What do I eat to obtain the correct calories?
jordanoye101
Posts: 33 Member
Last August I realised that change was recquired to what i was eating - regularly having e.g 3 whole pizzas a week, another example being 2 pies with chips and beans + snacking on chocolate or a family bag of onion rings. All this in one week. Virtually no excersise and no fruit - maybe a little veg.
I weighed around 84kg and have now got it down to 70kg - I am no expert in weight loss do would like some guidance! -
I was able to stop with the regular high in saturated fat junk food fairly easily - in about a week and soon i was eating more cleanly - i.e meeting my 5 a day of fruit and veg, some excersise (cycling 10 - 15 minutes a day) and eating lean meats.
I am struggling to maintain my weight at around 70kg though - i don't want to be extreme with what I eat but at least try and be healthy.
I am 6'0 in height, 20 and just basically need ideas on what i should be eating to stay at around 70 kg - i don't want to be any lighter as currently my BMI is in the middle of that healthy weight band. Can i have some saturated fat? E.g chocolate etc...?
Thanks!
I weighed around 84kg and have now got it down to 70kg - I am no expert in weight loss do would like some guidance! -
I was able to stop with the regular high in saturated fat junk food fairly easily - in about a week and soon i was eating more cleanly - i.e meeting my 5 a day of fruit and veg, some excersise (cycling 10 - 15 minutes a day) and eating lean meats.
I am struggling to maintain my weight at around 70kg though - i don't want to be extreme with what I eat but at least try and be healthy.
I am 6'0 in height, 20 and just basically need ideas on what i should be eating to stay at around 70 kg - i don't want to be any lighter as currently my BMI is in the middle of that healthy weight band. Can i have some saturated fat? E.g chocolate etc...?
Thanks!
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Replies
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I assume if you are here on MFP then you want to count calories? If so use MFP's calculators for your daily goals. If not I would suggest cutting out junk, liquid calories (juice, soda, milk, etc), focusing on eating lean proteins, and getting a workout plan that is sustainable. At 20 years old this should give good results.1
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Put your stats in and see what calorie's you should be eating. You can eat ANYTHING within your calorie's even chocolate. If you want to maintain, calculate your TDEE and eat that amount. Again you can eat ANYTHING and still lose weight or maintain. You probably won't be healthy if you only eat chocolate or a lot of fried foods, but you can still lose weight eating them. Calories in/ calories out doesn't change what you eat, just the amounts. Changing you diet makes you healthier though. TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure, Good Luck.
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I agree with the above posters - put in your stats, generate that calorie goal and eat anything you want within that goal!0
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OP, to be honest, you can eat whatever you want as long as you are eating the right calories. Obviously, you are also concerned about your health, so it's important to get enough fiber, protein, and fat. Once you've eaten the stuff you need, there is no harm in eating some chocolate or a slice of pizza if you have the calories left.
Make sure your stats are entered correctly on MFP and set your goal to maintenance. MFP will give you a calorie goal, as well as goals for carbs, protein, fat, and fiber. Most people look at their protein, fat and fiber numbers as minimums. Start logging your food and after a couple of days, look at those numbers and see what you have to tweak.
But having said all that, for weight maintenance calories are king. :drinker:1 -
The answer is to find out what works for you... that might be through analyzing what went wrong on bad days. While you can eat whatever you want as long as your calories are right some things are easier than others to eat the right amount of. For example, it might be really tough to open a big bag of chips and eat just one serving... getting a pizza and just eating 1 or 2 slices can be rough... etc. If you find that you do fine with those things that's great.
No one is perfect, you will make mistakes just try to learn from them so you don't keep repeating them over and over.0 -
Also, if you want more flexibility, I would increase exercise to 45-60 minutes a day.0
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As far as what you can eat it really doesn't matter as long as you have no dietary restrictions. It's just a matter of plugging your stats into mfp and following the guidelines as far as what's recommended. There is a learning curve because everybody is going to be a little different as far as activity level their metabolism and a whole bunch of factors but it's a simple matter. to lose weight you eat less calories than your body consumes and to maintain weight it's just a matter of figuring out that equilibrium point.
