Newbie Question for the Group

oakster69

I am right at a month into my weight loss journey. I have lost right at 25 pounds this first month, but because I am so overweight, the pounds are coming off fairly easy. I am losing about a pound per day. I would like to lose 160 more, and gain some muscle back (so more fat loss with muscle gain). My question right now is that I set up MFP to lose 2 pounds per week. I think the calorie goal was 2600 plus some odd number. I was doing pretty well on fewer calories and I wanted an even number so I set my calorie goal at 2400 even. What I am seeing is that I am holding back to stay low calorie but by the evening meal, I am satisfied with hunger and usually have about 300 - 500 calories left. I have just been focusing on calories for the most part, I watch my macros but just generally and dont really plan to meet them. My lifestyle is pretty sedentary, which I am trying to change. I work 10+ hours a day in an office or driving, busy enough that it is hard to get active. I am also suffering from a sore achilles that is slowing down my return to being more active.

Finally to my question.... How important is it to reach my calorie goal, and closely match the macros? I assume that as I get more active, it will be more important? It seems that as I am just starting to get active, that lower calorie is better as long as I am over 1500 or so a day and not really hungry. Thoughts on this subject?

I am 6' 4" tall, 51 years old and started this journey at abut 436 pounds. After 1 month I am down to 408 and really looking forward to getting under 400.

AnnPT77

Are you under close medical supervision for nutritional adequacy, like regular blood tests among other things?

In general, fast weight loss creates health risk, and a lot of people around here define "fast" as anything in excess of 0.5%-1% of current body weight per week, on average. It's not unusual to lose faster in the first couple of weeks because of water retention shifts, and lower average digestive contents, so the 1% is sort of a suggested maximum to settle into. For people who are not very substantially overweight, the 0.5% is probably preferred, but you might be in the range where 1% is OK for a while. What does your doctor say about your loss rate, or what a sensible loss rate would be given your total medical history?

I'm a little concerned that you're getting a calorie goal, then cutting that back, then undereating it: That's sort of several layers of lowballing the estimate. I've never been in your circumstances, having started out just over the line into class 1 obese, so I admit I don't know a lot about it. I realize that the more extra weight we have, the more the weight itself creates health risk, so that risk trades off against risks from fast loss.

My personal experience with accidentally eating too little (because MFP underestimated my calorie needs, an unusual thing) was that I felt fine, not hungry, energetic . . . until I suddenly hit a wall, got weak and fatigued, took several weeks to get back to feeling normal even though I corrected quickly. That won't happen to everyone, but it can happen. I've seen others who started out too fast report that same "felt OK then suddenly not" effect.

One thing to consider is that muscle is slow to build, and when we're overweight we have more of it than same-height/activity thin people, just from moving our mass around every day. Hanging onto as much of it as possible can be a helpful idea. Managing loss rate, plus exercise choices, and nutrition (especially protein) have an effect on that.

If we're not starting out with a diagnosed nutritional deficiency, dialing in macros is something most of us can work at gradually, just tweaking our eating gradually in a positive direction by reviewing our food log, and making thoughtful food choices. For a man with fat reserves, protein is probably most important, then I might think getting plenty of veggies/fruits for micronutrients, fiber, and satiation.

Much of this, though, is really a better set of questions for your doctor, versus listening to random idjits like me on the internet, however well meaning. They know your whole medical history, can give you better advice about relative risks in your case.

Lietchi

I'd like to add one element regarding fast weight loss: it also increases the risk of gall stones. So that's definitely another thing to consider on the medical side of things.
More info: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/gallstones/dieting

westrich20940

Your calorie goal is a GOAL, not a limit. So I'd say that if you are consistently eating under that goal, that's going to end up leading to some problems. Sounds like you're making good progress --- great job! --- as you continue to lose, I'd suggest readjusting using MFP again (like you've lost 25lbs which is significant...you may want to do the guided set up over again about every 15lbs or so you lose to recalibrate your calorie goal. Might not change much but it will change).

