Need Help & Ideas

urasweethart

Ok I have a question I know on here it says not to go below the 1200 and the past 2 weeks my cals have been around 800-900
Im supposed to eat 1720. So i have decided to get to atleast 1200. Do you think i will gain weight by upping my cals?

Im still walking trying each day I want to walk atleast 3miles aday / my goal is to get to 7miles a day aleast (it would be easier if i had a treadmil that worked so I could walk while hanging at the house) I walk with 2lb weights figured its got to help something.

What are your thoughts on Protein? I was told drink a protein shake after a good walk that was 45+mins to help keep from losing muscle instead of fat.

I try to stay in the green on all my goals (Food Wise) but if my protien goes over i really dont get as upset but if my carbs or sugars do I freak out and think my choices of that day.

What have yall done to help get rid of the weight? just lower calorie???? Im just curious to what everyone thinks about this and what yall are doing.

Laura

Imajicat

If you are over 300 you should be eating more than 1200 calories a day. 800 is definitely not enogh. The more you weigh, the more calories your body demands to move fluid and oxygen through your body and to just breathe and exist, you can lose weight on any calorie amount that is a defecit to what it takes to fuel your body. It is possible to eat too few calories which, though it will eventually make you lose weight, will cause your body to burn muscle before it starts taking your fat stores. This is why a lot of very low calorie dieters put weight back on the minute they start eating more and get so frustrated. If you are above 300 pounds, I wouldn't set your daily calorie goal below 1600 a day. Keeping in mind that at 300 pounds you would have to eat more than 3300 a day in order to gain weight. You want to lower the calories enough that you are in defecit for your daily caloric needs, but not so much that your body thinks it has to move to your muscles to get energy to burn. You will want to lower your calories a bit as you lose weight but you will probably have a while before you need to think about doing that.

As far as protein goes, what I hear from my trainer and a lot of other people is to up your protein when you are trying to build muscle. (which you are, by exercising, and because more muscle burns more fat) So a good guide to go by is half your weight x grams of protein. So if you are 300 pounds, you can aim for around 150 grams of protein a day. It doesn't hurt to do more than that but that would definitely be a good number to aim for to make sure you have enough protein to keep building that good lean muscle. If you want to protein load, after a strength/lifting workout is a good time. The body can only absorb so much protein at a time, though, so you don't have to get all crazy with super loading protein right after you work out. You can spread it out throughout the day.

And just a word of advice based on my personal experience... Its cool to watch your carbs, (though I personally think it's unhealthy to go crazy low on carbs) but just make sure you get your fiber in there. A fiber suppliment is good. Fresh fruit and veg and whole grains is better. If you have a whooooole lot of protein and don't make sure to get in some fiber, you will end up being very sad in the potty department. :frown:

I'm not an expert on the subject by a long shot but I have done a lot of research and took some nutrition classes in nursing school so that's the info I try to go by.

welcome to mfp, I hope everything goes great for you! :flowerforyou:

urasweethart

thank you so much I am at about 300 right now and mfp hs me at 1720 so iam uping my cals hubby has been getting on ot me about not getting enough & i actually have tried to eat more the past 2 days and Ive actually seen the scale drop I know water weight and all but its still nice to see (I only report my weight on mondays so cant wait)
Thank you for your help & like I said I am adding cals.

Imajicat

Awesome!

I know it seems counterintuitive, but you really do have to eat to lose weight!
Good luck and have fun!