why I am here and a help question

bio01979
bio01979 Posts: 313
in Introduce Yourself
So, I have been very fit for most of my life and I ate "normal" - not a ton of food, reasonable portions, decent food mostly non pre-prepared. A typical dinner would be a chicken breast, rice and broccoli. I indulged occasionally as well but was still always very fit.

6 years ago I had a few injuries one after another - one of these injuries is chronic lower back pain and we are still not sure what causes it or sets off a flare up. I do not know what a pain free day feels like any more. Most days (9 out of 10) are minor nagging pain now though and I have some heavy pain meds for the days that are bad. The problem is that these injuries severely limited the physical activity that I have been able to do. Many activities seem to make my back flare up.

Due to this lack of activity I put on WEIGHT, I capitalize this because I have put on an obscene amount of weight (110 lbs). I don't over eat (in fact for a few years I possibly underate because I just wasn't hungry - I was a smoker and that suppresses the appetite, I have now quit smoking and am starving ALL the time lol). I could eat a bit better but my eating habits are not horrible.

I have never tracked what I eat or the calories so I figured I will give this a try. I am also going to try to be more active even though this means taking more pain meds.

I do need help with something though. I tracked what I have eaten today and yesterday and it is way under (I am only getting 1000-1100) what they said I should have in calories but it is a lot of food. Do I have to add more calories? If so how can I add calories without eating stuff I shouldn't?

Replies

  • michellechawner
    michellechawner Posts: 892
    Everyone is different. Technically, as a new person here, you should eat at least 1200. I started at 1200 but noticed I was STARVING so much, so I upped my calories.

    I don't have injures, just medical conditions (moderate Fibro). I am on meds, and am slowly upping my activities. I gained all my weight in college (from the time i graduated high school to the year I graduated college, I gained 57 pounds).

    Learning portion control is key. I thought I knew what a portion was until I started here. Wow was I wrong! I've been at this about 10 weeks, and yes have only lost about 8 pounds. But slow and steady wins the race!

    If you're hungry eat back your exercise calls. MFP already created a deficit for you, so eating them back you will still be at a deficit. If you're realizing you aren't hungry even after all the exercising, then don't eat them back. Just watch your micros to make sure you are getting enough nutrients.
  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
    peanut or nut butters, avocado, any healthy fats. swimming is very good for a body in pain. walking is good also but sometimes even that is too much. you are probably eating way under what you should be.
  • TJMiddaugh
    TJMiddaugh Posts: 67 Member
    if you gained 110 lbs and you absolutely SURE your not over eating. i would go talk to a doctor about it. all your going to get here is a bunch of random theories. just IMO something is obviously not right
  • eazy_
    eazy_ Posts: 516 Member
    congrats on getting started. good luck on your journey. feel free to add me, I log everyday and will be encouraging.

    I suggest you eat your TDEE minus 20%. http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
  • bio01979
    bio01979 Posts: 313
    peanut or nut butters, avocado, any healthy fats. swimming is very good for a body in pain. walking is good also but sometimes even that is too much. you are probably eating way under what you should be.

    lol yes swimming is good, I have trouble with it though because I find it hard to go easy when swimming (I swam competively for 15 years) and it sometimes causes pain issues lol
  • bio01979
    bio01979 Posts: 313
    yeah, they haven't found anything :( I just made my diary public so you can see what I am eating the last 2 days, today is pretty typical for me

    I have hypoglycemia (have since I was a kid) though I get it less when I was eating only twice a day, I get it more often when I try to eat small things every 3 hours. and they can't even find the cause of that and all of my blood tests come back normal.

    I agree this isn't normal and I am at my wits end pretty much lol.

    So frustrating, especially since I am used to having an elite athlete physique and being that active
  • jennmalport
    jennmalport Posts: 2
    I am here because I have tried it all. I had great success a few years ago by eating basically no carbs and exercise daily. I lost almost 60 lbs. Slowly but surely, I have regained all but about 25. I am probably 25 to 30 lbs over-weight, or at least over what I would feel comfortable being. I have tried weight watchers, atkins, 17 day diet... blah, blah, blah.
    Once I signed up here, I realized (as my sister has been telling me all along) I am eating way too FEW calories each day. When this program first recommended 1200 calories for me I was not excited, and thought I would be starving. After a few days of tracking however, eating pretty much as I normally would, I find that I am lacking calories. And to top it all off, I get calories back when I workout! I am a lttle frustrated, I must admit. But, I plan to stick with this and hope to see some results. Not too quickly, but not too slow. So, thats that. :)
    I guess my question is if I should consume the bulk of my calories as early in the day as possible, or keep a steady stream of calories going all day. (?)
    Thanks

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