Limiting myself to 1500 calories. Too much sugar though?

mercurystar999

I'm on a serious cut down and am limiting myself to1500 calories. The app set me at 1930 bit I feel that is too high. I'm finding that many calories fine but when going into a detailed look at my breakdown for the day i'm taking in to much sugar. My day is pretty sugar free I feel other than fruit. I know fruit had sugar in but that is the only sugar i'm taking in as far add I can see. Errol it affect my weight loss?

_stephanie0

sugar from fruit is fine when you have a lot to lose. you may find that cutting it out when your at your last 10 pounds will help, but dont worry about fruit from sugar...

but more importantly.... i am 5'4 and 130lbs and i eat 1600-1700 to lose weight.

eat more...if your goal is to lose weight, that is :P

MFP is pretty good at determining cal needs...if it says 1930, eat 1930. i'd maintain at 2000...pretty sure you can get away with it

butterfli7o

Have to agree, 1500 sounds way too low for you...

mishkat

Try the recommended calories instead of 1500. I think that will be best and not as hard of a crash. Do you know how many calories were you eating before though?

Also, sugar from fruits is ok. I hear that the sugar preset in mfp is very low. Unless you have some medical condition to worry about sugar and carbs, you should be ok if you just worry about your carb/fat/protein ratio.

mercurystar999

Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all. I'm having three meals a day as it is and i'm not hungry

taeliesyn

If you set MFP up right (correct activity level) and your goals are letting you eat 3 meals a day and not feel like you're on a diet, then rejoice and give it a go.
This is meant to be a lifestyle change, not a diet and if it's easy for you to do, don't go making it harder on yourself, just because it feels easy. If you find you're not losing the weight, then give it a go.

Pebble321

Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all. I'm having three meals a day as it is and i'm not hungry

But, that's the great thing about MFP - if you can find the right amount of cals to eat so you "don't feel like your'e on a diet" - then that's perfect!
I've loved to learn that losing weight doesn't have to be about deprivation. Moderation certainly goes a long way, but deprivation doesn't have to come into it.

Anyway, back to your sugar query - my opinion is that if most of your sugar is coming from fruit, I wouldn't worry about it. If you feel like you want to reduce it a bit, try replacing some of that fruit with veggies. Either way you are getting lots of good nutrition (and fibre, vitamins, minerals etc) with your sugar.

susannamarie

Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all. I'm having three meals a day as it is and i'm not hungry

Why do you need to feel like you're on a diet? :P

Hendrix7

Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all.

Sounds good to me, losing weight while not feeling you are on a diet?

Have you even tried it yet?

At least try it for a couple of weeks first before attempting to do your own thing.

londoneye

Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all.

Sounds good to me, losing weight while not feeling you are on a diet?

Have you even tried it yet?

At least try it for a couple of weeks first before attempting to do your own thing.

Agreed. If you've been overeating for years, sometimes just logging your food makes you realise how much you can eat of healthy, nutrition dense food and still lose weight. If you can build in treats too, all the better. Your aim should be to find a way of eating you can sustain for the rest of your life, not just to lose as much as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Remember: it may seem easy, but only about 5% of people maintain weight loss long term!

Bssh

Stick with the higher 1900 cals and remember to eat your exercise cals. You have most likely been eating way, way more than this until now so you will definitely lose weight. Lower cals may not be sustainable for you in the longterm - you are more likely to fall off the diet. Your body may also get used to the lower cals, your metabolism may drop and you may find that you can never eat more than 1500 without putting weight back on.

If I were you I would try 1900+ cals for a month and then review.

mercurystar999

I started on Monday. My typical day is:

2 weetabix with semi skimmed milk at 0730 with a cup of tea no
A banana at 10 o'clock
A multi seed roll with a slice of ham and low fat mayonnaise, a packet of baked Walkers crisps, and an apple at lunch time which is 1230.
Then at dinner time ill have for instance last night I had a chicken breast with pasta peppers onion and a tomato sauce.

I'm also drinking roughly 1.5 to 2 litres of water a day.

Where would I put the extra calories and what. The only thing I feel i'm missing is some set things.

