Morbidly obese... Do I need to eat more? LoL

Gran315

About 30 years ago a hospital doctor put me on a 600 calorie diet. At close to 300 lbs, you would think the weight would have dropped off in the first week or so. I stuck rigidly to the 600 cals (it was a killer!) so you can imagine how I felt when on going for my check up a month later to find all that I'd lost was four pounds.
Considering I had 5 kids, the youngest being seriously handicapped and I ran a small shop, some of you won't be surprised when I say I gave up. Interestingly, my GP told me on no account should I be eating less than 1000 cals.
Over the years, you name it, I've tried it, but failed at the lot, so now, after a friend told me about MFP and with today's better information on healthy eating, and managing portions etc, I'm making a last ditch attempt to make inroads into getting rid of some of the 300lbs that is still here.
Good luck BlueLinsang.

Blue801

First of all, I am just going to echo how important it is to be eating the *right* foods. I was EXACTLY where you are right now. As soon as I had made my mind up that I wasn't going to keep hurting myself and really watched what I was putting into my body, it started melting off. I've really noticed that when I have a week where I eat closer to my recommended caloric intake, it's a lot slower coming off. If I cut it back a bit, it makes a huge difference. That said, I can only suggest actually eating more. LOL By that I mean smaller portions and more often. And have a cut off time. I don't know how many people I've heard/read/seen saying that "it doesn't matter - your body isn't on a clock" and I wanna smack them. As much as possible, I make sure I'm eating dinner no later than 7 pm, and really try not to be snacking after 8. When I stick to it, I really see results.

Well then I guess you will have to smack me, lol cause I personally took a snack to bed every night and lost a few pounds in the process, OP I am in the camp of meal frequency will have no bearing whatsoever on weight loss as long as you are eating in a calorie deficit and hitting your macro's. On the original question I do not agree with running a large deficit just because you are obese. Faster isn't always better, I was off the charts at 560 lbs. and never once did we sit my weight loss goals any faster then losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week... I lost the vast majority of my weight eating over 3000 calories a day so I read stuff like these severe low calorie diets and just shake my head, if you make this a lifestyle change and just commit to it then what difference does it make if it takes you a little longer to get to your goal.? Atleast by taking it slow and steady by the time you reach your goals you will have established a plan that is sustainable for the long term and there would be no reason to worry about any relaspes in my opinion...... Best of Luck to you..........

If I were in your situation OP, this is the advice I would take.

See! This makes so much more sense than following the doctor's advice to just eat 500 cal a day. That's why I asked on here, to get this sort of good advice from someone who has actually been successful losing a large amount of weight and knows the reality of what works and what doesn't. Thanks.

DebbieLyn63

First of all, I am just going to echo how important it is to be eating the *right* foods. I was EXACTLY where you are right now. As soon as I had made my mind up that I wasn't going to keep hurting myself and really watched what I was putting into my body, it started melting off. I've really noticed that when I have a week where I eat closer to my recommended caloric intake, it's a lot slower coming off. If I cut it back a bit, it makes a huge difference. That said, I can only suggest actually eating more. LOL By that I mean smaller portions and more often. And have a cut off time. I don't know how many people I've heard/read/seen saying that "it doesn't matter - your body isn't on a clock" and I wanna smack them. As much as possible, I make sure I'm eating dinner no later than 7 pm, and really try not to be snacking after 8. When I stick to it, I really see results.

Well then I guess you will have to smack me, lol cause I personally took a snack to bed every night and lost a few pounds in the process, OP I am in the camp of meal frequency will have no bearing whatsoever on weight loss as long as you are eating in a calorie deficit and hitting your macro's. On the original question I do not agree with running a large deficit just because you are obese. Faster isn't always better, I was off the charts at 560 lbs. and never once did we sit my weight loss goals any faster then losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week... I lost the vast majority of my weight eating over 3000 calories a day so I read stuff like these severe low calorie diets and just shake my head, if you make this a lifestyle change and just commit to it then what difference does it make if it takes you a little longer to get to your goal.? Atleast by taking it slow and steady by the time you reach your goals you will have established a plan that is sustainable for the long term and there would be no reason to worry about any relaspes in my opinion...... Best of Luck to you..........

