New here, some advice please?:)

mrosa91
mrosa91 Posts: 2
in Getting Started
Hello everyone!

I am an emotional eater. Pretty much addicted to food. I go up and down and my weight is never the same, I´m always either on a diet or eating without any control.

I started last week with myfitnesspal and I just want to ask for advise, as I know there are many people here that know a lot as they have lots of experience.

My situation is the following: I´m a 22 year old sedentary girl (sedentary and very calm). Just to have an idea, when I was a baby my parent were worried because I would not be able to sit still as my muscles were not strong enough, and I started walking late.
I am 164 pounds or 74 kilos. I am 5´4 or 163 cm. My max. weight has been 170 pounds and my lowest 139 (I was like 15 or 16 at that time). I have a pear shape body, so my legs and hips are very big, but my waist is small. Since I was 14 I´ve been on diets on and off, and I´ve had problems with food (emotional eating: I eat when I´m happy, when I´m sad, tired or bored).

Right now I´m over the emotional eating part and ready to stop having weight as an issue by knowing what I eat. (Even though I´ve always been overweight I´m very healthy: normal sugar, low cholesterol, no sodium issues... )

Just one more thing as a background: I just came to the states to study... I´m from Spain. I´m saying this just to note that my normal eating routine that I have always followed is a healthy mediterranean diet, but just eating too much for my height and activity level.

So, (sorry for the long story) I started by choosing 1000 calories per day. I´ve been under this in some diets that I´ve done before (followed by doctors), because I am really really a calm person and my basal metabolism is extremelly low. So, I didn´t feel good so I just went up to 1200, what my doctor recommended me. I feel very good with it, I´m not hungry, I have energy... I´m exercising like 3 times per week (the rest of the days just walk), adoun 1 hour of swimming or maybe eliptical/bike. This is my second week. First four days I lost 4 pounds/2 kg, but for now I´m not really going down. I know that it´s just my body going all crazy, because I can feel myself better, with more energy (for example, first day I could not do even one ab, now I´m doing around 20 stopping every 5)

So, what do you guys think?Should I give the 1200 calories a try? (I chose it because my doctor recommended it for me)

Btw, sorry for any mistake, english is not my first language (and I know it´s not an excuse...oh well, I´m really trying :) )

Thanks for reading!

Edit: I forgot the weight chart! It deserves a place here, it´s very pretty :D

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Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools

Replies

  • blisser99
    blisser99 Posts: 122 Member
    1200 calories is the lowest you should ever go. If you exercise you need to eat back those calories burned... so more than 1200 on days you exercise. If you are burning calories if is taking those calories from places it shouldn't. You should think of food as fuel for your body. Without the fuel you cannot function properly. Your body will start to go into starvation mode and hold on to fat so you don't get sick and die. Eating too little can cause you to gain weight. Stick with your calories of 1200. I am also 5'4", and anything around 150 pounds is healthy. Pear shape here as well. I know how difficult the hips can be. Just remember that slow and steady wins the race. Good luck.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    Unfortunately doctors unless Registered dieticans know very little about nutrition.

    In other words eat more than 1200 calories...set your goals in MFP and eat those calories. I eat 1700 a day on average and lose weight...

    First step log everything you eat after you have weighed it with a kitchen scale..

    Set a reasonable weight loss goal on MFP for you that would be 1lb a week...

    Eat at that level logging everything

    Watch the weight come off

    be patient weight loss is not linear...you may gain water weight then loose a bunch or even go weeks without weight loss then bam a woosh of weight loss

    If you want exercise, log those calories and eat some of them back.

    As for the emotional eating exercise seems to help me with that...instead of eating I exercise...deal with those issues without food and get them out of the way.

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