I feel like I'm eating WAY too much, will I lose weight?

jadelyndsey

I've used MFP in the past, but I always ate around (or under) 1200 calories for a couple of weeks so that I could lose 10lbs quickly over the course of a couple weeks. Basically, I used MFP wrong!

Now I'm back with a goal of about 40lbs to lose (became a student, went on holiday, family issues lead me to gain a lot of weight) and MFP has my goal at just under 1800 calories?! I am a 100% sedentary, 6 foot tall female and I'm trying to go to the gym about 3X per week, but it just feels like I've never stopped eating since I started about a week ago.

Can someone tell me if there's a better way of doing this? I'm taking small bags of almonds and bananas and stuff to uni with me to get my calories in... I've never done that before and I don't think I can keep it up! I don't want to turn to eating chocolate bars and things as that used to be what I ate day in and day out. I've been completely chocolate free for a week now, and I'm trying to eat as healthy as possible.

Thanks for any replies!

steffenym

I always bring mid-day snacks with me to work. It definitely helps me from overeating at lunch or going to the vending machine when I can't wait for lunch. I have seen a nutritionist before and he recommended I eat about 1700 calories and I'm only 5 foot 7 and I lost 3 pounds in 3 days without stepping foot into a gym. I felt so full everyday for the first week and then my body got used to all the healthy calories. So I definitely think you are on the right track and just adjust as you go!

dfonte

You need to eat to lose weight. If you are hungry (not bored hungry, but really hungry) then eat and try to keep it healthy. Your body might not be used to the exercise and needs more nutrients. Muscle takes more calories to maintain, so that's a possible factor as well.

There's nothing wrong with chocolate in moderation either. Another good idea is instead of a candy bar, eat a chocolate breakfast bar or maybe some chocolate sugar free frozen yogurt. I actually added some chocolate powder to a banana smoothie the other day and it turned out good.

kelly101386

I ate 1200 didn't lose for weeks, increased it by about 500 and the weight dropped off.

THExNEKOxCHAN

Stay hydrated. Eat protein and fat, plenty of veggies, and try not to eat too many carby/sugary things. Fruit is fine, but don't overdose on bananas as snacks, and don't eat too much bread or pasta (or, like me, cut it out). Take some cheese with you to school, or a boiled egg (or both) and have a nice piece of good meat (don't trim off the fat) sometime during the day. The fat is what will fuel you and make you feel full for longer. Nuts, seeds, avocados, all make good snacks. Try to avoid soy. It has phyto-estrogens, which can mess with your hormones (especially if you are male).

phoenixgirl81

When I started mfp last year, I was given 1970 cals per day as a goal to lose 1.5 lbs per week. I am female, 5 ft 10, sedentary at work and at home (I did not exercise at all), and I was 140kg (309 lbs) when I started out. 11 months later, following exactly what mfp told me to do calorie-wise at each stage (and re-evaluating calorie goals ever 3-5 kg lost), I have lost nearly 48 kg (106 lbs) and I am set to run in my first 10 km race next Sunday.

Trust the calorie count mfp gives you. Be honest. Be 100% honest about everything you put in your mouth. It will happen. If you feel hungry on any given day, analyse what you've eaten. See if there's any pattern to the food your eating and your hunger levels. (e.g. I found that if I don't eat enough carbs, I am STARVING. If I have too much sodium, I get bloated, etc) and change it up as necessary.

Don't set yourself unrealistic goals of losing too much too fast. Aim for 1-1.5 lbs per week. It will give your skin time to adjust as well. Don't expect to be able to run or lift heavy or whatever straight off the bat. You need to work towards it, one little bit at a time.

Most importantly, remember if you starve yourself, you will not be able to sustain this long term. There were days where I honestly thought "I can't get those last 300 calories in my mouth" but I had to because I knew from experience if I didn't eat enough then I would be tired, hungry and irritable the next day. This goes for any exercise you do. Eat back your calories burned (or at least half of them) because MFP has calculated your loss based on a calorie deficit already. If you exercise and don't eat back those calories, then you are just making that deficit bigger and bigger and you are slipping back into old habits of not eating enough when on mfp (or in your words, using mfp "wrong").

