If only I had known...

2

Replies

  • rgohm
    rgohm Posts: 294 Member
    Nice Post!
  • citizencrp
    citizencrp Posts: 228 Member
    Yes and thank you for posting!
    Isn't reason and moderation just the best?!
  • citizencrp
    citizencrp Posts: 228 Member
    I hope I don't sound like such a newbie but I have a question:

    Does this also apply to someone who's not very active?

    I ask this because I don't have a very active lifestyle and MFP calculated 1220 calories for me. I've been here for almost 2 weeks and I have lost 2.4 lbs but I always get confused with this whole low calorie thing.

    :ohwell:

    Yes it does!!
    I'm not very active...but MFP settings for "sedentary" really apply to someone who doesn't move much at all. I don't exercise and I sit on my couch a lot and I have a desk job, but I started wearing a FitBit and I realized that "sedentary" was inaccurate, so I switched my setting to lightly active, I gained a couple hundred calories to my daily allowance but I'm still losing 1 lb per week. After 5 months!
  • jenno369
    jenno369 Posts: 24 Member
    This is a newbie question as well--how do you determine how many calories you can eat above what mfp recommends?

    Is it trial and error or is there an estimated number of calories over what mfp recommends that is decent to try?
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    This is a newbie question as well--how do you determine how many calories you can eat above what mfp recommends?

    Is it trial and error or is there an estimated number of calories over what mfp recommends that is decent to try?

    If you want, check out this link by MFPer Heliotsdan - It'll give you a detailed walkthrough (with pictures even) on finding your TDEE and calculating what you should be eating.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Or for a different version to figure out your TDEE, as well as some great advice...check out:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833500-what-do-i-do-common-sense-cliff-notes

    For more information about fitness and nutrition, I highly suggest checking out and joining this group: (Read all the stickies. It's great information to know.)
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress
  • HollV
    HollV Posts: 8 Member
    I started dieting at 14 too and was an expert at all the fad diets. I yo-yo dieted for decades, but as I got older, the diets began to be less successful. Even when they worked, the weight loss was only temporary. I think MFP is a sensible approach. Good luck to all.
  • irishblonde2011
    irishblonde2011 Posts: 618 Member
    And let's be honest it is easier to do it right & once
    Instead of spending years going up & down
    Great post :)
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    I hope I don't sound like such a newbie but I have a question:

    Does this also apply to someone who's not very active?

    I ask this because I don't have a very active lifestyle and MFP calculated 1220 calories for me. I've been here for almost 2 weeks and I have lost 2.4 lbs but I always get confused with this whole low calorie thing.

    :ohwell:

    I am pretty sedentary and I ate an average of 1420 plus exercise calories throughout my weight loss. Now that I'm done I eat close to 1800 to maintain.
  • krickeyuu
    krickeyuu Posts: 344 Member
    Slow and steady wins the race--short and long term. Eat food! Enjoy your life. Lose weight too. Great post.
  • CaliforniaSweetheart
    CaliforniaSweetheart Posts: 989
    I just recently figured this out...in the process of currently upping my calories. I'm up to 1200 a day vs the 400-600 I was eating daily. I'm nervous about weight gain, but a few pounds gained is better than the alternative.
  • ms_tris
    ms_tris Posts: 82 Member
    I love that everyone is so receptive to this post! Weight loss isn't a race. It's about changing your mindset, slowing down and having long term success.
  • Danni1585
    Danni1585 Posts: 250 Member
    fab post, love it x
  • CrazyAnne
    CrazyAnne Posts: 217 Member
    OP, You get wiser with age.
  • SunshineDecember
    SunshineDecember Posts: 70 Member
    Truetrue :)
  • pspetralia
    pspetralia Posts: 963 Member
    LOVE this!!! If only we could go back in time!
  • irenematilda
    irenematilda Posts: 45 Member
    Your story sounds a lot like mine. I'm 48 now, but when I was fourteen I read the following in a teen magazine... 'Don't worry if you're a nine stone chunker, some people just aren't meant to be Twiggy'. For the benefit of everybody outside the UK, 9st is the equivalent of 126lbs, and was exactly what I weighed at the time - not too far from the ideal for my height of almost 5' 3". But suddenly I was a 'chunker'. I look back with horror now at the effect I let this have on me, but this 'reassuring' sentence immediately had me starving myself and secretly binning my packed school dinners before I even left the house, and led to a lifetime of eating disorders and food obsession. This includes the bulimic phase which I lost two of my teeth to, and the equally shameful six-year compulsive overeating stint which had me indulging in secret binges and hiding food stashes around the house. *Sigh...

