How many calories should I eat a day?
melpidal
Posts: 34 Member
I'm feeling super discouraged because I can't lose weight!! After 3-4 days eating 1600-1800 calories, I'm super hungry and just want to binge eat everything in sight. I'm obese and have always been this way since a teenager. I want to change and make it be a long-term change but feel so helpless and not sure where to start.
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Replies
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3 or 4 days is not long enough to say you're not losing weight.
What are your stats and what rate of loss did you set MFP to?
Opening your diary might help, 1600 - 1800 is not a bad amount, what sorts of things are you eating?4 -
I say I'm not losing weight because I can't stick to 1600-1800 for more than a few days without intense cravings and binge eating. So I am not overall losing because I can't stick to it.0
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Exactly!!! Like I have a few days of less carbs and sugar then the weekends come and that's all I want. I do t know how to break my cycle of doing "good" for a few days which then makes me almost desperate for sugar and carbs. Not that I do low carb normally. But less, especially at night. But I have cereal and pasta for lunch-controlled amounts. But all that to say I'm not cutting out carbs.1
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as @TavistockToad says, 1600-1800 isn't a bad amount of calories, so perhaps you are eating the 'wrong' kinds of things as in too calorie dense but not satiating. Plenty of protein/fat/fibre will help with that.
Of course when you're new to eating lower calories it does take a while getting used to coping with less. Drinking water helps.
New eating habits take time to form.
If you find those calories too low to eat at, increase them a little bit, your weight loss will still happen albeit at a slower pace but perhaps that would be more manageable for you. Take the whole weight loss process slow and steady, to quote a well used phrase think of it as a 'marathon not a sprint'.
All the best.4 -
Planning meals ahead is key to staying on track. Weekends are the hardest so they need more planning.
e.g I'm a big one for having a take out on a Saturday night, so I bank calories during the week to account for the extra 500 over and above my usual calories for then. It works wonderfully.
We can tweak calorie counting to suit our own needs.0 -
OP how did you arrive at the figure of 1600 - 1800?
You are an obese male who is also quite tall?? ( going by your avatar pic)
If so,i would expect your daily allowance to be well over 1600 - I was a shortish female, over weight but not obese, and I was on 1460 - would expect a large tall man to be on more than 140 greater than me.
And remember that is your net amount - if you do any exercise you are supposed to eat at least some of that back.
Anyway, please clarify your stats - gender, weight, age, activity level so we can help with whether your target calories are appropriate.1 -
paperpudding wrote: »OP how did you arrive at the figure of 1600 - 1800?
You are an obese male who is also quite tall?? ( going by your avatar pic)
If so,i would expect your daily allowance to be well over 1600 - I was a shortish female, over weight but not obese, and I was on 1460 - would expect a large tall man to be on more than 140 greater than me.
And remember that is your net amount - if you do any exercise you are supposed to eat at least some of that back.
Anyway, please clarify your stats - gender, weight, age, activity level so we can help with whether your target calories are appropriate.
OP's female1 -
Thanks everyone so much for your help and wisdom!!!!
I'm a 5'6 female. Weight is 245ish.
Meal planning is hard-I fail a lot from my lack of planning. But I have 3 kids so finding time to plan and cook for my dinners are my weakness!!
Also not sure how to bank calories?1 -
Thanks everyone so much for your help and wisdom!!!!
I'm a 5'6 female. Weight is 245ish.
Meal planning is hard-I fail a lot from my lack of planning. But I have 3 kids so finding time to plan and cook for my dinners are my weakness!!
Also not sure how to bank calories?
you don't eat with your family?0 -
I do eat with them. I live in Spain so our main meal as a family is lunch. Dinner is not together and it's the lightest meal of the day. And in this meal I'm super hungry and don't always make the wisest choices.0
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You should look at the Keto diet. The diet if done right it stops the cravings. FYI, its a complex diet to manage but is working for allot of people. Look at your carbs and insulin spikes. Watch your blood sugar. you may be pre-diabetic. Cut way back on sugar and simple carbs.
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I do eat with them. I live in Spain so our main meal as a family is lunch. Dinner is not together and it's the lightest meal of the day. And in this meal I'm super hungry and don't always make the wisest choices.
I always find if I have a good, filling lunch then a snack for 'dinner' works just fine - something like scrambled eggs on toast / omelette / salad with some tuna or chicken. Again, its about having plenty of fresh food available or defrost it as needed and within 10-15 mins you could have something on the table.0 -
Ultimately, when you have reached maintenance you will want to share the same meals as your family. As long as you don't have any allergy/intolerance issues theres no reason why you can't continue eating with the family while you loose weight. Please don't make things more difficult than they need be.
