I like simple plans. I use a two step method, me.

Step 1)

Eat "right" as best you can. Move a little more than has been your habit.

[...and you and your conscience can only know what "right" means when you are alone in your refrigerator. ] Make nutrition and variety and modest portions your primary goal. Adding routine activity is the secondary objective.

Step 2)

Log everything accurately.

On the days you eat ...um...less right...say, for example those days when you inexplicably regain consciousness, or, probably more likely, snap out of some tragic autonomic somnambulant meandering, in a McDonald's line up...oh well. Step 2.

Then go back to the first step the next time you eat.

You are building a new lifestyle. You are not going on a diet.

So...simple plan:

Eat real food. Drink water. Sleep well. Exercise as best you can. LOG EVERYTHING...especially the rubbish.

The calorie counts will sort themselves out.

Good days and not so good days balance over time.

Treats happen. Every good puppy knows that. So if you, or someone you love is a good puppy, make sure he or she get treats.

But is a trough of McTransfat, although nummy and comforting, really a treat? Or is it the Mrs. O'Leary's cow at the heart of our dilemma? Especially if you are an extra good puppy EVERYDAY.

Maybe there is some OTHER reward system you could employ?

Anyway...it's time for me to walk my dog. She is a good dog and will be treated to an off leash run in the tennis court if nobody is playing tennis in the mist... I've never had a dog before.

You asked for ideas. Those are mine. I share them in a spirit of friendship and solidarity.

Cheers.
Mark

I have heard that your current weight x 7 = the amount of calories you should eat a day to lose weight. And if that comes to more than 2000 calories a day, start with 2000 calories a day and go down from there. Example I weigh 226LBS x 7= 1582 calories or less a day to lose weight. This is just what I read from the biggest loser weight loss book. Hope it helps

And visit your doctor, what is right for one person is not right for the next! As your body changes and your mind changes you will want certain things less! My husband picked up mcdonalds one day and it made me sick for a whole day, I used to eat it once a week but it doesn't really fit in now!

I really think before you have some big plans to eat only 1300 calories a day you should try logging for a bit and see where you are at now!

I hope you find the answers you need!!!

And p1xn1xy carried on her losses through an entire prairie winter...

Take a look at the people in the this group with long logging streaks and impressive tickers...you will see that starvation protocols won't work.

You must change your relationship with food.

You must drink water.

You must exercise to the point your doctor says is safe and your body says is okay.

You must get enough, good quality, sleep.

You must recommit to your plan everyday.

See if you even can log a nutrionally balanced and varied 2000 calorie food plan for a week. Get a baseline understanding of your body's hunger response and your brain's eating triggers.

Log the results.

But out of the box, MFP will calculate a reasonably accurate calorie count based on your Basic Metabolic Requirements--which is a number derived from your Body Mass Index and yoru stated ambient level of activity.

MFP will then credit you calories based on logged activity above and beyond your ambient activity level.

Why not try the guided set up wtih MFP and their numbers before seeking more refined metrics?

It's all estimation anyway. Everybody's metabolic processes are slightly different and it will all boil down to eating a little less of better food and moving around a bit more.

Lisa, I think the 1340 a day is stupid. (I'm being blunt and everyone else is being diplomatic). At the weight you're currently at (and I started at it) you'll be HUNGRY all the time. This will make you... or allow you to make bad choices which will blow your lifestyle change out of the water.

Okay, P1xy, let's blow your mind. Here goes.

I eat 800 calories a day. I am not hungry all the time, nor am I in starvation mode. I am even very rarely in ketosis. Here's the plan:

80 grams of protein a day - this is the magic pill. It provides a ton of energy, it sticks to your stomach longer and makes you feel full.

8 glasses of water a day - or more. Flush flush flush that body. Other liquids count, but I am a water drinker. Watch out for sodas and fancy coffees - danger danger way too many calories!

Two good multi-vitamins a day (mine are Centrum Silver w/no iron); Three Citrical a day, One Vitamin B12 a week - give your body nutrition so it won't crave it.

30-90 grams of carbs a day : This must include a couple servings or more of vegetables and maybe a serving or so of fruit every day. Then if you have calories left, help yourself to a small amount of good complex carbs. I prefer high protein: beans, nuts, hummus, quinoa, lentil / then starchy vegetables: corn, peas, potatoes / then whole grains: brown rice, quinoa, oats, barley. But some crackers don't trigger my cravings. Judge for yourself.

Don't forget good fats - 40 grams/day. You need oil to absorb vitamins correctly. I cook with lite olive oil. It is flavorless but still yummy. I like salad dressings for sweetness and tangyness.

Exercise - tell your body it needs it's muscles; make it burn the fat instead. Walking is a great exercise.

At that calorie level, you have NO room for junk food. If you eat junk, you will not have any calories left to eat what your body needs. If you don't eat what your body needs, you WILL get hungry and not get the nutrition you need.

But if you can do this, you will lose weight - FAST.

I had bariatric surgery a year ago, but it no longer limits me. I can eat more than this. and I can eat any kind of food I want. But it gave me time to learn to eat like this, and it was done with a doctor's supervision.

