New to this

lcm145
lcm145 Posts: 10 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Trying this for the first time and would love some advice tips and most importantly friends to share in this journey. Looking to be 40 lbs less when all is said and done.

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  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
    edited September 2015
    I started out 7/1 with a 46.4 pound goal to lose to get to 185. Now, 70 days in, I'm 18 pounds down.

    Tip 1: BUY A FOOD SCALE. Buy one for everywhere you're preparing food--Even at work! This is the foundation for tip 2.

    Tip 2: Log everything accurately and honestly. "Macaroni and Cheese - Homemade - 1.5 cups" is utterly meaningless. If you put four tablespoons of butter versus two tablespoons, you're looking at 230 or so calories difference (don't quote me- I don't cook with butter anymore!). Your body logs everything you eat. You should log it all too.

    Tip 3: Weigh on a cycle that works for you, but always do it under the same conditions. I weigh every day after returning to our room to get dressed after a shower. There's as much as a two pound variation based on time of day, between morning, evening, and the next morning, for me. I'm okay with the bumpy ride that weight loss entails. Of the 70 days I've been tracking daily, I have *29* days that were up, about the same that were down, and the rest I didn't weigh. My overall graph is below.

    Tip 4: Don't cheat. Some folks will bristle at that, saying it motivates them, keeps them on track, or whatever. Cheating only eats into the deficit you've worked hard to create and sets up an unhealthy relationship with food. If you go over deficit (ie, your goal), stay under maintenance, or you're actively undoing the work you've put in to lose weight.
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  • lcm145
    lcm145 Posts: 10 Member
    Thank you for the tips. I find simplicity is better fir me so there will be no Mac and cheese. Lol. Day 1 logged everything. I think I am over my protein allowance by 10 grams and fat by 1 g. I still have 204 calories to eat today. I don't think I am choosing the right foods.
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
    lcm145 wrote: »
    Thank you for the tips. I find simplicity is better fir me so there will be no Mac and cheese. Lol. Day 1 logged everything. I think I am over my protein allowance by 10 grams and fat by 1 g. I still have 204 calories to eat today. I don't think I am choosing the right foods.

    Don't sweat being over or under (to a certain extent). You're never going to hit all your macros, all your micros, and still enjoy what you're eating. Your macros (carb, fat, and protein) are targets--ie, goals. For starting out, the default macro mix works for most. I've modified mine to 40/30/30 c/f/p, as I want to try to conserve lean body mass (LBM). Those come from taking your calorie target, then figuring out how many grams of each are required to make that proportion of the calorie target. Most days, I'm close on the protein, over on the fats, and under on the carbs.

    Do be careful about not getting enough calories. You can go below 1200 now and then, but you don't want to make a habit of it. With 1200 calories, you can still make your macros get enough nutrition to hit your micros, and still enjoy what you're eating. The further below 1200, the more thought and effort it takes to make your targets.

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