Introduce Yourself
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Welcome to the group. I’ve lost 100+ lbs am am working on the last 25. The best advice I can give you is to take your time and make small changes at first. That way you’ll develop habits you can sustain for life. This has to be a lifelong change not a temporary diet.
@Yoolypr Thank you! Congrats on your loss, that is impressive! I think you hit the nail on the head, I need to develop healthy habits that are sustainable for life. Yesterday I noticed how I think in terms of food, I have "diet food" and "regular food". I can't think like that anymore. Food is food, and I just need to have a constant calorie range I stick with.2 -
It’s pretty much a head game. Nothing is off limits as long as it’s in moderation and within your daily calories. Of course it’s better if you eat good nutritious food rather than squandering the calories on things not so good for you. I’m still working on the habits after three years.
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It is such a head game! I'm at the same spot as you Yoolypr. Lost 100 - need to lose another 25 - and the head is playing games all the time
But staying in touch with this group - and checking in to at least read and connect on some level everyday - even on the bad ones - keeps me in the game, even when I find myself sidelined. I think...lol...but that is part of the game! You never really know anything, just keep on trying and having faith.2 -
My best advice before understanding exactly what the numbers mean is to maybe just try to aim for your daily GOAL calories as defined by MFP and guided setup.
Not much more than them. Not much less than them.
For an individual with enough lbs available to lose, 1000 Cal deficits are probably fine in the beginning. After a few weeks I would double check to make sure that the speed of loss rate is not indicating either a much larger or a much smaller actual deficit... and adjust to keep real deficits somewhere close to not much more than the 25% of total daily energy expenditure rate range.
The numbers MFP uses are based on population averages. Some of us track to the population means and some of us don't. Also, learning how to log actually has a bit of a learning curve.
Being willing to make adjustments is a good thing... and a good attitude to adopt...2 -
Hello Everyone
New to FTP - Well 10 days in - And looking to settle in for the long haul!
My Details are:
45 Yrs Old Female
165cm height
SW 129.0 Kg
CW 126.1 Kg
GW#1 99 Kg
GW#2 80 Kg (Or Thereabouts)
Have set my KJ budget to lose somewhere between 0.5 Kg and 1.0 Kg - depending on how much exercise I add in.
So far doing well - have lost the initial water and pre-p weight and am now settling into what looks like my actual weight loss - average 100grams per day at present.
Have done the calorie budget before (maaaaaany years ago) and it worked very well for me back then, so this is more about getting back on that horse and making some meaningful improvements to my diet and exercise routines.3 -
Welcome! Hope you find this group helpful and supportive.3
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(drops by to wave hello!)2
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Hello @TheKookyKiwi, you've stumbled upon a great group, full of wise and wonderful people who will give you so much support!3
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TY for the responses team
I had a bit of a surprise weigh-in this morning. Wondering what you all make of it.
Been clocking in daily losses of about 100 - 300 grams the last several days. Had thought I'd found my "groove".
And exercise for me is low intensity walking - usually strutting about the farm checking on, or bringing in the herd, feeding animals etc.
Yesterday I logged about 50 minutes (normally 30 ish per walk) - so nothing outrageous
And my dinner plans fell through so had a breakfast option for dinner rather than the anticipated cafe eating.
This morning - clocked in a 1kg loss!! Like holy moly batman!
I'm fighting with myself this morning. There's a part of me that says woohoo! But then there's that part of me that says .. ok .. be reasonable now .. doing that too often isn't going to be healthy.
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Not sure if you've gone through "scale weight indoctrination"; but scale weight means *kittens*.
And if you've also got that strange affliction known as TOM (which I've been told affects a certain percentage of humanity a certain percentage of time )... your weight will fluctuate due to hormones on top of all the other reasons it fluctuates!
So.... check out trendweight.com (what I tend to use, though you could also use weighgrapher.com or research other options) no device is necessary. you can open a fitbit.com account for data entry without a device. Or check out happy scale on the iphone or libra on android.
And concentrate on your weight TREND over time.
Beyond that... well the first few weeks of weight loss are not necessarily indicative of caloric deficit size but once you get to 4-6 weeks or if things are going crazy fast or crazy slow a re-evaluation of expected vs actual weight loss and what it implies in terms of how much you're eating and moving may well be in order.
