What I have learned to lose weight...
korygilliam
Posts: 594 Member
I posted this in response to another forum, but it was so wordy that I thought others might find it useful. Keep in mind that this is my personal experience and things that worked for me/verified in medical research journals (no, I will not go hunt up the article to post, I have read too many and have no clue where any specific one came from). This isn't a post to argue points...only to share my experience with others who are starting or are stuck on their journey. I hope it helps.
1-Don't believe statements in the forums as gospel and don't pass them on as such, unless you have read studies re: it. (including this on ;-D )
2-The more weight you have to lose, the more of a deficit you can run daily (i.e. if have 200 lbs to lose, can run on 800 net calories a day. If have 50 to lose, shouldn't be less than 1150-1300, depending on your body of course)
3-If I didn't eat my exercise calories back then I wouldn't lose (I would sometimes gain) weight
4-If my net dropped less than 1100 cals, then I wouldn't lose and I would typically gain until I got back over 1300 cals.
5-Water-Don't remember if was a Harvard or Mayo Clinic statement that stated that you need (10) 8 oz glasses of fluids. The main complaint for soda is that it has caffeine and it will 'dehydrate you'. The study showed that people who typically drink caffinated products have adjusted to the caffeine and it causes a minimal (if any) dehydration effect.
6-Yes, fruits and veggies are good for you due to fiber and vitamins/antioxidants, but they aren't required. I hate them both, so I take a multivitamin and eat higher dietary fiber cereal/granola bars (really like Kashi go lean cereal and their granola bars...good for protein too)
7-MUST keep track in your food diary, otherwise how do you really know your 'intake'
8-It is ultimately cals in vs cals out. The different cals you put in makes a difference on how full you will feel and for how long. Many studies have debunked the low fat diet due to hormonal effects causing hunger as well as needing the fat...but try to pick items with unsaturated fats (those have been shown to improve health) as well as debunking the low-carb diet due to the hormonal effects as well...do what feels good and is a realistic lifelong eating process for you!
9-I like to do average daily net for the week, as opposed to fretting over each individual day. (meaning-I want my daily net cals for WEEK to be 1480. So if I eat 800 cals on Tuesday, I have 600 extra calories on Saturday. This makes it feel less like dieting and I no longer have to give myself a 'cheat day'. This is a lifestyle change and you shouldn't have to 'cheat' to meet your lifestyle. (apparently this is similar to what weight watchers does for their 'flex points' system, but I have never read on it)
10-Exercise become increasingly important as you get closer to your goal. It also allows you to eat more food, but make sure you are tracking your calories burned thru a reputable heart monitor, not just the displays on the equipment or the auto-tally on the MFP page.
11-Start strength training as soon as possible (I failed at this, I prefer cardio). Building muscle may increase your number on the scale, but it makes maintaining and losing weight easier. Muscle burns calories at rest, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn.
12-Take the time to go to a website to learn what you TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is from a good calculator and compare to what MFP has for your set number in their calculation. This will show you what the average person burns based on lifestyle. I caused me to increase my intake 150 cals a day and started losing weight again.
13-Change up your exercise program. After 6-12 weeks, your body becomed adjusted to an exercise program (that's why it gets easier), so you no longer burn the same number of calories as you started. Change it up every few weeks. (You can go back to it in a few months). (i.e. on my elliptical, would do 'fat burn' for a while where it was a steady pace, then would change to high intensity intervals, then go to high resistance, then back to steady...)
I think that is enough for now...I need to get ready for the day.
1-Don't believe statements in the forums as gospel and don't pass them on as such, unless you have read studies re: it. (including this on ;-D )
2-The more weight you have to lose, the more of a deficit you can run daily (i.e. if have 200 lbs to lose, can run on 800 net calories a day. If have 50 to lose, shouldn't be less than 1150-1300, depending on your body of course)
3-If I didn't eat my exercise calories back then I wouldn't lose (I would sometimes gain) weight
4-If my net dropped less than 1100 cals, then I wouldn't lose and I would typically gain until I got back over 1300 cals.
5-Water-Don't remember if was a Harvard or Mayo Clinic statement that stated that you need (10) 8 oz glasses of fluids. The main complaint for soda is that it has caffeine and it will 'dehydrate you'. The study showed that people who typically drink caffinated products have adjusted to the caffeine and it causes a minimal (if any) dehydration effect.
