Paleo vs Plant based vs low calorie?

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  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    JAT74 wrote: »
    Maxematics, I do use a food scale to weigh my food and therefore know how much I'm eating.

    OliveGirl128 that's really interesting, I haven't read the other threads but will have a look. I'll also look into the other diet you've recommended, though I keep an eye on my food groups already via mfp so think my diet is pretty fairly balanced. The reason I stick to approx 900 calories most days is I start gaining if I eat over 1000 on a daily basis. I've discovered this is due to trial and error, so if I have any chance of losing weight I have to aim for under 1000. I've been to see doctors about this but they've not been able to find a medical reason why this is the case for me. My mum has exactly the same issue and always has done.

    It's funny you mention Blue Zones, I wasn't aware of that term, but I was looking at this exact topic yesterday to try and work out what the longest living/healthiest nations eat primarily! In my experience of people who've suffered health issues which have lead them to have to change their diets, I know people who have had to cut out fat (due to problems with gall bladder) and eat mainly plain food without added sauces or fats. They mainly ate grains and lean meat/fish but lost loads of weight by doing so. They were able to eat fruit and vegetables too, but maybe the lack of fat in the diet lead to the extreme weight loss or perhaps it was the inability to eat a lot of those types of foods. On the SCD diet which doesn't allow grains, starchy carbs or dairy except special yoghurt both myself and my partner lost a lot of weight. We were eating plenty and didn't watch our fat intake (though we only ate olive oil and coconut oil).

    The mediterranean diet is very healthy anyway, though I find a lot of bread is eaten in addition to a lot of cheese and high fat desserts. Portion sizes are also quite large and alcohol is consumed daily by most people in Spain. They do seem to consume more protein and fruit/vegetables/eggs/cheese than carbs though, so maybe that's why obesity isn't a very big problem yet and they tend to eat a fairly balanced diet.

    How tall are you? Unless you are a Little Person, if you are gaining on 1,000 calories, you're not actually eating 1,000 calories.

    There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    I mentioned this but she claimed to weigh all her food. I'm guessing it's poor database entries if that truly is the case.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
    edited July 2017
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    I've been using MFP on and off, I know about accurate logging and weighing/measuring. I am a little person, I'm 5 foot 4 with very small bones, carrying 34% body fat at size 10-12 UK. My lean size is a 6-8. I need less calories than most.
  • aminhussain2000
    aminhussain2000 Posts: 9 Member
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    I think you should have a refeed day once a week seeing as you consume around 100 carbs a day as well as implementing fish and meat because of the high amount of protein and virtually 0 carbs. Hope this helps
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    edited July 2017
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    Er... I'm 5'3" and losing weight on 1380 without exercise. As I do exercise, most days, I eat back half of MFP's exercise calculations and end with 1700-1800.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    diannethegeek wrote: »
    JAT74 wrote: »
    I've been using MFP on and off, I know about accurate logging and weighing/measuring. I am a little person, I'm 5 foot 4 with very small bones, carrying 34% body fat at size 10-12 UK. My lean size is a 6-8. I need less calories than most.

    I'm not kshama2001 but I assume the L and P in Little Person were capitalized deliberately when she asked. Little Person = someone with dwarfism, and the cutoff height is something like 4' 10". You're not a Little Person. You're average height for a woman.

    This^^

    Petite is 5'3" and under.
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    I'm 5'4 130 lbs with a slight build and I'm barely lightly active. I lost half-a-lb per week at @ 1400 cals. Before mfp I would've sworn I was eating 1300-1400 cals and couldn't lose anything. Then I started logging, got a food scale and learned I had been eating more like 1700 cals, plus guilty blow-out days every once and awhile that I just completely disregarded.

    Yep. I know there are outliers but if we want to talk about being petite, I'm 5'3" and weigh 114 pounds on average. I'm active so my maintenance calories are usually between 2100 and 2400. When I started losing weight I was only 139 pounds and had a high level of body fat. I was pulling 2.2 pound losses per week on a 1200 to 1400 calorie diet.

