Not eating enough calories!

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  • KerryITD
    KerryITD Posts: 94 Member
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    I have lost 8 lbs now in 3.5 weeks. I seem to be stuck there all week (gained a pound and then lost it), but I think that's ok for the time. I put my start weight in when I started MFP a few days ago, but I've been at this since 11/1 actually.

    Thanks for the advice and support!

    Losing 8 lbs in under 4 weeks is great, and means that whatever you're doing, it's working for you! Good job, and just hang in there--it all gets easier. :)

    Edited to add: I just read your profile, and if you've been diagnosed as pre-diabetic, you do need to work on balancing your carbs with protein (and fat and fiber, but protein is the biggie). Just make sure you eat some protein every time you have carbs and you'll do fine.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    Forget about watching sugar unless you have some issue with it like diabetes. Same with carbs. If you love carbs and can stay in budget eating them then go for it. This whole thing will be much easier if you don't try to completely change your whole life. It's all fun in the beginning but depriving yourself gets old after a while.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    I have lost 8 lbs now in 3.5 weeks. I seem to be stuck there all week (gained a pound and then lost it), but I think that's ok for the time. I put my start weight in when I started MFP a few days ago, but I've been at this since 11/1 actually.

    Thanks for the advice and support!

    You've lost eight pounds already? That's wonderful, and congratulations! So, my advice is to do whatever you were doing to lose that eight pounds as long as what you were doing was healthy (no very low calorie diet or other unhealthy stuff).MFP is just a logging tool that helps us stay conscious of what we are putting into our bodies.

    If I have a choice between MFP and the machine, where I put in my height and weight, I will choose the lower number and then go home and calculate according to what my heart rate was. Every single time the heart rate calculation is closer to the what the machine says and much lower than what MFP says.

    I would not use the Zumba site to calculate calories. Take your heart rate during zumba. Here is an article that tells you all about how to take your heart rate:

    http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/PhysicalActivity/Target-Heart-Rates_UCM_434341_Article.jsp

    The only difference is I don't take it on my wrist, I take it in my carotid artery on the left side of my neck. I was taught this years ago in aerobic classes. Even though I don't have one yet, you could get a heart rate monitor and take your heart rate that way and see how many calories you are burning. I've heard they can sometimes overestimate too.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Forget about watching sugar unless you have some issue with it like diabetes. Same with carbs. If you love carbs and can stay in budget eating them then go for it. This whole thing will be much easier if you don't try to completely change your whole life. It's all fun in the beginning but depriving yourself gets old after a while.

    I agree. You are making a lifestyle change not going on a diet.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    According to http://caloriesburnedhq.com/zumba-calories-burned/, I burned between 664 and 886 calories from an hour of Zumba. I put 600, not knowing. I would say I'm doing it medium intensity (my back sometimes prevents me from some of the twisting and jumping, so I walk some steps), but even low intensity is 664, according to this site.

    that's really high. It's probably closer to 2-300. I am a dancer- and I average about that for my training sessions.
    If you're serious about losing weight, it's worth the investment to get a heart rate monitor. It's the most accurate way to track calories burned during cardio.

    Gasp- whatever would we do without technology. while HRM are nice- they are not a requirement and it's a big stretch to say "if you're serious you should be buy one"

    You do not NEED a HRM to lose weight. Don't buy one if you dont' want one. I have a friend who was practically crippled when her's broke- she actually said "I don't want to work out what's the point if I can't log it!!!"

    god danmit woman- just do your best and ball park it. It's not rocket science.
    Take a pulse before
    Take your pulse after a long set.
    take a pulse after.

    It was advice. That is all. I only said it was worth the investment, and I think others with an HRM would agree.
  • bethannien
    bethannien Posts: 556 Member
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    Not to offend you/anyone else, but isn't eating too much the reason you are here in the first place? Surely getting enough shouldn't be that big of a deal?

    ^this!^
    I keep seeing the 'struggling to eat 1000 cal' statements trotted out, (wls people aside - this group I understand), but then I see their ticker and blatantly they are capable of eating.

    Eat properly now (i.e. not an unsustainably ridiculously large deficit) or risk a binge session later.

    I'm in the camp where, at the beginning, I had a hard time hitting my calorie goal. It's a pretty common problem for we fattie noobs with the embarrassing tickers. You go from eating lots of calorie dense foods to reasonable portion sizes of lower calorie foods. It takes some adjusting. I started adding avocado, nuts and nut butters, etc and now it's easy to reach my calorie goal. Speaking just for me, I got fat because I underestimated the calorie content of everything I ate. Just because I decided to lose weight doesn't mean I knew how to do everything perfectly from the start.
  • husseycd
    husseycd Posts: 814 Member
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    If you're a carb-lover, don't go on a low-carb diet! That's just punishing yourself unnecessarily. It's a good idea to make all or most of your grains whole. There's nothing inherently bad about carbs. Also, sugar-free products with artificial sweeteners will actually make you crave more sugar later, so I'd advise going with the real stuff, especially since you have the calories for it. For salad dressing, swap out the fat-free for olive oil and vinegar because healthy fats can help you absorb the nutrients in your salad, and you seem to be especially low on fats.

