Still new to this--help!

amosmoses88
amosmoses88 Posts: 163 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Okay, so right now I'm sitting at 230ish pounds 5'1" tall. I've been doing 30 minute exercises daily. (Today was 25 sigh) But I need help. I'm told I need to eat more calories. Okay, I get that. But what about all my other nutrients? I'd like to keep my sugar low. I go over my protein in hopes of it helping (I have been drinking a protein shake every day for lunch) and I know I gotta keep my sodium under for water retention. I try to drink water, still struggling with that lol. I've been hearing people talk about the TDEE and I'm lost on it. I can never figure in how many minutes I spend doing what and I don't do any vigorous stuff due to a disability. I do low impact cardio and low impact Pilates and walking with Leslie Sansone and walking when I go grocery shopping of course LOL. Which is like 2-3 hrs long every 2 weeks. So where am I going wrong? Im supposed to lose 2lbs a week, and Im wondering if I should take my calories up but if I do, what about all my other nutrients? Just worry about my cals or all of them? (I'm at 1200 cals right now, I know. But I can't eat higher cals without going over everything else.) Help! Sorry so long lol

Replies

  • amosmoses88
    amosmoses88 Posts: 163 Member
    That was supposed to say 15 minute exercise today
  • Aquaman74
    Aquaman74 Posts: 5
    Read this, it will help you

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • amosmoses88
    amosmoses88 Posts: 163 Member
    I'm doing this now. So should I watch my other nutrients such as carbs and such or just my calories? He doesn't say. Just says about calories. But I guess MFP will calculate that for me in a few. lol.
  • Aquaman74
    Aquaman74 Posts: 5
    Burn more calories than you take in and you will lose weight. You could eat nothing but donuts and if you stay under your calorie goal you will lose weight. Will you be healthy? Probably not, you'll weigh less, but your arteries will hate you. A nicer way to say it yes, but you should be watching your Carbs/Protein/Fat intake. MFP does a decent job of that
  • kaylinn9
    kaylinn9 Posts: 112
    So you know that
    1 pound = 3,500 calories....right?

    Well, seeing that if you eat smaller portions and exercise more often, you're going to see that margin of 3,500 (or more) at the end of the week. Losing weight, the healthy way, should be a slow process - give this about 3-6 weeks before giving up or feeling discouraged. I know I've felt discouraged when I thought I wasn't losing at all, but this really does take time.

    Don't give up on yourself.

    Friend request me if you have any more questions!
  • srm1960
    srm1960 Posts: 281 Member
    Burn more calories than you take in and you will lose weight. You could eat nothing but donuts and if you stay under your calorie goal you will lose weight. Will you be healthy? Probably not, you'll weigh less, but your arteries will hate you. A nicer way to say it yes, but you should be watching your Carbs/Protein/Fat intake. MFP does a decent job of that
    :bigsmile:
    This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^-also chug back your water-& boost your workouts-whatever you can do-to burn more calories off-:heart:
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    Don't get wrapped up in all the macro/micronutrient stuff. Just aim for a calorie target. You can either use the method outlined in the "In Place of a Roadmap" post above, or you can set a modest goal via MFP. If you use MFP's system and have your lifestyle factor set to "sedentary", put in that you want to lose 1 lb/week and then eat the calories it gives you plus the calories you burn exercising.

    Once you've been hitting your calorie target and you're seeing some success with weight loss, you can begin changing things up and making it more complicated: setting macro goals, protein targets, sodium/potassium/fiber targets... but don't worry about that for now.

    The best things you can do are to hit your calorie target daily, drink lots of water, aim for protein at every meal and higher fiber foods where you can. Stay away from sugar-free/fat-free/diet/non-foods. They won't help you.

    It's not as hard as it seems. You can do this.
  • Aquaman74
    Aquaman74 Posts: 5
    Don't get wrapped up in all the macro/micronutrient stuff. Just aim for a calorie target. You can either use the method outlined in the "In Place of a Roadmap" post above, or you can set a modest goal via MFP. If you use MFP's system and have your lifestyle factor set to "sedentary", put in that you want to lose 1 lb/week and then eat the calories it gives you plus the calories you burn exercising.

    Once you've been hitting your calorie target and you're seeing some success with weight loss, you can begin changing things up and making it more complicated: setting macro goals, protein targets, sodium/potassium/fiber targets... but don't worry about that for now.

    The best things you can do are to hit your calorie target daily, drink lots of water, aim for protein at every meal and higher fiber foods where you can. Stay away from sugar-free/fat-free/diet/non-foods. They won't help you.

    It's not as hard as it seems. You can do this.

    ^^^Yeah - that's the much nicer way to say it :smile:
  • amosmoses88
    amosmoses88 Posts: 163 Member
    Thanks for the advice. I'm just tracking my calories right now. I can get closer to my calories now, but still go over on sugar. I am guilty of the sugar free stuff because I want to watch my sugar loosely. I have PCOS, so I need to keep that in check. The more weight I lose, the better that will get. I lost 2 more lbs this week, so that's a good start. I think maybe the calorie increase helped.
  • jackiejillie
    jackiejillie Posts: 1
    Hi. I am really new at this. Just found this site a few days ago. Have started trying to lose weight for a few weeks. I use a shake from Visalus. I add strawberrie and bannana. Well since I started with this site just yesterday. Guess who will be leaving out a whole bannana. I am trying to lose at least 2lbs a week. I have NEVER owned a scale. I have never let the Dr. tell me how much I way. I have always went by how my clothes fit. But I am thinking maybe I should buy that scale. And the exersice thing, well not so much. I have signed up to join the YMCA next week. I am going to start with water aerobics. I have so much weight to lose. I live in Washington state near the shore where there is a bit of rain. ( avg.84 in a yr ) So much for walking in winter. Okay, can you tell I like to whine. maybe we can help each other. Good luck. If you find something that works let me know. Oh, and did I say I love sugar?:smile:

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