Just an initial hint... I would have a hard time conceiving of a person who is dealing with a farm who would not be in the MFP very active category unless they are logging their work separately. I mean I work at a computer and can hit the limits of very active by taking the dog out a couple of times a day (OK: maybe I am overstating things but if your health allows for 2.5 hours of moderate activity a day and you hit that mark... you're well within the caloric burn level indicated by the 1.8x (very active) activity level multiplier)2 -
Not sure if you've gone through "scale weight indoctrination"; but scale weight means *kittens*.
And if you've also got that strange affliction known as TOM ...
So.... check out trendweight.com (what I tend to use, though you could also use weighgrapher.com or research other options) no device is necessary. you can open a fitbit.com account for data entry without a device. Or check out happy scale on the iphone or libra on android.
Just an initial hint... I would have a hard time conceiving of a person who is dealing with a farm who would not be in the MFP very active category unless they are logging their work separately.)
Yess... TOM is an unwelcome guest on a fairly regular basis and does cause it's own issues grrrrr. I don't normally see wild weight swings when that's afoot but I will concede that with the new eating and exercising regime, the hormones are likely getting a wee adjustment to their attitude right now hehe - so I'll chalk that up as a likely contributor.
I shall confess .. This year I'm not actively working on the farm as much as I have in the past. My primary profession is actually as a chartered accountant (I have a home office / practice) so I currently spend a large proportion of the day literally sitting on my "kitten". Therefore I made my budget based on a typical sedentary office week and will log my farm work/exercise separately when I do it. Better that than overestimating my activity levels and over eating.
I use the farm work as my sanity time to be honest. After a gnarly few hours in the office it's actually a good mental exercise (as well as physical) to spend some time out in the fresh air and with the animals.
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Hello~!
While browsing the main forum, I found this group on a whim and debated about joining the group. Lurking is in my blood, yes. In the end, here I am! I'm a 5'2"(62in)/157.48cm female and currently 190.1lbs/86.23kg. I'm aiming for 110lbs/49.9kg because it's a nice number, and it was in the healthy BMI range for my height, supposedly.
I've mostly been trying to build up a habit of tracking everything I eat using MFP. Now that I've achieved it, to an extent, I'm working on actually losing the excess fat and eating nutritionally dense meals. But, for me, the most challenging part has always been figuring out what kind of progress to aim for every week while not starving myself. Finally, I found a macro calculator that calculates the weekly macros and calorie intake to get to the goal weight to avoid analysis paralysis.
That calculator says I'll probably reach my goal in about 33 weeks. I will probably go slower since I'm adjusting the macro ratios to see what makes me feel satiated while enjoying my food, as I've always done. So far, I've lost 2.1lbs/0.95kg, but I'm pretty sure it's just water weight. I have good feelings about this plan, though, since it doesn't seem like I'll be going under my BMR ever.
This is a lot more information than I thought I would be comfortable sharing. But, I look forward to hearing the wise wisdom many here have to share!3 -
Welcome @luxia2020, you've stumbled across a great group! Hopefully you'll find lots of inspiration, support and advice to help you reach your health, weight-loss and fitness goals and develop habits that will help you to sustain them. You've got off to a great start by tracking everything you eat - that's critical to success, in my opinion.
A few observations...
Firstly, the macro calculator's prediction that you'll lose 80lbs in 33 weeks is way off the mark. That's an insanely fast loss rate of 2.42lbs per week, which is simply unsustainable, not to mention extremely unhealthy. An 80lbs loss will take a minimum of 1-2 years. And as for being pleased that your plan will mean never going below your BMR - well, thank goodness for that! Your BMR is the calorie intake that you need to sustain life, to keep your organs working etc. You should be eating considerably more calories than your BMR - you ideally should aim to lose weight on the MOST amount of calories, not the LEAST amount of calories, so that your body isn't put under too much unnecessary stress.
Secondly, you've set yourself a very aggressive target of 49.9kg - why so low? For someone of your height, that's a BMI of 20.1, which is borderline underweight. Why not set yourself a goal of 60kg (a BMI of 24.2) and then reassess? That way you only need to lose 58lbs not 80lbs - which will still take you longer than a year, but is a much less daunting target.
