Rate my food diary

stananvik
stananvik Posts: 23
in Health and Weight Loss
Just looking for some friendly advice. Everything seems to be going well having lost 23 lbs in my first 30 days or so. Nevertheless, if there is anyone who thinks I could tweak my food intake, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Well, I glanced quickly for about a minute and first thing I noticed was that you are missing your goal every day by about 400-700 calories. Why is that?
  • stananvik
    stananvik Posts: 23
    Well, I glanced quickly for about a minute and first thing I noticed was that you are missing your goal every day by about 400-700 calories. Why is that?

    Its not on purpose. I just don't eat if I'm not hungry. I do worry though about eating too little some days.
  • MBrothers22
    MBrothers22 Posts: 323 Member
    What's your height and weight?
  • stananvik
    stananvik Posts: 23
    What's your height and weight?

    5'10 Currently 307 (started at 330 on 5/12/14)
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Well, I glanced quickly for about a minute and first thing I noticed was that you are missing your goal every day by about 400-700 calories. Why is that?

    Its not on purpose. I just don't eat if I'm not hungry. I do worry though about eating too little some days.

    A goal is a goal. If you don't trust your goal adjust it, but if you feel like your goal is appropriate then you should try to meet it every day, even if that means eating when you aren't hungry.

    Eating less than your goal isn't additional success, its failing to meet your goal and you will suffer for it in the long term.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Further comment past the amount of calories.

    Your macro targets look okay although I'd recommend bumping your protein up a bit. You look like a decently big guy and I'd bet you have more than 100 pounds of lean mass so your protein is a bit on the low end, might want to bump that up to 150g a day and lower your carbs.

    At 307 pounds your goal of 1800 calories a day is very aggressive, you could easily lose weight eating more than that and keep that in mind. You should definitely not be eating less than that.
  • stananvik
    stananvik Posts: 23
    Further comment past the amount of calories.

    Your macro targets look okay although I'd recommend bumping your protein up a bit. You look like a decently big guy and I'd bet you have more than 100 pounds of lean mass so your protein is a bit on the low end, might want to bump that up to 150g a day and lower your carbs.

    At 307 pounds your goal of 1800 calories a day is very aggressive, you could easily lose weight eating more than that and keep that in mind. You should definitely not be eating less than that.

    Interesting. And here I thought I was doing well on my protein intake.

    Don't take me wrong. I very much appreciate your input!
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Further comment past the amount of calories.

    Your macro targets look okay although I'd recommend bumping your protein up a bit. You look like a decently big guy and I'd bet you have more than 100 pounds of lean mass so your protein is a bit on the low end, might want to bump that up to 150g a day and lower your carbs.

    At 307 pounds your goal of 1800 calories a day is very aggressive, you could easily lose weight eating more than that and keep that in mind. You should definitely not be eating less than that.

    Interesting. And here I thought I was doing well on my protein intake.

    Don't take me wrong. I very much appreciate your input!

    I'm 172 pounds and my daily protein intake is about 180 grams. Now I'm doing pretty high protein so I'm overkilling it but yeah I'd say you could stand to up your protein a bit.

    100g isn't bad, but more I think would help to ensure you don't have muscle loss during your weight loss. Protein + a little weight lifting can help with that. My diary is open if you want to check it out. I'm not perfect or anything but you can see how I'm doing.
  • MBrothers22
    MBrothers22 Posts: 323 Member
    What's your height and weight?

    5'10 Currently 307 (started at 330 on 5/12/14)

    Alright, at your age, weight, and height, your BMR is about 2500 calories. This is the amount of calories your body needs to fuel itself if you were bedridden for 24 hours. Since you are still 100+ pounds overweight you can get away with slightly eating under this but you are going over 1000 calories under someday. I don't know your activity level but if you are sedentary, meaning no exercise and you have a desk job, an aggressive weight loss plan would put you around 2000 calories per day. If you exercise a bit or have a job where you move around instead of sitting all day, an aggressive weight loss plan would be right at your BMR of about 2500 calories per day.

