3 lbs.is a small percentage of loss compared to my over all weight. So with that in mind does 1 lb. a week sound better to you at 180 ish. Another example, I have lost 96 lbs. over the last 7 months in a healthy way with trainer and a nutritionists help. My wife who followed the same kind of diet but a less strenuous exercise plan has lost 30 lbs. in the same time. There are many difference on why we lost different amounts but just on a percentage diffence she has lost almost 17% of her starting body weight which in my book is a great result in 7 months. Don't worry about other people's results and why you are not matching or exceeding these results worry about eating enough calories so you body doesn't start starvation mode and exercise enough to capitalize on your calorie deficits. If you know your BMR (Google it if you don't know what BMR stands for, you will learn some good info) and you eat 500 or so calories under your BMR and you daily activity calories you will lose 1 lb. a week. Taking weight loss seriously requires you to learn credible information adapting that info to your situation, applying that information in a plan and being patient with you body to adjust and start losing weight. Remember our bodies want to hold on to calories, it wants to store fat because it has evolved to survive using this plan. If you try to lose to quickly you body will resist and it will do what it thinks it needs to survive one way it does this is by holding on to fat and consuming muscle that is not the way to sustained weight loss in the long run.0
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That isn't maintanence level obviously. If you have it set to active then dont eat your exercise back because it is built in.0
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No, because you selected Active, that creates the deficit. Try adjusting it to Sedentary. You will see that the calorie allowance will go right down - probably to around 1200. That difference is your exercise calorie allowance. So either set to Active and eat 1800 without eating exercise calories at all, or set to Sedentary and eat some of them.stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »Alright so I selected very active. It outputted 1860. So while I burn 1000 at the gym I should eat back half of those calories. Also can someone explain that to me. Eating at my maintenance level isn't making sense to me. I've always thought to eat at a deficit.
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »Gosh really?! I have to 1800 to lose weight? And if I burn off calories at the gym I have to eat half of that too. Some please help me understand. Obviously I'm ignorant (to some degree) I thought in order to lose weight you should have a deficit. In order to maintain weight you should eat exactly at your specific maintenance level.
I'm 47 y/o so my needs may differ. I'm set to "sedentary" and add my workouts. I was given 1420/day + 1/2 workout calories. Are you set to "sedentary" ?0 -
Haha! You're funny. You know what? I'm 47. I wish I'd come here when I was 20 and learned that silly restrictive fad diets were unsustainable and made me miserable.stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »TUBBS! I want to be you!!! Oh! You! Please tell me what you did. No I no longer restrict myself. I eat what I like within reason. No candy chips, soda. But I have a freaking sandwich now. I'm not scared of bread anymore. Wow I'm so jealous. I would be in the 150's if I came her earlier!
These days I eat what I want, but a lot less of certain things. I lost a lot initially, but now it's slowed down but I'm not panicking about it. Trust the process - if you consistently eat less than your body burns, you will lose weight.
Bravo You! Inspiration here
I'm 47 too. Wish I knew then (when I was younger) what I'm learning now! 0 -
Unrealistic expectations.
Youve educated yourself poorly about weight loss.
You need a different mindset, which has more patience in it.
Once youve sorted it out you will have no problem losing in a healthy and sustainable way.
At the moment your misinformation and poor mindset is having the results as expected.
Keep it simple and chill out.
Start with
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p10 -
I understand Sara and I will try and clarify. It was really inconsistent to be honest with you. I can't give you an exact range of how aggressive my workouts were. I was just starting out. I know that I did at least 20 mins of cardio every time I went. I also switched up cardio equipment because I learned that I can't always do my favorite exercise (or the easiest) because my body will remember it and I won't lose weight. I also did some strength training that day until I was tired. Yes this was in the time period I lost 12 pounds. I restricted many foods. Only vegetables and meat. Not even fruits because I was scared of sugar. Now I eat Greek yogurt, low sugar fruits like apples and oranges, chicken only and egg whites plenty of protein shakes. which I mix with water. And it's the healthiest version I can get. I eat while wheat bread, and pasta too. Because of all the cardio I need carbs. I pretty much eat the same thing everyday. Also beans I love beans so so much. I did measure my food but not with a scale but measuring cups.0
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »You're right at least I'm closer to my goal. And I understand that. Of course I'm going to be hard on myself. That's just how I am.
I think we all are. It is hard to be patient. It does not help when you see all these exaggerated claims from diet plans re the amount of weight you can lose.
When we start dieting, we tend to lose weight quickly - its water weight mainly in the first week or so. The larger you are the more you tend to lose. Its not fat loss (well, not all), but people think that this is the 'norm' and get disappointed when its less.
The goal is fat loss, not just weight loss. It's the fat loss that will be getting you into those size 4's.
Yes, yes and yes^0 -
Wow, thanks. I'm embarrassed because I'm now nearly back at the weight I was 2 years ago. In another few months I might be down to where I was 4 years ago. So it's not exactly a triumph!
Haha! You're funny. You know what? I'm 47. I wish I'd come here when I was 20 and learned that silly restrictive fad diets were unsustainable and made me miserable.stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »TUBBS! I want to be you!!! Oh! You! Please tell me what you did. No I no longer restrict myself. I eat what I like within reason. No candy chips, soda. But I have a freaking sandwich now. I'm not scared of bread anymore. Wow I'm so jealous. I would be in the 150's if I came her earlier!
These days I eat what I want, but a lot less of certain things. I lost a lot initially, but now it's slowed down but I'm not panicking about it. Trust the process - if you consistently eat less than your body burns, you will lose weight.
Bravo You! Inspiration here I'm 47 too. Wish I knew then (when I was younger) what I'm learning now!
I've been a chronic yo-yo'er because I've never properly learned to maintain. That, in my opinion, is the biggest challenge.0 -
999tiger you need to chill. I don't need your negativity. Again, "expectations" are subjective. My goal and desires are not going to be the same as yours. I wasn't thinking I was going to lose 30 pounds in a month. That's UNREALISTIC. 20 pounds in 2 months is not unrealistic. But anyway I'm getting great advice so meh.
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