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.

LiftHeavyThings27105

Hey, man! I will chime in.

As already mentioned, consider taking a diet break. You will greatly appreciate that; both mentally and physically. Seems like you have been at this for awhile. Just something to consider. And that article is awesome. Really amazing web site. Those folks know this stuff better than most.

Notwithstanding the gall bladder issue, not sure that you need to be so restrictive on the actual foods that you consume. Now, I am like you in that there are about 10 things that I eat. I do that out of choice. I really enjoy the foods that I eat and I have no problem - from a "variety" perspective -eating the same things day-in and day-out. Have been that way since I was a child. So, if that is what you are doing because you choose to do that, all good. Continue. However, if you are doing it because you think that is what you are supposed to eat....well, maybe not the best of ideas. It is all about adherence. If you are going to do this for a long time but you really dont like this stuff then you are setting yourself up for failure. You will struggle doing something for the rest of your life if you dont like it. Just a thought, man! You do you.....

And I weigh myself every morning at the same time on the same scale. I track it daily but only care about the weekly average. And then compare that with the last weeks and then again with next weeks (God willing).

Mind set is super impprtant.

Anyway, you got this. Lots of good folks here with a lot of knowledge. Enjoy!

mariom1112

First photo Very left is me 6 years ago 14 years old 235 at 510
Second Photo comparision of the day i left my ex to now

mariom1112

And yes thank you guys for the responds, and yes i dropped 10lbs at 2500 cals then 2300 10lbs 2100 14lbs as of last Tuesday (weigh in day)
About 6 days ive been eating 2200-2400 because how long i work and the type of work has made me go into a depression due to lack of energy and food which go hand and hand, so im scared to step on the scale tomorrow, my one downfall is Coke zero (F******* love it)
I am drinking water up to bed to try to juice out all the sodium, then so my cardio in the morning w/o my morning snack and then weigh myself to juice all the water im drinking.

Nony_Mouse

Looking good Mario!

Coke Zero is fine, no need to drop it if you like it

Are you feeling a bit better now with the extra calories? I really do think a diet break would be beneficial for you, both physiologically and psychologically. As I said upthread, I did one recently, had a little gain initially from the glycogen replenishment, then levelled off, and dropped to a new low within a few days of completing the break.

PAV8888

Two Some quick comments.

Coke Zero? You can drink it till the cows come home. No weight gain coming from that unless it somehow induces you to eat more than you would otherwise.

Weekly Weigh in? You are giving way too much "weight" to a single weekly measurement. You can gauge progress OVER TIME using multiple snapshots, but a single snapshot at ONE point of time does not give you the whole picture. See the many many threads about scales and when and how to weigh yourself, and consider using a trending weight app to gauge your progress.

And, btw, bang up job even your July 10 pic!
And, btw, stop doing large deficits. They are most certainly counter-productive for you right now.

Cheers.

mariom1112

Oh i know! Its the sodium im worried about ( water weight) and once i hit 165 my final goal, i do plan to eat within my maint. goal of what i want for one night then i will decide if i want to lose more weight or just do a lean bulk so i can get all my strength back.

mariom1112

Weigh in 171

Nony_Mouse

mariom1112 wrote: »

Weigh in 171

Perfect

mariom1112

Update i took a resr week off and managed to weigh in this morning at 168

Nony_Mouse

Awesome