Newbie Questions....please help!!!!

brunzella92

In the beginning, did you find you had a hard time adjusting to the caloric intake you chose? i'm feeling a bit uneasy as i've gone over slightly each day since i started! I'm nervous i won't lose any weight :sad: if this continues! Maybe it's the foods i'm choosing? IDK, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I'm not new to watching what i eat, i am however, new to calorie counting but really do enjoy that in control feeling, even if i do go over a bit! Any thoughts or experiences you could share?

Thank you! :bigsmile:

Helloitsdan

Know your BMR and maintenance calories and stay within those numbers.
Its suggested that you only cut 20% from your maintenance calories.
You should keep the weight off if you do.
Hugs!
Add me if you need any help!

IrishGuru25

This is very easy in theory but will require a bit of personal sacrifice...adjust your diet to allow for better food with less calories. Junk food/packaged/processed food will simply make weight loss difficult. When I started this in April, I gave up fast food, less alcohol, and greatly increased my water intake. Also, I found a workout regimen and personal trainer helped me achieve my fitness goals. I have lost almost 50lbs now and the lifestyle change is now ingrained. Good luck...you can do this!

MrsWinks

You could also work out a little more to 'earn' more calories and when you put it in your exercise for the day it'll add calories at the top of your home page

LoriIAM

I had a hard time at first. It's best to plan ahead.Then you don't have to rummage around for the right number of calories. If you're over a little, don't sweat it. A few calories here and there don't make much difference.
As long as you're eating less than you need (on the average, over the long run), you'll lose weight. You're in it for the long run, right?

AdAstra47

Just listen to your body. The BMR calculation used here is *very* rough. Your metabolic rate can be influenced by dozens of different variables that MFP can't take into account: genetic predispositions, childhood illnesses, your muscle mass, the altitude where you live, how much sleep you've gotten lately, what part of your hormonal cycle you're on... BMR is just a very general guideline of *approximately* how many calories your body will burn while resting. If you are tired or grumpy a lot, and your hair & nails aren't as healthy, then your body probably needs more calories than it's getting. On the other hand, if you're not losing any weight at all, you may need to either adjust your macronutrient levels or just adjust your calorie goal downward.

If you are going over your goals a bit, and still losing, then maybe your natural BMR is a bit higher than the norm: lucky you! Personally, I watch my carbs & protein a lot more than my calories, and that's what works for me. I can go over on my "official" calorie count by quite a bit & still lose weight. But that's just me.

Whatever you try, I'd try it for a month before deciding whether or not it's working. Give it a fair chance; often these things are cumulative. The whole weight loss thing is just a long, slow process of trial and error and figuring out what will work for your body. Everyone here will very helpfully offer advice, but they can only tell you what worked for them, and it may or may not work for you.

Good luck to you!

masterfitness4u

This is very easy in theory but will require a bit of personal sacrifice...adjust your diet to allow for better food with less calories. Junk food/packaged/processed food will simply make weight loss difficult. When I started this in April, I gave up fast food, less alcohol, and greatly increased my water intake. Also, I found a workout regimen and personal trainer helped me achieve my fitness goals. I have lost almost 50lbs now and the lifestyle change is now ingrained. Good luck...you can do this!

Agree 100% You have to make some lifestyle changes. Fast foods are a thing of the past. Cut out the high sodium foods and have to add sodium in my diet to get enough. What you think is heatlhy may not be. I thought I was eating good until I saw it the numbers on my dairy. You can always look at others diaries as well as mine, just don't do the low carb that I did, it not very heatlhy. Have a great one.

brunzella92

Yes, i'm in this for the long run for sure! I know the basics from doing years of Weight Watchers, but the points system wasn't allowing me to know my daily caloric intake. I haven't been on the scale as i wanted to get over the first week to see if things are working before i mess around with my calories. I pretty much based my choice of 1200 around how much i would like to lose a week. Hoping that this works. I'm really not familiar with the whole BMR index. I know it's the sedentary calories but it still confuses me lol! You guys have given me alot of great things to think about. And YES, most importantly, i need to get exercising. I used to be a fanatic spinner miss those days!! But on the plus side, just got a spin bike, treadmill and weights machine!!

smltwngrl

It always helps me to plan my calories every day. Know what I am having for dinner- log that. Pick out what I want for lunch- lot it. And do the same for breakfast. Setting up my main meals makes me see how many EXTRA calories I have for snacks and (ahem) spare calories to 'blow' -on whatever craving you might have that day. Then when I actually sit down to my meals, I know what in front of me has the most calories- and if it doesn't taste as good as I was hoping, I don't eat it all, then I adjust my log to reflect that, which usually finds me a few more calories in my day.

And if you keep going over on your calories, maybe you should up your goal intake. I know how upsetting it can be to keep going over. Just up you goal and work out a little longer to balance it out.

brunzella92

It always helps me to plan my calories every day. Know what I am having for dinner- log that. Pick out what I want for lunch- lot it. And do the same for breakfast. Setting up my main meals makes me see how many EXTRA calories I have for snacks and (ahem) spare calories to 'blow' -on whatever craving you might have that day. Then when I actually sit down to my meals, I know what in front of me has the most calories- and if it doesn't taste as good as I was hoping, I don't eat it all, then I adjust my log to reflect that, which usually finds me a few more calories in my day.

And if you keep going over on your calories, maybe you should up your goal intake. I know how upsetting it can be to keep going over. Just up you goal and work out a little longer to balance it out.

That's a great idea about logging in your main meals if you know what they are never thought of that. I maybe should up my calories to 1300, but maybe will see how the weekend goes before doing so and complete my 1st week in full. Thanks for the tips!

AdAstra47

I thought I was eating good until I saw it the numbers on my dairy. You can always look at others diaries as well as mine, just don't do the low carb that I did, it not very heatlhy. Have a great one.

Again, what works for one may not work for another. Low-carb high-protein is the only thing that ever HAS worked for me! 50+ lb in 9 months. After 20 years of "eating right," I had to learn to get my macronutrient ratios in the right range for my metabolism, and now I'm healthy for the first time since high school. So, again, my advice is to try what you think will work for you, then listen to your body, and adjust the variables as necessary.

And I agree with the previous poster who suggested pre-logging. I generally plan out my day ahead of time & log everything that I think I will eat. That way I can see ahead of time whether it looks like I'll be over my goals, and I can plan to adjust what I'm going to eat, or plan to exercise more to make up for it. At the end of the day, if you didn't quite stick to your plan, you can still go back & change it to what you actually ate, to keep yourself honest.