Dieting for a newbie?

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csearcher34
csearcher34 Posts: 78
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,
I recently started college a few months ago and I've already gained 7 lbs! I''m 5'6'' and weigh 131 lbs. The weight that I feel best at is 120lbs. I'm not sure what to do to lose these 11 lbs! I walk about 3 miles everyday (just from going to classes and such). And I hit the gym about 4x a week for the elliptical/bike...I want to lose weight, but I'm not sure how much calories I need to eat! I don't want the whole starvation mode thing to happen, but I obviously need some type of deficit...Can someone help me out? Thanks!

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  • QuietLegs
    QuietLegs Posts: 42
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    Open up your diary for specific advice.

    For general advice:

    Set a weight loss goal - 1 pound a week is probably the most reasonable, healthy weight loss goal for someone in your situation.

    Eat the calories MFP tells you to eat. Don't worry overly much about the protein/carbs/fats, although upping your protein is usually a good idea.

    You *can* eat back your exercise calories, but honestly, I'd recommend not eating *all* of them back, mostly because the general tendency for people is to underestimate food intake, and overestimate calorie burn. Plus, the exercise calorie estimations are just that - estimations, and if I'm trying to lose weight, I also err on the assumption that I'm burning less calories than those listed.
  • BehindBlueEyes988
    BehindBlueEyes988 Posts: 433
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    From what I learned, and gained, starting college it could easily be the schools food (providing you are on their meal plan). They make much of their food in massive amounts, lacking most nutritional value and adding lots of terrible things you probably aren't use to eating. I gained 30, yes 30 lbs!, when I started college. It was terrible. Your best bet would to be limiting what bad foods you eat there and try to get some greens in your dorm room to help even out the school's food.
  • EatClenTrenHard
    EatClenTrenHard Posts: 339 Member
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    no such thing as starvation mode.

    what do you consider bad foods?
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
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    Are you sure all that weight gain is fat? If going to college represented a dramatic increase in exercise for you, you could be building muscle.

    Assuming it is fat, then here's the basics of weightloss. You need to figure out two numbers: BMR and TDEE. BMR (basal metabolic rate) is how many calories your body uses per day for basic functions, like breathing, pumping blood, digestion, etc. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is how many calories your body burns per day total. In order to lose weight in a healthy manner, you need to be eating daily calories below that amount. In general, the closer you are to a healthy weight, the more slowly you should be losing weight, so you may want to target losing only 1/2 lb. per week.

    Here's a good website to figure out what your goals should be: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • EatClenTrenHard
    EatClenTrenHard Posts: 339 Member
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    http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

    use this calculator.
  • csearcher34
    csearcher34 Posts: 78
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    Hi, I unlocked my food diary for an example of what I ate yesterday. This was a day that I tried to eat healthier on.
  • csearcher34
    csearcher34 Posts: 78
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    I calculated my TDEE which is 2002 and my 20% cut is 1669...If i eat this amount of calories and exercise how soon should i expect the weight i've gained to come off?
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
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    With only 11lbs to your goal weight a 20% cut on your TDEE is normally considered too steep - 10% is what most will say for being that close to your goal. Health recommended loss for you would be .5/week so if everything goes as expected (it rarely does) and you are totally bang on your TDEE and maintain your workouts then you're looking at roughly Early to Mid January barring any other issues ;)

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