I can't eat this much & lose weight

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Replies

  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
    If you're eating the dairy, fruits, veggies, protein, and carbs you're supposed to, you won't have any trouble going to or above 1200 cals a day. You need to shoot for nutritional value in the foods you eat. Yes, I'm eating a lot. Some days I get 1800 calories (I'm on maintenance now) depending on the exercise I do. I generally eat a snack (around 200 cals) before I run and then eat a meal about an hour after I run. I have never eaten so much on a diet before. That's the point. This is a whole lifestyle change. I'm exercising now and my body needs those calories to maintain my current weight. Yes you can eat what it says and lose weight. I did it. I always ate within 50 calories of what MFP told me to. I also met my goal. You have to let go of your preconceived notions of what a diet is and let this process work.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    dulcy, I'm in complete agreement with everyone on here about making sure you eat enough. One thing I'll caution you about though, if you up your calories quickly (one other poster mentioned this too!) you may see an immediate small weight gain, That's fine, it's to be expected, for a few weeks your body won't be expecting, nor will it know what to do with, the extra calories; so it will store some as fat. There are two ways to handle this:
    1) accept it, that fat will come off super fast once your body recognizes that this is a permanent change, maybe after 2 or 3 weeks or so (it varies).

    2) slow the calorie increase down to about 50 to 100 calories a week. This way the body isn't seeing drastic increases all at once, and it will give your body time to adjust.


    both ways require 2 to 4 weeks to kick into effect, but both work for you. It just depends on what your preference is.
  • dulcy
    dulcy Posts: 69 Member
    dulcy, I'm in complete agreement with everyone on here about making sure you eat enough. One thing I'll caution you about though, if you up your calories quickly (one other poster mentioned this too!) you may see an immediate small weight gain, That's fine, it's to be expected, for a few weeks your body won't be expecting, nor will it know what to do with, the extra calories; so it will store some as fat. There are two ways to handle this:
    1) accept it, that fat will come off super fast once your body recognizes that this is a permanent change, maybe after 2 or 3 weeks or so (it varies).

    2) slow the calorie increase down to about 50 to 100 calories a week. This way the body isn't seeing drastic increases all at once, and it will give your body time to adjust.


    both ways require 2 to 4 weeks to kick into effect, but both work for you. It just depends on what your preference is.

    I understand what you're saying SHBoss1673. I think my body must be very confused right now:embarassed: so I'm kind of not expecting too much in terms of actual weight loss to start with. I've just started back here at MFP, so have gone from eating whatever I felt like, to putting myself on a strict 'diet', which wasn't good for me either.
    I've gone out today & stocked up on fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds & trail mix, and I'm going to aim for eating my 1200 cal a day, as some days I was eating about 800. I think for me it's been about getting past the fear factor & realising that my body knows what to do if I just put the right stuff in it!:smile:
    I'm staying off the scales for a couple of weeks so that I don't get downhearted although getting my jeans on today was a lot easier than it has been for a while, so that's good enough for me:wink:

    Thanks for your input x
  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
    I started out at 1200 plus exercise calories and lost quite a bit (10 pounds in a month). Then my weight loss just stopped. I then increased my calories to between 1350 and 1400 and started losing again. I agree with the person who said just make small adjustments. They can sometimes cause big changes. I never thought I'd be able to eat as much as I do and maintain my weight.
  • loveslightwings
    loveslightwings Posts: 4
    That's what I do. I drop my calories by 100 calories each week. I'm fairly good and I manage to stick with it but I have had some issues recently in that I havent changed my diet or exercise yet I'm still maintaining the weight. It's really really annoying! I lost 10 pounds in the first 2 weeks. Since then...I've just maintained :(
  • NotLuigiTM
    NotLuigiTM Posts: 21
    HI,
    I'm going under my calories everyday simply because I know if I eat more than I am at the moment I will not lose the weight.:frown:
    I'm eating 3 meals a day typically 2 weetabix for breakfast with skimmed milk, a low cal soup & banana for lunch & then for dinner something like chicken veggies & rice, or a small portion of a pasta dish. Whatever the rest of the family are having, just a smaller portion as we eat pretty healthily. If I need to snack I have an apple or a calorie counted bar such as special K under 100 cals. I probably have 2-3 cups of tea or coffee a day & the rest of the time drink water or sugar free squash.