    I have no objections to eating below your BMR if it's not ridiculous. I'm 20 years old, 298 pounds, 6 foot 2. I eat between 2200 and 2400 calories per day and have lost 53 pounds in 103 days. You can do the math but that's around 3.5 pounds a week. There's no doubt that a good chunk of those first 23 pounds was water weight but that is A LOT of weight in 1 month.
    If you keep at this pace, you are going to lose muscle, not just fat. And that's just a guarantee. Your body can't burn that much fat that quickly and it needs to get rid of SOMETHING and muscle is the easy option.

    At 1600 calories you're just hurting your body. I'm not saying you'll feel any negative effects but if you keep at it you'll get weaker because you WILL lose muscle. I say you need to bump up to at least 2000 calories a day. You'll be able to get enough fuel for your body and the weight will still come off very quickly. But whatever you do, 1400 calories just isn't treating your body the way it needs to be treated
  • stananvik
    stananvik Posts: 23
    What's your height and weight?

    5'10 Currently 307 (started at 330 on 5/12/14)

    Alright, at your age, weight, and height, your BMR is about 2500 calories. This is the amount of calories your body needs to fuel itself if you were bedridden for 24 hours. Since you are still 100+ pounds overweight you can get away with slightly eating under this but you are going over 1000 calories under someday. I don't know your activity level but if you are sedentary, meaning no exercise and you have a desk job, an aggressive weight loss plan would put you around 2000 calories per day. If you exercise a bit or have a job where you move around instead of sitting all day, an aggressive weight loss plan would be right at your BMR of about 2500 calories per day.

    I have no objections to eating below your BMR if it's not ridiculous. I'm 20 years old, 298 pounds, 6 foot 2. I eat between 2200 and 2400 calories per day and have lost 53 pounds in 103 days. You can do the math but that's around 3.5 pounds a week. There's no doubt that a good chunk of those first 23 pounds was water weight but that is A LOT of weight in 1 month.
    If you keep at this pace, you are going to lose muscle, not just fat. And that's just a guarantee. Your body can't burn that much fat that quickly and it needs to get rid of SOMETHING and muscle is the easy option.

    At 1600 calories you're just hurting your body. I'm not saying you'll feel any negative effects but if you keep at it you'll get weaker because you WILL lose muscle. I say you need to bump up to at least 2000 calories a day. You'll be able to get enough fuel for your body and the weight will still come off very quickly. But whatever you do, 1400 calories just isn't treating your body the way it needs to be treated

    Thank you very much for taking the time to post this. I appreciate it and will take it to heart. Its kinda cool to know I can eat more!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    Further comment past the amount of calories.

    Your macro targets look okay although I'd recommend bumping your protein up a bit. You look like a decently big guy and I'd bet you have more than 100 pounds of lean mass so your protein is a bit on the low end, might want to bump that up to 150g a day and lower your carbs.

    At 307 pounds your goal of 1800 calories a day is very aggressive, you could easily lose weight eating more than that and keep that in mind. You should definitely not be eating less than that.

    Interesting. And here I thought I was doing well on my protein intake.

    Don't take me wrong. I very much appreciate your input!

    I agree with Aaron.

    I am a 41 year old female 5 ft 7 and 153lbs..I ate 1900 last week and lost 1/2lb...so you can eat a lot more and still lose a reasonable amount.

    My protien is set to 120grams a day and I typically hit it...sometimes over, sometimes under.

    As for not eating when you aren't hungry...hunger really isn't the best indicator of what the body needs...your hunger cues can be skewed if you eat low calorie long enough...it's a defense mechanism of the body...

    To get more calories in tho...try full fat milk (if you like it), butter your toast, put some bread around your lunch meat....heck add in some beer if you like it...or ice cream.

    My diary is open and today I had banana pancakes with butter and bacon for breakfast, cream in my coffee, burger with pasta salad, a grilled chicken panini with avocado and I will be eating chocolate later...all for 1950 calories...
  • nicolewood415
    nicolewood415 Posts: 29 Member
    First, I have to commend you on your healthy food choices. Great job! Second, if you're trying to eat more, I might suggest adding whole grains to your diet. You'll be able to increase your calorie intake a lot more, plus the fiber will fill you up. One of my favorites is quinoa, which I often substitute for rice. I found this infographic helpful in finding and trying new grains:

    http://www.pinterest.com/pin/272186371203347150/

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