Advice for big loss.

8Serenity8

Hi.... First time poster here. I've got 200 pounds I need to lose. I am extremely busy, working 2 jobs with kids as well. I literally do not have time to workout due to commute times, two jobs, and what little time I am home. I truly need advice on how to lose the weight. I cannot workout and tracking food is time consuming, but doable if it will benefit me.
I've been trying mfp and had results for two weeks at 2000 calories (this is what mfp advised for 2 pound weight loss per week. I really would like that rate to get some fat off and gain some health.). However, On week 3, the binges came!!! I have been off mfp for a week and want to get back on, but I'm so discouraged it's not even funny! I just ate 2.5 cups of cereal and 1.5 cups skim milk, so there's a chunk of my calories already gone for the day... And I've got a Long day ahead.... Won't be in bed until about 3 am. Help?! Any kind of input you have would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

KateTii

Meal prep + counting calories. While I don't have kids, I work two jobs and and have very little spare time leftover.

What works for me is preparing meals in advance, knowing the calorie content and all I have to do each day is pull my bags of food out of the freezer. It's like DIY jenny craig/lite N easy etc. except much, much cheaper. And since it's super easy to prepare after a long day at 2 jobs, it's easier to say no to the free food (pizza, chips etc.) on offer.

MN_HGirl

I found that I needed a food scale in order to get everything logged correctly and accurately. It can be time consuming but I take the time to food prep for a few days at a time so in the long run it saves time. If you are struggling with the cravings I wouldn't pull everything "bad" out of your daily diet- instead I would make room in your daily calories to avoid binge eating them. Overtime you may find cutting them out completely will happen.

If you have a bad day you still should log it- learn from it- and keep moving forward.

mespreeman

Tracking food gets quicker the more you do it.

Keep at it.

I know where you're coming from with the time issues. I have two children (7 years and 6 months), I work full time with around 4-5 hours of total commute time in a day. The older child is now in softball, so she has practices a few times a week.

I started my exercise slowly. I did body weight stuff (squats, pushups, etc) whenever i could fit them. Getting up to use the bathroom? Do a couple of squats. Things like that. I do a big chunk of my daily walks on Lunch. I do manage to find time to hit the gym 3/week for lifting, but its hard some weeks.

Shotgunfatcat

Exercise doesn't have to be part of losing weight. The benefits of it are important though. If you are on the move so much, you are probably getting a decent amount of activity in a day... If you sit at a desk, make sure to get up once an hour, go get some water, walk around for a minute. Every little bit helps, and it isn't good to be stationary so long anyways.

Track. Unless you have a set meal plan everyday that you know what you are intaking for calories, it is going to be pretty hard to hit 2000 calories unless you track it. I leave MFP up on a browser at work. I plug in my breakfast when I get in, log my lunch at lunch, etc. At night when I have dinner, I normally add it when I go to bed, or while I am eating.

If you eat out a lot, make healthier choices. I don't know where you live, but around here, if I am out and about, I do a naked burrito bowl with chicken, you can get at chipolte or qdoba. Mainly healthy ingredients. Or go non-meat! Salads at other restaurants, even if they are higher in calorie, you are getting decent nutrients... Or now some places have diet menus (Chili's).

It is all about you, you have to want it. But that doesn't mean you can't get help or support! Look to family! Plan meals, etc. Make a challenge/bet with a buddy.

lemonychild

Clearly 2lbs a week is too much for u right now so u should switch it to one lb per week. U have to consciously realize that u CANNOt eat the amount you are used to and in order to lose weight u must eat less. Really there is nothing more to it except ur own commitment to you and ur health

CupcakesMom2

I would suggest looking at the next few months as experimenting to see what works for you. Not everything you try is going to work and thats ok because over time you are fine tuning your approach to weight loss. So do not get discouraged the times you do not see the weight loss you anticipated, this is a process. As long as you wake up the next morning willing to give it another try, over time you will be successful.

yourfriendlaurie

When I first started, I didn't have time to prepare any meals at all much less figure out how to make "healthy" meals or freeze casseroles for the week. I ate fast food. I ate Lean Cuisines. I ate packaged protein bars. I did that for about 9 months and lost 45 lbs (1-1.5 lbs/wk) (you'd probably lose faster since you have more to go). I weighed just about everything on a cheap food scale I ordered from Amazon (about $10) and logged every single bite in My Fitness Pal.