    I'm supposed to aim for 1200 cal a day, but I walk everyday so add that on for exercise, usaully around another 300 cal is added, but most days I'm still just under 1000 cals. If I eat more I'd be eating for the sake of it:noway:

    I keep getting the starvation mode warning, but like I say if I eat more a) the weight won't come off & b) I'll be eating just for the sake of it, as I'm not hungry!!

    Just in case you need to know I'm 5'7 tall and about 148lbs hoping to get down to around 130lbs

    Any suggestions or advice?? xxx

    UNDER CALORIES RECOMMENDED IS WRONG WRONG WRONG AND WILL PUT BODY IN SURVIVAL MODE

    This method has worked for me and last week I lost 3 lbs. Total of 26 lost since November 16th, 2009. So I am living proof and this past week from Monday to Monday (I weigh in on Monday only) I ate 2 fresco beef tacos from taco bell and I had 1 suggested portion of Peppridge Farm Triple layer fudge cake and 1 serving of ice cream with it and still lost the 3 lbs. It is about eating your suggested number of calories so that you are eating enough. According to the Biggest Loser if you cut your calories too low your body will start to store food as fat. I eat about 1570 for my weight 216 and height 5 ft 6 in. Most times I am at the mark or just a few over or under. It is what my body needs to lose weight. Want to know more just ask me. If you look at the suggested number of calories from this site and eat that many or just a little more along with exercise you will do well. Do not do a FAD diet like weight watchers, Jenny Craig, South Beach or Atkins etc. Do a lifestyle change that is really what you need to do. Learn how to eat all kinds of food. You will feel much more full and less likely to binge on the foods you do love. One thing that I can tell you is PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN and less Carbs yes but do not throw out all carbs. I also ate rice and Mac & Cheese. I used to think that those suggested serving sizes on the package or box were for kids but now I realize that eating that much will fill me out. Also use a lot of salad (Spinach more then lettuce) and green veggies and fruits in your meals too. Good Luck. I hope this helps. Too Few calories and you wont lose...Too Many and you wont lose...It is about eating just enough to lose!

    Only a banana for breakfast is a bad idea. You need to eat more calories in the day and less as the day goes on. you should have protein protein protein. a much more filling meal is 9 grams of protein or more which will help you stay fuller longer. If you have a carb loaded meal, you will feel full but the fullness will wear off quite quickly and you will be hungry sooner. (Hence why Chinese makes you hungry after 2 hours). That whole thing about Low Fat and eating less does not work. You screw up your Metabolism if you do not eat enough cause then your body goes into survival mode. Good Luck.
  • NotLuigiTM
    NotLuigiTM Posts: 21
    So, here's a little experience for you.
    5 years ago I lost 40 pounds. Essentially by starving myself. I was eating 1400 calories a day (Of lower quality foods. I ate a lot of "low fat" and "diet" stuff... didn't know better) and was walking probably somewhere around 30-40 miles a week. I plateaued around 210 for a month. There was no way I could decrease what I was eating (since I was eating the wrong stuff) without being extremely hungry all the time. I gave up. And then gained about 60 pounds over the next 4 years.

    Why couldn't I get past that plateau? I wasn't eating enough!

