My daily allotment is so low and I'm losing my will.

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  • StacyPhillipsTSFLcoach
    StacyPhillipsTSFLcoach Posts: 83 Member
    Oh I can SO relate to your dilemma, and for me the answer involved changing my expectations and changing my focus.

    I am a participant in the National Weight Control Registry, which means that "they" study my eating habits to find commonalities in methods amongst those persons who have lost more than 30 pounds and kept if off for over a year to see what is successful or if there are common activities that those persons who have been able to accomplish that do daily to achieve maintaining a significant weight loss. I actually lost 150+ pounds, so I get studied, yeah, alot LOL.

    One study showed that there was no particular METHOD or WAY of eating that was THE BEST WAY, however, there were 3 basic commonalities amongst those who were able to maintain their weight loss long term. I know you are interested in LOSING the rest of your weight, but I know you are likely also interested in MAINTAINING the weight loss once you achieve your goal.

    Here were the commonalities:

    Daily Self Monitoring (weighing daily)
    Consistent exercise
    Able to eat monotonously

    I do all three of these, but the last one was the hardest for me to accept and really involved a complete mind-shift away from being food-focused to being health focused.

    My daily routine is pretty much the same, whether it is a weekday, weekend, or holiday. I don't reward myself with additional calories, I don't splurge on "treats" in my new lifestyle, and really I "eat to live" and have given up entirely using food as any form of reward or entertainment or stressbuster or social activity or you name it. Yes, I do eat a lot of cottage cheese and greek yogurt, very lean meats, healthy fats such as walnuts and avocados and olive oil, etc. No I don't eat a bunch of carbs whether they are in chocolate or fruit or bread. I may have one apple or a cup of strawberries or raspberries daily, but I get most of my carbs from non-starchy vegetables and the occasional legume. I don't eat bread, but I do eat quinoa and wild rice occasionally. Does it suck? Yes and no. It sucked when I realized that I didn't like the limitations and began to resent them, then I made it NOT suck by accepting those limitations as absolute in my life if I wanted to maintain optimal health.

    Formulas are helpful, but they aren't absolute in that everyone's body is a little different in how it processes things. I happen to be very carb-sensitive so my intake can never really include high-glycemic items again. My maintenance calorie level is 1200-1400 with moderate activity, and I have arrived at that through trial and error with MY body over the years.

    I think you are very wise posting here and asking for suggestions. Yay you!
  • threnjen
    threnjen Posts: 687 Member
    Hey Threnjen :)


    You will do it, I know you will. How do I know? Because I was asking the same questions in the beginning, the difference was, that I wanted to know the answers, and use them to help me, just like you are doing now.

    You will do this, I promise.

    Thanks :) I didn't quote your whole post just for space reasons. Great post though thank you.
    I've been doing so much better "this round" picking good, sustainable food options. I've tried to do this a few times before and failed out pretty quickly because I was trying to eat the same types of food I used to but less, which is not filling. Eating just a little of calorie dense foods does not cut it! I'm doing so much better, I just have to stay on track this time and not derail myself!
  • threnjen
    threnjen Posts: 687 Member
    You really should try calorie cycling. You eat the same amount of calories total per week. it's just you vary it. Some days you'll eat more calories and some days you'll eat less. That way you get days where you don't feel deprived. BUT you're still losing the same amount of weight each week. Look up the calorie cycling calculators online or sometimes its called zig-zag'ing. It's actually amazing for your metabolism. It keeps it guessing and it's great for getting out of a plateau as well. It might help you feel better :)
    I've thought about doing this, on the weekends we spend time with friends and are more likely to go out. During the week it would be pretty easy for me to run a bigger deficit and saving it for later.
  • threnjen
    threnjen Posts: 687 Member
    Oh I can SO relate to your dilemma, and for me the answer involved changing my expectations and changing my focus.

    .................

    I think you are very wise posting here and asking for suggestions. Yay you!

    Helpful, thank you! Sounds very similar. Good thing I like greek yogurt and cottage cheese. :)

    Holy moly, your results are amazing by the way. Nice work!!
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
    Be much more active, and add 20 lbs of muscle to your frame. If you still don't get to eat enough, then you have a valid complaint.
  • littlefoot612
    littlefoot612 Posts: 156 Member
    HI, I read through your posts here and looked at your daily food tracker. I'm also 5'1 but have a lot more to lose than you but I am also sedentary. My BMR is 1689, don't know what my TDEE is because I can't even remember what it even means. I have set my daily calories at 1400 which`should allow me to lose 1.4lbs/wk. I have been able to eat between 1200 and 1400 cal daily. I am eating 3 meals and 2-3 snacks daily.
    I used to drink protein shakes at breakfast but found I wanted 'real food' an hour later because they seemed no more filling than a glass of milk.Try eating a breakfast even if it's a small bowl of cereal of a banana. My lunch and dinner plates are 50% veg, 25% protein(lean beef, chicken, fish, egg) and 25% grain (whole grain bread, brown rice, couscous, quinoa etc).
    The thing that seems to be helping me this time around is that, because I have recently been diagnosed lactose intolerant, I am not using packaged or prepared food very often because of hidden dairy ingredients and instead using fresh ingredients. It seems I get a lot more bang for my buck calorie wise and get a whole lot more food for the 1200-1400 cal than if I was using packaged/prepared food.
    It took a week or so to get into a cooking and preparing food routine but it is quite quick and easy now.
    Just my 2 cents worth and a couple of suggestions. Don't give up.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Eat SO MANY VEGETABLES and drink LOTS of water.

    Every week I buy the following and within 5 days I have eaten it all by making just 5 salads (lunch each day)
    1 big head green or red leaf lettuce
    a bag of mini bell peppers or 3 bell peppers, whichever is on sale
    a package of grape tomatoes
    an avocado
    a cucumber

    I use reduced-fat, low-sugar salad dressings and don't need very much.

    I also buy enough vegetables to eat 8 oz+ of vegetables with dinner every night and have some leftover for salad, which is usually:
    4-5 ears of corn (grilling them right now, so tasty)
    1 bundle broccoli
    1 eggplant
    multiple squashes (depends on the size)
    mushrooms and onions for mixing into stuff
    jicama, bell peppers, or asparagus
    carrots
    potatoes
    black beans or chick peas

    Oh, and fruit, of course--I get a package or two of berries and eat 1/2-1 cup of fruit per day on top of the vegetables. Sometimes I add dried fruit to my salad. I like to mix pumpkin into my oatmeal in the morning.

    For protein: I eat cottage cheese in my oatmeal every morning, and at lunch I have an ounce of full-fat feta in my salad along with 6 oz of greek yogurt. Dinner includes chicken, fish, shrimp, lean beef, and very seldom pork tenderloin.

    I love the La Croix fizzy waters...they don't have anything in them and I drink one with every meal, so I get 36 oz that way, and I will usually drink about 45 oz more on my runs. It's about a half-gallon of water alone, plus whatever fluid I get from fruit/veggies.

    I eat anywhere from 1400-1700 calories in a day. I'm 5'0 and 121 lbs and I exercise for 40-60 minutes per day. Move more, eat more! :)

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