Now before starting this plan I would of eaten crunchy nut cornflakes for breakfast probably eaten a chocolate by instead of an apple at lunch. And had a normal packet of crisps.

Evening meal would usually be simmering home made also.

My problem is weekends where if go mad and eat Curries, Chinese food and pizza on two of the nights!

supermoo2

Men trying to lose weight should have about 2000 cals, so 1930 is not too high

mercurystar999

Where should I add extra calories and what?

paulaviki

Where should I add extra calories and what?

I'd say add in another snack between lunch and dinner, I always need something about 4pm personally and usually have a big bowl of melon, strawberries, blueberries and whatever other fruit I can find.

Also do you have any other drinks in the day other than water and the one cup of tea for brekkie? I have about 3 big mugs of tea a day with semi skimmed milk, which is about 25 calories per mug, and sometimes I'll have a glass of ribena which is another 20 calories or something. So the odd drink can also bump calories up.

I find I am always over my sugar macro as well btw - just because I have a small glass of fruit juice every morning but its something I don't want to give up!

Smuterella

You could, if you think it would work for you, look at calories weekly.

So, 'if you want to keep one/two nights at the weekend for a curry you could stick with the 1500 on week days and then eat 3000 ish on weekend days.

SimonIsChanging

I have to agree with the rest of MFP, 1500 is way too low for you, you're on a road to illness with that low of calories. If you're worried about sugar intake, log it before you eat it Just advice, you can do what you feel works for you.

yarwell

Where should I add extra calories and what?

No need.

londoneye

Where should I add extra calories and what?

Well, whatever you enjoy, I'd say! And if you can get more nutritional 'bang' for your buck then all the better.

Some examples:
Switch from skim to full fat milk (some studies show you absorb the nutrients from the milk better that way)
Add a handfull of nuts to your morning banana snack (will help stabilize your blood sugar level)

Another option is to calorie cycle and aim for a weekly cal total rather than a daily one. That way, you could still have your weekend splurges. It's all about finding a way of eating you can live with for the rest of your life...

londoneye

Where should I add extra calories and what?

No need.

Yeah, no need, apart from the fact he'll still lose weight eating more, plus probably enjoy it more and be better able to stick to it long term...!

2Bgoddess

my comment is strictly regarding sugars. Sugar did not make me fat, but it KEPT me fat. I was eating fat free crap, and not losing. the reason for that is because if there is sugar just floating around in my system, my body uses that for energy. If I keep my sugars pretty low, my body must burn more fat for energy. keeping my sugar low included limiting (not eliminating) fruit, bread, rice, pasta and some dairy products.

Bssh

To increase calories I would add more snacks and eat full-fat. This doesn't necessarily have to mean unhealthy fats but full-fat nonetheless. When I increased my cals from 1200 to 1800/2000 (I'm a 5ft 4 female) I found it difficult at first because my body had become accustomed to eating less. But I persevered with more snacks and switching to full fat (not diet) products and my metabolism must have revved up because now I am hungry for my full 1800/2000 cals a day! Even better, I lost a whopping 18lbs in a month as soon as I increased the cals - so my body loves me right now.

Simone_King

For a while, I was at a 1980 calories. I ate just that and lost weight. Granted I am five foot one inch..(Add one or two inhes with shoes.) I think if the site and than again most people don't go by it.. You should at lest try to have that amount of food.

Edit: Its my opnion about the situation. Doesn't mean you have to.

As you lose weight, the number of calories a day will drop. So after I lost weight (10 pounds) it dropped me to 1880 calories.

My biggest problem that I had to deal with is the fact that, no I may not go to the snack machine and simply snack! Then quitting the deit cokes.

Yet, fruit sugar doesn't seem to bother me. It's when the sugar from high sugar snacks come into play. xx

Matt3400

Eat something that is filling in nature. peanut butter or a bag of popcorn will fill you up. A bag of home style popcorn is around 360 cal. Eat more greens as well.

mercurystar999

I've been on all the diets imaginable. Weight watchers, slimming world, Cambridge so I suppose trying to think of this long term is what I need to do.

I'm not eating after 6 pm also to hopefully get the weight off.

