Various Beginner Problems/Questions - Help? :)

mirandametheny

Hello,

I just started using this website. I am 5'0'' and weigh 105 pounds. In high school I was the same height and was in the 90-pound range. When I have been in shape from living abroad and walking more, I was also in the 90-pound range. Now I just sit around all day, except for walking to class. I might sound whiny, but I want to fit back into my size 00 pants and I am not used to having any stomach at all. The other day, I could actually feel my stomach brush against my leg when I was putting on pants. It freaked me out. I also just wanted to learn more about the nutritional qualities of my diet. So, I set my goal at 96 pounds and said I wanted to lose a pound a week. But, the system only set me at 1,200 calories and said I would lose .5 pounds a week doing that. Now, I have the following problems:

1.) Why doesn't it let me try to lose a pound a week like I asked for?

2.) I have to hit my calorie target EXACTLY, or the program is mad at me. Either I'm over, or I get a message saying I am starving my body. What gives? Should I eat individual sesame seeds to hit exactly 1,200 calories?

3.) How can 1,400 be all the calories I burn naturally? I'm SHOCKED by how many calories most of the foods I eat are. Who knew plain rice and bread were so unhealthy?! I think, before I started monitoring it, I was probably eating at least 2,000 calories a day. We're talking two bagels with cream cheese or peanut butter for breakfast, a mid-morning snack of chocolate chip cookies, a bowl of clam chowder with a sleeve of town-house crackers for lunch (I used to go through two boxes of town house crackers a week), an afternoon snack of crackers, wine, and cheese, a dinner of deep fried sushi with spicy mayo and a study snack of popcorn with Reese's pieces. That would not have seemed abnormal for me. In high school, I was even worse - I would eat an entire box of frozen garlic bread (yes, I heated it first) when I got home from school, topped with cheddar cheese. I'm not joking. Why was I not a whale before? I'm so confused how I was never overweight at my size with that diet. Not only was I never overweight, but I looked like I was in shape. I never actually worked out (other than activities I enjoy like hillwalking when I have hills to walk on, which is rare) and I never watched what I ate. Last summer, in Arkansas on a 98-degree day, I sprinted up a tiny mountain (Pinnacle Mountain) and when the women I was with caught up to me, one of them, who is a marathon organizer, told me, "Wow, you are in incredible shape! How many marathons do you run a year??" I told her I've never run a marathon. Ever. Am I a freak? Do I jog in my sleep? I'm so confused.

4.) I'm so shocked how quickly I hit the 1,200 calorie limit every day. I LIVE on carbs and I feel like all I can eat now to be full is plain oatmeal. I usually go over, unless I work out. It's even harder to keep the limit when I feel like I should be losing more than .5 a week when I ate that much before and didn't gain or gained extremely slowly. It doesn't seem worth it to limit myself so much for .5 a week.

5.) How can you possibly get all the nutrients you need at 1,200 calories, or even at 1,400 or however many calories? I've noticed my vitamin C, calcium, and potassium intakes are really low. Vitamin C is an easy fix, I drink a glass of orange juice now (though I don't like it enough to be worth that many calories I could put towards bread...). But calcium and potassium? I look up foods high in those, and even when it says a food is "a great source of X," it's still like 15-35% of my daily value. I can't just eat 6 cups of greek yoghurt every day to get enough calcium!!! How do you manage this? Also, why haven't I fallen apart before now if I'm so far below the recommended amounts of all these nutrients?

6.) Finally, if this was going to be in any of your advice, I'm allergic to raw fruits and vegetables. It's called Oral Allergy Syndrome, it's real. Exception: Citrus, Leafy Greens and Tomatoes in Moderation (such as on a sandwich). Others make me itch or vomit. If I cook them, they're usually okay, but some need to be cooked quite thoroughly. Pasteurized juice, preserves, baked fruits, steamed vegetables, vegetable soups, all fine. Just please don't tell me to eat raw carrots to fill up. I literally can't. I steam them and then I use the broth to make soup or rice so those nutrients aren't wasted.

ashenriver

Let see if I can answer some of your questions, here is a good link as well that has a lot of information and explains a lot of terms used on MFP.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Hello,. But, the system only set me at 1,200 calories and said I would lose .5 pounds a week doing that. Now, I have the following problems:

1.) Why doesn't it let me try to lose a pound a week like I asked for?

1200 calories is the minimum that MFP will give you. Also with MFP you are supposed to eat your exercise back. That 1200 is if you are sitting doing nothing all day. It is recommended that people who are close to their goal weight should aim to lose 0.5lbs per week.

Check other online calculators to find your BMR and TDEE. These will give you a better idea on how many calories you need. Especially since you are on the shorter side.
You should not be eating under 1200 (depending on what your BMR says). It is ok to be over, just not by a lot.

2.) I have to hit my calorie target EXACTLY, or the program is mad at me. Either I'm over, or I get a message saying I am starving my body. What gives? Should I eat individual sesame seeds to hit exactly 1,200 calories?

You should not be eating under 1200 (depending on what your BMR says). It is ok to be over, just not by a lot.

3.) How can 1,400 be all the calories I burn naturally? I'm SHOCKED by how many calories most of the foods I eat are. Who knew plain rice and bread were so unhealthy?!

For weight loss there are no 'unhealthy' foods, just too many calories. For health you should eat a balanced diet taking into account personal allergies and intolerances and goals. Are you weighing your foods? or just measuring them? That can be a reason for not having the correct amount of calories.