Sometimes people starting on a calorie restriction particularly for the first time benefit from calculating what their current calorie intake is. When you know the portion size you usually have you can then look for less complicated ways to make the food you enjoy less calorific. You could try giving yourself more protein or vegies/fibre over all with fewer potatoes, one slice of bread rather than two, one biscuit not two, that sort of thing. Someone starting out on a calorie restriction should find simple steps like this will make for long term benefits. As you learn more about the values of foods you could move on to change recipes to a more healthy format for everyone, not in a rush, in your own time.
Working at weight loss, while still using the meals you share with the children will not adversely effect their relationship with food. All too often healthy prepubescent girls can start to think, I mustn't eat this or that its bad, when its the amount they need not the food itself.
Calorie banking. I think means holding over some calories from your mid week days so you can increase your calories for the weekend days or some do something similar for special events, parties, weddings and the like.
Keep it simple.2 -
@fuzzipeg well said!
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A huge amount of hunger is psychological. It may be that you're craving and bingeing because you think you're 'missing out' on foods you like, or just because you expect to be craving things.
First, remember to allow yourself a little of the things you're craving. Want chocolate? OK - figure out how to fit a single chocolate or part of a bar into your calories, put that much onto a little plate, take it away into another room and eat it slowly, savouring every little bit. Same for anything else you really want.
Secondly, you need to 'forget' that you're hungry. Distract yourself from it! I find that going out for a short walk when I'm hungry can work really well. Or starting a tricky new task at work. If I stop thinking about food and hunger, my hunger usually subsides.
Good luck!0 -
What types of foods do you normally eat and enjoy? What are the two favorite meals that your family eats for lunch? Give us some idea of what you ate and found satisfying when you weren't trying to lose weight and perhaps we can suggest similar types of foods that will be lower in calories, but keep you more satisfied. What are you bingeing on? What is your body craving? What does your daily "diet" menu consist of?
I struggle with food cravings and bingeing, but I have found that certain ways of eating exacerbate that problem and other ways really help alleviate it.0 -
You should first calculate your TDEE
That should be your maintenance calories.
If you want to loose weight you should eat bellow that. How much bellow is individual and needs some fine tuning. I do my best around TDEE - 400cal. That way I feel good with minor hunger moments that quickly disappear.
If I go bellow that next day I feel huge hunger.
That being said...I made my cuts in steps.
- First I stopped eating most of the junk food...at this moment my sugar levels were going crazy, so I couldn't cut immediately with calories. So, I said to myself that it's ok that I eat how much I want, just not those highly processed food. I would eat a lot of fruit, nuts, milk to satisfy cravings.
- Once when my sugar levels get more balanced I set goal to avoid snacking and random eating. I could eat any amount of food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, but I was avoiding snacking.
- Third step was portion control and calorie counting (where I am at the moment). Now I eat that TDEE - 400 and feeling good for now.
Maybe those 2 first steps were unnecessary, but they made my calorie restriction much easier.
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Ok so my TDEE is 2145. So how many calories should my deficit be to lose 1/2 pound a week? You guys have been amazingly helpful!!!!!1
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1/2 pound/week is 250 calories/day below TDEE, so your goal would be 1895. Now bear in mind, this leaves little room for errors in your logging (either in measuring or incorrect database entries) so you'll want to be very tight in your logging until you get a feel for the rate you're actually losing.0
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Start by cutting out 250 cals per day - do that for a couple of weeks as you get used to the new normal food amounts. Should get you about 1/2 lb per week. If that starts to get "easy" you can reduce another 100 or so cals at a time so the change isn't so extreme. If you were eating 3000 cals going to 1600-1800 is pretty drastic so it also might be a good idea to eat at maintenance (2145) for a few days as that is also a pretty significant amount.
Don't cut out food groups - just work on portions. Get a food scale and weight every solid and measure every liquid. Find out what mix works best for you. I do best with a fat/protein with a high fiber that I can have a decent volume of for relatively few calories at each meal. So I have yogurt with berries and nuts, veggies with a high protein dip like hummus or plain Greek yogurt mixed with a packet of salad dressing/dip mix, some cheese and nuts with apple slices for good filling snacks.
For meals I eat what my family eats just in controlled portions and maybe a few substitutions. For example I will skip the bread or split a roll with my son instead of having my own. I make Zoodles for me to either replace the pasta or to mix half and half so my portion is larger but a lot lower calorie.