6-Yes, fruits and veggies are good for you due to fiber and vitamins/antioxidants, but they aren't required. I hate them both, so I take a multivitamin and eat higher dietary fiber cereal/granola bars (really like Kashi go lean cereal and their granola bars...good for protein too)
7-MUST keep track in your food diary, otherwise how do you really know your 'intake'
8-It is ultimately cals in vs cals out. The different cals you put in makes a difference on how full you will feel and for how long. Many studies have debunked the low fat diet due to hormonal effects causing hunger as well as needing the fat...but try to pick items with unsaturated fats (those have been shown to improve health) as well as debunking the low-carb diet due to the hormonal effects as well...do what feels good and is a realistic lifelong eating process for you!
9-I like to do average daily net for the week, as opposed to fretting over each individual day. (meaning-I want my daily net cals for WEEK to be 1480. So if I eat 800 cals on Tuesday, I have 600 extra calories on Saturday. This makes it feel less like dieting and I no longer have to give myself a 'cheat day'. This is a lifestyle change and you shouldn't have to 'cheat' to meet your lifestyle. (apparently this is similar to what weight watchers does for their 'flex points' system, but I have never read on it)
10-Exercise become increasingly important as you get closer to your goal. It also allows you to eat more food, but make sure you are tracking your calories burned thru a reputable heart monitor, not just the displays on the equipment or the auto-tally on the MFP page.
11-Start strength training as soon as possible (I failed at this, I prefer cardio). Building muscle may increase your number on the scale, but it makes maintaining and losing weight easier. Muscle burns calories at rest, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn.
12-Take the time to go to a website to learn what you TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is from a good calculator and compare to what MFP has for your set number in their calculation. This will show you what the average person burns based on lifestyle. I caused me to increase my intake 150 cals a day and started losing weight again.
13-Change up your exercise program. After 6-12 weeks, your body becomed adjusted to an exercise program (that's why it gets easier), so you no longer burn the same number of calories as you started. Change it up every few weeks. (You can go back to it in a few months). (i.e. on my elliptical, would do 'fat burn' for a while where it was a steady pace, then would change to high intensity intervals, then go to high resistance, then back to steady...)
I think that is enough for now...I need to get ready for the day.
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Replies
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Just FYI, will respond as able, but very busy until next week, so don't know if I will see...but will try0
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Lol, wow. Just re-read and am kinda embarrassed from my typos. Guess I was still asleep this morning!0
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good advice
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Thanks 0
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LOVE THIS (:0
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Very nice.
What I have learned:
To be critical of certain foods or volumes. For example, I always knew that breakfast cereals where not very healthy in the amounts I ate them (a nice big bowl of maybe 200-300g or more). I know have an easy comparison of how disastrous that can be, it is almost the equivalent of eating 11 eggs.
To be less critical of certain foods and keep a watch on the macros instead. Avocados have lots of fat and therefore aren't a "good fruit", right? Well, I like them quite a bit, low on carbs, and a half, which was my usual, is about the equivalent of 35g of that infamous cereal. I'd never eat 2 avocados at a sitting. Avocados are back!0 -
Oh, I was so the same way with cereal! I ate a big bowl thinking that cereal has vitamins and is good for you! Now my body knows how much a cup of cereal actually is :-). Thanks for adding your "lessons"!0
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Thank you for sharing the advice. It'll help as I am just getting started.0
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This is great. A lot of those have applied to me as well, tho I am admittedly stuck right now and found this post trying to figure out what I needed to do to my calorie goals! 0
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This is a good thread. The information is very useful. I struggle with eating all my calories and one thing that has helped is knowing I am not alone. I am trying to eat all of my calories, but do not stress over deficits or overages. I do not have a great amount of weight to lose so i am losing 3/4 to 1 lb a week and that is just fine with me.
Today I was able to move my belt in by one hole - YAY0 -
bump0
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If I help even one person, then the post was worth it.
@Kindlevixen-I was on a plateau for about 3-4 months, I think what got me off of the plateau was a mix of increasing my cal intake (was around 1280 net goal and increased to 1480). That got me to lose some. Then, oddly, I lost another 7 pounds when I stopped exercising (but stayed with my 1480 net). Will start back up exercising soon (working on a couple of projects that is taking all my time), but will only be doing (3-4) 30-45 min routines, instead of the (5-6) 1 hour routines I was doing.0 -
OP, can you explain a little more about the weekly "net" versus daily net?0
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I agree 100% with all of this. I am at the beginning of my weight loss, but this is by far not the first time for me. I've learned a lot in the last few years and am practicing everything you've mentioned, especially the weight training.