I also had the experience like you that I would be under my calorie goal and simply not be hungry and not eat those calories...but ultimately that made it really difficult to either lose weight or feel good. So, even though it can kind of feel counterintuitive to eat more...it's true!

callsitlikeiseeit

When I joined MFP, I was almost 400 pounds. I am 5'1, and a woman. At the time, I was in my mid 30s. I am 43 now.

I am now quite literally, half that. I have lost over 190 pounds to date.

I did not lose all that weight by under eating.

The first several weeks of weight loss, you will lose more. A large part of that is water weight. As your body 'settles', that rate of weight loss slows down. That is normal. When you are heavier, you can also 'afford' to lose at a slightly higher rate than someone who has less to lose. and in some cases, UNDER MEDICAL SUPERVISION, it is encouraged. Doing so on your own, however, is NOT.

While it may SEEM like a good idea to eat less to lose faster, and you may FEEL fine (for now), the long term effects can have serious repercussions and in extreme cases, lasting damage, some that may not appear for YEARS.

You did not gain this weight quickly (in all likelihood). Statistics show, time and time again, that those who lose weight slower, and build habits that are sustainable for a lifetime, are far more likely to KEEP the weight off that they lose. Losing weight quickly is one thing, but KEEPING it off, is what the end game REALLY is all about. I know that I would rather take another 2 years to lose the last bit of weight I would like to (and in my case I am not asking to be 120 pounds again) than to lose it within the next 6 months and gain it back and MORE. I am in... no particular hurry.

Listen to Ann above. She always gives sound advice and knows what she is speaking about.

And OP - eat the calories that MFP TELLS you to. Learn how to weigh (on a food scale) your food properly. Learn how to find accurate database entries. Those are where MOST people new to MFP make mistakes. At your current weight, you can make mistakes and still lose. But there will come a time where you can not. Better to learn how to do things properly NOW, then have to re-learn how to do things LATER

kshama2001

oakster69 wrote: »

I am right at a month into my weight loss journey. I have lost right at 25 pounds this first month, but because I am so overweight, the pounds are coming off fairly easy. I am losing about a pound per day. I would like to lose 160 more, and gain some muscle back (so more fat loss with muscle gain). My question right now is that I set up MFP to lose 2 pounds per week. I think the calorie goal was 2600 plus some odd number. I was doing pretty well on fewer calories and I wanted an even number so I set my calorie goal at 2400 even. What I am seeing is that I am holding back to stay low calorie but by the evening meal, I am satisfied with hunger and usually have about 300 - 500 calories left. I have just been focusing on calories for the most part, I watch my macros but just generally and dont really plan to meet them. My lifestyle is pretty sedentary, which I am trying to change. I work 10+ hours a day in an office or driving, busy enough that it is hard to get active. I am also suffering from a sore achilles that is slowing down my return to being more active.

Finally to my question.... How important is it to reach my calorie goal, and closely match the macros? I assume that as I get more active, it will be more important? It seems that as I am just starting to get active, that lower calorie is better as long as I am over 1500 or so a day and not really hungry. Thoughts on this subject?

I am 6' 4" tall, 51 years old and started this journey at abut 436 pounds. After 1 month I am down to 408 and really looking forward to getting under 400.

I agree with the posters above me about stopping undereating, so I will comment on the sore achilles, as I am going to physical therapy later today for that myself.

What are you currently doing for it? I have pages of exercises and stretches I can scan in and post for you if you like, but you'd be better off getting your own PT I will let her know I probably went overboard with the stretches, specifically the calf raises, and now my heels hurt too

I'm pretty sure what hurt my achilles tendon was one-legged downward dog, so I don't do that anymore. Regular DD doesn't seem to hurt it, so I've continued with that. I spent several hours yesterday gardening, which didn't aggravate my tendon, but my hamstrings and knees are sorer than usual. (I have ongoing issues with these on my right leg but today the left was hurting as well.) They were worse when I first got up but are better now, several hours later and after more gardening (but not squatting, which is hard on my knees, or hinging over, which is hard on my hamstrings.)

