Morbidly obese...need to change or life at risk, literally

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  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I suggest you just weigh and log your food for a week. MFP will tell you what your meals are made of. For weight loss, calories are king. Don't stress yourself out over macros.

    After a week of logging, though, you will become painfully aware of where the calories are coming from!
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    lanceavante wrote: »
    quickly. sorry to hold everyone hostage. perhaps my naiveness will make you all feel the smartest ever!

    1) can i lose weight at 2100 cals a day
    Yes, as long as you're really eating 2100 calories. 2100 calories isn't that much. You'll be chopping off a big chunk of your normal intake.
    2) if 30% fat; then what other macros?
    You can go with MFP's default unless that doesn't work for you.
    i know they say calories are king, but if macros can give extra nudges, I am in!
    Macros don't do that. Macros can make it easier to stick to your calorie target.


  • Rickster1967
    Rickster1967 Posts: 485 Member
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    lanceavante wrote: »
    i'll try guys. 2100 is a good goal? and you said 30% fats (olive oil, butter, peanut butter). i have a ton to learn. are eggs fats, or protein, and is the old idea of no more than 4 a week right?

    I've been eating 4 eggs A DAY, lost weight and improved my cholesterol from 9.6 to 6.2. Eggs are fat and protein.

    2100 is my guess. Run the set up in MFP for 2lb per week and see what it gives. It might be higher than 2100.

    Avocado, coconut fat, olive oil, butter all good fats. If you fancy a steak and can fit it in then by all means have one. Same for a burger. If it fits your calories and hopefully fat / protein need then you can have it.

    Being very consistent with food choices really helped me. Batch cooking (in a Crock Pot) also helped. I make chilli, curry, stew and all sorts of 'one pot' dishes. Make a batch a freeze them. Use the recipe creator function in the app to count calories in and then work out portion size. Divide batch equally by weight to get portion you want.

    Getting enough food to be satisfied is a key to success with a lot to lose. Therefore getting filling foods and staying under is a challenge.

    There's loads of help on here. Don't struggle. If you need help, ask or SEARCH the forum there are loads of useful threads on all subjects. Weigh and measure accurately with digital scale

    You can make a huge improvement. By Easter you'll be a new man, stick to it
  • lancenuovo
    lancenuovo Posts: 517 Member
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    thanks man. so appreciate it. i'll do that. it just seems when I have done that stuff before, it reads like my daily goal (based on my weight) is like 3200 calories. and i have heard i should eat for the weight I want. not sure..that is why here.
  • Rickster1967
    Rickster1967 Posts: 485 Member
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    lanceavante wrote: »
    i have 13 months till 50. hope not too late to turn things around. I feel good and plan an being active always. cant imagine not being; plus, don't want my kids friends snickering. i remember people like that when I was a kid. seriously

    nope

    definitely not too late, you can turn things round in the next 10 weeks and be well on your way to health. It is a long road so approach it like that. But be 100% sure that losing weight has massive health benefits even if you aren't always eating the healthiest choices.

    And as long as you consistently live in a deficit you will lose weight.

    You may find after being in deficit for a while that you really don't feel hungry. There are good reasons for that as you are obese. However, do not be tempted to cut corners and stop eating because you don't feel hungry. That is counter productive. Continue to eat at your calorie target, as close as you can get to it, even if you think 'I'm not hungry'

    Failure to do so can bite you further down the line.

    One more thing. Be assured that this process works so give it time.
  • rnbaby2003
    rnbaby2003 Posts: 1 Member
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    I just entered the conversation and I will tell you that you just take it one day at a time. I have to watch not only my calories but my sugar and sodium intake. I can only have less than 1200 mg per day. I've been watching what I eat for a year and stabilized my weight now I'm determined to lose it. It takes writing down everything eaten, monitoring numbers, pre-planned meals for work and checking menus before going out. I have a heart monitor watch that counts my steps and calories used. It's a good tool and it helps on days I'm not so busy. I try to reach 4000 steps a day. I weigh 291.6. My cardiologist recommended 2 lbs per week. It's doable.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Hey, I'm over 55. It's never too late to improve your health. I have high hopes for you.

    You can either scare yourself to death, or make modest changes towards a healthier lifestyle, giving yourself lots of pats on the back along the way.

    Food was the reward. You must replace the old rewards with new ones and "healthy someday" is just too far away for many of us hedonists. Eat well, and you will start feeling better. Nearly right away.

    The first ten pounds gone makes a huge difference in health. The first 10% gone even more so.
  • Rickster1967
    Rickster1967 Posts: 485 Member
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    lanceavante wrote: »
    thanks man. so appreciate it. i'll do that. it just seems when I have done that stuff before, it reads like my daily goal (based on my weight) is like 3200 calories. and i have heard i should eat for the weight I want. not sure..that is why here.

    nah your not gonna need 3200, that's a lot of food

    2300 would be an OK starting place. You could just set that as your goal, hit it bang on for say 6 weeks and then see how much you've lost. You can then tweak it. After a few months you'll be tweaking automatically.