Is there a site for calculating TDEE, that you recommend?0 -
Thanks for sharing your tips! I'm stalling a little at the moment and this is just what I needed.0
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Bump to read after work. :flowerforyou:0
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I just look at other TDEE calculators and they have shown my TDEE as over 1500 but MFP has mine at 1330. why is that?
If I go by the 1550 do I still add my activity to it?0 -
I like the idea of an average caloric intake for the week. I just started this yesterday which was silly considering I had a previously scheduled dinner party and knew I would go over my daily caloric intake and not exercise. I feel better knowing I can make up for it with the rest of the week. I can't get over how the tiniest things can add up to so much. I feel like I'm going to have to starve myself to get anywhere, but I know that's not healthy.0
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Strength training is important! This time around, I have strength training added and I haven't lost a bunch of weight, but I have a lot of toning up. I fit into pants in two weeks that would have taken me several lbs to lose just to get them to fit! So far I have lost 3 pant sizes in 7 weeks!0
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Is there a site for calculating TDEE, that you recommend?
I would like to know this too, please. I've been to 6 different sites, and they all give e a different number.0 -
Yes, thanks for sharing your tips, several of them will help me at the stage I am in right now.0
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Good information! Thanks.0
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9-I like to do average daily net for the week, as opposed to fretting over each individual day. (meaning-I want my daily net cals for WEEK to be 1480. So if I eat 800 cals on Tuesday, I have 600 extra calories on Saturday. This makes it feel less like dieting and I no longer have to give myself a 'cheat day'. This is a lifestyle change and you shouldn't have to 'cheat' to meet your lifestyle. (apparently this is similar to what weight watchers does for their 'flex points' system, but I have never read on it)
This is similar to flex points in WW, but I like yours better. WW gives you 40 flex points by default and you can spend them over your daily points, which are determined by your age, gender, weight, and activity level. WW's flex points seemed more for having a cheat day, possibly a really big one. I found that if I consistently ate into my flex points, I stopped losing because that meant eating over my points for the day. For WW to work for me, I had to cut down the flex points to 10 and try not even to tap into them, to use exercise instead. I like your net calories idea much better. Similar, but better. 0 -
Thanks, great info!!!!!!!!!!0
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Thanks for sharing!0
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Awesome tips!
Thank you for sharing! :flowerforyou:0 -
Thanks for sharing! Really helpful stuff.0
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OP, can you explain a little more about the weekly "net" versus daily net?
Instead of trying to do a 'daily net' of 1480, I focus on an 'average daily net' of 1480 for the week.
Example of net daily/weekly:
Sunday-1080 cals net, Mon-1460 net, Tues-1510 net, Wed-1165 net, Thur-1430 net, Fri-1400 net
so far, if you add the 6 days net and divide by the 6 days (8045/6=1340, you can see that you are well under your daily net that week, so you can splurge on Saturday (without calling it a cheat day).
Not only does it give you a little more flexibility, it also builds in a natural 'zig zag' or 'cycling' to help prevent your body for being accustomed to a specific number of daily calories0 -
I agree 100% with all of this. I am at the beginning of my weight loss, but this is by far not the first time for me. I've learned a lot in the last few years and am practicing everything you've mentioned, especially the weight training.
Is there a site for calculating TDEE, that you recommend?
I know I used and liked this one http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html but I have looked at a lot of them in comparing.
For it to work, you must be honest with your activity level.
For example, mine is entered
Female, 35 y/o, 60" tall
Resting=13 hours (sleep for 8, sitting on computer/watching tv for 5)
Very Light=10 (8 hr work at desk, 2 hr walking around)
Light=1 (walking to/from parking garage, bits of house work)
Gives me a BMR (basic metabolic rate) of 1474
Activity calories is 399
So, daily energy expenditure is 1873
So, to lose 1 lb/week, need a deficit of 3500 cals/week (or -500 from daily energy expenditure), so daily net would be 1873-500=1373 calories net.
If you include your exercise time in the TDEE calculation, then you don't eat the calories back in MFP
If you don't include your exercise time in the TDEE calculation, then you do eath the calories back in MFP (I don't include my exercise calories, since it is so sporadic at this time)
Hope this helps and wasn't too confusing.0 -
2 more that I realized I didn't have on the list:
1-I had to realize that it must be a realistic diet. This is a lifestyle change, not a temporary change...that is why diets don't work. If you 'diet' and then go back to your old method, then you will just gain it back like you did in the first place!
2-You need to, on the most part, enjoy your journey. When it felt like work, I was constantly going over calories and didn't succeed. Once I learned how to accept what I had to do and find exercises that I enjoyed, it was a lot better!0
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