eating 1800 calories really??

deathtaco

I have to force myself to STAY at 1800. I can easily eat 4k calories if I let myself...and that's of healthy foods lol.

chrisdavey

agree with seansquared.

Eat more than 6-10 almonds at a time! 23 almonds per oz. Eat 46 and there is 330 cals right there (I don't know how you could only eat that many! :P)

Remember you need to fuel your body for workouts.

Myssrenee

Would it be safe to manually lower the amount of calories for the daily goal?

jeepzilla

Two things from checking out your profile and diary:

1) You put on the weight somehow, right? Unless you're very short, I'd say from your pics that you're what, 250? It takes roughly 2500 calories, consistently, to be that size. I know, I was over 250 for a while. My point is that no way in hell is 1800 calories too much to eat. You've been eating that much or more for a while, so don't tell yourself you can't do it - tell yourself it's a joke, it's actually way less than you're used to, and you absolutely CAN do this.

2) Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too little protein in your diet and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many carbs. You aren't an athlete, you don't need 50% of your calories from carbohydrates. I'm guessing you used the MFP default which is fine, and you're down 30lbs so it's obviously working - as caloric deficit does - but it would work way better if you got the protein and fat up and dropped the carbs. Maybe 40/30/30 in some mix.

Some other thoughts:
* Fat is not the enemy! Unsaturated fats are good for you!
* Protein is not the enemy either. At a protein deficit, your body can and will go after existing muscle tissue for its daily protein needs meaning you will actually get weaker over time.
* Since you brought up milk: milk is spectacular for both weight loss and weight gain due to the mixture of macronutrients and rapid (liquid) delivery system.

Im 5'9" right now I weight 195.0 I started at 225.5 .. I do try to eat a lot of protein that is one of the reasons for the meal replacement shakes they were full of protein... I am right now in my second phase of p90x and I run 2-4 miles on my cardio days...

jeepzilla

I'll send you all the egg yolks I keep throwing out after I use the whites!

lol I hate egs... I guess I'll have to try and eat them ugh...

jeepzilla

Two things from checking out your profile and diary:

1) You put on the weight somehow, right? Unless you're very short, I'd say from your pics that you're what, 250? It takes roughly 2500 calories, consistently, to be that size. I know, I was over 250 for a while. My point is that no way in hell is 1800 calories too much to eat. You've been eating that much or more for a while, so don't tell yourself you can't do it - tell yourself it's a joke, it's actually way less than you're used to, and you absolutely CAN do this.

I don't think that this is a necessarily fair assessment. Often times the problem is WHAT you are eating, not necessarily HOW MUCH.

False. It is always "how much"; 2500 calories is more than 1800 calories, junk food or not. I wasn't trying to be mean or "unfair", I was saying to the guy "hey, guy, obviously this ain't a problem because you gained weight." I didn't say that to be mean, I said it because I've been there. I used to think "wow, 2,000 calories is so hard to get, how did I get this big?!" The truth is I was fooling myself. After a few months it becomes easy as pie to watch your intake.

If you decide to go healthy, and you're eating healthier foods in the same quantities as before, you may NOT be able to figure out how to make the 1800 calories. Junk food jacks up the calories really fast....

You could eat 1800 calories of junk food and still lose weight if your body requires 2500 calories per day to maintain. People advocate for whole, clean foods because they are healthy all around, not because they have more or less calories than junk food does.

See that's were i'm at I want to continue to lose weight and also learn to eat healthy I dont want to get to my weight then keep eating crap that will blow me up again although I though I was eating pretty good no junk food ... I think I need to sit down and make me a two to three week meal plan. with lots of veggies,fruit,chicken,tuna,and anything that I can eat the will aid my weight loss and be good to eat..

deathtaco

Take caloric intake - 500-750 for caloric deficit.

1g/lb Bodyweight = Protein intake
50-70g = Fat intake
Fill rest in for carbs

BAM. Weight loss and healthy eating.

chrisdavey

Take caloric intake - 500-750 for caloric deficit.