To put things in perspective January 1st 2016 I was 288 pounds. My current weight is 208 and I've been maintaining that for the last eight months. During that time even during my weight loss I ate whatever I wanted. I still had the occasional fast food hamburger pizza and beers on the beach. You could lose or maintain your weight by eating Snickers bars and drinking vodka. t's a simple matter of calories in vs. calories out. Of course that's not the best diet and it would probably destroy your body but calories are calories. I have a simple philosophy I eat whatever I want but I do it in moderation and within my caloric goals.0 -
Can you have your cake and eat it too? Is that the question? I personally don't buy into the "if it fits your macros" but do buy into cheat days. Friday night is takeout for me. The other 6 days is making good choices. I get my fat from avocados and nuts. But as others have wrote. Fill in the data in the goals area (TDEE) and log your food for a few weeks and take it from there. All the best.0
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I find this all very confusing as a new participant reading the response. I have a 1200 calorie a day program and while I do well to keep to the minimum for fat, sodium and sugar intake I am about 400 calories short a day and I have no idea what to eat that doesn't have the numbers for fat, sodium & sugar going well beyond the acceptable range. I don't want to be eating salad all the time. I checked out amaranth and was surprised that even a 1/2 cup would exceed the sodium limit. Would appreciate some suggestions for what to eat and where to find a list of foods that meet the target numbers.0
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licketysplit wrote: »I find this all very confusing as a new participant reading the response. I have a 1200 calorie a day program and while I do well to keep to the minimum for fat, sodium and sugar intake I am about 400 calories short a day and I have no idea what to eat that doesn't have the numbers for fat, sodium & sugar going well beyond the acceptable range. I don't want to be eating salad all the time. I checked out amaranth and was surprised that even a 1/2 cup would exceed the sodium limit. Would appreciate some suggestions for what to eat and where to find a list of foods that meet the target numbers.
Unless you have medical issues that dictate otherwise, don't be overly concerned with the fat, sodium, or sugar limits. I changed my macros from the MFP default to include more fat and protein and lowered the carbs but I'm not hung up on hitting them every single day. I'm always over in sodium and don't care. I don't even look at sugar. I'm still losing at the 1lb/week rate I'm set for.3 -
Your daily calories are yours alone. Put in your stats in MFP and the amount you want to lose, (or maintain) and start there, you can always adjust up or down to see what works.0
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OP your goal now is to maintain your new weight? What calorie goal does MFP provide when you put "maintain my weight" as your goal? What activity level did you select? When you were losing, were you logging accurately and eating back exercise calories? If so, keep that up. If not, that's an important habit to implement.
As far as what foods, you can eat anything you want in order to maintain, or even to lose, weight. It's all about balance - you sound like you were not eating a very balanced diet before you lost the weight, so you made some big changes, and that's fine, but are those sustainable? There's nothing wrong with eating pizza in moderation. I don't consider three whole pizzas a week to be moderation though. Why not take the healthy habits you've recently adopted, and add back in some of the foods you enjoy - like pizza and chocolate - by logging accurately you should not undo the progress you've made.1 -
883xlsportster wrote: »Can you have your cake and eat it too? Is that the question? I personally don't buy into the "if it fits your macros" but do buy into cheat days. Friday night is takeout for me. The other 6 days is making good choices. I get my fat from avocados and nuts. But as others have wrote. Fill in the data in the goals area (TDEE) and log your food for a few weeks and take it from there. All the best.
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I think it's generally ok to think of an 80% "your def of healthy/whole foods/low sodium/transfat/etc" diet combined with 20% "freedom food" - i.e. what you feel like eating that day (which may be more of the stuff you consider healthy or it might be some treats). The treats could also consist of higher calorie items like avocados or cashews if that's what you prefer to eat now.
In terms of maintaining your current weight, make sure you're meeting your maintenance calories. In maintenance... your weight will fluctuate a little. It's about having a maintenance range rather than a specific exact number.0 -
6'0" and you want to stay at 154lbs (70kg)....0
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deannalfisher wrote: »6'0" and you want to stay at 154lbs (70kg)....
It's still in the healthy range. 20.9 BMI.0 -
it might be in a healthy range but appears awfully skinny...0
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deannalfisher wrote: »6'0" and you want to stay at 154lbs (70kg)....
It's still in the healthy range. 20.9 BMI.
My son is 6 feet tall and roughly 155 pounds. He's extremely slim. He's also 16 and still filling out. I expect he'll put on another 10-15 pounds at least. That's on the light side of what I'd expect an adult male of that height to weigh, depending on body type and muscle mass. Just offering my random opinion, since my son happens to fit the OPs stats almost exactly.0 -
deannalfisher wrote: »it might be in a healthy range but appears awfully skinny...
Also might depend how quickly that 14 kg were lost...0 -
I've always eaten healthy. No pre-packaged frozen foods or fast food. I was doing everything correctly: portion control, exercise but the layers of fat refused to budge so I went on a maintenance program that saw me lose all those layers that exercise wasn't doing for me. I still don't do fast foods or any sort of junk food. I shop only the perimeter aisles and do a lot of farmers markets shopping. I believe the weight/fat gain came from my age and the fact my metabolism changed.0
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deannalfisher wrote: »6'0" and you want to stay at 154lbs (70kg)....
It's still in the healthy range. 20.9 BMI.
