I need help with a Meal Plan!!

alisonmarie85

I am 29 years old... I haven't had any kids, yet my friends who have kids look better than I do... I know wahh wahhh wahhh. I don't eat the best, but I'm trying to eat better but that also doesn't seem to be working. My diary is open so feel free to take a peek. But don't judge the past weekend.. I was in Niagara at a bachelorette.
I am 5'7 and weigh 146lbs. I know I need to exercise more but even when I was exercising, I wasn't losing weight at all or toning up. My goal weight is 130lbs. MFP says I should be eating 1200cals a day......this seems like hardly anything to me but I try to get close to that one way or another.
If anyone has any tips or meal plans they can throw at me, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Lizzy622

Are you trying to lose 2 pounds a week with only 16 pounds to lose? Your body will fight you on that. Reset to one or better yet 1/2 a pound a week It will give your body the calories it needs and not be a big shock when you go to maintenance. As far as meal plans the Eating Well website has tons of them at different calorie levels and with different dietary restrictions (vegetarian, diabetic) and they are free. It is a great place to start.

alisonmarie85

Thanks Lizzy622. I'm going to try that website out and see what it has. I just adjusted to 1lb per week and it is still 1200 cals
Ay yi yi.

PaytraB

I entered your stats here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ , with a goal of TDEE-10%.
It gives you a calorie goal of 1579, set at sedetary.
1200 sounds much too low for a 5ft7" woman aiming to lose 1 lb/week. Maybe double check the numbers?

mjn18

I am literally in exactly the same boat 5'7 and 146. I'm also trying to get to 130-135 range, but mainly go down two sizes. I put it on half pound a week and have been getting back into exercising . After a week and a half I feel less jiggly and haven't been hungry on my non exercise days. Feel free to check out my diary.

alisonmarie85

Thanks Plexgut - the issue is I dont understand all of the "numbers"... I wish I did, but I don't. Not sure what TDEE even means

catcalledjinx

If you want to lose weight then you must eat/drink fewer calories than you burn in a day (or averaged over a week or whatever). If you want to get fit/toned then you need to exercise. Doing more exercise will not result in weight loss unless you have eaten/drunk less calories than you burned.

Everyone has a Resting Metabolic Rate - mine is about 1500 calories per day. That means that if I lay in bed all day long and did absolutely nothing I would burn about 1500 calories. So, if whilst lying there I ate 1500 cals, I would stay the same weight. If I ate 1400 cals, I would lose weight and if I ate 1600 cals, I would gain weight.

Looking at your diary, you seem to be eating fewer than 1200 calories per day, so if you were to compare that to your RMR, you have definitely lost a lot of weight (maybe it's hiding somewhere)! Or maybe you haven't been recording your calories accurately. It happens a lot and for lots of reasons. You might forget about the odd biscuit or sandwich or glass of wine. You might be relying on the MFP database which suffers from a lot of inaccuracies. But whatever it is, I can assure you that it is completely impossible for you to have been consuming 1200 cals or less every day for the last week and to NOT have lost weight.

Start again, weigh and measure and log all food and drinks, and doublecheck MFPs data for yourself - then I truly believe you will succeed. Lots of luck and here's to a happier, healthier life, cheers!

wertgirlfor

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide

This post really helped me understand how to set my calories better than MFP automatically does. BMR is how much you burn just existing, if you were to lie in bed all day doing nothing. TDEE is the amount of calories you burn daily existing and going about a normal day. This post explains it all better on how to use this information to lose weight.

Once I started following the TDEE method (I calculated my TDEE and subtracted 15% like the post suggests) weight started coming off regularly and at a healthy pace. I hope this helps.

PaytraB

Sorry, I should have explained.
TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (total calories burned for living and moving and all daily activities)
You should never go below your BMR, which is the number of calories your body requires just to live.

Your TDEE (no weight loss) is your maintenance calorie limit for the weight your at.
TDEE-10% is eating 10% under your TDEE. I'm not sure how much weight per week that equals but think it would be around 1 lb. You'd have to monitor it for a few weeks to see how your body is reacting.
I've heard that one shouldn't go below TDEE-20%, so I think that's the MFP equivalent of losing 2lbs/week.

Start slow and easy. I'm not sure how your getting 1200 calories per day on MFP when set to lose 1 lb/week. That sounds wrong somehow and much too low. The 1600 calories per day from the TDEE site sounds about right. Perhaps recheck the numbers on MFP?

TeaBea

Meal tips.......protein, fat and fiber are all filling.

Breakfast - I recommend starting off with some protein. So that's eggs, Greek Yogurt, cottage cheese, or higher protein cereal with milk. Special K original, Special K Protein, and Kashi Go Lean have good numbers. Whole fruit will get you fiber (juice not so much).

Lunch - I use veggies as fillers, most of my lunches have some sort of veggie side dish. Broth based soups are good. Sandwiches (low fat meat)....light on the cheese are versatile. You can use a wrap or whole wheat bread. Salads with grilled chicken breast are great....so many ways to change it up: Asian with mandarin oranges & snap peas, Mexican with salsa, cheese, and a baked tortilla shell broken into chips, harvest with apples, craisins, and gorgonzola, Ceasar with parm and croutons. Just measure your dressing before hand.

Add a piece of fruit if calories allow.

Dinner is usually just lean meat, veggies, and a starchy side...sweet potato, rice, pasta.