Ed, you have had some phenomenal weight loss and are respected by all on here, including myself. But I must point out that you lost 60 pounds in the first 3 months on here. That is 20 pounds per month, much more than 1-2 lbs per week. Of course you then slowed down to a more reasonable rate after then, but I think it just shows that those who have a lot to lose, can lose more quickly in the first few months, and that is certainly ok for them to do.

Calorie levels are different for different people, based on how many calories they were eating beforehand.

If someone was eating 3000 cals a day before, then dropped it to 1500 in the beginning, losing 3 lbs per week, then why would it be any different than someone who was eating 4500 cals before and dropped it to 3000 cals to lose 3 lbs per week? Or even 6000 cals to 3000 cals for a comparable 50% reduction, which would give them 6 pounds per week loss?

I am not saying someone should be eating 500 cals a day to lose, but 1500 for the average person is not an extreme diet, unless they are doing massive exercise along with it. If they are getting their nutrients in, and are not feeling hungry or weak, why would it be dangerous?

Surely it is all relative, right? How many calories do you think your were eating to sustain your heaviest weight?

ETA- OP, read your last comment, and definitely agree that you do NOT need to cut to 500 calories. Please don't think I am condoning that.

Iwishyouwell

Talk to your doctor. A bunch of strangers on the internet can't possibly have all of the relevant information that your medical professional does. Generally speaking we all have anecdata. I told my doctor about my efforts, showed her my mfp stats, settings, and recommendations and she gave me a bit of additional guidance. (Not much, unfortunately just a whole lot of "keep up what you're doing and come see me in 3 months" but I think it is important to not neglect the importance of medical guidance when undertaking major changes to your life and body).

Just a thought.

She did. Her doctor recommended a 500 calorie a day diet.

stealthq

I wish people would stop perpetuating such nonsense.

My sister was morbidly obese, had bariatric surgery, and is REQUIRED, by doctors, to eat well below her TDEE.

She, like most patients in this predicament, lost just fine on a severely calorie restricted program.

Doctors recommend these kinds of plans for obese patients all the time. When you're that size stripping away a ton of fat on a low calorie diet can be just fine for quite awhile.

Key point here is that doctors are involved. Under doctor supervision you can be more restricted - they are supposed to be checking to be certain you are getting all the nutrition you need and should be raising the calorie limit over time until you're back in an appropriate range where you don't need supervision anymore.

BTW - Did you mean to say TDEE? Or BMR? All of us losing weight are under our TDEE. An estimated 500 cals per lb lost per wk.

Eating under your BMR you can easily get into issues where you're not getting sufficient nutrition and are not fueling yourself with an adequate amount of energy to feel normal.

People who do this generally coast along for awhile (maybe weeks or even a couple of months) feeling fine and ignoring suggestions they eat a bit more for a slower but more sustainable loss, and then they suddenly hit the wall. They're tired and feel exhausted all the time and they aren't losing weight as fast as they were - some stall out. That's the point where many quit, feeling deprived, and tired, and frustrated. Meanwhile, the rest who listened continue losing without the ill effects AND they've gotten to eat more food along the way. Not feeling deprived == better adherence and a better chance of success.

stealthq

Talk to your doctor. A bunch of strangers on the internet can't possibly have all of the relevant information that your medical professional does. Generally speaking we all have anecdata. I told my doctor about my efforts, showed her my mfp stats, settings, and recommendations and she gave me a bit of additional guidance. (Not much, unfortunately just a whole lot of "keep up what you're doing and come see me in 3 months" but I think it is important to not neglect the importance of medical guidance when undertaking major changes to your life and body).

Just a thought.