I'm 2.5cm shorter than you, and my target is 60kg. I started at 96kg (so a target loss of 80lbs) and I've set myself a rough timeframe of 18-24 months to achieve it. Then, once I get to 60kg, I've set myself an indefinite timeframe (but definitely at least 12 months) to lose the final 3kg to take me to my ultimate goal weight of 57kg.
I don't want to rain on your parade, but if I were you I'd definitely set a more sensible time frame for reaching goal, and raise your target weight to something towards the higher end of the 'normal' BMI range.
Good luck and welcome to the group!2 -
Hello, Bella! Thank you for your warm welcome!Bella_Figura wrote: »Welcome @luxia2020, you've stumbled across a great group! Hopefully you'll find lots of inspiration, support and advice to help you reach your health, weight-loss and fitness goals and develop habits that will help you to sustain them. You've got off to a great start by tracking everything you eat - that's critical to success, in my opinion.
Thank you for taking the time to note down some concerns you have about this! I didn't think the numbers made sense at first, either! It was a little confusing to use the calculator. I had to double-check the usage instructions a few times before I settled with it. The instructions said to use an adjusted body weight (which was calculated to 145.35lbs/65.93kg for me) because apparently, fat/adipose tissue is metabolically less actively compared to lean tissue. It says professional dieticians use it to calculate a weight loss plan for patients, so I just rolled with it.Bella_Figura wrote: »A few observations...
Firstly, the macro calculator's prediction that you'll lose 80lbs in 33 weeks is way off the mark. That's an insanely fast loss rate of 2.42lbs per week, which is simply unsustainable, not to mention extremely unhealthy. An 80lbs loss will take a minimum of 1-2 years. And as for being pleased that your plan will mean never going below your BMR - well, thank goodness for that! Your BMR is the calorie intake that you need to sustain life, to keep your organs working etc. You should be eating considerably more calories than your BMR - you ideally should aim to lose weight on the MOST amount of calories, not the LEAST amount of calories, so that your body isn't put under too much unnecessary stress.
May you please explain what you mean by "ideally should aim to lose weight on the MOST amount of calories"? I'm a little confused by this line.
As for now, I'm going to keep rolling with it until I can read up some more. 110lbs/49.9kg is a cute nice-numbered goal I can "set once and forget," so to speak, so that I can focus on the process instead. My little way of tricking my head, so I stay on track!
I'm not worried if I don't make it within the calculated time frame since I'm probably going to go three to five times slower. I love food too much (hence my ongoing weight problem, hahaha!). Instead of changing it up every week, I'm probably going to change to the next "set" as I drop a milestone weight instead.
I do find it odd, you consider a BMI of 20.1 as borderline underweight as the BMI chart I was referring to says the healthy range was 18.5 to 25, which puts 21.75 at the exact middle. Maybe I'm missing something here? A score of 20.1 doesn't seem that far from 21.75. Though realistically speaking, I will probably settle in the 125-115lbs/56.7-52.2kg range as the end goal. It's probably still on the lower side from what I'm understanding, but again, I have to keep my brain on its toes (or nerves in this case?) somehow!Bella_Figura wrote: »Secondly, you've set yourself a very aggressive target of 49.9kg - why so low? For someone of your height, that's a BMI of 20.1, which is borderline underweight. Why not set yourself a goal of 60kg (a BMI of 24.2) and then reassess? That way you only need to lose 58lbs not 80lbs - which will still take you longer than a year, but is a much less daunting target.
I'm 2.5cm shorter than you, and my target is 60kg. I started at 96kg (so a target loss of 80lbs) and I've set myself a rough timeframe of 18-24 months to achieve it. Then, once I get to 60kg, I've set myself an indefinite timeframe (but definitely at least 12 months) to lose the final 3kg to take me to my ultimate goal weight of 57kg.
I don't want to rain on your parade, but if I were you I'd definitely set a more sensible time frame for reaching goal, and raise your target weight to something towards the higher end of the 'normal' BMI range.
Good luck and welcome to the group!