1g/lb Bodyweight = Protein intake
50-70g = Fat intake
Fill rest in for carbs

BAM. Weight loss and healthy eating.

I prefer to put fat at 30% rather than specific grams but yes otherwise agree with those macros.

Thing is, you can still obviously pick a lot of unhealthy choices to make up those macros (although the limit on fat does help).

SoCalSwimmerDude

Lots of good suggestions, but I have 3 words for you that I live by: MEXICAN FIESTA NIGHT!!!!

If you have 1 stuffed burrito (or 2!) just think of the possibilities... but this is my own personal mexican fiesta that takes me forever to make from scratch, but its a good one. Homemade salsa/pico, homemade guacamole (load this on there for all that is good and holy within avacado land), black beans, and seasoned chicken. I usually saute some minced spinach w/ the meat to get even more iron. The ONLY slightly negative in there is the tortilla. Just think about all of the GOOD calories that are in that thing. For a full (big) meal, add a side of black beans and healthy rice of choice.

I wish every night were mexican fiesta night.

deathtaco

I prefer to put fat at 30% rather than specific grams but yes otherwise agree with those macros.

Thing is, you can still obviously pick a lot of unhealthy choices to make up those macros (although the limit on fat does help).

Yeah. 50-70g is generally 20-30% for most people. The great thing about macro/calorie watching is that you can "cheat" without cheating. You can fit a poptart with nutella, or a bowl of sugar free ice cream or something like that every now and then, and you don't even feel guilty.

I mean, I understand Paleo and "healthy" eating. But in the end, there's plenty of things in this world that contribute to weight gain; if having some ice cream makes me overall keep a better diet, damn well better believe I'm gettin' me some ice cream!!!!!!

myofibril

Yeah. 50-70g is generally 20-30% for most people. The great thing about macro/calorie watching is that you can "cheat" without cheating. You can fit a poptart with nutella, or a bowl of sugar free ice cream or something like that every now and then, and you don't even feel guilty.

I mean, I understand Paleo and "healthy" eating. But in the end, there's plenty of things in this world that contribute to weight gain; if having some ice cream makes me overall keep a better diet, damn well better believe I'm gettin' me some ice cream!!!!!!

myofibril

Im 5'9" right now I weight 195.0 I started at 225.5 .. I do try to eat a lot of protein that is one of the reasons for the meal replacement shakes they were full of protein... I am right now in my second phase of p90x and I run 2-4 miles on my cardio days...

If those are your stats then I think a good starting point will be about 2000, so in reality not far from where you are now.

I don't think you need to do too much other than what you are doing really. You definitely seem to be heading in the right direction. I'm not surprised that you are finding difficulty getting to the 1,800 mark though now your diet is improving, especially if you are ramping up the protein levels and eating more fibrous veg / fruit given their higher satiety levels. In addition, your metabolism is probably a bit wonky if your diet hasn't been the greatest in the past.

Personally, given your high exercise frequency there is a possibility that you may overreach (which is the beginning of overtraining.) Watch your strength levels and how you feel generally. If you feel like crap I would par down the cardio a little.

Your goal is fat loss and muscle preservation (and hopefully a little growth) I presume. That involves work smarter and more efficiently, not necessarily harder. Recovery capacity is just as important as training capacity.

Good luck dude.

thkelly

First thing I saw that I would get rid of... meal replacement shakes. You need real food. Supplements should be just that, supplemental.

his shakes are fine. maybe he's busy at lunch. people sometimes don't have time to eat food at every meal

Jeep
you seem to be doing pretty well to me. you're eating a lot of the same foods so you're obviously eating things you like. you've also found a way to treat yourself to a burger or wings the odd time, but you kept it in moderation which is good.

you could try to up your protein a bit. boneless skinless chicken breast, tuna, or even some whey protein powder might help

good luck!

jeepzilla

Im 5'9" right now I weight 195.0 I started at 225.5 .. I do try to eat a lot of protein that is one of the reasons for the meal replacement shakes they were full of protein... I am right now in my second phase of p90x and I run 2-4 miles on my cardio days...