    That's why logging everything is important. After 20 weeks you will have a load of data from which you can draw conclusions. You'll make observations like:

    'that month where I upped my protein and cut carbs I lost weight but was hungrier' or something. You can then decide what action to take (maybe in that case add a large green salad to fill your belly for just a few calories)
  • Slasher09
    Slasher09 Posts: 316 Member
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    My motivation has been long term health. I'm 29, mildly overweight and my numbers are suffering. I work in primary care as a nurse and trust me, at 50 a healthy person and an unhealthy person are still relatively similar, in about 4-5 years that is going to change. The older we get the more it shows. It's the difference between between the 65yr old patient on 15 medication with cardiac bybass grafts, diabetes issues, etc and being the 65yr old who only takes a multivitamin and is running after grandkids without complaint
  • the_prez3
    the_prez3 Posts: 58 Member
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    I’ll chime in with a couple suggestions. Changing your body composition is just like managing finances, it’s 80% behavior and only 20% knowledge. Yes take the time to educate yourself so your working as efficient as possible. But more importantly, always find a way to win in every situation. This can be as simple as sticking to a plan. For example, I have a problem with pizza, it’s my all time favorite food and the food I used to constantly overeat with. Whenever I’m going to be in a position where I’m going to be eating pizza, I always have a plan going in. So instead of ordering a medium and knocking it down in one sitting, I order a salad and small personal pizza. Even though I’m still pushing it on calories when you count in the salad dressing, I sacrifice this to walk out of there winning. Compliance to the plan is more important than eating a few extra calories. This is a long term mentality that pays off. It’s easy to stick to a plan when you’re in your element and normal routine but when you’re going to be in a situation where social eating could possibly be a trigger to bad habits, always have a plan to set yourself up to win, even if you have to allow yourself to eat a little bit more than normal. The long term goal and maintaining control is more important.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited December 2017
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    lanceavante wrote: »
    thanks man. so appreciate it. i'll do that. it just seems when I have done that stuff before, it reads like my daily goal (based on my weight) is like 3200 calories. and i have heard i should eat for the weight I want. not sure..that is why here.
    Your daily maintenance goal (based on your current weight) is around 3200 calories. It's not a bad idea to eat for the weight you want, but you want a lower weight, right? Maintenance for 200 pounds is around 2400 calories.
  • dejavuohlala
    dejavuohlala Posts: 1,821 Member
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    Don't use the word tommorow you need to do this today and everyday, tommorow may not come. You can do this, get some supportive people on MFP who you can check in with each day. Good luck
  • mbdean86
    mbdean86 Posts: 38 Member
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    If you can walk without too much pain, I would also suggest walking. If you feel uncomfortable walking outside (like I did and still do), try a Walking At Home program. Leslie Sansone is the one I've stuck with all this time. Accountability also comes into play in the grocery store.

    I suffer from food addiction...it got to be really bad about five years ago. It's lessened but it's still there. Here's how I see it now. Due to the fact that I like sweets and salty stuff so much, I limit how much is in the house. If I didn't bring it into the house, it won't become a mindless snack-fest.

    You could also put out some feelers for friends on here. I love mine, for the daily motivation. Feel free to add me if that's what you want to do.
  • gcibsthom
    gcibsthom Posts: 30,115 Member
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    Been there done that....I'm down 115 lbs in the last 2 years. Just remember, take it slow and easy, and it is not a diet....it is a lifestyle change. For that reason, I don't set weight loss goals. I play a little mental game. To me, goals means it is temporary. if you treat it as a temporary diet you will gain that weight right back. As you lose more weight, you can exercise more....The "goal", for me anyway, is a healthy lifestyle....
  • lancenuovo
    lancenuovo Posts: 517 Member
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    good for you man. that is exactly where i am at. such a long way to go.
  • lancenuovo
    lancenuovo Posts: 517 Member
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    it sounds like the key is right now, ignore macros; focus on 2100 to 2400 a day; try to get in some walking/exercising. my birthday is in 20 days. maybe i'll see where i get to, then
  • lancenuovo
    lancenuovo Posts: 517 Member
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    i have always been hesitant to track when I have had a bad day. that is the worst, right? maybe the tracking should be just that. an honest view of what I am eating and what it is doing to me. don't just wait to track on the good days. take a true honest sample of where I am and what i am putting in me. it is easy to say "i eat crappy". its another thing to say "i eat crappy and put away 4500 calories today"

    maybe that is the good place to start. get a true, quantitative sample of where I am
  • lancenuovo
    lancenuovo Posts: 517 Member
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    also, i am so new to this, I would like to respond to individual comments, but not sure how. if anyone has a suggestion, i can reach to them directly and i think I am going to start posting my numbers and what I find as i track. i hope that doesn't violate anything. i need accountability. maybe this group is it
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,945 Member
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    lanceavante wrote: »
    i have always been hesitant to track when I have had a bad day. that is the worst, right? maybe the tracking should be just that. an honest view of what I am eating and what it is doing to me. don't just wait to track on the good days. take a true honest sample of where I am and what i am putting in me. it is easy to say "i eat crappy". its another thing to say "i eat crappy and put away 4500 calories today"

    maybe that is the good place to start. get a true, quantitative sample of where I am

    Yes. Absolutely this. ^^

    I still track food. When I was losing I tracked food. Even on (especially on) those days when I went way over. I would make notes in the notes section on the bottom of the food diary. I found this to be so beneficial that I began journalling what exactly was going on in my head when I would over-eat. How I felt before it happened, how I felt after. What exactly I ate. Patterns do emerge and changes can then happen. :)

    It helps.

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