A series of questions

rebeccamcdonald214

Hello, experienced health and fitness adventurers.

Please forgive the length of this post. I'm trying so hard to get into gear to lose weight and become healthier, and in the process of learning how to log calories and what I should eat and when, I'm becoming rather confused.

So here's my deal, just so you have some insight.

I've struggled with my weight my entire life. The one time I was at a healthy weight was only because I'd become addicted to drugs and only ate because I knew I needed to.

Any who, flash forward a few years to 2007, I had my daughter and after 5 months on bed rest, I weighed about 238lbs the day she was born. I was 21 and figured my body would deal as life went on, and it did. About 2 years later, I had lost around 60lbs.

Since then, my weight has gone up and down considerably. Up until 2015, we were pretty poor and I had become accustomed to eating only once per day. As we've become more affluent, I've found myself struggling to eat more frequently but by dinner time, I'm so starved it's hard to control how much I eat at that time.

Anyway, back to the point. A few months ago, my mother in law's lifelong struggle with her weight, diabetes and sedentary lifestyle claimed her life. She was 51. I DO NOT want to be like that.

So about 3 weeks ago, I stepped on the scale and weight just shy of 245 lbs. The heaviest I've ever been. Brutal on my self esteem. I've committed to making changes, and this is where MFP comes in and where I need your help.

- my first week, I just tracked what I was eating on a piece of paper. My average, once a day meal plus a late snack was around 800 calories. I've read that 1200 calories is the bare minimum and anything less is VERY dangerous.

If 800 cals was my daily average, and that's the same way I've been eating for a decade, should I be worried about my health aside from the weight issue?

With the weight issue considered, how is it possible for me to easily hit 10k steps, eat 800 cals, and still become 245lbs? Should I not be terribly skinny?

Now that I'm really bring conscientious and trying to change these bad habits, I'm trying to figure out what my goal caloric intake should be. MFP suggests around 1540, with a slightly active lifestyle and everything else considered.

If I ate 1540 calories every day, I'm pretty sure I'd be 1800lbs. Is eating less food, but more often, going to adjust my metabolism to accommodate the extra intake of food, or am I sitting in precarious territory?

Serving sizes. These suck. I bought a bag of spinach and it gives the nutritional info for 3 cups of spinach. Is that REALLY a single serving of spinach for one person? What about meat? The preset in MFP said 150g of chicken was one serving. That's 5oz. 5oz?!

How important are fruits? I need to reduce sugar wherever possible - and I'm doing good! I'm down to no processed sugar except 2tsp in my coffee twice a day (sometimes thrice). I don't care for fruit. I don't care for smoothies. I'll eat strawberries in small, infrequent doses. But I LOVE vegetables and am happy to eat them. What am I missing that is important to losing like 100lbs?

How do I know what I should eat through the day to reach my caloric intake goal? I know certain foods are better at certain times of day and some foods aren't actually as good for us as we may think, does anyone have a website or tool that helps reference this?

Exercise is hard. Holy balls. But I'm doing it. Since I've gained so much weight in the pear shape, my knees and hips are taking a beating. But I'm doing it anyway. I've been shooting to get an hour of active minutes logged through my fitbit every day by walking. Is an hour enough? How do I know if my heart rate is getting into a fat burning zone? Don't judge. I'm fat. Walking hurts. I'm scared to venture into much else because either a) it'll hurt like hell or b) I'll look ridiculous attempting it. I know walking an hour a day at a rate my fitbit registers as "active" helps a lot and who doesn't love hatching new eggs on Pokémon Go. I also know there will come a time in the very near future that this will not be enough. What do I need to add in order to continue losing weight/toning muscle?

Anyway, yes. In short.

- I'm worried about the amount of calories I currently eat vs the recommended amount
- struggling with serving sizes. Where can I find a reputable guide on how much to eat and when? Is the Canada Food Guide a good choice to help meet a weight loss goal?
- am I missing anything important by not eating fruit/replacing fruit with veggies?
- I know I need to expand my exercise. What do I need to add to my 60 mins of daily active time to keep losing at peak?

I realize the answers to many of these questions are available via Google, Facebook, pinterest and whatever else. To be truthful, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and defeated after losing 7lbs and gaining it back within a few days. I need some validation and/or correction from living, breathing people right now.

Thank you so much for reading all of this and for any input, advice, guidance, anecdotes, experiences or whatever else you may share.

JeromeBarry1

The only way you could eat 800 calories every day and weigh 245 would be if you had a profound metabolic disorder which could not be healed. Such people do exist but they tend to be diagnosed at a young age. I'll proceed under the assumption that you are not such a person.

You are what you eat. If you are overweight, you do overeat. Here is what you need to do to lose weight. Purchase a digital kitchen scale. It's cheap. Accurately and honestly weigh and record everything you eat.
https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list is an accurate list of nutrient and calorie values in almost every food available in the U.S. Learn to us that.

I will say it differently. You are not special. Your body works as almost all other people's do.

Take one step at a time. The first step is to accurately weigh and record the food you eat. Do that for a week or two and then think about another step.

Be sure to set your food diary to Public so that I can see it. Tell the objective truth.

livingleanlivingclean

It's unlikely you're eating 800 cals. How are you determining how much you're eating? It needs to be by weighing (solids) and measuring (liquids) everything that goes in your mouth, and logging it by using accurate database entries.

