I'm afraid of my poor nutritional knowledge

PDrake94

Hey community, it feels strange to finally be opening up. Ive been using mfp since i started losing weight back in 2013. Back then it was a tug of war for me, i started at 310lbs, lost, gained and finally settled in at 285 and gave up. That is until last year when i finally decided to kick myself in the *kitten* and dropped to 200lbs. At 220 i felt great, and with some confidence i was moving towards my goals. But as i reached 195 last month i felt like i looked like crap. At this point mfp recommends 1500 cal for me which just makes me gain weight AND feel hungry. I was eating less than a healthy amount lf calories for a 6"3 male my size to mantain an awkward physique for maybe 3 weeks. I snapped. I stopped logging, started eatting (crazy i know) and excercising as much as possible. I gained and im now sitting at 201lbs...with the same problem areas (namely; chest & sides) that make me self conscious. After a month of mindless googling i dont even know if i have a problem or if my transitions are natural.

Im just ranting at this point and hoping someone has an answer. Since ive been doing this alone i feel like i finally need outside advice.

Old_Cat_Lady

Open your diary and people will review your daily foods and make recommendations. Click on MyHome, then settings

rheddmobile

First of all, this isn't easy, so go easy on yourself for struggling. If it were easy we would all look like underwear models!

At 201 you are just barely over a BMI of 25, which is normal weight. If you're a larger boned man this may be a fine weight for you. But, you have mentioned you don't feel you look good. I think it might be a good idea for you to focus on gaining muscle, which will help you eat more calories and stay the same weight, as well as looking better. What are you doing for exercise? Have you tried lifting?

Some folks here with more experience in recomp can give you better advice than I could.

kommodevaran

I think your main problem is that you haven't adjusted your calorie and weekly weight loss goals properly. You can't lose as fast anymore when you have so much less to lose, and you are too tall to be eating 1500 calories. Set your goal to 1 or 1.5 pounds per week, eat those calories, and don't exhaust yourself exercising.

PDrake94

TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »

Open your diary and people will review your daily foods and make recommendations. Click on MyHome, then settings

Like i said i ditched the logging for a good while, but i unlocked it for the future.

PDrake94

kommodevaran wrote: »

I think your main problem is that you haven't adjusted your calorie and weekly weight loss goals properly. You can't lose as fast anymore when you have so much less to lose, and you are too tall to be eating 1500 calories. Set your goal to 1 or 1.5 pounds per week, eat those calories, and don't exhaust yourself exercising.

Ive tweaked it a bit, all the feed back is appreciated.

vivelajackie

At 6'3", 200lbs is (on the page) really awesome. Like others have said, you may be interested in recomp to help your current physique look more appealing to yourself. My husband did it at one point, upped his calories, and then started a progressive lifting routine at the gym. Tracking for macros is still something you can use with the app. Hit up the maintenance and fitness and nutrition threads. Also...youtube has some nice channels that show proper technique for lifting big things. :P

PDrake94

rheddmobile wrote: »

First of all, this isn't easy, so go easy on yourself for struggling. If it were easy we would all look like underwear models!

At 201 you are just barely over a BMI of 25, which is normal weight. If you're a larger boned man this may be a fine weight for you. But, you have mentioned you don't feel you look good. I think it might be a good idea for you to focus on gaining muscle, which will help you eat more calories and stay the same weight, as well as looking better. What are you doing for exercise? Have you tried lifting?

Some folks here with more experience in recomp can give you better advice than I could.

question is pretty loaded because i havent been logging properly (darn my laziness). but im doing a minimum of 30 minutes of calisthenics. I also hit my manual treadmill for a minimum of 20 minutes on the highest incline. Lifting wise i use my bench press religiously but it only offers 100lbs. I use dumbbells as from 25 lbs kit.

*important edit: i do not adjust the weight. I squat and lift the same amount 3-4 times a seek

Long story short. I dont go to the gym and just use the things i can afford from amazon. Im pretty antisocial.

tcunbeliever

6'3" and 200 lbs - how the heck do you get only 1500 calories??? Do you exercise??? You know, the best part of exercising is getting to eat more food.

In any case, it's hard as you get closer to goal there is less room for error and weight loss is slower and it is much more challenging.

Everyone is a bit different and you will need to figure out what works best for you, but based on what works best for me, here are some ideas you may choose to try:

1. Eat a high protein breakfast - when I was eating breakfast this was super helpful for me and I would be much less hungry the rest of the day if I had eggs for breakfast instead of oatmeal or cereal.

2. Eat more protein period - for the days you have logged, your protein levels are very low, particularly for a male. Protein is generally slower to digest than carbs, plus you will retain more muscle as you lose if you are getting adequate protein.

3. Calorie cycle - I have found this to be helpful because I'm less hungry on the low calorie days after having a high calorie day, and less likely to cheat when I know I will get more calories tomorrow. (I'm doing Leangains if you want to look into it, but there are more calorie cycling programs than just that one - I'm on a recovery week right now, so if you look at my diary you have to go to last week to see the cycling)

4. Strength train 3x/week - you have already achieved a healthy weight, but you are not happy with how you look visually now that you are a healthy weight. The easiest way to look better is to have more muscle.

5. Watch your nutrition. You don't have a lot of calories to cram your food into, but being malnourished is going to make anyone feel terrible. Stick to nutrient dense foods that are actually providing fuel for your body, meats, vegetables, dairy, healthy fats, etc. Avoid soda and other junk food that is filling up your calorie slots, but not giving your body much in the way of actual nutrients.

Good luck!!!

msf74

195lbs at 6'3 and eating 1,500 cals? Duuuude. You must feel like crap.