    I can understand someone with similar stats needing less to lose but 900 to 1000 calories? Also medically tested and apparently nothing is off? Then claims to gain if they eat a bit more than that after a day or two when they're ignoring natural fluctuations? Something seems off about it to me.
  • newheavensearth
    newheavensearth Posts: 870 Member
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    JAT74 wrote: »
    I've been using MFP on and off, I know about accurate logging and weighing/measuring. I am a little person, I'm 5 foot 4 with very small bones, carrying 34% body fat at size 10-12 UK. My lean size is a 6-8. I need less calories than most.

    I'm 5'3" losing on 1400 calories average. I'm on the petite yet slightly muscular side, but still losing. 5'4" is about average. You mentioned body fat scales. They are not very accurate because they depend on many factors to be accurate and they tend to fluctuate in readings.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Thank you but I already weigh all my food and measure my liquids! When I eat packaged foods I use the calorie count on the back and make sure I find it 8n MFP. I can promise you I am being honest about my intake, I just struggle to lose on what most would consider a normal amount for a diet.

    When I gained weight and didn't log, of course there was no way to know exactly what I was consuming but it was around 1200-1500 calories most days as I have never been a huge eater and I don't buy snacks or junk food generally. Occasionally when out for meals I may have had slightly more but most of the time I'd skip a meal in order to eat out etc.

    Whatever you may say, I struggle to lose weight. Most days I get my 10,000 steps in and do 45 mins in the gym and still struggle. My breakfast is usually some Greek yoghurt with fruit or a protein smoothy for around 250 calories, lunch is 500-600 and I have a snack of about 150 in the evening.

    I can't explain why the weight won't come off and that's why I put it down to the actual foods I'm eating or quantity of carbs.
  • missh1967
    missh1967 Posts: 661 Member
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    You aren't little, as in short, but perhaps you do indeed have very little muscle and a lot of body fat. In any case, I may have missed it, but do you lift weights? The best way to get our bodies to require more calories and burn more calories is to add muscle.

    Do you have PCOS or any other metabolic issues?
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    When I said 'little' I meant small framed, not a 'Little Person' (as being British have never heard that term so didn't meant to offend anyone). When I'm lean, or at least when I was the leanest I've ever been which is about 25% body fat I was a UK size 6-8 (which I believe is a US 4-6). To most people that is 'little' and was just given as an example of how small framed I am. At my current weight I'm a 10-12 (US 8-10) and that's carrying 10-15% more body fat than I should be ie. a disproportionate amount of fat. My waist is still 28 inches which is not large at all, but that gives you an idea of my shape/build.

    I already do weight training and have done on and off for the last 15 years, usually 3 times a week (when I say on and off I mean depending on how good my back is as it plays up from time to time). I also do low intensity cardio most days (either walking at a reasonable pace or on the Xtrainer or Treadmill).

    I have no knowledge of having PCOS though I did have a cyst removed about 3 years ago. In terms of metabolic issues I'm unsure as I don't have anything which has been diagosed. I've been on the pill for many years and I stopped that for a year to see if it would help with my weight loss but it didn't.

    I really don't know why I have so many issues losing weight and can't maintain my weight by eating a normal diet (or what most people tell me I 'should' be eating for my size/activity level). I find it extremely frustrating and upsetting but as I mentioned earlier in this post my own theory is that I have borderline thyroid issues which I can't get medication to treat as they are only borderline, my body also seems to hold onto fat very easily and gains fat easily and added to that there's my age. My mother has the exact same issues as I do with weight, she's taller than me and much lighter but that's mostly through severely restricting her food intake ie. tiny portion sizes on the whole and very low cal snacks. She is also quite active.

    Perhaps if I had more muscle/less fat my body would become more efficient and I hope that happens but until then I need to find a way to get the fat off.

    What frustrates me the most is that I hardly ever drink and if I do I'll have 1-3 drinks at the most, every 3-4 weeks. I also rarely eat desserts (perhaps once every fortnight but I'm very conscious of the size and how many calories I'm eating in that dessert), I exercise daily unlike many others and I still struggle so much. As I said before, my home based desk job probably doesn't help either, but other than what I'm doing already I can't see what else I can do.

    I also wish people would believe me when I tell them I eat 800-1000 calories most days and weigh and measure everything! There are days when I don't count (such as at the weekend) but my diet is really not vastly different to during the week. Most weekends I'll skip breakfast as I get up late, have a reasonably large lunch and often just a snack for dinner. At most I'm eating 1300-1500 calories, but even factoring that in as a maximum and working on 1000 maximum for the other days (which is more than the reality) that's still only around 1150 calories per day on average.