    What struck me most about your post was this...

    ' I also feel like when I reach my goal weight and eat "normal," the 1800-2000 calories a day will be perfect for me to maintain, not gain.'

    It reminded me of something I read not so long ago. 'If you want to be a nine stone person, just eat like a nine stone person'. There's no need to starve. All that's necessary is to stop troughing like a thirteen stone PacMan impersonator :) And I do want to be nine stone - I wish I'd known THAT at fourteen :)
  • sukielovesveggies
    sukielovesveggies Posts: 12 Member
    In the last two years lost 87 pounds eating very little(900 uworking up to 1200 most days) and exercising moderately 4 days a week.. towards the end of 2012 my weight loss slowed to nothing, then I stopped logging, had a knee injury that almost stopped half of my exercise and gained 18 pounds. YIKES! I joined myfitnesspal (love it) started following the 1200 cal they recommended, did NOT eat exercise cals... after 12 days, I gained 2 1/2 pounds. I read the TDEE concept, started eating my exercise cals, lowered my weight loss goal from 1 1/2 to 1 pound a week...am eating around 500 cals more a day, and have not gained any weight. I actually lost one pound in the last two weeks. It is so much easier to eat 1700 cals than 1200! I am going to stick to the slow and easy method. I only have 25 pounds to lose, and I don't really care how long it takes. I just want to be healthy and not starve myself of the nutrition my body needs to thrive. Thanks everyone for all the info, and thanks for this lovely post!
  • lkm111
    lkm111 Posts: 629 Member
    Wish I could hit a "like" button.......
  • LauraS1018
    LauraS1018 Posts: 8
    Great post! I increased my work outs a few weeks ago and promptly hit a dieting plateau. Friends advised me to eat more to make up for the extra calories that I was burning, but that sounded insane, so I ignored them. Then after 2 1/2 weeks of continuing to lose and regain the same 2 lbs, I gave in and tried eating more and the scale started moving down again.
  • flying182
    flying182 Posts: 26
    Excellent post ! And of course, this is the 'secret' all the expensive diet plans (WW, JC, Dukan, etc) avoid describing as they would go out of business with everyone eating normally and being at a normal weight!
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    "Eat as many calories as you can while still being able to lose about 1-1.5lbs a week."

    Exactly and
    Be patient, be consistent, be kind to yourself.

    Exactly!

    You get it....
  • summergirl212
    summergirl212 Posts: 91 Member
    thanks for this, i always need these reminders.

    right after i read it i got up and got a yogurt because i'm hungry and was waiting for dinner since i hate a big (and unhealthy) lunch. I just worked out for an hour and am hungry an decided that I'm not going to wait, plus, who ever got fat from eating yogurt? i'll take the extra 100 calories and it still keeps me under 1500. :]
  • thisisiamj
    thisisiamj Posts: 145 Member
    Agree. I just changed my caloric intake to net my BMR after netting 1200-1300 for a while, then eating @ maintenance over the holidays and now cutting to BMR (which for me is grossing 1600-1800 cals to met 1392. No loss so far and it's been 4 days... trying not to weigh and obsess!
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,733 Member
    bump
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
    :flowerforyou: :heart: :flowerforyou: :heart:
  • Lisa2bHappy
    Lisa2bHappy Posts: 107
    Really good post and good advice.. Wish someone warned me about learning to find a balance.. I either over eat or dnt eat enough
  • sandradev1
    sandradev1 Posts: 786 Member
    Good post. :flowerforyou:

    Its working for me too :drinker:
  • cheshire29
    cheshire29 Posts: 48
    I had a friend just like you in high school. Once we saw what the yo yo was doing to her body those of us who were overweight were scared of making her mistake. As far as I know she is morbidly obese now. Everyone's battle is so unique, but we could all use patience!
  • CandiSki
    CandiSki Posts: 57 Member
    Bump! Great post!
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Wonderful post. Wish someone had told me sooner too.

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