Meal timing and frequency is not important. Types of food are largely irrelevant - you will succeed better if you eat foods you enjoy that make you feel good (physically and mentally) in quantities that suit your personal desires and needs. Focusing on eating at least the minimum amounts of protein and fat is important for good health, you can fill the rest of your calories however you like. Of course, choosing nutrient dense foods most of the time is good for health, but that doesn't mean you have to restrict less nutrient dense foods completely.

As you've already asked in another thread, there are no set serving sizes. Just because it says 150g chicken doesn't mean you have to eat that amount. You eat what you like. You change the amount in your log to reflect what you actually ate.

ccsernica

If 800 cals was my daily average, and that's the same way I've been eating for a decade, should I be worried about my health aside from the weight issue?

Yes, that would qualify as a serious eating disorder. You'd be severely undernourished. If you keep this up as you are, your weight loss will include a good deal of muscle. It's unsustainable. You can go on a diet this restrictive, but for limited times and under medical supervision. If this is what you think you've been eating, you've certainly miscalculated. Did you weigh your portions, and are you sure you looked the foods up against an accurate database?

With the weight issue considered, how is it possible for me to easily hit 10k steps, eat 800 cals, and still become 245lbs? Should I not be terribly skinny?

Yes. Therefore, in reality you've almost certainly been eating much more than that. Unless you have some kind of metabolic disorder which a doctor can diagnose. This is not because you're lying or stupid, but because we human beings become so accustomed to outsized portions if we habitually eat that way that we no longer see them properly. That's why one of the first bits of advice often given on this site is to buy a food scale and use it.

If I ate 1540 calories every day, I'm pretty sure I'd be 1800lbs. Is eating less food, but more often, going to adjust my metabolism to accommodate the extra intake of food, or am I sitting in precarious territory?

If you have the kind of metabolic disorder that would cause you to really be eating only 800 cal/day and still be putting on weight, what you're asking for here is a medical opinion and you should really be asking a doctor.

Serving sizes. These suck. I bought a bag of spinach and it gives the nutritional info for 3 cups of spinach. Is that REALLY a single serving of spinach for one person? What about meat? The preset in MFP said 150g of chicken was one serving. That's 5oz. 5oz?!

I'm not sure which direction your incredulity runs here, but a more standard serving size for meat is 3 oz. Or sometimes 100g, which is closer to 3.5 oz. The MFP database is largely user-contributed, which means caution is called for. The most accurate entries for unpackaged food are going to be those drawn from the USDA database.

Otherwise, use the nutrition info on the label, measuring by weight and not volume. Cups are very inaccurate for measuring leafy greens -- and just about anything else, actually. There will also be an equivalent in grams on the serving size. Use that instead. Some very useful nutrition labels also give info per 100g, which is very easy to scale to any weight of food you actually eat.

What am I missing that is important to losing like 100lbs?

That solely for the purposes of losing weight, how much you eat is everything. What you eat matters not at all. You could lose weight eating Snickers bars as long as you stayed under your calories. You wouldn't feel very good, but you could do it.

What do I need to add in order to continue losing weight/toning muscle?

Right now, nothing. Just keep moving. Strictly speaking, you don't need to exercise at all to lose weight. Just eat your calorie limit; that's all it takes.

Is the Canada Food Guide a good choice to help meet a weight loss goal?

Assuming this is the same sort of thing as the USDA database, yes.

am I missing anything important by not eating fruit/replacing fruit with veggies?

Nope.

RodaRose

rebeccamcdonald214 wrote: »

Is eating less food, but more often, going to adjust my metabolism to accommodate the extra intake of food, or am I sitting in precarious territory?

Skip the fruit if you do not like it. Eat whatever you want.

It does not matter how often you eat.
You could eat several small meals and snacks throughout the day or eat one big meal.
What matters for weight loss is that you eat fewer calories than you have been eating.

Buy a digital kitchen scale you so you can weigh your food in order to be accurate in your calorie counting.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Can you type up what the 800 calories was?

The food, brand and number of grams you ate.

So sorry for the loss of your MIL x

leanjogreen18

Keep it simple and don't overthink it.

Eat the foods you like to eat within your calorie goal. Meal timing or frequency doesn't impact weight loss but can affect how well you adhere to your calorie goal.

LessCookiess

You're eating more than you think because you would've lost weight if you were eating at 800 calories and dealt with some health problems as well. If you're not weighing our food on a food scale than you're eating more.

Start tracking things more accurately if you don't have a food scale buy one, and report back if you would about how things are going.
If you eat 1540 calories every day you wouldn't be 1800 calories based on your weight not sure of your height but I think you still would lose weight unless you're less than 5' tall but it wouldn't be the 1800 pounds you speak of.

Regarding the spinach you're right serving sizes often on labels underestimate calorie versus overestimate this is why a food scale is helpful.

What you're missing is a food scale will help you out.

LessCookiess

Also since MFP mentioned you should eat 1540 I recommend you do so because it already took into consideration your height and weight and activity status. Buy a food scale, eat 1540 calories, if you work out eat at least half of it back, and hopefully this will help:

rebeccamcdonald214

Thanks for the info guys. I figure I must be estimating wrong so I've bought a food scale and am using it. Weigh in this morning I was down 5lbs so I must be doing something right

I legit got a little panicky mostly because I don't understanda lot of stuff yet - but I'll get there!

I appreciate all of your input and guidance very much