Need to lose 150 pounds. Help?

samdambrosio87

_whatsherface wrote: »

1000-1200 calories is far too little to be eating for your weight. I started at 318 and am 241 right now. Been working at this since July and I literally just eat at the goals MFP sets for me for a 1.5 lb loss a week. You don't need to be that drastic and I bet you're starving. That's going to be really hard to maintain and live that way in that sort of calorie deficit your entire life. You need to rethink your calorie goals and find something that you can stick with forever because you're essentially going to be doing this for the rest of your life. Most of us will anyways. Anyways, when I was 285 I was getting somewhere around 1800 calories a day for a 1.5 lb loss. Maybe you just need to eat more. But hey, I'm no professional.

Wow! Congrats!

Actually, I'm not starving. Most days I eat what I can but have a hard time meeting my calorie goals as it is. I think it's because my food digests SO slowly, most of the time I'm not hungry and I'm eating because I know I should.

SusanKing1981

samdambrosio87 wrote: »

faeriesue1 wrote: »

samdambrosio87 wrote: »

1000-1200 calories a day (I try to cycle/alternate so my body doesn't get use to one intake). I usually burn 1000-1200 calories a day. I started using a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps. I'm a nanny, so I'm moving all day as well. I try to do body weight exercises and my friend just introduced me to insanity, which I begin next week. I'm accurately counting, measuring, portioning.

Perhaps you're right, I should get checked for thyroid issues. But I've never had an issue before.

You're consuming 1000-1200 calories a day and burning the same, so you're surviving on zero calories? Is that right?

Yes. I guess I'm not understanding the whole "creating a deficit" thing correctly?

You don't need to burn off everything you eat. Your body is already burning calories just surviving, so you're really starving yourself. That said, if you are exercising off everything you consume you would be losing weight. How do you calculate your exercise burn? How many calories does MFP give you to eat?

katsmo

Hi there- If it hasn't been made clear enough, I strongly encourage a food scale. You mention you are measuring or portioning. I'm not sure if this means measuring cups/spoons or if you are actually using a food scale. I was firmly in the camp of not getting all the hype about food scales until I saw this. I found a cheap, but effective one on Amazon, and it's been an eye opener. I would guess that you are underestimating your intake and overestimating your exercise burns. There is likely no intention on your part to be inaccurate, but most of us suck at eyeballing and estimating. Good luck!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

segacs

There are a number of incorrect things being said in this thread. Let's see if we can dispel them:

• You should be eating more? Nope. If you're not losing weight, it's because you're eating too much, not too little.
• You're measuring calorie intake accurately? Nope. If you think you're eating 1000-1200 calories per day, then you're clearly not measuring accurately. Get a food scale and weigh everything in grams. Log and track your cooking oil, condiments, etc. Make sure you're using the correct database entries -- the non-starred ones and the USDA ones for meats, vegetables, etc. and the accurate ones for packaged foods that correspond to the labels. Be as stringent as you can.
• You're burning 1000-1200 calories/day in exercise? Highly unlikely. Most of that is factored into your normal daily activity, so if you're also logging it as exercise, you're double-counting those calories.
• Your food digests too slowly? That wouldn't account for not losing weight over time. That might account for daily fluctuations and water weight. But if you're eating at a calorie deficit, you'll still lose weight. Ergo, you're clearly not eating at a calorie deficit.

And finally there's this:

The only grains/bread I eat are low carb/high fiber wheat tortillas. I don't eat potatoes, rice, corn. I eat most my calories for breakfast and lunch, and my dinner is usually light. I try to break up my meals so I'm eating 5-6 times a day because it 3 solid meals a day definitely wasn't working. My metabolism is so slow, my food would not digest for hours when I ate 3 squares a day.

None of that is necessary. You don't have to restrict foods or eat at certain times to lose weight. You can eat anything you like, at any time of day. You just can't eat more than you burn.

SergeantSausage

samdambrosio87 wrote: »

I'm currently 285. I'm accurately logging my food, watching what I eat. I've been returning my macros to 30/30/40 to keep a balance and avoid fad dieting. I've increased my exercise, and I'm still gaining weight. I'm really sick of this and I need help from those of you who have experienced successful weight loss. I am in good health and have no mobility issues. I've been overweight for most of my life. I'm a 27 year old female. Thanks y'all.

No you're not.

radonskies

If you are truly measuring and accurately logging and still not losing for several weeks in a row, definitely see your doctor. There ARE a few conditions that can affect the metabolism.
I have Hashimoto's disease, and can honestly say I gained weight despite eating low calorie and exercising. I measured and weighed everything I put in my mouth and was at a large deficit for months. It wasn't until I was properly medicated and following a healthy plan that I was able to start dropping weight.

samdambrosio87

Ok, thanks everybody. I'm going to take your suggestions and reexamine things.

MelWick524

segacs wrote: »

There are a number of incorrect things being said in this thread. Let's see if we can dispel them:

• You should be eating more? Nope. If you're not losing weight, it's because you're eating too much, not too little.
• You're measuring calorie intake accurately? Nope. If you think you're eating 1000-1200 calories per day, then you're clearly not measuring accurately. Get a food scale and weigh everything in grams. Log and track your cooking oil, condiments, etc. Make sure you're using the correct database entries -- the non-starred ones and the USDA ones for meats, vegetables, etc. and the accurate ones for packaged foods that correspond to the labels. Be as stringent as you can.
• You're burning 1000-1200 calories/day in exercise? Highly unlikely. Most of that is factored into your normal daily activity, so if you're also logging it as exercise, you're double-counting those calories.
• Your food digests too slowly? That wouldn't account for not losing weight over time. That might account for daily fluctuations and water weight. But if you're eating at a calorie deficit, you'll still lose weight. Ergo, you're clearly not eating at a calorie deficit.

And finally there's this:

The only grains/bread I eat are low carb/high fiber wheat tortillas. I don't eat potatoes, rice, corn. I eat most my calories for breakfast and lunch, and my dinner is usually light. I try to break up my meals so I'm eating 5-6 times a day because it 3 solid meals a day definitely wasn't working. My metabolism is so slow, my food would not digest for hours when I ate 3 squares a day.

None of that is necessary. You don't have to restrict foods or eat at certain times to lose weight. You can eat anything you like, at any time of day. You just can't eat more than you burn.

fantastic post as always!

hutchy100

Hope it goes well