I'm not a big vegetable eater and also trying to find the time to exercise at the moment is hard. I have a fairly active job and work nearly 6 days most Weeks also have two young kids so time is of the essence!

I'm going to add a snack for 4pm.

I want aware that my calories would go down as I lost Weight.

The thing that bothers me is if I say have a two finger kit Kat that my body would use that than the big belly fat I need to remove

Sidesteal

I'm not eating after 6 pm also to hopefully get the weight off.

There's no need to do this unless eating late disturbs your sleep. Total calorie intake drives weight change. The timing of these nutrients, outside of behavioral/personal effects, doesn't matter. You could very literally eat all your calories right before bed and lose weight just the same as if you'd eat it all before 6pm.

The thing that bothers me is if I say have a two finger kit Kat that my body would use that than the big belly fat I need to remove

Your body will use food instead of fat given the opportunity, but this happens whether you eat carrots or kit kats.


I think you need to focus on the long term and not the acute things that (you think) happen. Set up your calorie intake and hit it as good as you can. Hit your macronutrient targets. Train.

Beyond that, I really wouldn't worry about much else, and certainly don't make arbitrary rules to make things harder on yourself.

auroranflash

You could, if you think it would work for you, look at calories weekly.

So, 'if you want to keep one/two nights at the weekend for a curry you could stick with the 1500 on week days and then eat 3000 ish on weekend days.

^ That's what I would do.

Also, I trust these numbers more than MFP's. http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

*And listen to Sidesteal above, he knows what he's talking about. Good luck!

mercurystar999

On reading the forums tonight i am reading about people cutting carbs from their diets? Surely this is exactly what MFP is not about?

1holegrouper

The first question I would ask you kindly as a challenge is to assess your level of commitment to losing the weight and getting healthy. MFP is a great tool to receive motivation. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being mildly interested and 10 being willing to do anything and change your life where are you? You will see all examples on this scale on MFP. It is a great teacher- both in what to do and in what not to do.

Secondly I agree that 1,500 calories is too low and you risk virtually shutting down your metabolism. Especially since you said you are not exercising.

Third, I would look at an overall strategy besides calorie control. You want to maximize the nutritional concentration of the calories you take in. ex; leafy greens always trump processed starches and grains providing you are taking in your prescribed daily calories. Take a look at every meal and ask, "Am I eating the best thing I can possibly eat for this meal?" A diet heavy of starches and grains should be replaced with a diet heavy on vegetables, fruits, good fats and lean animal proteins. Fruits are great, within reason and are best used by your system in the morning. Carbs are great when they are good carbs! Its hard at the beginning but after 2-3 weeks you would ask yourself why you didn't do it earlier!

You can definitely lose weight without doing this just by limiting your calories but you would miss out on the speed of your improvement and also the exponential additional benefits of putting nutrition as paramount over caloric limit. Ironically you would also, in my opinion be less likely to suffer from burnout and/or bounce back. You probably already know people who lost weight by paying no attention to nutrition and lifestyle change and only restricted their calories and they likely didn't look or feel well during or afterwards. Weight loss centers (any brand out there) are full of them.

Finally, I would ask you to think more about how to integrate some planned exercise and movement into your weekly routine. Start small and build from there. This is so important and the benefits go way beyond weight loss. You don't have to go to a gym to workout. Gyms are overrated.

All of this depends of course on your answer to the first question.

goatfishtwo

Carbs are great when they are good carbs!

This is when any and all of your credibility was lost. A carbohydrate is a carbohydrate. You can paint it, dress it up, call it a different name, or whatever you please but the end result is still the same thing. It's going to become glucose molecules and insulin will spike. Carbs and insulin make you fat and keep you fat. Plain and simple.

Sidesteal

Carbs are great when they are good carbs!

This is when any and all of your credibility was lost. A carbohydrate is a carbohydrate. You can paint it, dress it up, call it a different name, or whatever you please but the end result is still the same thing. It's going to become glucose molecules and insulin will spike. Carbs and insulin make you fat and keep you fat. Plain and simple.

Excess calories make you fat. Protein is insulinogenic too. Carbs do not make you fat or keep you fat in the absence of an energy surplus.