I'm not doing any intentional walking, as the weather was not conducive earlier and now that it is cooler I have been busy with other things, but I have been getting 2-3 miles in just walking around my house, yard, and stores.

I never do any high impact exercise anyway, so am not trying to work back into that. Tons of stairs might bother me, but the normal amount of stairs I climb does not.

I've had problems with my hip, and am currently dealing with issues with my hamstring, knee, and achilles tendon, but as you can see I find ways to be active despite it. I'm aware that at your weight, exercise is more challenging, but I encourage you to start slow and find activities you can safely do and that you enjoy.

And in addition to fun activities, there are also activities where the satisfaction is in completing them. We are getting ready to sell our house, which is a real PITA, but it is so nice enjoying the super clean and decluttered house now that most of the work is done. The yard and gardens look especially nice as well.

Best wishes!

ljashley1952

I didn't use to pay much attention to macros, but I'm really working on maintaining a low-carb, protein-rich diet, so I have to pay attention. I know when I have oatmeal and a piece of fruit for breakfast that I am predominately eating carbs, so I make sure I don't go over the set goal and increase proteins for lunch or dinner to balance them out.

oakster69

westrich20940 wrote: »

Your calorie goal is a GOAL, not a limit. So I'd say that if you are consistently eating under that goal, that's going to end up leading to some problems. Sounds like you're making good progress --- great job! --- as you continue to lose, I'd suggest readjusting using MFP again (like you've lost 25lbs which is significant...you may want to do the guided set up over again about every 15lbs or so you lose to recalibrate your calorie goal. Might not change much but it will change).

I also had the experience like you that I would be under my calorie goal and simply not be hungry and not eat those calories...but ultimately that made it really difficult to either lose weight or feel good. So, even though it can kind of feel counterintuitive to eat more...it's true!

I did that this morning. My guided set up calorie goal was down to 2500 calories. Closer to where I am at now.

oakster69

kshama2001 wrote: »

oakster69 wrote: »

I am right at a month into my weight loss journey. I have lost right at 25 pounds this first month, but because I am so overweight, the pounds are coming off fairly easy. I am losing about a pound per day. I would like to lose 160 more, and gain some muscle back (so more fat loss with muscle gain). My question right now is that I set up MFP to lose 2 pounds per week. I think the calorie goal was 2600 plus some odd number. I was doing pretty well on fewer calories and I wanted an even number so I set my calorie goal at 2400 even. What I am seeing is that I am holding back to stay low calorie but by the evening meal, I am satisfied with hunger and usually have about 300 - 500 calories left. I have just been focusing on calories for the most part, I watch my macros but just generally and dont really plan to meet them. My lifestyle is pretty sedentary, which I am trying to change. I work 10+ hours a day in an office or driving, busy enough that it is hard to get active. I am also suffering from a sore achilles that is slowing down my return to being more active.

Finally to my question.... How important is it to reach my calorie goal, and closely match the macros? I assume that as I get more active, it will be more important? It seems that as I am just starting to get active, that lower calorie is better as long as I am over 1500 or so a day and not really hungry. Thoughts on this subject?

I am 6' 4" tall, 51 years old and started this journey at abut 436 pounds. After 1 month I am down to 408 and really looking forward to getting under 400.

I agree with the posters above me about stopping undereating, so I will comment on the sore achilles, as I am going to physical therapy later today for that myself.

What are you currently doing for it? I have pages of exercises and stretches I can scan in and post for you if you like, but you'd be better off getting your own PT I will let her know I probably went overboard with the stretches, specifically the calf raises, and now my heels hurt too

I'm pretty sure what hurt my achilles tendon was one-legged downward dog, so I don't do that anymore. Regular DD doesn't seem to hurt it, so I've continued with that. I spent several hours yesterday gardening, which didn't aggravate my tendon, but my hamstrings and knees are sorer than usual. (I have ongoing issues with these on my right leg but today the left was hurting as well.) They were worse when I first got up but are better now, several hours later and after more gardening (but not squatting, which is hard on my knees, or hinging over, which is hard on my hamstrings.)