    IDK, I was a carb queen, but I cut most grain carbs from my diet and couldn't be happier. Carbs (in the form of bread, pasta, desserts, etc.) just make me want to eat more, make me tired, make me crave sweets...

    I didn't have a lot to lose (10lb), but I'm now thinner than I was in high school. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to maintain it if I went back to the carbs,and I've been maintaining for a while now. For one thing, half a bagel is about the same calories as my egg and two slices of bacon and waaaay less filling.

    Just food for thought.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Not to offend you/anyone else, but isn't eating too much the reason you are here in the first place? Surely getting enough shouldn't be that big of a deal?

    ^this!^
    I keep seeing the 'struggling to eat 1000 cal' statements trotted out, (wls people aside - this group I understand), but then I see their ticker and blatantly they are capable of eating.

    Eat properly now (i.e. not an unsustainably ridiculously large deficit) or risk a binge session later.

    I'm in the camp where, at the beginning, I had a hard time hitting my calorie goal. It's a pretty common problem for we fattie noobs with the embarrassing tickers. You go from eating lots of calorie dense foods to reasonable portion sizes of lower calorie foods. It takes some adjusting. I started adding avocado, nuts and nut butters, etc and now it's easy to reach my calorie goal. Speaking just for me, I got fat because I underestimated the calorie content of everything I ate. Just because I decided to lose weight doesn't mean I knew how to do everything perfectly from the start.

    Same here. And after a couple months I was able to eat everything in moderation (never thought I could!).

    Something else, if you don't want to bother with a heart rate monitor, you can switch to TDEE-20%... then no need to track every single workout. http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ is a good site for it.
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
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    I like carbs, and that's my problem area. I'm just rethinking everything I thought I knew about eating healthy.

    Replace carbs with more protein. Protein is more fulling and will be used to retain the muscle while you are exercising.
    You will need to eat some carbs. Get them from whole fresh fruits and vegatables and whole grains.
    As for exercise, I'm going on the calories burned statement on the machines I use.
    Unless you can input your age, sex, and weight into the machine, the machine will spit out the caloroes for a 30 year old man who weighs 180 lbs. If you can use a heart monitor, the calories burnt will be even more accurate.
    I haven't been logging in weight lifting, which I do every day also.
    I log weight lifting, but I extremely underestimate the calories burnt to be almost nothing. There is no real way without a heart monitor to measure how many calories you are really burning and even with a heart monitor, weight lifting doesn't sustain an increased heart rate long enough for them to be very useful anyway. You really don't burn that much calories from weights as one would think. Best to not even consider weight lifting to burn calories, but instead, weight lifting is used to preserve the muscle mass you have as you burn fat. Stick to cardio for burning calories.

    Also, no need to lift every day. You need a good schedule from a credible source. Your muscle groups need time to recover. There are different plans like full body one day rest 1 or 2 days, then full body again. Or, upper body, next day lower body abs, rest one day, back to upper body.... There are various weight lifting groups and forums on here that will give you best advise for weight training.

    And although I'm new here, I've been doing this for three and a half weeks and now I've lost 8 lbs. I put my current weight as my start weight, so it says "0 lbs lost", but it is really 8. I guess that's a good amount for three weeks?

    Most likely most of it will be water weight. It is easier the first couple of weeks or so to see a drop on the scale. But as you progress, results like 1 or 2 lbs a week are normal. Even .5 pounds for a week can be expected and should be celebrated.
    Thanks!

    Welcome
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    Hi there,

    Well, it's my third day on this site, and I'm totally not eating enough calories. Today, I had a net of -45 calories! And I felt full and feel like I ate a lot! I kind of had a stomach ache at dinner and was in a no meat mood. I made a big salad. I meant to put cheese on it, but I forgot. I also thought to put hard-boiled eggs on it but was lazy about washing out the pot! Anyway, I can't believe I'm struggling to eat enough calories! I'm not usually a big eater at all; I've always been heavy but never was one to eat as much as my thin / adopted sister or others I know.

    Anyway, what can you suggest for me to up my calories? Should I work out less? I forgot tonight was Zumba and went to the gym. So, I ended up doing both. I burned like 1600 calories working out, I think. I still have no idea how to estimate the calories burned in an hour-long Zumba class. What do you think?

    Thanks all for amazing support! I'm so glad I found this site! It's very enlightening and encouraging...

    Jen :)

    You didn't burn 1600 calories for an hour of zumba I assure you....it's pretty hard to sustain a level of effort of more than 10 calories per minute...a few more if you're overweight...but really sustaining anything much over 10 calories per minute for any length of time is pretty hard to do and is a solid workout.