We didn't become obese eating cereal and skim milk (at least I didn't). For me, it was too big of a leap to go from eating 3,500 - 4,000 calories a day of fast food / junk food to eating like a yogini on a green juice fast, plus I didn't have the time to learn how to do it. So I stuck with the foods I was already eating, just way, way less of them. Frozen meals, protein bars, drive through fast food - I just counted EVERY LAST CALORIE and made sure I was eating low enough to lose weight.

As for working out, I didn't exercise at all for the first four months, then started walking verrrrrrrry slowly for 30 minutes about 3x per week. Like I said, I lost 45 lbs that way and you're probably more active than I am because you have kids - I have a sedentary desk job.

Now that I'm further into the journey and more experienced, I've started eating much healthier, watching my carbs and fiber and eating lots of salads and other vegetables, but for the first 9 months I didn't worry about that at all.

If the main focus initially is getting your weight down, then JUST worry about calories - you don't need any extra time in your day to do that.

zyxst

Are you cutting out certain foods with the idea that you can't eat those if you want to lose weight? For me, I learned cutting out foods I enjoyed meant overeating/bingeing later and the inevitable guilt that followed.

You may need to change to 1#/week rate of loss. Yeah, you want the weight off ASAP, but having bouts of overeating every week is kind of a sign your body is telling you something. Sometimes, you have to make room in your calories to eat what you're "dying" for. Me, that's sweets or desserts of some type; I have them twice a day and it works for me.

Patience is hard to keep in the early days/weeks. Put some trust in MFP and keep at it, even logging the bad days as well as the good. It'll happen, just on its own timeline and not yours.

yourfriendlaurie

Oh, and tracking is everything. If you miss tracking a meal, go back and add it later. If you fall off the wagon for three days and don't track at all, WHO CARES? A year is 365 days - 3 days is less than 1% of that. Just immediately get back on, right now, today, with this thing you're eating right now. And the next time you fall off, just get back on again. That's how it works. That's how the weight comes off.

I also agree with people who said you might need to lose more slowly at first if you find yourself bingeing. Maybe do one week with MFP set to lose only 1 lb. Remember that ANYTHING you do that is less than what you used to do is an improvement. You're building better habits and you're losing, not gaining. If after that first week you feel confident that you can go lower, then set it to lose 1.5 lbs and see how the next week goes, and so on. It's a marathon, not a sprint (something I forget myself all the time).

benzieboxx

Maybe try tackling some small changes a little bit at a time. Don't have time track through the week? Start portioning out your snacks into bags that way they're pre-weighed and you can track them easier. You can even pre-log your food ahead a few days into the app.

amfmmama

Many of us on here understand the bingeing, it is why we are here... so log for 6 days and have a cheat day. I actually do not do a cheat day, I do a cheat meal. In time, I have found that I usually don't even really go over my calories. If you know that you can have the thing you want on Saturday, then maybe you will talk yourself out of it on Tuesday... Also, if you can find the time for exercise... think of it as a means for adding calories to your daily count!!!

TxTiffani

Protein at bfast helps me not be as hungry throughout the day. I have a nifty clay pot to cook my eggs in the microwave. I measure them out with cheese and pop in the microwave while I make the kids lunches etc. I also take fruit, lite string cheese, caramel rice cakes, etc to work so I always have low cal snacks to snack on throughout the day so I don't hit up the candy jar! Subway is great for eating out. I get a turkey sub no cheese with mustard or another light dressing and baked chips with water, tea or diet soda and its around 300-400 cals:)

TxTiffani

Also, I cut up, weigh & bag my veggies when I first get home from the store so I can grab a bag of 100g of carrots (or whatever veg) as I run out the door and have lite Italian dressing at work for dipping. Super low cal and delicious:)

jessicarobinson00

I didn't work out at all in the beginning: I simply logged every single thing that went into my mouth. AWARENESS is huge. I would say keep it simple: plug your stats into MFP (give a reasonable weight loss goal) and stick to it...If you need a breather: eat at maintenance rather than having a cheat meal/day...that way you don't eliminate a week's worth of deficit with one good indulgence. And FRIEND others who are on the same journey as you: it will keep you logging back in! Some of my biggest supporters are STRANGERS, but have now become next to family.

Sohsen

It's not just about counting calories. Depending on your body type (endomorph, ectomorph, mesomorph) you have to manage your macros. Assuming you're an endomorph you need to start with 50% protein, 30% fat and 20% carbs. Try to get most of the fat from nuts, fish, olive oil, eggs. Your carbs will come from salad, fruit (melon is best - lowest in calories and carbs).

You have one cheat day per week where you can do 50% protein, 20% fat and 30% carbs.