    I stick to what I said before ie. we are not all made the same. I also believe that there are a lot of people who eat in ways that would not be considered 'normal' or 'healthy' but they are not underweight or ill! The more people I speak to about this the more I hear stories of supposedly naturally thin people eating vlcd or skipping whole days of food in order to maintain a lean body weight etc. I honestly don't believe that everyone who is overweight is that way due to overeating. Some of us just need to eat less to be lean but because of all the information we're given and what we're told about minimum calorie numbers etc. often people are too scared to reduce calories and live with being larger. I'm not prepared to live like that so I have no choice but to eat less, like it or not.

    I have a lot of active friends (of around my height ie. between 5 foot 2 and 4), who have active jobs where they're on their feet all day and who also exercise on top of that by running or cycling most days, but some also do weight training or go to gym classes too. Those people are mostly very lean, most of them eat extremely healthily, only eat small portions and drink alcohol infrequently, they skip meals if they don't exercise to compensate for burning less calories and they are all around the weight I want to get back to ie. about 120-125lbs. I have yet to meet a very active female who eats more than 1200-1500 calories a day.

  • HeliumIsNoble
    HeliumIsNoble Posts: 1,213 Member
    edited August 2017
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    JAT74 wrote: »
    When I said 'little' I meant small framed, not a 'Little Person' (as being British have never heard that term so didn't meant to offend anyone). When I'm lean, or at least when I was the leanest I've ever been which is about 25% body fat I was a UK size 6-8 (which I believe is a US 4-6). To most people that is 'little' and was just given as an example of how small framed I am. At my current weight I'm a 10-12 (US 8-10) and that's carrying 10-15% more body fat than I should be ie. a disproportionate amount of fat. My waist is still 28 inches which is not large at all, but that gives you an idea of my shape/build.

    I already do weight training and have done on and off for the last 15 years, usually 3 times a week (when I say on and off I mean depending on how good my back is as it plays up from time to time). I also do low intensity cardio most days (either walking at a reasonable pace or on the Xtrainer or Treadmill).

    I have no knowledge of having PCOS though I did have a cyst removed about 3 years ago. In terms of metabolic issues I'm unsure as I don't have anything which has been diagosed. I've been on the pill for many years and I stopped that for a year to see if it would help with my weight loss but it didn't.

    I really don't know why I have so many issues losing weight and can't maintain my weight by eating a normal diet (or what most people tell me I 'should' be eating for my size/activity level). I find it extremely frustrating and upsetting but as I mentioned earlier in this post my own theory is that I have borderline thyroid issues which I can't get medication to treat as they are only borderline, my body also seems to hold onto fat very easily and gains fat easily and added to that there's my age. My mother has the exact same issues as I do with weight, she's taller than me and much lighter but that's mostly through severely restricting her food intake ie. tiny portion sizes on the whole and very low cal snacks. She is also quite active.

    Perhaps if I had more muscle/less fat my body would become more efficient and I hope that happens but until then I need to find a way to get the fat off.

    What frustrates me the most is that I hardly ever drink and if I do I'll have 1-3 drinks at the most, every 3-4 weeks. I also rarely eat desserts (perhaps once every fortnight but I'm very conscious of the size and how many calories I'm eating in that dessert), I exercise daily unlike many others and I still struggle so much. As I said before, my home based desk job probably doesn't help either, but other than what I'm doing already I can't see what else I can do.

    I also wish people would believe me when I tell them I eat 800-1000 calories most days and weigh and measure everything! There are days when I don't count (such as at the weekend) but my diet is really not vastly different to during the week. Most weekends I'll skip breakfast as I get up late, have a reasonably large lunch and often just a snack for dinner. At most I'm eating 1300-1500 calories, but even factoring that in as a maximum and working on 1000 maximum for the other days (which is more than the reality) that's still only around 1150 calories per day on average.

    I stick to what I said before ie. we are not all made the same. I also believe that there are a lot of people who eat in ways that would not be considered 'normal' or 'healthy' but they are not underweight or ill! The more people I speak to about this the more I hear stories of supposedly naturally thin people eating vlcd or skipping whole days of food in order to maintain a lean body weight etc. I honestly don't believe that everyone who is overweight is that way due to overeating. Some of us just need to eat less to be lean but because of all the information we're given and what we're told about minimum calorie numbers etc. often people are too scared to reduce calories and live with being larger. I'm not prepared to live like that so I have no choice but to eat less, like it or not.