I'm already looking forward to seeing the responses to this reply!
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May you please explain what you mean by "ideally should aim to lose weight on the MOST amount of calories"? I'm a little confused by this line.
I just meant that the chances of success in any endeavour (but especially one as notoriously difficult as weight loss) are greater if you remove as many obstacles as possible and make the process as easy and unchallenging as you possibly can. So, if you can lose weight consistently on 1800 calories a day, without making life too difficult for yourself, why would you choose to restrict yourself to 1400 calories a day?
Yes, you'd lose faster on 1400 calories, but sometimes it's better to set a slower weight loss goal and actually enjoy the process.
If you stick around this group (which I hope you do) you'll see that I'm often being gently chided for losing too fast, and advised to slow down a little. It's good advice, that I follow poorly. I've increased my calories a few times to slow the loss rate, but it's still on the fast side (it's averaged 1.5lbs a week since March). In my defence, I'm not experiencing cravings, hunger, tiredness or lethargy and my skin/hair/nails are all strong, so perhaps my body can cope - for a while - with the aggressive deficit. But eventually the fast pace will take its toll. I took a 14 day deficit break in September and I have another planned for December and a third planned for March, which gives my body chance to recover and replenish its reserves.
There is a WEALTH of good advice in the old threads...and there are some wise and wonderful people in this group who will be generous with help, support and counsel. Wishing you all the best!3 -
Garfield!!! (I.e. @Bella_Figura who resembles Garfield free falling rapidly), I am impressed with your internalization of my arguments and by that beautifully good, in my opinion, plan for the last 3kg👍
Will try to say hi to @luxia2020 when I'm at a computer2 -
I started April 1st of this year I weighed in at 394 lbs. I knew I had to do something about because I was sick and tired of not having energy, I didn’t like the way I looked in my clothes and also I didn’t feel I was appealing to anyone for dating purposes. I feel that your why has to be strong enough to stick to something to make it a daily habit and you have to enjoy what your doing or your not gonna stick to it.
I started on my own but about mid June I was at 362 lbs. and felt like I needed more accountability, so I started looking for an online coach who I could get that from. I settled on a coach and I have to do weekly check ins and that makes me accountable to the point that I am paying a significant amount of money for the coaching so I should use it. Since that time I have dropped to 285.8 lbs with another 95 lbs to go and my long term goal is to be there at 12/31/22.
I have a job where I’m at a computer desk for 10 hours a day, my commute to and from work is roughly 2 hours a day, but I make the time to do meal preps and get my workouts in. I wake up and get a 20-30 minute cardio session before getting dressed for work and then get a walk in during my half hour lunch.
I know if I can be successful at it anyone can as well. I have tons of energy now my legs don’t ache with stiffness and I am off my blood pressure medication that I had been on since 2014.6 -
Welcome to the flock. We’re all in various stages of losing or maintaining. The group is very supportive. Look forward to your posts and successes 😍1
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msharrel75 wrote: »I started April 1st of this year I weighed in at 394 lbs. I knew I had to do something about because I was sick and tired of not having energy, I didn’t like the way I looked in my clothes and also I didn’t feel I was appealing to anyone for dating purposes. I feel that your why has to be strong enough to stick to something to make it a daily habit and you have to enjoy what your doing or your not gonna stick to it.
I started on my own but about mid June I was at 362 lbs. and felt like I needed more accountability, so I started looking for an online coach who I could get that from. I settled on a coach and I have to do weekly check ins and that makes me accountable to the point that I am paying a significant amount of money for the coaching so I should use it. Since that time I have dropped to 285.8 lbs with another 95 lbs to go and my long term goal is to be there at 12/31/22.
I have a job where I’m at a computer desk for 10 hours a day, my commute to and from work is roughly 2 hours a day, but I make the time to do meal preps and get my workouts in. I wake up and get a 20-30 minute cardio session before getting dressed for work and then get a walk in during my half hour lunch.
I know if I can be successful at it anyone can as well. I have tons of energy now my legs don’t ache with stiffness and I am off my blood pressure medication that I had been on since 2014.
Welcome! You're doing amazingly well - post often so that we can cheer you on and be inspired by your progress!3