After 3 weeks shift to 50% protein, 35% fat, 15% carbs. Your cheat day will be the same ratio as your first 3 weeks 50,20,30

After 2 weeks shift to 50,40,10 and hold for 2 weeks. Cheat days 50,20,30

I guarantee you will lose more than 2lb per week... :-)

You must of course observe calories as well.

Good luck!

puffbrat

Try paying attention to which foods help keep you full versus which ones don't. I love cereal but have had to acknowledge that I can eat a lot of it and still feel hungry again a couple hours later. That really doesn't work for me when trying to lose or maintain my weight. So I switched to oatmeal and yogurt during the work week. It's the same number of calories or fewer than cereal, but keeps me full a lot longer.

2lb/week loss seems reasonable for the amount you have to lose. But if you are struggling with hunger or binges you may want to lower that to 1lb/week for a few weeks to adjust to a lower than usual calorie limit. As you get used to that number of calories, you can gradually change your goal back to 2lb/week.

As @CupcakesMom2 suggested, view the next few months as an experiment to see what works for you to help keep you on track and successful.

clfinn

The people who lose weight and keep it off have said to people who ask 'How did you do it?' I never gave up! Now that doesn't mean there won't be slip ups or a binge. They started anew (at each meal or day) and didn't give up!! Please keep tracking calories, as it is the best way to be aware of what you are putting in your body. Don't get down if you go over one day. You won't get where you want to go without making a change towards the other direction.

rankinsect

I've lost somewhere around 105 lb so far. All I do:
1. I set a calorie goal and come as close to it as possible every day (within 30 calories in either direction). This is my only must-do.
2. I set a protein goal and try to get in the ballpark. This is my nice-to-do.
3. I work out for 50 minutes 3 days per week. This is really not for weight loss, it's for physical fitness.

My main strategy is to plan my meals ahead of time. Each evening I plan the next day. Each day I follow my plan. I use a kitchen scale to weigh out the portion I already chose. I don't correct my logs if I'm off a bit, only if it's significant.

Special occasions like holidays, birthdays, weddings, etc. I don't track, just try to be somewhat reasonable. Apart from special occasions I don't do cheat days.

I gave up zero foods, although I eat smaller amounts of high calorie, less filling foods. I don't bother making my diet any more complicated than mentioned. I don't even look at either carbs or fat. I don't track micronutrients - I have no known deficiencies and I take a multivitamin as insurance.

I am sure I could do a more complicated system but I see no reason to. My goal was always to make the smallest changes that would let me reach my goals.

kshama2001

puffbrat wrote: »

Try paying attention to which foods help keep you full versus which ones don't. I love cereal but have had to acknowledge that I can eat a lot of it and still feel hungry again a couple hours later. That really doesn't work for me when trying to lose or maintain my weight. So I switched to oatmeal and yogurt during the work week. It's the same number of calories or fewer than cereal, but keeps me full a lot longer.

2lb/week loss seems reasonable for the amount you have to lose. But if you are struggling with hunger or binges you may want to lower that to 1lb/week for a few weeks to adjust to a lower than usual calorie limit. As you get used to that number of calories, you can gradually change your goal back to 2lb/week.

As @CupcakesMom2 suggested, view the next few months as an experiment to see what works for you to help keep you on track and successful.

@8Serenity8 with the weight you need to lose, losing two pounds per week should be doable...if you focus on foods that satiate you. I like cereal, but it's easy to overeat because it does not fill me up.

Try to eat at least the default 20% protein MFP gives you and hit your Fiber goal (many of us switch out Sugar for Fiber.)

See also http://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/fuller/understanding-satiety-feeling-full-after-a-meal.html

Here are my generic tips for cravings.

When I do the following, I don't have cravings:

1. Get sufficient sleep
2. Exercise regularly - when I get the happy hormones from exercise, I'm not prone to seeking them from food.
3. Get sufficient protein in relationship to carbs. I'm not low carb, but reducing carbs and upping protein worked for cravings for me.
4. Eat moderate amounts of fruit. This makes me less interested in higher calorie sweets.
5. Take a magnesium supplement. This can be especially helpful for women premenstrually.
6. Save foods like chocolate for after dinner, in small amounts

8Serenity8

Thank you guys for all the advice! I'm going to get back on track. Yes, I had been trying to cut out all processed foods after a long life of eating nothing but processed foods...maybe that's why I felt such huge urges to binge? I will just try to track calories only while eating smaller portions of my favorite foods for a while and see where it leads me. Thanks for all of your encouragement.