    I have a lot of active friends (of around my height ie. between 5 foot 2 and 4), who have active jobs where they're on their feet all day and who also exercise on top of that by running or cycling most days, but some also do weight training or go to gym classes too. Those people are mostly very lean, most of them eat extremely healthily, only eat small portions and drink alcohol infrequently, they skip meals if they don't exercise to compensate for burning less calories and they are all around the weight I want to get back to ie. about 120-125lbs. I have yet to meet a very active female who eats more than 1200-1500 calories a day.
    Really. Are you sure? I know loads... I'm still a bit heavier than you yourself are aiming for, but I am very active, and my daily calorie needs to maintain seem to be bang on with TDEE predictors. I eat a hell of a lot more than 1200 calories.

    When you say you only lose on 900 calories, what timeframe are you talking over? I'm wondering if that might be the key. I know I will lose on the standard weight loss advice, but I do have to keep to it for a fair bit before the losses necessarily show up.

    How many consistent days on 900 calories would you expect to keep before you saw a loss? If someone expected immediate results, they would naturally end up having to go very low calorie.

    Have you ever tried a plan a bit higher for a full two months?

    EDIT: just came across this thread. The first page of posts are food for thought, in regards to the line of thought I'm following.

    Please have a look. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/113609/relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner#latest


  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    I've been trying to lose weight for 7 whole months!! In all that time I've been averaging 1100 calories per day if you consider I've been eating less during the week and a bit more at weekends. I've also recently been averaging around 9000 steps per day as I don't always manage 10k now it's summer (and 30 degrees at 8am when I get up and around 35+ during the day lol) and it's a lot harder than a couple of months ago when I was doing a lot more walking. From mid March to mid May I didn't do much other than walking because my back was pretty bad but the rest of the time I've been doing cardio in the gym or gym classes plus weight training, in addition to walking.

    I therefore wouldn't consider that to be fast weight loss and ok, I haven't been averaging 900 calories every day, but taking into account the fact we're now in August and I started on 2nd January I would have expected to have lost a lot more weight by now.

    In total I've lost about 6lbs and 1-1.5% body fat which is pretty poor! Especially when I have another 25lbs at least to go!!!

  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    How active is "Very active" to you? I just did a monthly exercise challenge and hit 79 hours for July. I will state that a lot of it was walking 3-3.25 mph and strength training with dumbbells ranging from 3 to 10 lbs. The rest was using the often-mocked fitness glider. (Hey. It's in my basement. It's free. And it seems to be working.) Like I said above, most days I needed 1600-1700. So. Maybe I'm not "very active" since I don't usually find myself panting from over-exertion on my cardio. Weights, yes. Even so, I still need way more than 900 calories. And the weight is dropping.

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  • HeliumIsNoble
    HeliumIsNoble Posts: 1,213 Member
    edited August 2017
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    You've lost approximately 4% of your bodyweight, though? Does that make it feel less pants?

    Don't compare loss numbers directly to those of people taller and heavier at starting point. Make about percentages!

    What kind of cardio activity are we talking about at the gym?
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    JAT74 wrote: »
    There are days when I don't count (such as at the weekend) but my diet is really not vastly different to during the week. Most weekends I'll skip breakfast as I get up late, have a reasonably large lunch and often just a snack for dinner. At most I'm eating 1300-1500 calories, but even factoring that in as a maximum and working on 1000 maximum for the other days (which is more than the reality) that's still only around 1150 calories per day on average.

    Hmm, interesting.


    JAT74 wrote: »
    I have yet to meet a very active female who eats more than 1200-1500 calories a day.

    Also quite interesting. I'm very active. I workout daily and average 20K steps per day. I'm 5'3" and maintain 114 pounds on 2100 to 2400 calories per day, sometimes more than that when I get over 30K steps in a day. I don't understand how these "very active" women maintain on 1200 to 1500 calories when the recommended calories for toddlers are 1000 to 1400 calories per day. Are all of these women just lacking any muscle mass whatsoever? If they're very active what exactly are they doing besides walking and eating low calorie diets? It just doesn't make any sense to me.

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