NEWBIE: Advice please? - I started at 145kg

shed50kg

Hi Guys,

I am newbie to MFP, and I am looking forward to getting tips, advice and learn from other people's experiences of losing weight.

My goal is to shed 50kg ; - ), and get down to 95kg.

Here is my story so far.

I started just over 2 months ago (1st May 2013) in changing my eating habits of fast foods of sandwiches, potato chips, soft drinks and crap food. I now eat a lot more healthy with salads, chicken breasts, baked beans, rice, soups, apples, oranges and mangoes etc. I drink 1-2 cups of coffee per day (down from 6-8).

However, I have not started any exercises yet, my idea was to get used to the change in the eating habits first before starting the exercises, otherwise I think it would be too easy for me to give up on things if I try to change everything at the same time. By the way, before I started my new eating habits, I give up smoking 6 months prior so basically I am everything a step at a time to improve my health and lifestyle. I think for me, it is easier to make changes in stages as it will be easier for me to to stick too.

Anyway, I would be interested in advice from fellow members on what I may or may not be doing right. I have doing this for around 11 weeks now and I have only lost 4kg (now 141kg), I thought as a big guy I would have lost a bit more weight? Maybe my body is just adjusting to it's new intake of food and in time my weight should drop? I probably eat around 2,000 to 2500 calories per day now, and I estimate I must of been eating around 3,500 to 4,000 calories but not sure on that. I am frightened I have dropped too many calories to quickly and whether or not I should them again?

So, that is a little info about me, I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks All

shadus

(For the 'muricans - 145kg = 319 lb, 95 kg = 208 lb, 4 kg = 8.8 lb)

You've made good changes and it's better to make changes you can live with and deal with long term than to make fast crash changes that you can't handle long term.

Out of curiosity, how tall are you? Have you been logging your food and can you open your diary so we can see how things look?

shed50kg

I am 6ft 3 inches.

I have just registered so not yet logged anything, but will definitely start adding what I eat day.

Here is my normal daily food intake each day:

8am - Cup of coffee with milk and sugar

9am - Either yoghurt with fresh mango or 3 egg omelet with mushroom, onions, tomatoes

12pm - Steamed white rice with some kind of vegetable/chicken based soup

3pm - An apple and an orange

7pm - Salad with skinless chicken breast or baked beans and chicken breast or tuna

9pm - Coffee with mil and sugar

It is very similar each day, on Sundays I have a 3-4 beers and eat beef or pork with rice.

I need eat little or no bread, no pasta, no soft drinks, no potato chips, no cakes or desserts.

I do use condiments like mustard, hp sauce.

I use very little oil, only to cook chicken breasts.

I find it pretty easy to stick to these eating habits, and I allow myself to indulge on a few beers on Sundays with the family.

shadus

For 145kg/319lbs, 6'3"/75inches tall, 43years old male... the base BMR/TDEE numbers I come up with are:
Basal Metabolic Rate: 2427.62
Sedentary Rate: 2913.14
Light Activity Rate: 3325.83
Moderate Activity Rate: 3762.81
Very Active Rate: 4175.50
Extremely Active Rate: 4612.47

You're looking to drop 50kg/110 lbs... that's a good chunk of weight and you didn't specify a time period, so I'll assume 1.5 years (547 days) as a reasonable time. The number I come up with using an assumed "light" activity level is 2078 calories a day should put you at your goal weight in 547 days... to do it in 365 days you'd need to be around 1653/day (with a deficit as large as this would be it's probably not healthy.) In 2 years, about 2286/day.

Based on those numbers and what you've already said, I think I'd aim for 2000-2200 on most days and you should get to your goal pretty steadily (which is easier to maintain.) If you're not really hitting the weight loss you'd expect to see you might get some benefit from getting a scale and measuring things by weight for a while just to ensure what you think you're getting is actually what you're getting (pretty quickly you'll find out if you were fairly accurate or pretty far off.)

My favorite example is, I've bought 4 10 lb bags of potato so far and they label the bag as "a medium potato is 148g and 130 calories." that's great... except that the smallest potato in the 4 10 lb bags I've had is about 187g... the largest have been almost 400g. That's quite a bit of calorie inaccuracy there if i was making portion assumptions based off the average potato in those bags.

There's a nice body weight simulator available at http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/ that I used for estimating over the time span, it does nice exports and such of the data which are pretty handy. Check it out and you can tinker with the settings to see how upping your activity levels and such would have an effect.

xX_PhoenixRising_Xx

Hi Shadus has given you some really good advice. I'm female, a lot shorter than you and I started at just over your start weight (yes, I know that's bad). I've lost a total of 45kg in 14 months, but I'm just coming up to 40kg from my start weight because I went off track for a bit and gained some back. I have always exercised though, right from day dot.

What I will say is you really need to track your food, which you're obviously aware of. Not only track but weigh everything. The potato example is really good - you need to be as accurate as possible. So how much milk and sugar in your coffee? How much rice for lunch (it's pretty high in calories - your day doesn't look like you're eating much, but portion size is really important!) and how big are you protein portions? One thing I've learned is that I can eat pretty much anything I like, but I have to weigh it and track it. I make things fit in with my calories if I want to eat it. And a portion is often a lot smaller than I would have thought before I started weighing and tracking, even 'eyeballing' a measurement can be well out. Accurate is important

ironanimal

My advice would be to, for the first week, just log everything you eat, without trying to change anything. It will give you a clear picture of how much you ordinarily eat, and will allow you to set appropriate goals - for instance, if you find yourself eating over the 3500 calorie mark every day, you can safely cut 1000 calories a day for a good rate of loss.

shed50kg

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely start weighing some of my normal food items I eat, but I do not want to to this every time I eat ; - ). Mine is lifestyle change and not a diet, I have easily dropped 1,000 calories a day if not a lot more from my previous food intake.

Shadus, the time period is not important to me, the goal is to eventually get under 100kg. I think 2 years is reasonable though, but the most important thing for me is that I become healthier and fitter, and that I am able to maintain my goal weight. I have never really tried going on a diet in the past and I can not really see me been able to stick to one, so for me it has to be lifestyle change. When I was in my early twenties I used to run quite a bit, I started running at about 120kg and dropped to 90kg, but I broke an ankle and never got back in to the running and never took up another exercise ; - (. But I kept on eating the same foods with no exercise, which was a big mistake.

I am pretty determined though, and normally when I decide I am going to do something I generally achieve it. So, even know I expected to lose a bit more than I already have, it is not a huge problem, I will just bide my time. Even 4kg lighter, I can feel the difference ; - ).

I still appreciate more tips though, I would like to lose at least another 6kg before I start doing the exercise, and I plan on walking a lot and eventually doing some light jogging 3 times a week which I think should keep my weight maintained once I get near my goal weight.

Does this sound ok? Thoughts?

Thanks

shed50kg

Just updated my diary for people to see but I seem to be eating not enough calories, is this a problem? And, what should eat to get more protein? I have been told eggs are not good too eat as high cholesteral?