When (not if) I reach goal (145 down, 35 to go) I will need to learn to stay at maintenance. I expect that to be 1200 to 1300 calories per day, more if I exercise.

The reason I can stay on this plan is because it is satisfying. I got on it by having liquids only for a few days. Liquids only doesn't mean just fruit juice and soup. It still requires protein. Protein shakes are my godsend. I still have one a day. It took awhile to find one I like, but now it's a treat.

I'm addicted to carbs, so I need to keep the highly processed stuff out of my house. Fortunately my husbands a healthy food eater. Every once in awhile I really need to have a fix, and I search high and low, but there's nothing there! And I end up having a salad with salad dressing and garbanzo beans and beets and fake cheese (only cuz I'm allergic to dairy). Or I cook up a sausage and eggs. Yum yum yum.

The longer I stay away from processed foods, the better this other food tastes. And when I do have a bite of the old stuff, it doesn't taste anyway as good as I remember.

So bottom line. It's not the low calories that make you hungry, it's the lack of nutrition. Make sure you get your nutrition, and you can cut your calories down.

And for heaven's sake, if you're addicted to something, stay away from it. We're just alcoholics but with a different source, mine is highly processed carbs. If you "need" a treat, think about it...

But I know we're all different. My husband has no problem with carbs, but has to be careful with fats which make his cholesterol shoot up. Also, he couldn't put on weight if he wanted to. How different is that!

God bless us everyone!
Paula

CAVEAT - If you're thinking of trying this, Talk to your doctor first! Mine prescribes Ursidol while losing this fast to avoid gall stones or gall bladder removal. Also, I take biotin for my hair. A lot fell out, but is growing back in (and it's curly now!).

Paula, you didn't blow my mind. lol!
Your diet is going to be different due to the nature of your surgery. I think you had the sleeve? Your stomach is smaller, which allowed for a feeling of full stomach with less consumption. Plus I believe it cuts out grenlin (sp?) which triggers appetite. This allowed you to get used to the decreased consumption. I also read that malnutrition is a major concern with surgery

P1xy,

You're right that if someone goes on an extremely low calorie diet it should be doctor-controlled.

And you're right that the surgery helped. But it is not a cure-all. 20% of the people who have surgery won't change their eating habits and will gain it all back. The surgery effects are gone before the year's out. There are many people who had the same surgery who are now struggling.

And I believe people can lose weight without surgery. 1900 calories sounds good - but not 1900 of just any calories, they need to be nutritious calories. That's why I disagreed with you that 1340 was too little. To me, 1340 isn't too little if they're the right kind of calories.

Also, may I clarify some misconceptions about the situation after the effects of VSG surgery wear off?

- The ghrellin effect lasts six-ten months. I have normal hunger now.

- My stomach is smaller but I don't eat till it's full. I use control to stop. Being satisfied helps me stop and keeps me from being hungry - just like anybody else.

- I get MORE nutrition now than before. I am not malnourished. The nutrition provides the satisfaction that everybody needs to eat right.

It was hard to learn this. The surgery helped immensely. But now that I've learned it, I need to stick with it to stay healthy. And I can. And so can all my friends. Bottom line: eat nutritious food. Sounds simple. But so many people don't get it. They think they can eat 1800 calories and forget that if 1000 of those are junk, they are going to be hungry and malnourished.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please forgive. A little bit of a soap box here. :flowerforyou:

This post is about calories. A body needs a certain amount of nutrition and energy (protein, vitamins, etc). That nutrition requires calories. But not as many as people think. Calories are different.

- If a person eats junk calories, they will be hungry (and malnourished) at 1340 calories.

- But if they eat nutritious food, 1340 calories can be satisfying and quite healthy.

If a person thinks, "Well I only had a fancy super-machiado coffe for breakfast, and only one piece of pizza for lunch, and a small hamburger and soda for dinner, and snacks of only one small bag of chips and only five cookies... that's not a lot." Well they're right. That's not a lot of food. But it's almost all junk.

Their body will tell them it's not enough. Double the quantity and it still wouldn't be enough. The body is NOT saying "it's not enough calories." The body is saying "It's not enough nutrition." It doesn't matter how few calories it is, if only 200 of them are nutritious calories.

And that's what I've learned - what kinds of foods to eat are as important as how much. If I'd known this when I was younger I would not have qualified for this group. And knowing it now will help me graduate.


Arghhh, I'll stop now. Sorry.

Paula

You must change your relationship with food.

You must drink water.

You must exercise to the point your doctor says is safe and your body says is okay.

You must get enough, good quality, sleep.

You must recommit to your plan everyday.

This is amazing advice - just saying!

As for the calories - I agree that 1340 would be too low to start; if you are too hungry it will be easy to 'oh just a little treat' more often than you might realize. I do realize the benefit of having a number to shoot for, when I haven't fallen so far off the wagon that it's about to come around again, planning and logging everything with a definite number in mind is something I find very useful. Last year when I first started trying to be healthier, I was too low on my calories, and was getting dizzy and everything. I like the guided MFP because it seems to work for me, when I work on it.