Also don't use any of the fat-free stuff. Go for full fat yogurts and cheeses as they do tend to leave me more satiated.2 -
WillWeycker2017 wrote: »You should look at the Keto diet. The diet if done right it stops the cravings. FYI, its a complex diet to manage but is working for allot of people. Look at your carbs and insulin spikes. Watch your blood sugar. you may be pre-diabetic. Cut way back on sugar and simple carbs.
the OP doesnt say if they have diabetes or blood sugar issues,and keto is not for everyone. how is someone going to watch their blood sugar if they have no reason too. protein can also spike blood sugar.just because a person is overweight/obese doesnt mean they are prediabetic. I have days where all I want are carbs too and I have none of those health issues.3 -
Track what you're eating without making changes for a couple of weeks. You can't reduce how much you're eating if you don't know how much you're eating. Reduce my smaller increments.
If you were eating 3000+ calories a day and you are now only eating 1600-1800, that is a HUGE change. Almost half.
Remember that if you can't stick to it and you quit, you'll be no farther ahead than if you take it slow and make small manageable adjustments over time.2 -
I'm feeling super discouraged because I can't lose weight!! After 3-4 days eating 1600-1800 calories, I'm super hungry and just want to binge eat everything in sight. I'm obese and have always been this way since a teenager. I want to change and make it be a long-term change but feel so helpless and not sure where to start.
It's only been a few days. Try to not weigh yourself except one day a week on the same day each week. Also, try measuring your body. If you've been exercising or working out you may be losing inches. You also may not be eating enough. Give it some time. Try to make sure you are choosing foods high in protein and will keep you full longer throughout the day too. And remember that your body is doing a lot of things inside and it's not just about weight loss. The things your body has going on will affect what you may see on the scales as well.0 -
Have to provide some context for my idea of "what worked" for me... I'm female half-marathoner who runs 3x week, and cross/strength trains 2x week. I lost ~20 lbs. from my 5'8" frame, following the below. So, I was fairly active already, but eating too many carbs, and calories for my activity level (and let's face it, my age...)
I have gotten great results "eating to a weight" I call it...
1. Daily calories = Desired weight x 10 (e.g. in my case desired weight = 150 lbs. so, 150 x 10 = 1,500 daily cals)
2. Then follow 40% protein/30% carbs/30% fat (each g of protein and carbs has 4 cals, and each g fat has 9 cals)
3. Stayed at targeted daily calorie level whether I worked out or not, no extras because I burned more that day, in general. And, sometimes you're just ravenous!! In which case I will have more to eat, but it's something concentrated in protein or healthy fat.
And I agree with the previous poster on weighing...pick once a week in the morning...hold yourself accountable week to week.
Best of luck!!!
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You should start by recognizing and acknowledging your most important needs and requirements. Starting from there, look outward, to what best fits you. From that point, you can make the rough assumption of what base basal metabolic rate you'll be aiming for, and maybe your lean body mass.0
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Thanks everyone!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm super appreciative of your help and feel like I've gotten a better handle on my issue!!!!!2
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I'm feeling super discouraged because I can't lose weight!! After 3-4 days eating 1600-1800 calories, I'm super hungry and just want to binge eat everything in sight. I'm obese and have always been this way since a teenager. I want to change and make it be a long-term change but feel so helpless and not sure where to start.
Wanna avoid being hungry! Water...all day drink it. When you feel hungry slam that water back. You might end up in the loo more often but losing weight matters here. Here losing weight is the only thing. Stick with it. Starting out and the initial struggle is the hardest. Stick it out.
Water is your best friend now!1 -
yoherbs421 wrote: »I'm feeling super discouraged because I can't lose weight!! After 3-4 days eating 1600-1800 calories, I'm super hungry and just want to binge eat everything in sight. I'm obese and have always been this way since a teenager. I want to change and make it be a long-term change but feel so helpless and not sure where to start.
Wanna avoid being hungry! Water...all day drink it. When you feel hungry slam that water back. You might end up in the loo more often but losing weight matters here. Here losing weight is the only thing. Stick with it. Starting out and the initial struggle is the hardest. Stick it out.
Water is your best friend now!
more water is not always the answer,for some it wont satiate them and too much water can cause problems(electrolyte imbalance is one of them). if someones that hungry they need to see if fiber,fats,protein or carbs satiate them or a balance of all of the above. gotta find what works.0 -
I'm feeling super discouraged because I can't lose weight!! After 3-4 days eating 1600-1800 calories, I'm super hungry and just want to binge eat everything in sight. I'm obese and have always been this way since a teenager. I want to change and make it be a long-term change but feel so helpless and not sure where to start.
you need to find what satiates you, you may need more fiber, fat,carbs,protein or a combo of those. you have to figure out what keeps you feeling full longer. play around with different macros and see which one helps you to not be so hungry.one day try more protein, another more fat,and so on.But getting enough fiber will help too2
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