4.) I'm so shocked how quickly I hit the 1,200 calorie limit every day. I LIVE on carbs and I feel like all I can eat now to be full is plain oatmeal. I usually go over, unless I work out. It's even harder to keep the limit when I feel like I should be losing more than .5 a week when I ate that much before and didn't gain or gained extremely slowly. It doesn't seem worth it to limit myself so much for .5 a week.


5.) How can you possibly get all the nutrients you need at 1,200 calories, or even at 1,400 or however many calories? I've noticed my vitamin C, calcium, and potassium intakes are really low. Vitamin C is an easy fix, I drink a glass of orange juice now (though I don't like it enough to be worth that many calories I could put towards bread...). But calcium and potassium? I look up foods high in those, and even when it says a food is "a great source of X," it's still like 15-35% of my daily value. I can't just eat 6 cups of greek yoghurt every day to get enough calcium!!! How do you manage this? Also, why haven't I fallen apart before now if I'm so far below the recommended amounts of all these nutrients?

6.) Finally, if this was going to be in any of your advice, I'm allergic to raw fruits and vegetables. It's called Oral Allergy Syndrome, it's real. Exception: Citrus, Leafy Greens and Tomatoes in Moderation (such as on a sandwich). Others make me itch or vomit. If I cook them, they're usually okay, but some need to be cooked quite thoroughly. Pasteurized juice, preserves, baked fruits, steamed vegetables, vegetable soups, all fine. Just please don't tell me to eat raw carrots to fill up. I literally can't. I steam them and then I use the broth to make soup or rice so those nutrients aren't wasted.

You may have to change how and what you eat to overcome this. I would recommend talking to a registered dietitian. And remember you are supposed to eat back at least 1/2 your exercise calories
A lot of items in the food database do not have all the nutrients listed since they are usually added by users.

Check out the link and good luck

faykis

I share the same condition like you and had same questions in my mind. I am 5'2'' and i hit 129.5 lbs last week. My tummy is so bulged that people often mistaken by asking me, are you pregnant!! I have a small body frame, every other part of my body is fine, just the face is puffy and the tummy is the centre where all fat has been stored...

we have a very unhealthy eating tradition , eating loads of rice as the main meal, thick curries and lots of unhealthy staffs. I knew we eat unhealthy but never realised how unhealthy they were unless i started calorie counting from last week. Our average meal exceeds 3000 cal per day. Now I found out my BMR is just above 1200 or something and total body energy requirement is just around 1500+ :"(

so now if i wanna loose weight, i have to create a deficit of 500 cals every day, it will make me loose 0.5 to 1 lbs a week.

faykis

Let me try to explain why we petit women have less calorie requirement for our body and why is it hard for us to loose any pound easily.

people with high BMI and those who are extremely obese, their total daily energy requirement increases according to their body weight. Think of someone with 5'2'' height and 220 lbs, because they have high body mass, they need more daily calories to keep their totals 220lbs body alive. so roughly their TDER is around 2500/ 3000 cals. so when they start deiting with 1500 cal diet a day with 1 hrs 500 cal exercise, they have a deficit of more than 2000 cal everyday. so they loose weight faster. if they stick to their diet and exercise, they probably loose 10- 20 lbs in 2 months....


but in our case, our body mass is too low, so we need less calories to keep our body alive. for me its just around 1550 or something a day. so if i restrict my diet to 1200 cals, i get only 300 cal deficit a day. which will make me loose 1 lb weight in 2/3 weeks or more weeks.

Just to add, 3500 cal deficit helps to loose 1 lbs weight. which is quit impossible for me....I am a medicine student and have a big exam coming up next month. I am stickting to books and ipad all the time. no time to exercise. so i dont see any hope to loose any weight in next few months. still eating 1200 cals a day compared to my previous diet of 3000cals a day (cut down eating steamed rice to 1 cup a day). hope it will bring some changes in my body...

mirandametheny

Thanks to both of you!!


Ashenriver, I really appreciate all of your information. It helped me to understand some things a lot better. I looked up my bmr on the myfitnesspal website, and I got this: Your estimated BMR is: 1,153 calories/day* BMRcalculator.com gave me Your BMR: 1131 Calories/Day. So I guess I can go an itsy bit over or under 1,200 without worrying. Also, the thing you said about nutritional information not being accurate on myfitnesspal makes sense. And yeah, I'm probably getting some things wrong because I just estimate what I've eaten in terms of the measurements. I think I can estimate cups, tablespoons, etc pretty well but when it comes to weights I have no idea.

I actually have called dietitians about my raw fruit/vegetable problem, and they said they weren't qualified as they weren't 'experts' about that. Very frustrating. I don't think it's rocket science for someone trained, just give me the best advice you can that doesn't involve raw fruits and vegetables. If they can't do that, they seem no better than walking/talking pamphlets to me.

I am trying to exercise more often, though I am very busy with graduate school and two jobs. When I do I eat all of it back. I feel almost like it's a game and I 'earn' extra points by working out. :P I find that if I work out for about an hour, and eat those extra calories, I feel pretty normal and good. Also I walk to work and classes, so everyday I can usually add that I did moderate walking for half an hour, which helps.



Faykis, we are in a very similar situation. Used to a very heavy diet, small, only the belly is a concern and unfortunately, don't have time to exercise much! I am a grad student and very busy, however, I have started working out twice and week and I think I'm going to bump it up to three. I go to the gym and walk as fast I can (15% incline, about 3.5 mph usually) while reading from my study books. I can also study on the bike and the stairmaster. Then I put the book down and run for a little while, then do some ab exercises. That way, I'm only away from the books for like half an hour. Anyway, it's nice to get to know someone similar.