1000 calories over breakfast/lunch, variable dinner - will this work?

Fiveling

Hi MFP! It's been a long time since I was last on here, but I've decided that I want to lose weight again as I've gone up to about 11 1/2 stone (not sure exactly, I don't have a set of scales at home, I'll find out when I can). I want to get down to around 10 stone again.

Thing is, I live with my parents now and we always eat dinner together. So I can't control what I have for dinner in terms of content, unless I'm cooking I don't know exactly what goes into it, and I don't want to make a big deal about losing weight so I can't weigh my portions or ask how much of everything went in or whatever.

What I'm thinking is, if I restrict the rest of my day to </=1000 calories, then I can still lose weight. A typical dinner isn't going to be over 1000 calories, right? I'll record what I eat throughout the day until dinner, and then list dinner as a flat 1000.

Do you think this will work?

I've kind of forgotten how MFP calculates calories and what I should set my calorie goals at and everything. What will be the best way to record this in MFP?

Thanks!

Ninkyou

IMO, there's going to be alot of room for error since you won't be weighing your portions and just guessing at 1000 for dinner. Also, it's really going to depend on your stats, how much you need to maintain, how much you need to lose weight, how active your are or going to be. If you're eating 2000 calories over the day and that's what you need to maintain, you're not going to lose weight. And with that margin of error, where are you going to cut your calories from? You're logging but it's not "accurate" so how will you know what to cut and how much? Just some food for thought.

PaulaWallaDingDong

If you don't know what you're eating for dinner, it'll just have to be trial and error. Try it for a few weeks. If you don't lose, lower the cals in your other meals and try again.

Fiveling

According to MFP, to maintain 73 kg (11 1/2 stone) on a lightly active lifestyle (I'm on my feet all day at work) I'd need 2080 calories. On a sedentary lifestyle I'd need 1860 to maintain. So yeah, you're right, I can't eat 1000 over breakfast/lunch if I assume my dinners are also 1000.

To lose 0.5 kg a week MFP says I'll need to net 1530 a day. So I'll have to eat more like 500 over breakfast/lunch. That's do-able, right?

Hmm, also, most days I cycle to and from work, about 20 minutes. Should I log this as exercise or count it as under "lightly active"?

mccindy72

You're 23 years old. You should be able to discuss, in an adult way, that you are being conscious of your calorie intake and would like to know or be involved in dinner prep in some way. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to accurately enter your dinner calories into your log.

TavistockToad

So offer to cook dinner more often, or at least help out so you can count the calories more easily?

booksandchocolate12

mccindy72 wrote: »

You're 23 years old. You should be able to discuss, in an adult way, that you are being conscious of your calorie intake and would like to know or be involved in dinner prep in some way. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to accurately enter your dinner calories into your log.

+1

Weighing and logging your food doesn't have to be a big production, unless you make it one.

kshama2001

Fiveling wrote: »

According to MFP, to maintain 73 kg (11 1/2 stone) on a lightly active lifestyle (I'm on my feet all day at work) I'd need 2080 calories. On a sedentary lifestyle I'd need 1860 to maintain. So yeah, you're right, I can't eat 1000 over breakfast/lunch if I assume my dinners are also 1000.

To lose 0.5 kg a week MFP says I'll need to net 1530 a day. So I'll have to eat more like 500 over breakfast/lunch. That's do-able, right?

Hmm, also, most days I cycle to and from work, about 20 minutes. Should I log this as exercise or count it as under "lightly active"?

If you're on your feet all day at work you are indeed Lightly Active. You can count the cycling as additional exercise.

I don't think 500 total for breakfast and lunch is enough to fuel you. That might make you really hungry and prone to overeating at dinner. I suggest you eat adequately for breakfast and lunch and try to cut down on the dinner calories by using the eatwell plate method: http://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/healthyeating/healthyvarieddiet

Lounmoun

Fiveling wrote: »

Thing is, I live with my parents now and we always eat dinner together. So I can't control what I have for dinner in terms of content, unless I'm cooking I don't know exactly what goes into it, and I don't want to make a big deal about losing weight so I can't weigh my portions or ask how much of everything went in or whatever.

Why you can't you ask what went in your food?
You don't even have to mention weight loss... just say "this is great! what's in it?" or ask for the recipe for when you live on your own.
Start cooking or helping in the kitchen.
I'd find a similar recipe on the internet and see what calories are in it instead of guessing.
If it is not a mixed dish you can figure out what a portion size of meat or vegetables for you looks like compared to a common object.