I'm now sitting at 92.3 kg (203.5 lbs) and I'm eating 1390 calories daily (including eating back my exercise calories). Some days I go over, but that's ok. My maintenance calories are 2130 (that's how much I will have to eat in order to not lose and not gain any weight) so as long as I am under that number then I am still going to lose. Maybe work out your maintenance calories so that you know the number to ensure you are under. I used to stress about going over a bit before I worked out maintenance calories!

Good luck.

phoenixgirl81

Stay hydrated. Eat protein and fat, plenty of veggies, and try not to eat too many carby/sugary things. Fruit is fine, but don't overdose on bananas as snacks, and don't eat too much bread or pasta (or, like me, cut it out). Take some cheese with you to school, or a boiled egg (or both) and have a nice piece of good meat (don't trim off the fat) sometime during the day. The fat is what will fuel you and make you feel full for longer. Nuts, seeds, avocados, all make good snacks. Try to avoid soy. It has phyto-estrogens, which can mess with your hormones (especially if you are male).

I don't normally comment on others' advice, but I feel the need to this time.

I have not cut out carbs. I have two pieces of toast every day for breakfast (sometimes with peanut butter and vegemite, sometimes under my eggs). I eat pasta every so often, and rice at least once or twice per week. I think my weight-loss speaks for itself in this.

Re soy, I am vegetarian. I eat soy all the time. I am also a cancer survivor (cervical cancer) so hormones were something that I was really stressed about. When I started this lifestyle change, I consulted with my GP, gynae-oncologist, and my dietician/nutritionist. ALL of them, independently, after surveying medical research and discussing the various studies with me, said there was no reason for me to avoid soy. They all said that the fat I was carrying was more likely to cause problems for me than the soy was.

RobinV_Seattle

Try it and see what happens. You have to fuel your body.

I was working with a base of 1200 plus eating back my exercise calories. For six weeks, I actually ended up with a gain of 3 pounds - anf I wasn't losing any measurable inches either.

I had an assessment with one of the trainers at the gym and he recommnended I raise my calorie intake to 1800 calories a day, on average, based on the fact that I was working out 5 times a week for about an hour. Last week, I was fighting off a cold and I only worked out for an average of 30-40 minutes 5 days a week, so I kept my calories in the 1500s and I still lost 3.6 pounds last week.

I figure, I'll follow his advice untiol it doesn't work, then I'll pester him for a new plan!

THExNEKOxCHAN

Soy is about 97% GMO nowadays, and owned by companies who have no interest in your health, only in the sale of pesticides. I don't buy it, because I don't encourage companies to poison us. Huge monocrops like soy, corn, and others are causing environmental damage as well, and leaching the nutrients from the ground, which means they then have to use more synthetic fertilizers to make the ground viable for another crop. The GMO genes are killing off the beneficial insects as well as the bad ones, and is the cause for rising food allergies in the world. Soy (like corn and wheat) is in everything nowadays. Check the ingredients lists sometimes. The only soy worth eating is soy that has been properly fermented (natto, or traditionally brewed soy sauce).

I also take conventional doctor's advice with a grain of salt, because a lot of them are pushing the agendas of big medical companies. Instead of focusing on the base problems, they will prescribe pills for quick fixes. There are no quick fixes for good health. Not all do this (some have actually seen the light), so if yours does, awesome. However, I am leery of anyone advocating soy, or low-fat/no-fat, or the "food pyramid". Though some think soy can "fix" female hormone problems, I feel it's not a risk to take. If I have hormone problems already, I don't need soy, I need to focus on fixing my body instead. It's the same reason I don't use birth control: what better way to screw up your body? It's just another patch for underlying problems.

I cut out carbs because the traditional food pyramid is how my weight got so bad. I also suspect a gluten intolerance, found in anything with wheat, and a few other grains as well. I swing more toward protein (such as eggs, grass-fed beef, pork, free range chicken, wild caught fish), fat (butter, coconut oil, clean animal fats, extra virgin olive oil), vegetables (homegrown during the spring, summer and fall) and fresh fruit, because they are simple foods that have no ingredients lists and they leave me satisfied longer without feeling bloated and gassy. Sugar is also on it's way out. The only sweeteners I use now are pure maple syrup and raw honey.

I believe in real food for health. I don't need it tampered with, or soaked in pesticides/herbicides, and I don't want the environment ruined either. This is a problem that is larger than ourselves. We can tell our anecdotes all day long, but it doesn't mean we're solving the bigger issue.