How much should I eat?

red869
red869 Posts: 59
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I'm kind of new here and would love some help with how much I ought to be eating etc. I've lost and regained weight so many times now; since I was around 10/11 I've been dieting on and off. I just really badly want to stop dieting and just lose weight once and for all. The thing is that although I know how to lose weight, I don't know how to do it the healthy way. For me losing weight means starving myself, something I am really working hard to avoid. Before I would eat 200-400 calories for 4-10 months to lose weight and then re-gain it all, plus extras. I've been really skinny with a BMI of around 16 and obese (me now). I know starving is the wrong way to go about weight-loss, but it's hard to break the binge-starve cycle when I've been doing it most of my life.

Last year I had decided that enough was enough, I wanted to lose weight the healthy way so I joined mfp. I lost 24 lbs in almost 6 months, but although I was eating way more than I had previously been eating to lose weight, I was still not eating quite enough. I was eating somewhere around 1000-1200 calories per day and exercising 5-6 days per week. Eventually, I became too tired, too lazy and too hungry and gave up.

This year, I want to eat even more than that and have set my goal for 1500 calories per week for a weight-loss of around 0.6 lbs per week. As I'm fasting this month for Ramadan, I haven't managed to reach 1500 and haven't exercised much but I'm hoping once this month is over I will really put my all into reaching 1500 calories.

Is this a good number of calories to aim for? Hopefully, I will be exercising around 5 days per week.

My BMR is 1535 and TDEE is 2380. Also, my macro nutrient ratio is currently at 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat. Is this about right? I think I will struggle with it, as I'm not a huge meat eater and mainly live off carbs, but I'll do it if I have to!

Thanks in advance :)

Replies

  • Live4theLift
    Live4theLift Posts: 329
    1700 is your goal number in my opinion. If you can't get protein through foods just buy whey protein powder and drink that. I need at least 200g of protein and I can only get it through shakes. Go the healthy route and lose it properly and it will stay off for longer. Try 40,30,30 don't avoid healthy fats!! Nuts and oils!
  • red869
    red869 Posts: 59
    This may sound silly, but can I still have whey protein if I'm not doing any heavy lifting? I'm going to mainly be doing cardio only at the moment, as right now do not want to join the gym. I might increase my fats like you say, but I don't know how I'll manage only 30% carbohydrates! Seems too low.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    This may sound silly, but can I still have whey protein if I'm not doing any heavy lifting? I'm going to mainly be doing cardio only at the moment, as right now do not want to join the gym. I might increase my fats like you say, but I don't know how I'll manage only 30% carbohydrates! Seems too low.

    Yes, whey protein is just the protein from milk isolated and processed into a powder. It is not just for weight lifting, it can be useful for anyone having trouble hitting their protein minimum with whole food. That being said, try to hit your protein minimum with whole food, because it will keep you full and satisfied, where as liquid protein can leave you hungry.
  • red869
    red869 Posts: 59
    Yes, whey protein is just the protein from milk isolated and processed into a powder. It is not just for weight lifting, it can be useful for anyone having trouble hitting their protein minimum with whole food. That being said, try to hit your protein minimum with whole food, because it will keep you full and satisfied, where as liquid protein can leave you hungry.

    Okay, thanks for clearing that up for me. I will definitely try adding more protein to my diet, don't want to be left feeling hungry!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    It depends what kind of exercise you're doing really, but otherwise I'd shoot for 1600 calories personally. Or just go with what MFP tells you (with the lose 1lb a week setting) and add 200 calories or something when you work out.
  • red869
    red869 Posts: 59
    It depends what kind of exercise you're doing really, but otherwise I'd shoot for 1600 calories personally. Or just go with what MFP tells you (with the lose 1lb a week setting) and add 200 calories or something when you work out.

    Okay. I'll try 1600 for a couple of weeks and see if I lose weight on that. MFP tells me I ought to eat 1300, but I think that may be too low considering I'm obese at the moment. That way, I'd be eating 1500 calories on the days I exercise, but 1300 on the days I don't. I'd much rather stick to one figure all week.

Categories