I think your issue, at it's heart, may be something a bit deeper.

I might be off base but read this:

What is Former Fat Boy Syndrome?

rheddmobile

PDrake94 wrote: »

rheddmobile wrote: »

First of all, this isn't easy, so go easy on yourself for struggling. If it were easy we would all look like underwear models!

At 201 you are just barely over a BMI of 25, which is normal weight. If you're a larger boned man this may be a fine weight for you. But, you have mentioned you don't feel you look good. I think it might be a good idea for you to focus on gaining muscle, which will help you eat more calories and stay the same weight, as well as looking better. What are you doing for exercise? Have you tried lifting?

Some folks here with more experience in recomp can give you better advice than I could.

question is pretty loaded because i havent been logging properly (darn my laziness). but im doing a minimum of 30 minutes of calisthenics. I also hit my manual treadmill for a minimum of 20 minutes on the highest incline. Lifting wise i use my bench press religiously but it only offers 100lbs. I use dumbbells as from 25 lbs kit.

*important edit: i do not adjust the weight. I squat and lift the same amount 3-4 times a seek

Long story short. I dont go to the gym and just use the things i can afford from amazon. Im pretty antisocial.

I'm not a gym person at all, myself, so I understand. Can you find better weights used on Craigslist? Another option would be a gym with 24/7 access, so you could go late nights and mind your business.

Some body weight exercises like push-ups and pull-ups can help too.

PDrake94

rheddmobile wrote: »

PDrake94 wrote: »

rheddmobile wrote: »

First of all, this isn't easy, so go easy on yourself for struggling. If it were easy we would all look like underwear models!

At 201 you are just barely over a BMI of 25, which is normal weight. If you're a larger boned man this may be a fine weight for you. But, you have mentioned you don't feel you look good. I think it might be a good idea for you to focus on gaining muscle, which will help you eat more calories and stay the same weight, as well as looking better. What are you doing for exercise? Have you tried lifting?

Some folks here with more experience in recomp can give you better advice than I could.

question is pretty loaded because i havent been logging properly (darn my laziness). but im doing a minimum of 30 minutes of calisthenics. I also hit my manual treadmill for a minimum of 20 minutes on the highest incline. Lifting wise i use my bench press religiously but it only offers 100lbs. I use dumbbells as from 25 lbs kit.

*important edit: i do not adjust the weight. I squat and lift the same amount 3-4 times a seek

Long story short. I dont go to the gym and just use the things i can afford from amazon. Im pretty antisocial.

I'm not a gym person at all, myself, so I understand. Can you find better weights used on Craigslist? Another option would be a gym with 24/7 access, so you could go late nights and mind your business.

Some body weight exercises like push-ups and pull-ups can help too.

Push ups im doing AT Least 100 a day. Now pull ups, i cant do a single one. I try to crank out just a single one with my bar and the stupid assistance band and get zilch for 2 months of pure constitent effort. Call me crazy but because i fail one every morning i feel like it'll be all the sweeter the day i get one.

PDrake94

msf74 wrote: »

195lbs at 6'3 and eating 1,500 cals? Duuuude. You must feel like crap.

I think your issue, at it's heart, may be something a bit deeper.

I might be off base but read this:

What is Former Fat Boy Syndrome?

Not at all, ill have to finish reading it but from the ffb definition in the post, im feeling like its pretty close, if not right on target.

(Nah, it lost me at childhood sammiches)

toxikon

My fiance is 6'3" and just about to reach his goal of 200. He started at close to 300lbs years ago.

He's definitely at that awkward bony/saggy skin phase but he's starting to put on more muscle now as he's joined a really high-intensity boxing class. He goes 3x a week and really enjoys it. It's only been about 5 months so far but he's slowly making some gains.

It just takes time to build the physique you want. And calories to fuel your workouts and muscles. 1500 for a man is much too low. I'd bump up calories to at least 2000 and find a good strength plan to try - either at the gym, at a club, or at home.

TavistockToad

There is no way you were gaining fat on 1500 cals...

PDrake94

Appreciating all the insight. This weighed on my sleep for a long while but i feel like i just needed some closer advice i could trust, and less shots in the dark punched into google.

msf74

PDrake94 wrote: »

msf74 wrote: »

195lbs at 6'3 and eating 1,500 cals? Duuuude. You must feel like crap.

I think your issue, at it's heart, may be something a bit deeper.

I might be off base but read this:

What is Former Fat Boy Syndrome?

Not at all, ill have to finish reading it but from the ffb definition in the post, im feeling like its pretty close, if not right on target.

(Nah, it lost me at childhood sammiches)

Stupid not present childhood sammiches...

sllm1

Set up your account for 0.5 pound per week loss and eat your exercise calories. Fuel your body and trust the process.

rolenthegreat

I'm not sure what your fitness goals really are but it might be time to look into the 'recomp' boards.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

Also just to reiterate what other people are saying, I'm a 120lb, 5'1" female who works an office job, and my maintenance is about 1500cals. If eating at that number makes you feel like crap, I think you'll be cool eating a little bit more.

tcunbeliever

Push ups - 100/day seems like a lot, maybe add resistance by doing decline push ups or stacking your legs - putting a greater percentage of your bodyweight into the chest so you are still building strength.

Pull ups - if you can't do more than one, then it's hard to progress because you aren't getting any volume of work on the muscles. Try bands, then you can do more of them and slowly increase tension (by moving away from the band anchor, then later adding more bands), this allows you to build volume. Bands aren't pricey and neither is an eyebolt for the ceiling.