*shrug*

Given that some of these strangers have PhDs and more experience researching and reading scientific papers than any practicing MD, I have to disagree. Of course, you'd have to find out who these people are to know whose posts should carry more weight. As a hint, these are the people who post references to sites like PubMed when they reference a study. And they expect that you will go there and verify the info posted for yourself.

Just as an aside, personal experience has taught me to never take what any doctor tells me at face value. They make mistakes like anyone else, and I've caught some making some real doozies. Remember, every doctor did not make an A in every class, and every doctor is not necessarily educated in whatever you're specifically asking. Don't assume yours is. Always double check. It never hurts, and sometimes it helps. A lot.

riverain

Yeah... My doctor told me to eat 500 calories a day to lose weight. I said "(:/!,$&?;;.??... Seriously? No."

She was not pleased. Didn't send me a Christmas card this past year either.
:sad:

LOL. The advice should be 'talk to a good doctor'. Or better yet, talk to a good nutritionist.

Regarding my first post about my friends that severely restricted and rebounded with extra weight, I don't even know what exact calorie they were each on, but it was enough that they constantly felt hungry and deprived and crabby and tired (I got to witness all the misery). I don't know what led each to gain more weight back after reaching their goal, but my guess is some combination of overindulging in the foods they missed and not having learned any healthy eating habits.

For me, losing weight slowly is best because when I deprive myself, I will eventually end up trying to make up for what I missed. This is definitely not true of everyone. My BF can go all day without eating and be perfectly fine the next day. He is also one of those evil lucky guys that can lose 10 lbs in a month just by cutting out sodas and doing 15 minutes of weights a day. (NOT FAIR!!!)

Everyone is different and everyone on the internet is convinced they are right.. probably because we are each right about what works for us personally. It sounds like you have a good idea of what works for you. You will know even better after a few weeks of keeping a food diary, you can go back and look for any trends.

And screw all the doom and gloom about 4 out of 5 people failing... Because all I hear is

SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THERE'S A CHANCE! YEAH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA (sorry, I don't know how to insert pics/videos)

riverain

And screw all the doom and gloom about 4 out of 5 people failing... Because all I hear is

SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THERE'S A CHANCE! YEAH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA (sorry, I don't know how to insert pics/videos)

PS 1 out of 5 people succeeds... 20% of us will reach our goal and keep it. That's a hell of a lot better odds than winning the lottery.

HappyBouncyJello

Hey, I'm new around here too.

I just wanted to chime in and say follow what MFP says to eat. I joined for the new year (at 285 pounds) and ate the 1550 calories it said to and did very little exercise... a month later *poof* 12 pounds gone!

Give it a try for a month. It's enough calories to get pizza in every once in a while, or chocolate!

Good luck!

brookielaw

OK, rephrasing...talk to a GOOD doctor that will give you advice that their respected/respectable peers and medical studies support. I do feel that it is worthwhile to get bloodwork done and educate yourself as much as possible about nutrition. It's also true that nobody is perfect and that some folks on here have the qualifications, education, and experience to give quite sound advise. I think it will be difficult to get a consensus on TDEE vs. 1200 vs. doing exactly as MFP assigns but I will say that if you find a reasonable, healthy, sustainable method and stick to it you'll see great results. I wish you the best, it IS doable.

Mr_Knight

There's a lot of VLCD referencing going on for a thread questioning a diet averaging over 1200 cal/day weekly. Are some folks thinking that because I'm so fat under 1500 counts as VLCD or something? Or are we just off on a "VLCD diets are evil" tangent?

That's exactly right. "Appropriate" weight loss is better calculated as a percentage of body weight than as a fixed number or range of numbers. The bigger the number, the lower you have to go qualify for "VLCD" status.

1.5% a week at 300 pounds is 4.5 pounds of weight loss a week. That is eminently doable, and completely safe as long as reasonable attention is paid to the nutrient content of the food being ingested.