My son is 6 feet tall and roughly 155 pounds. He's extremely slim. He's also 16 and still filling out. I expect he'll put on another 10-15 pounds at least. That's on the light side of what I'd expect an adult male of that height to weigh, depending on body type and muscle mass. Just offering my random opinion, since my son happens to fit the OPs stats almost exactly.
One can be the same height and still have a completely different body type and composition.
If he were 18.5 BMI and still trying to lose, I'd say comment away... but 20.9 and wanting to maintain? He is a grown adult who is capable of assessing his own health and needs in terms of his weight.
And the poster I commented to also didn't provide any insight on the OP's original questions... so their criticism just seemed unnecessary and unconstructive. Not everyone even wants to look like the same body type. People have different goals.
I have a 6'0" brother in law who is probably only 155 ish lbs and he looks perfectly healthy. He's 30.1 -
deannalfisher wrote: »6'0" and you want to stay at 154lbs (70kg)....
It's still in the healthy range. 20.9 BMI.
My son is 6 feet tall and roughly 155 pounds. He's extremely slim. He's also 16 and still filling out. I expect he'll put on another 10-15 pounds at least. That's on the light side of what I'd expect an adult male of that height to weigh, depending on body type and muscle mass. Just offering my random opinion, since my son happens to fit the OPs stats almost exactly.
One can be the same height and still have a completely different body type and composition.
Which is why I said 'my random opinion.' They match in the given stats, as far as that covers. The OP is welcome to consider that worth exactly what they paid for it - nothing.0 -
OP, you readjusted your diet replacing pizza and pie with more fruits and vegetables. You lost the weight you needed to.
Just keep doing what you are doing.
If you are curious how many calories a successful diet makes, log your meals for a week. Keep doing what you have been doing.0 -
OP, you readjusted your diet replacing pizza and pie with more fruits and vegetables. You lost the weight you needed to.
Just keep doing what you are doing.
If you are curious how many calories a successful diet makes, log your meals for a week. Keep doing what you have been doing.
I appreciate all your comments, I certainly feel allot better than i did say a year ago when all i ate was junk. Although visually i didn't look overweight - it was just a concern that i was eating nothing healthy and no excersise.
I guess what started it was a family member had a stroke - 80 years of age so not young but it made me realise that i do need to improve my food intake and general lifestyle. Initially I started buying all these 'healthy living' weight watchers style foods - but i was getting 1200 calories of my 2400 MFP goal. Still i am about 600 - 800 calories off a day. The thing with pizza , burgers and the like is they are very high in calories. Before I would eat a whole 10 or 12" pizza not like 2 slices, but this is not good for cholesterol and the heart surely? Replacing these with a lower in fat alternative like Bolognese or a chicken casserole - although tasty - these are much lower in calories and i just cant see the logic in getting the extra 800 calories by eating lots of chocolate etc... I don't know about the US but here in the UK we have always had TV and outdoor poster campaigns telling us to cut out this and that and eat more fruit and more lean meats.
I am hearing people say eat ANYTHING as long as you get the calories - but surely you have to take into consideration saturated fats , salt , sugar levels etc... - from what i understand you can do all the excersise but going overboard on those regularly can be bad for health, cholesterol.
I am starting to be a little less strict on dinner meals but i am still way under my calorie intake - any doctor in the UK would say no junk food so still I am confused on what is right and wrong!
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For your health, yes you should eat healthy. But eating healthy doesn't mean you can't have some pizza. You just need to make sure it's SOME pizza, not all the pizza. Learn to have just a slice. You can make your own burgers with lean meat, or you can just have a fast food burger if it fits your calories. It's all about moderation, when it comes to health. You can have pizza. You can have saturated fats, you can have salt, etc. Just not in huge quantities.
A more important question is how is your current health? Have you had blood work done? Is there any indication at all that you need to change your sodium or cholesterol levels? If there isn't, then just work on portion sizes. Have a nice chicken casserole, and a slice of pizza. Have a salad, and a burger. Whatever works for you. This has to be a long term, sustainable change.2 -
For your health, yes you should eat healthy. But eating healthy doesn't mean you can't have some pizza. You just need to make sure it's SOME pizza, not all the pizza. Learn to have just a slice. You can make your own burgers with lean meat, or you can just have a fast food burger if it fits your calories. It's all about moderation, when it comes to health. You can have pizza. You can have saturated fats, you can have salt, etc. Just not in huge quantities.
A more important question is how is your current health? Have you had blood work done? Is there any indication at all that you need to change your sodium or cholesterol levels? If there isn't, then just work on portion sizes. Have a nice chicken casserole, and a slice of pizza. Have a salad, and a burger. Whatever works for you. This has to be a long term, sustainable change.
