Need Help With MyGoal!

Hey, I think you should give this a read:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

It helped me out and I think it may answer most of your questions. Feel free to add me if you have any other questions beyond that, though I'm no expert.

Hey here's my tips. I've lost 54 pounds in a little over a year. And note I'm 55 years old, have severe arthritis in both knees and smoked for 30 years. I hope this helps so here goes.

#1. The math doesn't lie. That means you have to understand exactly what your calories IN (food & drink) and calories OUT (exercise) is every day. It will become habit but to start you cant be guessing. It's easy to get tripped up.

#2. Play the hand you were dealt. Meaning, I cant eat anything I want like my wife does. Not in my DNA. I'm always one chicken wing away from being heavy. That's my metabolism, that's the way I'm built. Sucks but there it is. Fact.

#3. EAT. The fun part is, you get to eat. Just don't eat garbage. I eat every 2-3 hours. But i eat real food. Lean protein (Chicken, fish, Egg Whites) Complex carbs (Sweet Potato, Brown Rice and vegetables. It's just like the old computer programming axiom "garbage in, garbage out." If it doesn't run, swim, fly, fall from a tree or get pulled from the ground don't eat it. I log every bite honestly into MFP.

#4. Cardio and weights. You MUST do both. Weights first, end with cardio. Warm up properly. The constant tearing down and building up of muscle that is done through weight training will rev up your metabolic rate so you become a calorie burning furnace. Cardio will burn away and use up excess fat stores. Remember muscle is heavier the fat so don't be discouraged by the scale all the time.

#5 I encourage you to subscribe to Men's Health or Men's Fitness magazines You will learn A LOT about health, lifestyle and nutrition from experts and doctors. You will also see how hard all guys work to look like they do! It doesn't come naturally to anyone! I also highly recommend any of the Eat THIS NOT That" books. Amazing to find out how fattening things we eat are that we took for granted!

#6 Know that you will get stuck. There will be weeks when the scale doesn't budge. This is your body trying to adjust to the new intake. When this happens, make an adjustment so your body re-calibrates and starts to release fats stores again. More cardio, less carbs, smaller portions, more protien etc. It's a work in progress an takes vigilance.

#7 Read labels and understand what a SERVING is of any food so you can accurately calculate fat calories and sugars. Avoid High Frutose Corn Syrup. It's simple empty sugar and its in EVERYTHING, even ketchup. Buy the ketchup without it!

#8 I m not a nutritionist. But, I personally lost weight on 1950 calories a day (about 1 pound per week). Understand that is your NET calories not GROSS. Meaning, I ate an actual 2500 calories in a day but through exercise I had 550 calories available in the bank so to speak BECAUSE I exercised so at the end of the day my NET was 1950. See? The only accurate way to know is to wear a heart rate chest strap when you work out or walk. I use a Garmin FR70 which is complete with the watch and strap. It will tell you how many calories you burn walking, jogging, lifting etc. I try to burn at least 600-900 per day via exercise. I take 1-2 days off per week for recovery. 1500 calories for a guy your size is WAY too low. 2000-2500 should be a minimum NET number. Starving like I said (See below) doesn't work. It has the opposite effect in the short term.

#9. You MUST eat. If you take in too few calories your body will think you are in danger of starving and hold on to all fat stores in case of emergency. It's the way we are designed from back in the cave man days when we hunted our food and might not eat for days. It takes trial and error but you will find your own energy equation meaning how much to eat and how much to exercise.

#10. Portion Control. This was one of my BIGGEST problems. For instance a tablespoon of peanut butter is 190 calories. But, I was slapping on at least 4 maybe 5 on a sandwich! That's 950 in one little meal! Never going to lose weight like that! Buy measuring spoons and measuring cups both dry and wet measure. $1 at the dolor store. Just to understand what a serving is.

