Best plan for me?

Big_Jerm6417

Hello, everyone I’m a 23 male I weigh 292 pounds and I’m 6’4. Just over 2 years ago I weighed 230 pounds. I’m seeking advice for the best weight loss plan for me. I recently started exercising again. In June I was 320 pounds and I’m slowly losing the weight but i struggle with healthy kitchen life. I’m currently on weight lifting restrictions from an almost fatal car accident. So I have to take things slow on the physical side of my weight loss journey. So currently I’m just looking for advice on portion control and food tracking along with what foods would be best for me to eat. For reference so far in my young adult I primarily eat chicken and some form of carbs. I really like carbs and they make up a large part of my old diet. Recently I’ve tried to cut back on them with a highly protein based diet with a macro spilt of 40% protein 35% fats 25% carbs. I mostly eat rice or bread for my carbs. I am also in a calorie deficit to maintain my current weight I would need to eat around 3000 calories and now I eat around 2400-2600 calories.Sorry in advance if this post is all over the place

cmriverside

So...you lost 28 pounds in three months?

What is your exact question? Is it just this:

So currently I’m just looking for advice on portion control and food tracking along with what foods would be best for me to eat.

Eat the foods you like in the portions that fit your goals (protein, carbs, fats, calories.) In the beginning I would often log food for the whole day first thing in the morning so I could know how to tweak portions that way. Obviously the more whole foods or minimally processed foods will make it easier and healthier.

Seems like you've hit all the high points :flowerforyou:

• Logging food
• Eating at a reasonable deficit
• Exercise as ability allows
• Realistic expectations

Just keep studying your food diary and figure out ways to get in some fresh whole fruits and vegetables. They contain important nutrients.

Keep it goin'

Retroguy2000

Define "weight lifting restrictions". Lifting is very useful to help maintain the muscle you have while you lose weight. This isn't to bypass anything your doc/physio has said, but maybe you're allowed to go light weight higher reps? Maybe there are alternative exercises? e.g. bench press, chest supported row and leg press can all work the chest, back and legs while keeping the spine stable and not being loaded. If the problem is a leg, there are plenty of upper body exercise options that maybe you can do, for example.

I would assume your TDEE is closer to 3,500 than 3,000, which fits with your weight loss progress and 2,500 calories in. You're making great progress. Things don't need to be perfect at this point. Just focus on foods that are filling, and keep avoiding or at least limiting the types of high calorie foods that don't do much for you, such as fast food, cookies, etc. Make healthy substitutions where possible, e.g. a plain or nearly plain baked potato instead of loaded, lower fat milk, low calorie salad/sandwich dressing, etc.

AnnPT77

Hello, and welcome!

I don't feel like your post is all over the place: I feel like you included a lot of helpful information that many people leave out when they ask questions.

Just for context: I don't believe in "good foods"/"bad foods" or even "diet foods". There are just foods, and they have varying nutrient composition. We combine them, and ideally the totals add up to reasonable nutrition at appropriate calories, averaged over a small number of days. If you love bread and rice, I'm not going to tell you to stop eating bread or rice.

Specific food choices can be a matter of taste. IMO, enjoying what we eat is part of a successful solution.

On the protein front, 40% of 2400 calories would be 240g of protein. That's not crazy high, but it may be a bit more than you need. I'm not necessarily saying you should change it, if it's manageable and you like what you're eating to get it . . . but you may have a little wiggle room. (There's a research-based protein guide and calculator here: https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/ . Somewhere in the guide, last I read it, they suggested that if substantially overweight, one can use a lower weight - like goal weight - in the calculator. Using your current weight, and saying fat loss is your goal, it says "Your optimal protein intake: at least 159 grams/day. Intakes of up to 319 grams per day may maximize improvements in body composition in individuals who perform regular exercise, based on limited evidence."

For protein, presumably your goal (at 35% fat/2400 calories) is around 93g. That seems reasonable to me, for a male.

I'd encourage you to fit some veggies and fruits into your goals as well, because micronutrients are also important, and taking supplements (like vitamin pills) is not as ideal as getting nutrients from food.

Recovery from injuries as well as fitness improvement depend on getting adequate calories and nutrition, even in context of weight loss - nutrition, maybe especially important if there's a calorie deficit.

If you're still in recovery from your accident, I'd encourage you not to cut calories deeply to pursue fast weight loss. I hope you've checked in with your medical team to make sure it's OK for you to be pursuing weight loss at this point. If so, the 500 calorie deficit doesn't seem crazy to me at your size in this situation. Remember that when you add exercise, you calorie needs go up accordingly.

I'm not saying that to tell you you must add those exercise calories (as MFP is designed for us to do, and as I choose to do myself). I'm implying that you'll want to watch your actual weight loss rate, and not let it get riskily fast, especially while rehabbing.

As far as a "diet plan", there are two extremes. I'd describe them loosely as "remodel your current eating in positive directions" and "precise layout of what to eat at every meal every day". (There are many points in between; I'm just laying out the extremes for you to think about where on that continuum between the two you might be happiest.)

Me, I'm an aging hippie hedonistic flake, basically, so I wasn't wanting anyone to tell me what to eat and when. I did the "remodel your eating" approach, which is described in more detail here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

That's a process, not a prescribed "diet". Doing that, I lost around 50 pounds, obese to healthy weight, and have been in the healthy weight range for over 8 years since, doing the same things (with a few more calories in maintenance).

At the other extreme, you can find prescribed eating plans in many plac stes. One of the most structured is this kind of site:

https://www.eatthismuch.com/

You pick an eating style, calorie level, number of meals/snacks, and it spits out an eating plan, complete with recipes. That part is free, no personal info need be provided. I'm told that if you sign up for a free account (which does require some identifying info), you can control the variables (like macro counts) in more detail.

I don't work for that site, didn't use it myself, don't get any compensation for linking it. It's just an example of the "very structured detailed eating plan" type of thing. I'm sure there are others, too. Ditto for the protein calculator site, except that I do use that site as a happy consumer, no other relationship.

Best wishes for success!