I have had a couple of recent blood tests and there hasn't been any concern for levels of cholestrol or sodium. I also feel good at the moment and happy that I am able to control what I eat fairly easily - but I was bordeline overweight originally and no excersice or healthy eating was just not that sensible really.
If anyone is interested in the sort of thing I might eat on a normal day: including 2 or 3 pieces of fruit apples, pears, grapes throughout.
Breakfast:
Weetabix or Shredded Wheat (2 biscuits) + roughly 150ml - 200ml of semi-skimmed milk + a piece of fruit.
Lunch:
Chicken sandwhich / soup / or a ready meal this sort of thing...
e.g... https://goo.gl/8QavAY or https://goo.gl/EkrhiX or https://goo.gl/32m8GW or https://goo.gl/tnGhf0
Dinner:
Lasagne, Casseroles, Bolognese, Breaded Fish etc... all these with say some veg, baked beans, sweet potato and the like.
e.g... https://goo.gl/LhnkfL or https://goo.gl/jh9jnz
Obviously not limited to just those I am not that stringent but that is the sort of thing I might have.
Another thing is say occasionally when I am out - I feel like a mcdonalds mcflurry https://goo.gl/76Atba maybe once a week or every 2 weeks - but the sugar content is very high - the NHS reccomend no more than 30g of free sugar per day for a lightly active individual. I would happily eat it - providing someone could justify why it is OK from time to time. I understand moderation and balance is important but if I do eat that mcflurry - I will then think well surely having a piece of fruit instead would have been the better option!
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Add toast and peanut butter or Marmite for breakfast. Do you like full fat milk? Switch to that. Full of fat soluble vitamins.
Have a mid morning and afternoon snack like cheese and crackers.
Add fruit and veggies with a handful of nuts at lunch.
Add a glass of milk at dinner.
That should get you close to adding your required calories.
As long as you are getting your allotted fruits and vegetables daily the McFlurry is perfectly fine. The WHO chiefly suggested the sugar limits to prevent tooth decay so if you are worried, gargle or drink water afterwards.0 -
There's some awful advice being banded around here.
However, this first post and piece of advice is as close to spot on as you'll get.I assume if you are here on MFP then you want to count calories? If so use MFP's calculators for your daily goals. If not I would suggest cutting out junk, liquid calories (juice, soda, milk, etc), focusing on eating lean proteins, and getting a workout plan that is sustainable. At 20 years old this should give good results.1 -
Also, rather than get the "low calorie/low fat" ready meals get the normal ones (if you are not in a position to cook from scratch), as the "diet" ones are often surprisingly high in sugar. A lot of products aimed at those wanting to lose weight are not as low calorie as you think either - "Go Ahead" for example gives the calories for one biscuit but packs them in 2s. If you had enough will power not to eat both you wouldn't be trying to lose weight! Most ready-made soups are also very high in salt - soup is easy to make with limited kitchen space and equipment, and most freeze well.
At only 20 you should be trying to eat the MFP calories most days unless you are saving some for a night out, and certainly not be more than 100-150 UNDER. As others have said, things like plain nuts (often found in the bakery aisle rather than the snack one) are a good way to add protein and calories, or maybe something like houmous or guacamole with veggie sticks.
If you do have access to a kitchen, try cooking one-pot meals at the weekend (or when you have time) and freezing portions (labelled!) then you will always have a few meals easily available which you know are lower in saturated fat and salt (to make up for the days when only a pizza will do), and you will probably find them more filling as you can pack them with veggies.2 -
Also, rather than get the "low calorie/low fat" ready meals get the normal ones (if you are not in a position to cook from scratch), as the "diet" ones are often surprisingly high in sugar. A lot of products aimed at those wanting to lose weight are not as low calorie as you think either - "Go Ahead" for example gives the calories for one biscuit but packs them in 2s. If you had enough will power not to eat both you wouldn't be trying to lose weight! Most ready-made soups are also very high in salt - soup is easy to make with limited kitchen space and equipment, and most freeze well.
At only 20 you should be trying to eat the MFP calories most days unless you are saving some for a night out, and certainly not be more than 100-150 UNDER. As others have said, things like plain nuts (often found in the bakery aisle rather than the snack one) are a good way to add protein and calories, or maybe something like houmous or guacamole with veggie sticks.
If you do have access to a kitchen, try cooking one-pot meals at the weekend (or when you have time) and freezing portions (labelled!) then you will always have a few meals easily available which you know are lower in saturated fat and salt (to make up for the days when only a pizza will do), and you will probably find them more filling as you can pack them with veggies.
Thank you, this is something i want to start doing - using slow cookers and making one pot meals - making large batches and having them ready to re heat whenever. There are loads of great recipes out there. Your idea on soups as well is great - as you said most are so full of salt and even half a can is 30 - 40% of your sodium intake! Thanks for your nice response.0
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