#11. Man to be 29 and 6'3! Lucky guy! You can do this. It's just math. But you need tools just like any other hobby just like you need picks and strings and be able to tune a guitar. The weight WILL come off. There is physiologically no reason why it wont. Dont fall into the "I've always been big" trap either. It's because your nutrition was always off! I was always big too. Remember it's YOU VS YOU. No one else is making us heavy. Also remember it takes time. Took 29 years to put it on, will take a year at least to get it off. Go slow and steady, IT WILL COME OFF. You'll look better in the end if it comes off gradually while you ADD muscle.

#12. Keep up the good work. Join a gym if you can. Many are only $10 a month here in the north east. Dont be intimidated by anything or anybody. The gym is full of ex heavy people male and female! I was 270 when I started at 5'11. My goal is 190. It's getting harder now that I'm down to 215 but that's just pissing me off! You need more weight training than 10-15 minutes a day. Try to get up to 30-45 minutes 4-5 days a week. Just increase some each week, you'll get there.

#13. Biggest thing i learned from a pro fitness model and body builder friend. It's 70 percent in the kitchen, 30 percent in the gym. No lie. Got to re learn how to eat and prepare your own food.

Ps. Once a week have a cheat day if you need it. Eat anything you want that day within reason. It's good to throw your body a curve ball so it doesn't get too used to the new way of eating and start adjusting again. GOOD LUCK!

Unfortunately a lot of people of fluctuate. But the advice about starving yourself? Not good!

I would suggest evaluating your menu, as well as your calorie count. While MFP is a great resource, having the number verified by a doctor could be important. Here's a link to a great website with healthy recipes:

http://www.myrecipes.com/healthy-recipes/

They have low-calorie recipes, healthy snacks, all kinds of stuff.

I would also suggest stepping up your cardio. Weight lifting is great for toning, and you should definitely keep it up to make sure when you are slimmer that your muscles tighten and tone, but focus on cardio for weight loss.

While it doesn't necessarily help your current situation, I promise the fluctuation is normal. I lost 8 pounds, then gained back 5 in two months. I had to really look at what I was eating, cut my daily calories, and up my cardio A LOT!

Good luck, don't give up!

Listen to your body..Shabl has some great advice use it...I started in November..The first 1st time I weighed in I lost like 3 lbs. Then the next week I gained a pound back that's when I started using MFP...After a week or 2 it became a habit to log in and check everything. The counter says I should loss a 1 1/2 a week..I average 1 a week not sweating it cause it's still coming off just going to take a little longer than I wanted. But the first week or 2 where the hardest for me because I did the same thing. Just don't give up. Maybe try weighing the same time of the day once a week it does make a difference.

I got an email from one of the members on MFP and they said In order to lose weight you must burn more calories than you eat a day, So if you eat 1,500 cals in a day you need to burn 1,850 aday.

So to me it sound I need to starve! Or I need to eat 400- 800 cals in order to lose weight? I am all confused!!!!

I am very concerned that a MFP member would tell you you need to burn more than you eat.

Your deficit is already built I to your MFP goal, eat back your exercise calories and hit your goals and you will lose weight.

I have just want to look good and fell good about myself! I have never had a girl to look at me let alone talk with me so I feel if I lose the weight I will look better FYI.

Again Any hlep is great!

Are you kidding? You look good now. You need to lose weight sure, but you look good.

DON'T starve yourself! The MINIMIUM for an adult female to eat is 1200 calories/day, if you eat less and you are a larger male then your body can't manage and you will get sick. When I first started I felt as though I was eating too little (the goal MFP gave me was 1200, which I still personally think is too low cause I work in a restaurant and move constantly). Anyways... here's some math I did to adjust my thinking on things I should eat

cucumber- 1 cup of slices- 16 calories
celery- 1 cup chopped 14 calories
baby carrots- 100 g (about 16 baby carrots)- 35 calories

granny smith apple (medium)- 40 calories
peach (medium)- 68 calories
plum (medium)- 30 calories
strawberries- 1/2 cup- 25 calories
blueberries- 100 gr- 69 calories
grape tomato- 8 tomatoes- 16 calories
carrots- 1 cup- 52 calories
orange- 85 calories
banana (chiquita)- 105 calories
Mcdonalds grill chicken breast only- 90 calories
Yoplait Source yogurt Raspberry- 150ml- 53 calories