    This time, I started out eating 1200 calories. Lost almost all of that 60 pounds I had just gained in about 4.5 months. Then, BAM, mega-plateau at the exact same weight as last time. This time, thanks to the sticky posts on MFP, I knew what to do. So I started increasing my calories and slowly but surely the weight started coming off again. I'm still struggling to find the right calorie intake. I'll increase it & then a week or two later drop a crazy amount of weight and then plateau again so I increase my calories again and then a couple weeks later drop a ton of weight and then plateau again for a couple weeks & increase again. I've gone through the cycle 3 times now. I've gone from eating 1200 calories a day regardless of exercise to 1330 calories a day plus about 50-75% of my exercise calories (which usually equals 1500-1900 calories a day depending on what exercise I do). Guess what-- I just dropped weight again this week for the first time in 3 weeks 2 days after having 4 "off" days in a row when I ate about 2200 calories each day!! :noway: So, it looks like I'm *still* not eating enough.

    No wonder I'm the lightest I've ever been as an adult. I don't think I would have ever figured out I needed to eat *more* to continue losing weight.

    YOU ARE DOING IT JUST RIGHT!!! KEEP IT UP!!!
  • auttyfrmca
    auttyfrmca Posts: 125 Member
    UNDER CALORIES RECOMMENDED IS WRONG WRONG WRONG AND WILL PUT BODY IN SURVIVAL MODE

    This method has worked for me and last week I lost 3 lbs. Total of 26 lost since November 16th, 2009. So I am living proof and this past week from Monday to Monday (I weigh in on Monday only) I ate 2 fresco beef tacos from taco bell and I had 1 suggested portion of Peppridge Farm Triple layer fudge cake and 1 serving of ice cream with it and still lost the 3 lbs. It is about eating your suggested number of calories so that you are eating enough. According to the Biggest Loser if you cut your calories too low your body will start to store food as fat. I eat about 1570 for my weight 216 and height 5 ft 6 in. Most times I am at the mark or just a few over or under. It is what my body needs to lose weight. Want to know more just ask me. If you look at the suggested number of calories from this site and eat that many or just a little more along with exercise you will do well. Do not do a FAD diet like weight watchers, Jenny Craig, South Beach or Atkins etc. Do a lifestyle change that is really what you need to do. Learn how to eat all kinds of food. You will feel much more full and less likely to binge on the foods you do love. One thing that I can tell you is PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN and less Carbs yes but do not throw out all carbs. I also ate rice and Mac & Cheese. I used to think that those suggested serving sizes on the package or box were for kids but now I realize that eating that much will fill me out. Also use a lot of salad (Spinach more then lettuce) and green veggies and fruits in your meals too. Good Luck. I hope this helps. Too Few calories and you wont lose...Too Many and you wont lose...It is about eating just enough to lose!

    Only a banana for breakfast is a bad idea. You need to eat more calories in the day and less as the day goes on. you should have protein protein protein. a much more filling meal is 9 grams of protein or more which will help you stay fuller longer. If you have a carb loaded meal, you will feel full but the fullness will wear off quite quickly and you will be hungry sooner. (Hence why Chinese makes you hungry after 2 hours). That whole thing about Low Fat and eating less does not work. You screw up your Metabolism if you do not eat enough cause then your body goes into survival mode. Good Luck.
    [/quote]


    Weight watchers isn't considered a fad diet. It's considered a lifestyle change because you are supposed to learn how to control your portions and eat healthy foods if you follow the plan. There is a maintainence that you gives you the "points" and knowledge to keep the weight off.
    The other diets you have to eat their food and from my understanding it's harder to maintain.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    Weight watchers isn't considered a fad diet. It's considered a lifestyle change because you are supposed to learn how to control your portions and eat healthy foods if you follow the plan. There is a maintainence that you gives you the "points" and knowledge to keep the weight off.
    The other diets you have to eat their food and from my understanding it's harder to maintain.


    Weight Watchers works for some people. If you can get to regular meetings.If you like listening to other people complain. If you feel like PAYING $15-20 a week to have someone weigh you.:wink:

    I prefer the ease, convenience, and 24-7 availability of Myfitness pal and my cyber-friends. No shower necessary, no driving. And I can find much better ways to spend that $60-80 dollars a month.
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