If those are your stats then I think a good starting point will be about 2000, so in reality not far from where you are now.

I don't think you need to do too much other than what you are doing really. You definitely seem to be heading in the right direction. I'm not surprised that you are finding difficulty getting to the 1,800 mark though now your diet is improving, especially if you are ramping up the protein levels and eating more fibrous veg / fruit given their higher satiety levels. In addition, your metabolism is probably a bit wonky if your diet hasn't been the greatest in the past.

Personally, given your high exercise frequency there is a possibility that you may overreach (which is the beginning of overtraining.) Watch your strength levels and how you feel generally. If you feel like crap I would par down the cardio a little.

Your goal is fat loss and muscle preservation (and hopefully a little growth) I presume. That involves work smarter and more efficiently, not necessarily harder. Recovery capacity is just as important as training capacity.

Good luck dude.

yes pretty much on key I want to get rid of this fat and then add muscle.

jeepzilla

First thing I saw that I would get rid of... meal replacement shakes. You need real food. Supplements should be just that, supplemental.

his shakes are fine. maybe he's busy at lunch. people sometimes don't have time to eat food at every meal

Jeep
you seem to be doing pretty well to me. you're eating a lot of the same foods so you're obviously eating things you like. you've also found a way to treat yourself to a burger or wings the odd time, but you kept it in moderation which is good.

you could try to up your protein a bit. boneless skinless chicken breast, tuna, or even some whey protein powder might help

good luck!

the burger was after a late day I coach my sons baseball team and its hard to eat everything right at the moment..
the wings I eat was I just hit the 30lbs loss mark and wanted to celebrate plus it was my birthday so I got a double whammy..

jeepzilla

Lots of good suggestions, but I have 3 words for you that I live by: MEXICAN FIESTA NIGHT!!!!

If you have 1 stuffed burrito (or 2!) just think of the possibilities... but this is my own personal mexican fiesta that takes me forever to make from scratch, but its a good one. Homemade salsa/pico, homemade guacamole (load this on there for all that is good and holy within avacado land), black beans, and seasoned chicken. I usually saute some minced spinach w/ the meat to get even more iron. The ONLY slightly negative in there is the tortilla. Just think about all of the GOOD calories that are in that thing. For a full (big) meal, add a side of black beans and healthy rice of choice.

I wish every night were mexican fiesta night.

I love Mexican food stuff poblano pepper with chicken is tha bomb!!!!

rileysowner

As stated above there are a whole host of things that are healthy and will get you to those calories. I have no problem getting there myself. My problem is not eating too much.

stormieweather

Man, I have NO problems eating 2000 calories a day. More if I'm not careful. Add a couple oz's to my chicken serving (+100), a handful of almonds (+160), use olive oil (+120), some reduced fat or full fat cheese instead of fat free (+100), a hard boiled egg added to breakfast (+70), 5.3 oz yogurt instead of 4 oz (+30). That's nearly 600 calories right there and I've barely added any bulk to my diet.. Now, if I include pasta or rice and maybe some ice cream, I can jack that up to 2500 in the blink of an eye.

rileysowner

This might help understand why even if your body does not seem hungry you might want to ignore it

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma?page=2#posts-3146047

seansquared

Man, I have NO problems eating 2000 calories a day. More if I'm not careful. Add a couple oz's to my chicken serving (+100), a handful of almonds (+160), use olive oil (+120), some reduced fat or full fat cheese instead of fat free (+100), a hard boiled egg added to breakfast (+70), 5.3 oz yogurt instead of 4 oz (+30). That's nearly 600 calories right there and I've barely added any bulk to my diet.. Now, if I include pasta or rice and maybe some ice cream, I can jack that up to 2500 in the blink of an eye.

Tell me about it. I could do 3k clean. I bulked for 2 months and did 4k, mostly clean, but sometimes at 4am when McDonalds is the only option available and you need another 500 cals or your muscles won't get the fuel they need for growth? You get the darn McNuggets!