TOTAL: 698 Calories

PAPA JOHN'S CANADIAN PIZZA- 2 slices (cause I can never eat just one lol)= 698 calories

Obviously calories aren't the only thing that matters (protein, fat, sugars, etc), but I find this comparison helped me to stay on track I'll save the Papa John's (cause it's soooooo good!!!!) for a special occasion or cheat day

Well done Shabl
Scorpion, just put one foot in front of the other. There's no magic - except for the great Community on MFP.
Good luck!

Hey here's my tips. I've lost 54 pounds in a little over a year. And note I'm 55 years old, have severe arthritis in both knees and smoked for 30 years. I hope this helps so here goes.

#1. The math doesn't lie. That means you have to understand exactly what your calories IN (food & drink) and calories OUT (exercise) is every day. It will become habit but to start you cant be guessing. It's easy to get tripped up.

#2. Play the hand you were dealt. Meaning, I cant eat anything I want like my wife does. Not in my DNA. I'm always one chicken wing away from being heavy. That's my metabolism, that's the way I'm built. Sucks but there it is. Fact.

#3. EAT. The fun part is, you get to eat. Just don't eat garbage. I eat every 2-3 hours. But i eat real food. Lean protein (Chicken, fish, Egg Whites) Complex carbs (Sweet Potato, Brown Rice and vegetables. It's just like the old computer programming axiom "garbage in, garbage out." If it doesn't run, swim, fly, fall from a tree or get pulled from the ground don't eat it. I log every bite honestly into MFP.

#4. Cardio and weights. You MUST do both. Weights first, end with cardio. Warm up properly. The constant tearing down and building up of muscle that is done through weight training will rev up your metabolic rate so you become a calorie burning furnace. Cardio will burn away and use up excess fat stores. Remember muscle is heavier the fat so don't be discouraged by the scale all the time.

#5 I encourage you to subscribe to Men's Health or Men's Fitness magazines You will learn A LOT about health, lifestyle and nutrition from experts and doctors. You will also see how hard all guys work to look like they do! It doesn't come naturally to anyone! I also highly recommend any of the Eat THIS NOT That" books. Amazing to find out how fattening things we eat are that we took for granted!

#6 Know that you will get stuck. There will be weeks when the scale doesn't budge. This is your body trying to adjust to the new intake. When this happens, make an adjustment so your body re-calibrates and starts to release fats stores again. More cardio, less carbs, smaller portions, more protien etc. It's a work in progress an takes vigilance.

#7 Read labels and understand what a SERVING is of any food so you can accurately calculate fat calories and sugars. Avoid High Frutose Corn Syrup. It's simple empty sugar and its in EVERYTHING, even ketchup. Buy the ketchup without it!

#8 I m not a nutritionist. But, I personally lost weight on 1950 calories a day (about 1 pound per week). Understand that is your NET calories not GROSS. Meaning, I ate an actual 2500 calories in a day but through exercise I had 550 calories available in the bank so to speak BECAUSE I exercised so at the end of the day my NET was 1950. See? The only accurate way to know is to wear a heart rate chest strap when you work out or walk. I use a Garmin FR70 which is complete with the watch and strap. It will tell you how many calories you burn walking, jogging, lifting etc. I try to burn at least 600-900 per day via exercise. I take 1-2 days off per week for recovery. 1500 calories for a guy your size is WAY too low. 2000-2500 should be a minimum NET number. Starving like I said (See below) doesn't work. It has the opposite effect in the short term.