I'm not doing any intentional walking, as the weather was not conducive earlier and now that it is cooler I have been busy with other things, but I have been getting 2-3 miles in just walking around my house, yard, and stores.

I never do any high impact exercise anyway, so am not trying to work back into that. Tons of stairs might bother me, but the normal amount of stairs I climb does not.

I've had problems with my hip, and am currently dealing with issues with my hamstring, knee, and achilles tendon, but as you can see I find ways to be active despite it. I'm aware that at your weight, exercise is more challenging, but I encourage you to start slow and find activities you can safely do and that you enjoy.

And in addition to fun activities, there are also activities where the satisfaction is in completing them. We are getting ready to sell our house, which is a real PITA, but it is so nice enjoying the super clean and decluttered house now that most of the work is done. The yard and gardens look especially nice as well.

Best wishes!

Read up on my achilles problem today and I think it may come from over striding. When I started walking I noticed that I was getting significant results in feeling better and breathing better so I was pushing to go faster and further. I am thinking that to go faster, I was increasing stride length and hitting one foot harder than the other. Sounds like it could take a while to get over it. I was just letting it rest for a few days until it stopped hurting but it came back fairly quickly. I am going to go for a longer break on walking and use ice and rest, possibly for a few weeks. Maybe start up using smaller more frequent walking episodes.

oakster69

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Are you under close medical supervision for nutritional adequacy, like regular blood tests among other things?

In general, fast weight loss creates health risk, and a lot of people around here define "fast" as anything in excess of 0.5%-1% of current body weight per week, on average. It's not unusual to lose faster in the first couple of weeks because of water retention shifts, and lower average digestive contents, so the 1% is sort of a suggested maximum to settle into. For people who are not very substantially overweight, the 0.5% is probably preferred, but you might be in the range where 1% is OK for a while. What does your doctor say about your loss rate, or what a sensible loss rate would be given your total medical history?

I'm a little concerned that you're getting a calorie goal, then cutting that back, then undereating it: That's sort of several layers of lowballing the estimate. I've never been in your circumstances, having started out just over the line into class 1 obese, so I admit I don't know a lot about it. I realize that the more extra weight we have, the more the weight itself creates health risk, so that risk trades off against risks from fast loss.

My personal experience with accidentally eating too little (because MFP underestimated my calorie needs, an unusual thing) was that I felt fine, not hungry, energetic . . . until I suddenly hit a wall, got weak and fatigued, took several weeks to get back to feeling normal even though I corrected quickly. That won't happen to everyone, but it can happen. I've seen others who started out too fast report that same "felt OK then suddenly not" effect.

One thing to consider is that muscle is slow to build, and when we're overweight we have more of it than same-height/activity thin people, just from moving our mass around every day. Hanging onto as much of it as possible can be a helpful idea. Managing loss rate, plus exercise choices, and nutrition (especially protein) have an effect on that.

If we're not starting out with a diagnosed nutritional deficiency, dialing in macros is something most of us can work at gradually, just tweaking our eating gradually in a positive direction by reviewing our food log, and making thoughtful food choices. For a man with fat reserves, protein is probably most important, then I might think getting plenty of veggies/fruits for micronutrients, fiber, and satiation.

Much of this, though, is really a better set of questions for your doctor, versus listening to random idjits like me on the internet, however well meaning. They know your whole medical history, can give you better advice about relative risks in your case.

Thank you for the input. My Dr. wants the weight off for blood pressure reasons. Of course he also wants it off right and in a manner that keeps it off. I am trying to do all of that, building good habits etc. I go back to see him again in 2 months. I dont want to sound like I am severely missing my calorie goal, I am coming in under by about 300 or so, which seemed like only a pound every two weeks compared to my 2 pound a week goal. The weight is coming off a little faster than that though but as several have mentioned there is likely water weight at first. I will try to do better job of getting closer to my calorie goal.