How am I doing so far?

TheShrinkingKween

I am fairly new to MFP, and I am wondering what your opinions are on how I am doing so far. I know I am by no means perfect, but, from those of you who have done this for a while and had successes, what suggestions would you make? Just a quick run down... I am 38 years old, 5'7", and started at around 290 pounds. My goal is to fit into my daughter's size 14 jeans by the end of the year, and to look good in a swimsuit by my cruise that leaves the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I know those goals are vague, but for me, it's more about inches lost than pounds. I know I will gain muscle mass throughout this process, so I don't necessarily think weight is a good judge of things. My beginning measurements can be found in my blog at http://moveoverfat.blogspot.com/ and my profile on here is open. Thanks in advance for any advice!

TheShrinkingKween

Would really love some input here folks! Thanks!

CristinaL1983

I'm not really sure what you want input on. I'm the same height as you and fit into a size 14 pants at about 185 lbs (? I can't remember exactly but I'm in a 10/12 at 168). So it looks to me like you are trying to lose 100+ lbs by the end of the year?

That's a lot of weight pretty fast. I perused through your diary and in my opinion, it will be a lot easier for you to stick to your calorie goals (long term) if you add in a lot of veggies. It also doesn't look like you are weighing your foods since the serving sizes you chose are kind of the "standard serving sizes." Weighing your food can make a world of difference. It is very easy to underestimate how much food you are eating. The package of bacon I have says that a serving size is 3 slices but also lists the weight. When I weigh them, the serving size is actually only 2 slices.

Gaining muscle mass is not going to do anything really to your rate of loss. Even when people are bulking (eating more than their maintenance calories to build muscle) the expectation is that you can build 1/2 lb of muscle per month. For most people losing weight the most you can gain is 1/4 to 1/2 lb per month. You should still be expecting to lose a good amount of weight. Definitely use a measuring tape for progress as well. And, be wary of how many calories MFP tells you that you earned during exercise. I think they are over by a good bit (I have nothing to base this on but they seem pretty high).

If you have more specific questions, people will probably be able to help you more. Best of Luck!

jonnythan

Your BMR is like 2000 calories, making your sedentary TDEE 2400 before exercise. You have enough weight to lose that 1000 calorie deficit is fine, so your target of 1350 is fine. You seem to be pushing that up to 1500+ some days though by not eating back enough exercise calories. So you want to be careful with that. I also see a few days you went way over, which isn't the worst thing in the world but you have to stay focused. It's a long road.

It's not at all a given that you "will gain muscle mass throughout this process" though, especially since you have so much weight to lose. You'll probably lose muscle mass - but, think about it and realize that right now you have roughly the same leg strength as a 120-lb girl who can squat 170 lbs!

I generally advocate heavy lifting, but I think you can get away with more basic strength training and move into bodyweight training when you can. That'll help you preserve the most muscle mass.

Focus a bit more on the protein, too. The faster you're losing weight the more important the protein intake is. Try to get at least 100g every day.

But, besides that, good for you! You're actually not doing badly as far as I can see. If you keep up what you're doing, you will have great success, but consider what I say above to maximize it.

TheShrinkingKween

Thanks for the input!!! I had already felt like I needed to do better with the protein, but you clarified that for me. I do worry that I am not getting enough calories some days. But I feel like I eat and eat and eat. Any suggestions for additional, lower sodium protein sources besides the usual meats, beans and nuts? I don't really like nuts, but I have already bought some pinto beans so I can start working those in more.

jonnythan

Thanks for the input!!! I had already felt like I needed to do better with the protein, but you clarified that for me. I do worry that I am not getting enough calories some days. But I feel like I eat and eat and eat. Any suggestions for additional, lower sodium protein sources besides the usual meats, beans and nuts? I don't really like nuts, but I have already bought some pinto beans so I can start working those in more.

A lot of people will shout "eat real food!" which doesn't make a lot of sense, but I love protein powder as a way to get more protein. Protein powder is food (whey is the protein left over after you make cheese from milk, and most blends contain egg, soy, or other milk proteins). It's not like chicken has some bonus nutrients that protein powder doesn't have. Besides, it's super easy to drink. You can mix some powder with 4-6 ounces of water and have as much protein as a 4 ounce piece of chicken. Way more convenient.

Beans are great; they have some protein, but they also have tons of fiber. There's like 7 grams each of fiber and protein in 100 calories worth of pinto beans. Definitely a good choice.

I'm a big fan of Syntrax Matrix protein. It's a blend of whey, egg, and milk protein that tastes very good and is very inexpensive on Amazon. (The "Matrix 2.0" just means a 2 lb tub, and the "Matrix 5.0" is a 5-lb Zip-loc style bag.)

Protein is made of amino acids and that's the primary component of muscle. So you need to give your muscles enough food to maintain and repair themselves. That's why protein is so important.

Best of luck.