#9. You MUST eat. If you take in too few calories your body will think you are in danger of starving and hold on to all fat stores in case of emergency. It's the way we are designed from back in the cave man days when we hunted our food and might not eat for days. It takes trial and error but you will find your own energy equation meaning how much to eat and how much to exercise.

#10. Portion Control. This was one of my BIGGEST problems. For instance a tablespoon of peanut butter is 190 calories. But, I was slapping on at least 4 maybe 5 on a sandwich! That's 950 in one little meal! Never going to lose weight like that! Buy measuring spoons and measuring cups both dry and wet measure. $1 at the dolor store. Just to understand what a serving is.

#11. Man to be 29 and 6'3! Lucky guy! You can do this. It's just math. But you need tools just like any other hobby just like you need picks and strings and be able to tune a guitar. The weight WILL come off. There is physiologically no reason why it wont. Dont fall into the "I've always been big" trap either. It's because your nutrition was always off! I was always big too. Remember it's YOU VS YOU. No one else is making us heavy. Also remember it takes time. Took 29 years to put it on, will take a year at least to get it off. Go slow and steady, IT WILL COME OFF. You'll look better in the end if it comes off gradually while you ADD muscle.

#12. Keep up the good work. Join a gym if you can. Many are only $10 a month here in the north east. Dont be intimidated by anything or anybody. The gym is full of ex heavy people male and female! I was 270 when I started at 5'11. My goal is 190. It's getting harder now that I'm down to 215 but that's just pissing me off! You need more weight training than 10-15 minutes a day. Try to get up to 30-45 minutes 4-5 days a week. Just increase some each week, you'll get there.

#13. Biggest thing i learned from a pro fitness model and body builder friend. It's 70 percent in the kitchen, 30 percent in the gym. No lie. Got to re learn how to eat and prepare your own food.

Ps. Once a week have a cheat day if you need it. Eat anything you want that day within reason. It's good to throw your body a curve ball so it doesn't get too used to the new way of eating and start adjusting again. GOOD LUCK!

^^^^^I really like it when good people take the time out to give people great advice!

Hey here's my tips. I've lost 54 pounds in a little over a year. And note I'm 55 years old, have severe arthritis in both knees and smoked for 30 years. I hope this helps so here goes.

#1. The math doesn't lie. That means you have to understand exactly what your calories IN (food & drink) and calories OUT (exercise) is every day. It will become habit but to start you cant be guessing. It's easy to get tripped up.

#2. Play the hand you were dealt. Meaning, I cant eat anything I want like my wife does. Not in my DNA. I'm always one chicken wing away from being heavy. That's my metabolism, that's the way I'm built. Sucks but there it is. Fact.

#3. EAT. The fun part is, you get to eat. Just don't eat garbage. I eat every 2-3 hours. But i eat real food. Lean protein (Chicken, fish, Egg Whites) Complex carbs (Sweet Potato, Brown Rice and vegetables. It's just like the old computer programming axiom "garbage in, garbage out." If it doesn't run, swim, fly, fall from a tree or get pulled from the ground don't eat it. I log every bite honestly into MFP.

#4. Cardio and weights. You MUST do both. Weights first, end with cardio. Warm up properly. The constant tearing down and building up of muscle that is done through weight training will rev up your metabolic rate so you become a calorie burning furnace. Cardio will burn away and use up excess fat stores. Remember muscle is heavier the fat so don't be discouraged by the scale all the time.

#5 I encourage you to subscribe to Men's Health or Men's Fitness magazines You will learn A LOT about health, lifestyle and nutrition from experts and doctors. You will also see how hard all guys work to look like they do! It doesn't come naturally to anyone! I also highly recommend any of the Eat THIS NOT That" books. Amazing to find out how fattening things we eat are that we took for granted!

#6 Know that you will get stuck. There will be weeks when the scale doesn't budge. This is your body trying to adjust to the new intake. When this happens, make an adjustment so your body re-calibrates and starts to release fats stores again. More cardio, less carbs, smaller portions, more protien etc. It's a work in progress an takes vigilance.

