Surely I shouldn't be eating 3200 calories a day...

QUEENxo1992

Jaqweez wrote: »

Mine was bonkers high too. Turned out I'd checked the extremely active box by mistake. Adjusted it and things are more reasonable now! Had some fun on day one though

Yes I noticed that too. I said lightly active on it. I am pretty sedentary except for my workouts and walks. (iPhone tracks my steps on here tho). So now it says 2500. I still feel that is too high but I will trust the system.

nowine4me

It's quite possible. I'm 5-7 at 146# and maintain on 2200. I literally couldn't survive on 1200 for any length of time.

kommodevaran

sympha01 wrote: »

Speaking as a former super-obese person I just have two perspectives on long-term significant weight loss. I acknowledge they philosophically contradict one another a little.

1. Losing a lot of weight will take a long time, whether you "go hard" or take it easy. Even if you severely restrict your diet beyond what is healthy, it would take more than a year to lose > 100 lbs. So from that perspective, think about long-term success. Set yourself up for long-term success by establishing a diet (and activity plan) that you can sustain for the long term. Don't make yourself miserable with the conscious or unconscious assumption that you can grit your teeth and bear it because it's only temporary. If it's to be successful, it will be for the rest of your life. More specifically, I'd advise against totally "giving up" foods that you love. Rather, find a way to make peace with them so you can include them in your life w/o letting them control you.

2. Sometimes you are going to have to do things you don't want to do. This one I'd limit to the big picture. I have met so many people on here who want to lose weight but who are utterly unwilling to monitor and control the amount of food they will eat. Portion size matters, even for "healthy" foods. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that you can avoid downsizing or even measuring your portions because you are eating all "healthy" foods or "avoiding carbs." Chicken breast and yogurt can add up to big calories when we eat monster portions. I didn't get to weigh close to 350 pounds because I like eating reasonably-sized portions. Downsizing was ... quite an adjustment.

Also for what it's worth, as a super-obese person I was perfectly well-fuelled on 2400 cal / day, though at my top weight I was probably about 25% lighter than you are now. 2800 sounds like a great place to start and see how it goes -- but do measure your portions.

I think this is great insight, OP. You are facing two challenges that are in many ways in conflict, and you need to reduce that conflict as much as possible:
1) The need to lose a lot of weight fast.
2) The need to lose weight for a long long time, and keep it off when you get to goal weight.

Weight managment is a maths part, a physiology part, and a mental part. All those parts will try to fight eachother. You need to be your own weightloss UN peacekeeping force:

• You lose weight through calorie reduction (and the bigger reduction, the more you lose, yes).
• Your body will eat from its fat mass and lean mass when you're in a calorie deficit, and the bigger the deficit, the bigger the proportion of lean mass to fat mass. (You want to lose as little muscle as possible and as much fat as possible.)
• Food tastes great, it's easily available and comforting. (We all like to eat, and we'd eat a lot more if we could get away with it.)
• You need to be vigilant and accurate, and firm, and know exactly what you are doing, and why, but not obsess or over-restrict. (Educate yourself. The forum here, including this thread, is extremely educational and empowering. The diet industry is an industry, a way to make money on the opposite - ignorance and fear.)
• You need to be patient, have realistic expectations, be calm and kind to yourself.

VeronicaA76

QUEENxo1992 wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

QUEENxo1992 wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

What is your weight and height?

5'8 456lbs

Then that seems about right you need 2847 just to keep you alive. That is known as you BMR.

It is not recommended to eat below that.

It's not that she will die from eating at BMR - she has the necessary fat reserves to sustain a pretty big weekly loss, and it's no problem to get in sufficient nutrition an way lower calories than that. 1% of total body weight per week is a better goal, and even that can be stretched when you get into mobidely obese area. At this stage it's important get a lot of weight off, and fast.

It is coming off fast. 25 lbs in one month already

WOW!!! That's great. Please remember that healthy weight loss is a percentage of weight to lose, so as you continue, the amount of weight you lose over a given time will decrease. (The 1-2lb a week rule is generally for those that are around 200lbs or less depending on height). Again, congratulations and just take one day at a time. Don't quit due to small set backs, making mistakes and having bad days is called: being human. Be patient and consistent.

QUEENxo1992

VeronicaA76 wrote: »

QUEENxo1992 wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

QUEENxo1992 wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

What is your weight and height?

5'8 456lbs

Then that seems about right you need 2847 just to keep you alive. That is known as you BMR.

It is not recommended to eat below that.

It's not that she will die from eating at BMR - she has the necessary fat reserves to sustain a pretty big weekly loss, and it's no problem to get in sufficient nutrition an way lower calories than that. 1% of total body weight per week is a better goal, and even that can be stretched when you get into mobidely obese area. At this stage it's important get a lot of weight off, and fast.

It is coming off fast. 25 lbs in one month already

WOW!!! That's great. Please remember that healthy weight loss is a percentage of weight to lose, so as you continue, the amount of weight you lose over a given time will decrease. (The 1-2lb a week rule is generally for those that are around 200lbs or less depending on height). Again, congratulations and just take one day at a time. Don't quit due to small set backs, making mistakes and having bad days is called: being human. Be patient and consistent.

Thank you. I will be patient. And am not always looking at the scale. It's not about the weight to me - it's how I feel. And eating less carbs helps me feel less bloated!

cerise_noir

QUEENxo1992 wrote: »

Jaqweez wrote: »

Mine was bonkers high too. Turned out I'd checked the extremely active box by mistake. Adjusted it and things are more reasonable now! Had some fun on day one though

Yes I noticed that too. I said lightly active on it. I am pretty sedentary except for my workouts and walks. (iPhone tracks my steps on here tho). So now it says 2500. I still feel that is too high but I will trust the system.

Hi!

You've got lots of great information, also, you're doing great!

You may want to change your activity to sedentary as mfp's activity multiplier refers to general daily activity and not exercise. This way, when you add in exercise (which you should eat a portion of back, usually half) you won't be "double dipping" in exercise calories.

Iamnotasenior

I want to avoid any surgery if I can so trying to lose it the natural way the best way I know how: exercise and low carb.

There is no magical weight loss associated with "low carb" diets. While exercise is great at burning a few calories, makes your heart and lungs healthier and can stave off depression, it plays a very small role in weight loss. Eighty percent of your weight loss is going to be attributed to how many calories you take in to your body every day. A calorie is a calorie to your body. It doesn't matter if it is a calorie from a piece of fruit or a calorie from a chocolate bar, for purposes of weight loss or maintenance, it is all the same to your body. You just need to make sure you are accurately logging everything you put in your mouth over the course of each day. There are no "free" foods, everything you eat has calories and must be logged. The reason we weigh and/or measure our food is because humans are not very good at estimating a "serving" of anything. At the very least, get your measuring cups and spoons out, especially in the beginning, and measure out your portions. Food scales are very inexpensive and are the best way to accurately measure your intake.

kommodevaran

QUEENxo1992 wrote: »

VeronicaA76 wrote: »

QUEENxo1992 wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

QUEENxo1992 wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

What is your weight and height?

5'8 456lbs

Then that seems about right you need 2847 just to keep you alive. That is known as you BMR.

It is not recommended to eat below that.

It's not that she will die from eating at BMR - she has the necessary fat reserves to sustain a pretty big weekly loss, and it's no problem to get in sufficient nutrition an way lower calories than that. 1% of total body weight per week is a better goal, and even that can be stretched when you get into mobidely obese area. At this stage it's important get a lot of weight off, and fast.

It is coming off fast. 25 lbs in one month already

WOW!!! That's great. Please remember that healthy weight loss is a percentage of weight to lose, so as you continue, the amount of weight you lose over a given time will decrease. (The 1-2lb a week rule is generally for those that are around 200lbs or less depending on height). Again, congratulations and just take one day at a time. Don't quit due to small set backs, making mistakes and having bad days is called: being human. Be patient and consistent.

Thank you. I will be patient. And am not always looking at the scale. It's not about the weight to me - it's how I feel. And eating less carbs helps me feel less bloated!

I'm not sure about bloating. Everybody bloats these days. We didn't bloat nearly as much just a few years ago, and not at all when we just ate what we needed, which was whatever we could get, mostly carbs.

Keep in mind that weight loss (but not starving) will make you feel better, it's not an either/or. The slowly subsiding number on the scale is indeed a marker of your improved health.

scarlett_k

QUEENxo1992 wrote: »

Jaqweez wrote: »

Mine was bonkers high too. Turned out I'd checked the extremely active box by mistake. Adjusted it and things are more reasonable now! Had some fun on day one though

Yes I noticed that too. I said lightly active on it. I am pretty sedentary except for my workouts and walks. (iPhone tracks my steps on here tho). So now it says 2500. I still feel that is too high but I will trust the system.

I would trust it. As you lose weight - say every 15 lbs at this point - go back and input your stats again and it will sometimes give you a new calorie goal appropriate for your current weight and rate of loss.

Wolfger

QUEENxo1992 wrote: »

Yes I noticed that too. I said lightly active on it. I am pretty sedentary except for my workouts and walks. (iPhone tracks my steps on here tho). So now it says 2500. I still feel that is too high but I will trust the system.

At your weight, 2500 is absolutely not too high. I started at 293 lbs, and my target for losing 2 pounds per week was over 2,000. I dropped about 15 pounds in my first month and then went into settings and recalculated. I keep recalculating about once a month. I'm currently at 68 pounds lost with a daily goal of 1700.