new here and looking for advice

Irishgirl1775
Irishgirl1775 Posts: 2 Member
in Getting Started
Hi there. I feel like I ha e done every diet under the sun. I am sick and tired of dieting. So I thought I would try NOT dieting and try just eating and watching my calories. This seems like a much healthier a d more achivable way to do things. My problem is that I have terrible will power and will be good for a few days and I DO lose weight but then I fall weak and have a fay or 2 of cheats and gain again. How do I increase my willpower? Lol.

I have read about how many cals youshould eat and I find conflicting Info. Some say 1400 and that 1200 is too low as your body will start to store fat. So can anyone debunk this for me? I am 5'5 and....181 lb. Yuck!!! I want to do this so I am not feeling deprived. That is when I cheat. Any advice on how to do this properly would be great!

Replies

  • waltcote
    waltcote Posts: 372 Member
    That's what this is all about if you ask me. Not a "diet" It's about eating healthy and have a well rounded diet as in meals. This program will tell you how many calories you should have daily. For me what has worked is being aware of what I am putting in my mouth calorie wise, not just putting food in when I feel like it. Some days I feel hungry but I just don't react and grab something. It's like I have a budget daily to spend. How do I want to spend those calories? On junk or something of value. I learn something almost every week doing this. I make mistakes but it's not the end. Anyways if you need suggestions or advice I can help as can many others here. Feel free to ADD me if you like. :bigsmile:
  • Irishgirl1775
    Irishgirl1775 Posts: 2 Member
    Thank you forthe reply. Being new ihave no idea how to add u. Lol, what does that mean to add someone?
  • KRG111
    KRG111 Posts: 3
    Balance your exercise and your food. Plan your food ahead of time so you are not making decisions when you are already hungry. Always have good snacks with you so when you need something you have it. My rule for work is if I didn't bring it with me it is not mine to eat. This makes all the bakery and other items that are brought in off limits to me. Set a strong mind before you are presented with challenges.
  • DeeDeeMee
    DeeDeeMee Posts: 133 Member
    When I started with MFP over a year ago I had no idea either, so I used it for a little while and then gave up, which certainly didn't help my weight at all! I finally got fed up and went to see a doctor and his advice is as follows:

    Whatever you eat, eat 20% less than you usually would, no holidays and no exceptions (in one day of 'bad' it is possible to eat more calories than eating well in a week saves us).

    So far this has worked and I've lost a kilo (2.2 pounds) a week since. Because I haven't cut out anything I'd usually eat it also means I don't binge because I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

    Strangely, the 20% rule can be hard when it comes to some things which means I end up eating less of them. 20% less of 2 eggs is a pain, so I just have one and one slice of toast to go with it. 20% less of two cookies? Yeah, right. I'll just take one. 20% less rice or pasta at dinner is much easier to calculate, but maybe only one chicken drumstick instead of 2.

    Logging everything on MFP in the morning (ie before I've eaten everything for the day) has also been really helpful. I usually know what I'm having for breakfast and lunch in advance, and often also dinner so it all goes into my diary in the morning. Then I have an 'eating plan' set out for me that I just have to follow. It's also a good way to tell if there is some leeway, or if I should even be eating more. 1200 calories a day is pretty good (go with what MFP calculates for you), but you shouldn't eat less than that or you can have problems so it's good to be able to see if maybe you should have a scoop of ice cream after dinner, or an extra piece of fruit somewhere during the day. It's much easier to work this out if you fill in your diary at the beginning of the day instead of the end.

    Then it's down to maybe making better choices. I don't know what your diet is usually like, you might eat really well to begin with but just too much of it. Consider the calories in what you're eating. Know that a big mac has 2/3 of your RDI so that's pretty much it for your food for the day. A punnet of strawberries on the other hand has as little as 50 calories, so feel free to go nuts. I have some great recipes for breakfast muffins and things that are wholesome and low in calories if you'd like them.

    :):)
  • DeeDeeMee
    DeeDeeMee Posts: 133 Member
    Balance your exercise and your food. Plan your food ahead of time so you are not making decisions when you are already hungry. Always have good snacks with you so when you need something you have it. My rule for work is if I didn't bring it with me it is not mine to eat. This makes all the bakery and other items that are brought in off limits to me. Set a strong mind before you are presented with challenges.

    ^yep, exactly. :)
  • jmp463
    jmp463 Posts: 266 Member
    There are a lot of ways to reach your goal. You will get tons of advice on here. So good some not so much. Just as a basic strategy you could go online find a TDEE calculator and find out how many calories you burn in a day. Mind you the number is not exact. But it wil get you in the ballpark. Just make sure you are honest about activity level otherwise you will set up for failure. The whole deal with MFP is that you much be honest with yourself. If you eat it count it.

    Back to point. Find out your TDEE and then aim for 80% of that number each day. Again just a starting point. As you read more you will learn other ways and you will figure out what is best fr you. Given your height and weight I do lot thjk 1400 calories will put you in starvation mode. That gets thrown around her a lot. Do yourself a huge favor and research it yourself. Too many people on here cite it and have no clue what they are saying. Good luck I hope you reach your goals.
  • MantisToboggan_MD
    MantisToboggan_MD Posts: 30 Member
    "How do I increase my willpower?"

    Benzoylmethylecgonine may assist; it's a hell of a drug.
  • jessa271
    jessa271 Posts: 67
    When I first signed up, I said I wanted to lose weight as fast as possible & so I went with the 1200 calories. It worked for a while, but I was always worried about running out & at the end of a few months, I hit a plateau. I was working out most days, so I upped my allowance to 1500 & i'm fine. I'm losing weight again, have plenty of energy and rarely even get close to my number. You can do all the math in the world, but in the end you have to listen to your body. If you're trying 1200/day (which by most accounts is the absolute minimum for a healthy diet) & you feel satisfied, then that might work. If you're still hungry, try it a little higher.

    If you are going to use the equations, make sure you're honest about how much activity you're really doing. You don't want to think you're following a healthy diet only to have cheated yourself on the math!

    The thing about MFP that really helped me understand was that I was WAY underestimating what I was eating. I'd have a soda and not even thing about it counting. If you log everything for a while (I'm almost at a year of logging every day), you'll start to see where your diet is problematic & then you can work on correcting that. Feel free to send me a friend request. It's always helpful to have people cheering you on! Good luck

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