Hey, I'm new

bmblair041

My name's Brian. I've been fighting my weight all my life and I'm 22 now. I went to the doctors for something completely unrelated to my weight and saw that I was 244lbs. I'm 5'8". I realized while scrounging for clean clothes this morning (missed my usual laundry day), that even my XL shirts are beginning to feel tight and when tying my shoes I felt a bit choked of breath and had a bit of a rough time reaching. This made me feel horrible, worse than usual. I've always been a bit overweight, but all this in the course of a week really just hit me. So I'm going to try another attempt at losing the weight again. I'm trying to understand all this stuff about calorie intake and stuff.

My first problem being that everyone says I should take in roughly 2000 calories a day just to survive, but whenever I track my meals over the course of a day I usually come in at about 1/2 that. For example I had toast this morning, a sandwich for lunch, and bacon for dinner. I came in at a bit over 1000 calories for the day. So I don't understand if I need to go eat more?

invisibleorchid

Hi Brian,welcome! Once you go into the nutritional value of your food,you begin to realise that the makeup of it can be bad for you,for example bacon has a lot of sat fat. Maybe you are putting your body into starvation mode by not eating enough? Anyway i'd love to help you on your journey so friend me if you like good luck.

EmmaMayWilson

Hi! I'm new on here, 21 and in need of losing about 50-60lbs. If you need anyone to talk to or support, add me

annieemmons

If you don't supply your body with enough calories then you basically trick your body into thinking that you're starving and it will hold onto every bit of fat you take in. I am only 5'2 and I am find it hard to limit myself to the 1200 calories I should be eating (and the minimum they tell anyone to eat) , so if you are falling below that then you definitely need to eat more! I had great success with weight loss tracking my calories with MFP last spring with losing about 15 lbs. Due to some recent lifestyle changes with a new job and my husband and I starting grad school, I have recently gained back most of that loss, so I have restarted MFP this week myself. I find this successful when other attempts at "dieting" didn't work because I had previously had the misconception that I needed severely limit what I ate in order to lose weight. I was doing exactly what you are doing now! Thankfully, a friend of mine showed me MFP. Tracking your calories really takes the blinders off what you are really doing to yourself. You can also adjust your daily calorie goal by adjusting how much weight you want to lose each week. My husband is about your height and I think his goal was initially 1800 calories, which was reduced to 1600 when he lost a significant amount. If you really think you can't make it near 1600-2000 calories a day, at least give yourself three 400 calorie meals a day. Guess what? Basic cereal with milk can run you 300-400 calories by itself. If you're worried about eating too much, then find healthier choices that have a good amount of calories to meet your minimum calorie level, but that aren't loaded up with lots of saturated fats, sugars, and salt. Remember, there's not really any such thing as a "bad food" but you do need to use moderation and keep it balanced. Keep track of your saturated fat, sugar, and salt to make sure you're not going crazy. While I am not anti-bacon, you probably should have had something along with it to balance your meal overall. Pair it with oatmeal or biscuits, some fresh fruit or juice to make sure you're getting a good assortment of food. If you still find you are having trouble, you can always try to see a nutritionist to recommend a specific meal plan for you. I tend to not really feel very hungry in the mornings personally, so I eat more calories at dinner time than breakfast or lunch. Hope this helps.

bmblair041

I guess my next question would be, how can I find out what my intake goal is?

Edwinagail

hello,

Just joined the site ten MINUTES ago. I am excited to the "the ropes" and gain respect and power for myself, lose some needed weight, and make some friends along they way

mfpcopine

If you're eating 1,000 calories a day of healthy food (and unless you're measuring and recording every morsel and have ironclad nutritional info, you're probably eating considerably more than that), feel good, and are exercising, I would keep doing that and see how you do. The conventional wisdom about the the dangers of "starving yourself" by eating too few calories has been questioned.

Can you see a registered dietician?

tito_diaz

I hear ya man, im supposed to be eating 1590 and I have a very hard time eating 12-1300 calories a day. I think part of it is im watching everything I eat now (for the first time) I also exercise like crazy. Which sets my caloric deficit even worse. The way I see it is if you ain't feeling hungry try it lol and good luck!!!

kevsprincess

Crazy as it sounds you gotta eat! If your working out lots of protien! Track your workouts and make sure your eating enough to stay within your daily calorie goal. As you loose weight I think your calorie intake will go down so watch that. Don't let your body go into starvation mode! This will be your doom. Good luck!

mfpcopine

There are numerous calculators on the web (admittedly, they can be confusing, which is why I suggest you see a dietician if possible). Myfitnesspal also has calculators, which I think are reasonably accurate.

No matter which one you use, you must rigorously record your calorie intake and your activity level and make adjustments if you don't lose weight.

I've read a number of weight loss threads over the years and the number one reason most people don't lose weight is they're eating too much.

annieemmons

Click on the "my home" tab, under that in the blue bar should be a tab that says "Goals".

kilime50

when you fill out the profile, it asks you what your weight/height is and your goal loss. then if you go to the food tab at the top it will tell you what you need to take in. I like the simplicity of this site. Just tracking what you eat each day can be an eye opener, and don't forget to track what you do exercise wise.

UnderageSweetie

Good luck Brian

1979rrh

Hi Brian,

If you follow the program, you will lose weight... I have lost 29 lbs so far (since January 1st) this works... I'll add you so we can motivate each other!

Good Luck