CyberEd312

First of all, I am just going to echo how important it is to be eating the *right* foods. I was EXACTLY where you are right now. As soon as I had made my mind up that I wasn't going to keep hurting myself and really watched what I was putting into my body, it started melting off. I've really noticed that when I have a week where I eat closer to my recommended caloric intake, it's a lot slower coming off. If I cut it back a bit, it makes a huge difference. That said, I can only suggest actually eating more. LOL By that I mean smaller portions and more often. And have a cut off time. I don't know how many people I've heard/read/seen saying that "it doesn't matter - your body isn't on a clock" and I wanna smack them. As much as possible, I make sure I'm eating dinner no later than 7 pm, and really try not to be snacking after 8. When I stick to it, I really see results.

Well then I guess you will have to smack me, lol cause I personally took a snack to bed every night and lost a few pounds in the process, OP I am in the camp of meal frequency will have no bearing whatsoever on weight loss as long as you are eating in a calorie deficit and hitting your macro's. On the original question I do not agree with running a large deficit just because you are obese. Faster isn't always better, I was off the charts at 560 lbs. and never once did we sit my weight loss goals any faster then losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week... I lost the vast majority of my weight eating over 3000 calories a day so I read stuff like these severe low calorie diets and just shake my head, if you make this a lifestyle change and just commit to it then what difference does it make if it takes you a little longer to get to your goal.? Atleast by taking it slow and steady by the time you reach your goals you will have established a plan that is sustainable for the long term and there would be no reason to worry about any relaspes in my opinion...... Best of Luck to you..........

Ed, you have had some phenomenal weight loss and are respected by all on here, including myself. But I must point out that you lost 60 pounds in the first 3 months on here. That is 20 pounds per month, much more than 1-2 lbs per week. Of course you then slowed down to a more reasonable rate after then, but I think it just shows that those who have a lot to lose, can lose more quickly in the first few months, and that is certainly ok for them to do.

Calorie levels are different for different people, based on how many calories they were eating beforehand.

If someone was eating 3000 cals a day before, then dropped it to 1500 in the beginning, losing 3 lbs per week, then why would it be any different than someone who was eating 4500 cals before and dropped it to 3000 cals to lose 3 lbs per week? Or even 6000 cals to 3000 cals for a comparable 50% reduction, which would give them 6 pounds per week loss?

I am not saying someone should be eating 500 cals a day to lose, but 1500 for the average person is not an extreme diet, unless they are doing massive exercise along with it. If they are getting their nutrients in, and are not feeling hungry or weak, why would it be dangerous?

Surely it is all relative, right? How many calories do you think your were eating to sustain your heaviest weight?

ETA- OP, read your last comment, and definitely agree that you do NOT need to cut to 500 calories. Please don't think I am condoning that.

When I first started this journey I went from consuming over 10,000 calorie a day to a dietician regulated 2500 calories a day and the first week I lost 11 lbs. and the second week another 7 lbs. I was going every Friday for the first 3 months for weigh ins and calorie adjustments it took a good 12 weeks to get my calories up and my weigh loss slowed.. I went from sitting in a recliner for 2 years and sliding myself from the recliner to the bathroom and kitchen on a computer chair to going to the YMCA through the hospital and using water displacement to allow me to stand long enough to exercise... The first session I couldn't even do 5 minutes and they had to use the hoist chair to get me out of the water the first few weeks because I couldn't take back on the weight getting out on my own.. within that first 12 weeks we adjusted my caloric intake from 2500 to 3000 (adding 100 calories to my daily intake every 2 weeks roughly until my weigh loss slowed). There was lots of weeks where on paper from my logging, to what I was seeing on the scale made no sense.. I would be down 3 and the next week up 1 or down 2 and then no change the next, then another week down 5 or 6... I was weighing everything by the scale and measuring and logging and still do today 14 months into maintenance.