    Also, I'd suggest getting your diet sorted out first and then exercise. If you can't fuel your body properly you probably should be doing all kinds of training that requires fuel.
  • mmgavitt
    mmgavitt Posts: 82 Member
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    I would suggest trying to pair fruit/veggies with protein for a snack. It's something that is focused on in the weight watchers system too. It bulks up your snacks but it's healthy.
    examples:
    Grapes and cheese
    Hummus and Carrots
    Cheese stick and an apple
    I'm horrible at doing this myself, but when I do it does seem to help
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
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    Also, I read you are diagnosed as a prediabetic.

    Exercise will be important to you. You will need to eat some sugar in the form of fresh fruits and vegatables. 3 or 4 servings is enough for a healthy person. I am not diabetic, so take my advise with a grain of salt and verify with a doctor or nutritionist with experience in diabetes. But intense exercise will burn all the sugar in your blood. Eating a piece of fruit like 45 minutes before exercise will temporaily put a spike in your blood sugar but will be immediately burned completely if you work out at a high intensity for at least 20-30 minutes.

    Plus I think someone said having fruit with a protein helps. I heard this as well. Again, I am not diabetic, so i don't know all the do's and don'ts for sugar intake and diabetes. Again, many forums and groups on here that can give you better advise.
  • RLW0930
    RLW0930 Posts: 32 Member
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    There is a great recipe for lettuce wraps in the "Eating for Life" cookbook...


    4 fresh shiitake mushrooms
    7 stalks napa cabbage
    1 lb. lean ground turkey
    1/2 onion, chopped
    2 TBSP hoisin sauce
    1TBSP lite soy sauce
    1/4 tsp five-spice powder
    1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, drained
    12 large leaves iceberg lettuce

    1 - Remove and discard stems from shiitake mushrooms, then chop the mushroom caps. Chop napa cabbage keeping leaves and stem separate.

    2 - Lightly coat wok or skillet with cooking spray and place over medium high heat. Add turkey and stir fry until no longer pink, about 3-4 minutes. Remove turkey from wok and set aside.

    3 - Lightly recoat the wok with cooking spray and add chopped cabbage stems and onions, stir fry until tender - about 2 minutes.

    4 - Stir in hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and five-spice powder. Add cabbage leaves, mushrooms and water chestnuts; stir fry for about one minute. Add cooked turkey back into the wok and stir fry until well combined and heated through, about 2 more minutes.

    5 - place 3 lettuce leaves on each of 4 plates and divide the stir fry mixture into 4 portions, dividing each portion into thirds and spoon into leattuce leave.

    Makes 4 servings
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
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    I log weight lifting, but I extremely underestimate the calories burnt to be almost nothing. There is no real way without a heart monitor to measure how many calories you are really burning and even with a heart monitor, weight lifting doesn't sustain an increased heart rate long enough for them to be very useful anyway. You really don't burn that much calories from weights as one would think. Best to not even consider weight lifting to burn calories, but instead, weight lifting is used to preserve the muscle mass you have as you burn fat. Stick to cardio for burning calories.

    It's not as trivial as you may think. Wearing a heart rate monitor last night doing legs, I burned 441 in just over 50 minutes. Not spectacular (and that's fine, since I wasn't there for a calorie burn in the first place), but not trivial either. There are many times I'm there for more than 50 minutes too, but it was late last night and I had to get home.

    The biggest thing about MFP's estimations though is they aren't accurate for everyone. If you weigh 350 lbs, they probably are close to accurate. If you weigh 200 lbs, they are likely overestimating your burn by quite a bit. They also have no way of accounting for your intensity during the workout, and this can vary dramatically. If you're really overweight and have average intensity, they're probably right on the money though. :-P
  • jensiegel39
    jensiegel39 Posts: 163 Member
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    I got a heart rate monitor / calorie burner, but stupid me didn't read the directions. I just went to the gym and spent an hour on the arc trainer (and increased my resistance - my heart rate was in the right range and my legs didn't hurt - is this what they call progress?!?!?), and the monitor said half of what the machine did. I went to take it back and they said I didn't calibrate it. I felt like an idiot. I didn't think about that. The people at the gym said the machines are very accurate, but tomorrow, when I read the instructions and everything (duh!), I will just see about that. I hope so. The machine said I burned 560 calories today! Yay!

    Also, I did a lot better with my macros today than yesterday. The apple and peanut butter thing was great and really really helped. I think I will have that if I'm low. I also spent time today finding easy recipes online and copying them down (printer not working) and trying to prepare myself especially when I return to work to have easy things to make.

    Thanks to you all for all the information! I'm learning so much in just a few short days!

    And I lost my stupid pound I've been struggling with all week!

    It's a good day... And Arrow is on tonight. That guy is so amazingly beautiful. Anyone watch Arrow on the CW? It's an awesome show!

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