New to this and need HELP & IDEAS

urasweethart

I seen this group and had to join esp since the title is pretty much 100% answers one of my questions lol

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

meggyh20

Welcome! My first suggestion would be to read, read, read...all of the stickies on this forum are full of information that will answer the questions you've asked and more. You will need to use a calculator to determined your TDEE and BMR. All of that will be explained in the stickies (the videos are great!). Start there, but the short answer to your question is, yes, you may gain a bit of weight if you up your calories, but everyone is different. I eat 1883 calories daily and have only lost weight. There are too many factors involved to say exactly how your body will respond. But for long term sustainable weight loss, you have come to the right place.

HeidiHoMom

I agree that you should read all of the stickies as your questions will be answered there for the most part.

This group doesn't advocate eating below BMR which is usually quite a bit higher than 1200.

If you have been on a very low calorie diet for a long time you might gain some initially. Everyone is different. Check out, what to expect when upping your calories sticky, the TDEE sticky....well really just check out all of those sticky threads. THey are jam packed with great info.

HeidiHoMom

As for what I am doing to lose weight...I am following the recommendations from the stickies and eating at a 15% cut from my TDEE and never going below my BMR. This means I am eating 1900+ calories each day (plus my 300 breastfeeding calories). I have been doing this since the beginning of May and have lost 6.5 lbs.

Since upping my calories I have a lot more energy, my workouts are WAY better, I am sleeping better, I'm happier and I am no longer constipated.

squishycow7

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.

Not sure where the 1720 came from.. it DOES sound like a reasonable calorie goal, but to make sure you're setting yourself up correctly... There are 2 ways to go about this...

1. The (modified) MFP way: Eat at least a NET calorie goal of your BMR. That means eating back any calories you earn from exercise And I say at LEAST because you can eat more than this without gaining, and your body might even like it better. It depends on how much weight to lose, your genetics, etc etc etc. A million things. Most people on EM2LW are eating above their BMR, but this is an absolute minimum number you should shoot for.

So unless you are a small person, your BMR is likely not 1200, and you should be eating way more than that.

go to Tools... BMR Calculator
Then set that as a manual calorie goal
go to My Home... Goals... Change Goals... Manual


2. The EM2LW weight way: Read the newbie links on the EM2LW board. It recommends finding your TDEE (mantenance calories) and deducting a deficit (usually 15%) from this number to find your calorie goal. This way, you don't have to eat back exercise calories, you just eat a contstant rate every day. I won't tell you how to get there because it is well documented throughout here

Do you think i will gain weight by upping my cals?

When you up calories, you may BLOAT for a little while. But this is NOT fat gain, and it WILL go away. You will not gain fat unless you are eating above your maintenance calories (TDEE).
Side note- you may gain WEIGHT sometimes if you are doing strength training and improving your muscle, but again this is not fat and you do want that muscle around. Make sure to take measurements, because the scale will not give you the whole picture.

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.

If you're not doing strength training (it sounds like youre just walking) I don't think a protein shake is expecially necessary. I mean, protein IS important, and you should be eating enough of it (about 30% of your macros) but right now I don't think you're at high risk for losing muscle ***AS LONG AS you are eating ENOUGH CALORIES! Which means more than 1200.

If you are concerned about losing muscle mass, it's more important to eat enough *period* than to eat enough protein.