I have read the statistic and people that push 600 lbs. have less than a 5% chance of ever regaining control of their live but the one thing I always said was I will never be a statistic, I will be my own success story because I own the fact of what I did to myself and I knew the path back was my journey to take and mine alone, and I would decide whether I regained control of my life or died trying... No one was going to chuck me into a group and say the odds are against you from the get go, just wasn't happening.... My whole entire point was, in my own experience I just don't see the need for massively restrictive calorie diets to lose weight fast. When I started I felt deprived on 2500 calories the first few weeks it was huge adjustment coming from 10,000+ calories so I just could not see even under doctors supervision eating 600-800 calories a day and being able to sustain that for even a few days without failing... I personally do not see a problem with cutting your calories down to lose at a 2 lbs. a week weight lose but I do take issue to any suggestion of 600-800 calories a day unless you had bypass surgery and that is what your doctor has put you on.... Just my opinion...

Iwishyouwell

For me, losing weight slowly is best because when I deprive myself, I will eventually end up trying to make up for what I missed. This is definitely not true of everyone. My BF can go all day without eating and be perfectly fine the next day. He is also one of those evil lucky guys that can lose 10 lbs in a month just by cutting out sodas and doing 15 minutes of weights a day. (NOT FAIR!!!)

Yup, I'm like your boyfriend and you're just like my wife. Not eating isn't hard for me at all. But my wife, whew, it's the complete opposite.

And screw all the doom and gloom about 4 out of 5 people failing... Because all I hear is

SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THERE'S A CHANCE! YEAH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA (sorry, I don't know how to insert pics/videos)

Yes! That's exactly the kind of attitude that helps you NOT become a sad statistic. That's all I see too, for myself, the "1 out of 5" chance.

mamadon

First of all, I am just going to echo how important it is to be eating the *right* foods. I was EXACTLY where you are right now. As soon as I had made my mind up that I wasn't going to keep hurting myself and really watched what I was putting into my body, it started melting off. I've really noticed that when I have a week where I eat closer to my recommended caloric intake, it's a lot slower coming off. If I cut it back a bit, it makes a huge difference. That said, I can only suggest actually eating more. LOL By that I mean smaller portions and more often. And have a cut off time. I don't know how many people I've heard/read/seen saying that "it doesn't matter - your body isn't on a clock" and I wanna smack them. As much as possible, I make sure I'm eating dinner no later than 7 pm, and really try not to be snacking after 8. When I stick to it, I really see results.

Well then I guess you will have to smack me, lol cause I personally took a snack to bed every night and lost a few pounds in the process, OP I am in the camp of meal frequency will have no bearing whatsoever on weight loss as long as you are eating in a calorie deficit and hitting your macro's. On the original question I do not agree with running a large deficit just because you are obese. Faster isn't always better, I was off the charts at 560 lbs. and never once did we sit my weight loss goals any faster then losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week... I lost the vast majority of my weight eating over 3000 calories a day so I read stuff like these severe low calorie diets and just shake my head, if you make this a lifestyle change and just commit to it then what difference does it make if it takes you a little longer to get to your goal.? Atleast by taking it slow and steady by the time you reach your goals you will have established a plan that is sustainable for the long term and there would be no reason to worry about any relaspes in my opinion...... Best of Luck to you..........

I don't believe it matters on the least when you eat. I work 12 hours graveyard shifts. Half of my week I eat the my meals during the day, and the other half I eat my meals between five PM and four AM. It has never negatively effected my weight loss.

shor0814

I won't give you any eating advice but I will say that you should search out a new doctor that has proven results if your current doctor isn't already in that category. Don't be afraid to talk to more than one doctor and understand his/her philosophy. Once you find the right doctor then follow their advice and measure your results. Work with your doctor and communicate. If something isn't working or feeling right then talk some more.

On a minimum you should expect a nutrition assessment, lifestyle assessment, and blood work. This should be looked at as a whole and a plan created based on the results. Make certain that you understand the recommendations and plan, don't be afraid to ask questions.

Just my opinion to take or leave but your regular family doctor is not going to be your best choice, there are exceptions but they are just that, exceptions.