#7 Read labels and understand what a SERVING is of any food so you can accurately calculate fat calories and sugars. Avoid High Frutose Corn Syrup. It's simple empty sugar and its in EVERYTHING, even ketchup. Buy the ketchup without it!

#8 I m not a nutritionist. But, I personally lost weight on 1950 calories a day (about 1 pound per week). Understand that is your NET calories not GROSS. Meaning, I ate an actual 2500 calories in a day but through exercise I had 550 calories available in the bank so to speak BECAUSE I exercised so at the end of the day my NET was 1950. See? The only accurate way to know is to wear a heart rate chest strap when you work out or walk. I use a Garmin FR70 which is complete with the watch and strap. It will tell you how many calories you burn walking, jogging, lifting etc. I try to burn at least 600-900 per day via exercise. I take 1-2 days off per week for recovery. 1500 calories for a guy your size is WAY too low. 2000-2500 should be a minimum NET number. Starving like I said (See below) doesn't work. It has the opposite effect in the short term.

#9. You MUST eat. If you take in too few calories your body will think you are in danger of starving and hold on to all fat stores in case of emergency. It's the way we are designed from back in the cave man days when we hunted our food and might not eat for days. It takes trial and error but you will find your own energy equation meaning how much to eat and how much to exercise.

#10. Portion Control. This was one of my BIGGEST problems. For instance a tablespoon of peanut butter is 190 calories. But, I was slapping on at least 4 maybe 5 on a sandwich! That's 950 in one little meal! Never going to lose weight like that! Buy measuring spoons and measuring cups both dry and wet measure. $1 at the dolor store. Just to understand what a serving is.

#11. Man to be 29 and 6'3! Lucky guy! You can do this. It's just math. But you need tools just like any other hobby just like you need picks and strings and be able to tune a guitar. The weight WILL come off. There is physiologically no reason why it wont. Dont fall into the "I've always been big" trap either. It's because your nutrition was always off! I was always big too. Remember it's YOU VS YOU. No one else is making us heavy. Also remember it takes time. Took 29 years to put it on, will take a year at least to get it off. Go slow and steady, IT WILL COME OFF. You'll look better in the end if it comes off gradually while you ADD muscle.

#12. Keep up the good work. Join a gym if you can. Many are only $10 a month here in the north east. Dont be intimidated by anything or anybody. The gym is full of ex heavy people male and female! I was 270 when I started at 5'11. My goal is 190. It's getting harder now that I'm down to 215 but that's just pissing me off! You need more weight training than 10-15 minutes a day. Try to get up to 30-45 minutes 4-5 days a week. Just increase some each week, you'll get there.

#13. Biggest thing i learned from a pro fitness model and body builder friend. It's 70 percent in the kitchen, 30 percent in the gym. No lie. Got to re learn how to eat and prepare your own food.

Ps. Once a week have a cheat day if you need it. Eat anything you want that day within reason. It's good to throw your body a curve ball so it doesn't get too used to the new way of eating and start adjusting again. GOOD LUCK!

^^^^^I really like it when good people take the time out to give people great advice!

Agree...not much else to say here. this is some awesome advice

Hey I only started two weeks ago, and Shabi's advice is so sound! You have to realise that when you are heavy it takes a LOT more calories just to lie there and breathe, so do not starve yourself! you need to stick with your allowed total calories and buy more with exercise, just walking around will do for a start. The size of your portions is very important, try a small plate and a much smaller bowl so you cant fit as much on it!
Forget the scales, see how yr clothes are fitting you -much better to feel them not as tight.

You will get there - you are handsome already, when you have lost 12 lbs it will feel so much better and you will start to look even better. By the time you get close to your goal you will be turning heads as you walk down the street. Just think about that as often as you need to.:flowerforyou: