Just want to perfect my diet!

mariom1112

Hello Fitness World, my Name is Mario!
I have been cutting weight for over 3 months now ( i usto just lift and eat )
Anyways i went threw a break up and decided it was time to lose some fat
Im 5 ‘10 172 LBS i started out at 206

mariom1112

My question is how many calories should i be eating a day to lose 1.5 to 2 lbs a week
I work out 5 days a week 30 mins cardio minimum everyday, and i work as a mechanic 4x a week 10-12 hours

mariom1112

I have at 2100 for a while now and lately as im working longer days instead of 8 hours 5x a week i start to feel like headed and horrible, i want to get a perfect calorie deficit

mariom1112

Regular diet “ turkey, ham, oatmega bar, greek yogurt, chicken, eggs, shrimp, turkey bacon once in a while, plain cereal w/ skim milk, jimmy dean delights, 0 cal monster

Nony_Mouse

You're at the top end of the healthy weight range, so 1.5 to 2 lb per week is far too aggressive for the amount of weight you have to lose. Set MFP to 1 lb per week max, and you'd probably be better off at 0.5 lb per week (yes, I know that's slow and you want the weight gone yesterday, but your body fights back much harder against weight loss at a healthy weight, so you kind of have to coax it along). Eat the calories MFP gives you, plus 50-75% of exercise calories. You need to fuel your body properly. 2100 is nowhere near enough for your height, weight and activity level.

You can eat any foods you want within your calorie allowance, so no need to be so restrictive. Obviously for good health and nutrition you should aim to eat mostly whole foods, but you can work other stuff in there too so long as you have the calories for it.

Also, I have a cat named Mario

mariom1112

Yeah i can feel it taking a toll, i feel like i will pass out just walking day to day, but yes i would agree im just scared to commit to more calories when i came so far lol.

mariom1112

Also thank you for the response and i cant find a solid calorie intake that clear to go off of, like if its accurate for my metabolism rate, and how active i am, also i do not have a gal bladder if that makes a difference (keeps me away from bad food) i havent had a cheat day

Orphia

No gallbladder?

The UK's NHS has this to say:

https://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/2443.aspx?categoryid=51&subcategoryid=168

Most people don't need to follow a special diet after having surgery to remove their gallbladder, as the gallbladder isn't essential for digestion.

You can usually start eating normally a few hours after your operation, although you'll probably prefer to eat small meals to start with.

You may have been advised to follow a low-fat diet for several weeks before surgery, but this doesn't need to be continued afterwards. Instead, you should aim to have a generally healthy, balanced diet (including some fats).

If you experience side effects from surgery – including indigestion, bloating, flatulence or diarrhoea – it may help to make some small adjustments to your diet, such as:

avoid drinks containing caffeine – such as coffee and tea
avoid foods that make the problems worse – such as spicy or fatty foods
gradually increase your intake of fibre – good sources of fibre include fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrain rice, wholewheat pasta and bread, seeds, nuts and oats

Your GP can also recommend medication if you have diarrhoea. Read more about treating diarrhoea.
Side effects of gallbladder surgery usually only last a few weeks, although diarrhoea can be a more persistent problem for a small number of people.
If you've had other organs removed as well as your gallbladder, such as your pancreas, you may have problems digesting food. You'll be advised about any changes you need to make to your diet after surgery in these cases.

==

@Nony_Mouse gave great advice. Eat what you like in moderation, while staying within your calorie limit. Nothing you eat will be cheating. You can go over your limit one day, so long as you stay at your limit throughout the week. The app lets you check your weekly calories in the Nutrition section.

Don't starve yourself, otherwise you'll crash and burn and never make it to your goal.

Eat back most of your exercise calories to fuel your activity.

Well done for using the forums to ask for advice. I also recommend the Helpful Posts announcement at the top of this forum.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads

Good luck!

Nony_Mouse

mariom1112 wrote: »

Also thank you for the response and i cant find a solid calorie intake that clear to go off of, like if its accurate for my metabolism rate, and how active i am, also i do not have a gal bladder if that makes a difference (keeps me away from bad food) i havent had a cheat day

I think other than needing to keep fats lower, there shouldn't be any other impact from not having a gallbladder.

Go with what MFP gives you for 1 lb per week loss to start with, plus half your exercise calories (use the MFP database for those, many people find the numbers to be inflated for most things, hence the recommendation to only eat half to start with). After a few weeks, you can adjust based on your weight loss results. If you're losing faster than predicted, add more calories, if you're losing slower, drop them a bit.

I know it can be a bit scary increasing calories, but trust me . Something else you might consider if you've been at a deficit for a while now (which I assume you have, having lost 30 lbs) is taking a diet break where you eat at maintenance for two weeks, then going back to a deficit. This short article explains the rationale behind diet breaks, and how to do one: https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/. If you look a few posts down this forum you'll also see a thread titled 'Of refeeds and diet breaks' where there is an ongoing discussion about them. You'll see that several people in that thread have done on (myself included), and the results we had (spoiler, none of us regained weight, other than a little glycogen replenishment that came right off again).

mariom1112

So it says 2400 is a pound off a week? Plus eat if i burn 500 calories at the gym eat half that more

mariom1112

And i appreciate both responds to this group!! Thank you for taking the time out of your day to help me

Nony_Mouse

mariom1112 wrote: »

So it says 2400 is a pound off a week? Plus eat if i burn 500 calories at the gym eat half that more

Yep. Sounds a lot if you've been lower, just trust the process

mariom1112

Update; bought a fitbit and it says on my work days i born 4200 cals; rest days 2700 3k steps on those days, but i rarely am resting on rest days, usually involve hiking or just out

Nony_Mouse

mariom1112 wrote: »

Update; bought a fitbit and it says on my work days i born 4200 cals; rest days 2700 3k steps on those days, but i rarely am resting on rest days, usually involve hiking or just out

I suspected your job probably equated to you being fairly active on those days. Fitbits need a few weeks of data to give you reliable information, so for now I would set MFP to active or highly active and take your Fitbit burns with a grain of salt. So basically, aim for what MFP gives you as active, plus 50-75% of exercise cals, then re-evaluate in a month to see how your weight loss compares to both your calorie intake and what your Fitbit is saying. Obviously, if you're still getting that light headedness, eat more.

Nony_Mouse

Oh, fwiw, I find my Fitbit to be highly accurate for me, but some people find it underestimates or overestimates for them, hence comparing it to your weight loss data once you have that.

mariom1112

Yeah i would watch my fitbit while i work, and make sure it wasnt counting while i was working on cars or would count my steps and i noticed it was pretty accurate, not using it to rely on but deff a tool

Nony_Mouse

mariom1112 wrote: »

Yeah i would watch my fitbit while i work, and make sure it wasnt counting while i was working on cars or would count my steps and i noticed it was pretty accurate, not using it to rely on but deff a tool

I love mine. I just let it do all the work for me, no need to enter exercise on MFP or try to work out if the calorie burns from the MFP database are accurate

mariom1112

Weigh in tomorrow after bumping it to 2400 all week

Nony_Mouse

mariom1112 wrote: »

Weigh in tomorrow after bumping it to 2400 all week

Cool. Don't panic if you see a bit of a gain. That's normal with glycogen replenishment and more food in your system and will level out

PAV8888

Trending weight app?

Nony_Mouse

PAV8888 wrote: »

Trending weight app?

Ha, I was just coming back to suggest that! GMTA

Mario, trend apps are really useful because they show your weight trend over time, so even if your scale weight is up for some reason (water weight from sodium, extra food weight from a big meal, water weight after a big hike, etc, etc), the trend line will show what is happening over the long term. Recommended apps are Happy Scale, Libra, and Trendweight. Trendweight is web-based rather than an app for your phone, but works in conjunction with Fitbit, so you just enter your weight in your Fitbit app and it transfers over.