Concerned

AJPalmber
AJPalmber Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok I am new to EVERYTHING.
I recently as in 3 weeks ago stopped eating most meat and became a pesco-vegetarian.I weigh 215lbs and am only 5'6".
I have used A LOT of TDEE calculators and most are within 50-100 calories of each other +/- .
This is what I got and do:
I am female
My BMR is 1627
TDEE is 2103
Calories to lose weight start at 1503 and slowly go down from there.
I exercise:
Swimming 1 hr 3x a week and not playing in water but actually swimming back and forth for the whole hour
workout videos 2x week 20 min each
Walk 3 dogs for 30 minutes a night 3x a week

My goal is 155 but I plan it as follows:
by April 15th 2015 be at 180
by June 15th 2015 be at 165
by Christmas 2015 be at goal weight
I have fibromyalgia and celiacs disease and try to NEVER give into the pain...

I use an excel sheet to track a weekly menu, calories according to the servings on the side of the box and I use measuring spoons, cups etc... and allow for up to 125 calories of mis-measurements a day
Meaning I eat 1325-1400 calories a day.... Not the 1503 I am allowed. I would attache a picture or file for people to see but I don't see how to do that yet. I am concerned that I might be hurting my plans to improve my life and weight by eating at 1325-1400 calories since it says 1503. Is it possible to eat slightly below what they recommend or am I in fact killing my metabolism?

Replies

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    First I'd use a 20% deficit, not more than that.

    Second, I'd buy a food scale and weigh and log everything so you don't have to go hungry staying under 'just in case'.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    My BMR is 1627
    TDEE is 2103
    Calories to lose weight start at 1503 and slowly go down from there.

    Might I advise the use of a calculator?

    TDEE - 20% is not 1503.

    Fix yo math!
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    Did you become pesco-vegetarian because of the Celiac or fibro, or did you do it thinking you needed to cut out meat to lose weight? I'm asking because you're already losing a lot of food options with the Celiac's, cutting out meat if you don't have to seems like it could set you up for issues with diet adherence.
  • dustsettles
    dustsettles Posts: 27 Member
    Hi I'm fairly new too and trying to figure out the same things as well. I would suggest not eating less than your BMR. If your TDEE is 2103 then minus 20% would be 1682 a day.

    I felt bad and tired when I ate too low at the beginning. And especially with your new workout plan, you'll need plenty of fuel!
    I also tried a lot of online calculators. This one was my favorite though, and even helped me break down about how many calories per meal.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    Good for you for starting on this journey!
  • dustsettles
    dustsettles Posts: 27 Member
    Also, I found this AMAZING blog with yummy and healthy recipes on it. The blogger shares her story about being diagnosed with Crohn's disease if you are interested. Even though I don't have any dietary restrictions, I think her recipes are delicious!!!

    http://ahouseinthehills.com/category/food/

    Hope that helps and inspires! :)
  • AJPalmber
    AJPalmber Posts: 4
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/AJPalmber

    Hopefully you can all see this diary I just started today..

    also the calculator I use is http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/calculators/calories-required/
    because it gives me the drop in my calories every week as I am suppose to lose weight.... I got my BMR from a different site so if they don't match I don't know what to do about that :)

    I went pesco-vegetarian because I just wanted to and then the weight loss because I just felt like I woke up one morning and didn't know who I was anymore :P
    my fibro and celiacs have been more an excuse then a factor... I never tried before I just didn't want to nor did I care but as I said something woke up in me and I just really want to be better.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    To lose 60 lbs., set your goal to 1.5 lb. per week. After you lose 10 lbs., switch to 1 lb. per week. With 20–25 lbs. to go, switch to .5 lb. per week.

    Buy a digital food scale and weigh everything—including packaged foods. All the calorie counts & burns are only estimates, so you need to log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Save yourself a lot of frustration—guesstimating your food is going to be off by way more than 125 calories per day.

    This post should be required reading: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/AJPalmber

    Hopefully you can all see this diary I just started today..

    also the calculator I use is http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/calculators/calories-required/
    because it gives me the drop in my calories every week as I am suppose to lose weight.... I got my BMR from a different site so if they don't match I don't know what to do about that :)

    I went pesco-vegetarian because I just wanted to and then the weight loss because I just felt like I woke up one morning and didn't know who I was anymore :P
    my fibro and celiacs have been more an excuse then a factor... I never tried before I just didn't want to nor did I care but as I said something woke up in me and I just really want to be better.

    :huh: You have Celiac's and you're eating white bread?

    Also, I'm not sure how processed veggie chicken and veggie patties is somehow "better" than just eating meat. There are plenty of people here who will tell you that you can be vegetarian and be quite unhealthy. If your version of vegetarian is eating processed foods that say "vegetarian" on them and not taking the time to research proper nutrition plans for vegetarians, you're really not doing yourself any favors.
  • AJPalmber
    AJPalmber Posts: 4
    Also in case I didn't say it :) Thanks everyone.

    I am a celiacs but I have spoke with my Dr. and his associates and we all agreed that while there are some gluten free stuff out now there is no where near enough stuff so I don't do a gluten free diet i do a limited each day the amount of gluten... my vegetarian choice was very recent and he doesn't know about it yet until Sept when I see him again but there is A LOT of vegetarian meat substitutes. I don't feel like I am starving in fact I feel like I am over eating and other then a scale to verify my calories I am sure of the amount of foo and the calories it claims goes with it :) kind of hard to mis-count 5 carrots at 35 calories lol... but my peanut butter at 2 tbsp or trail mix 1/4 cup I just use less then what it says and count all the calories so I might be getting 1/8 cup of trail mix and 1 tbsp of peanut butter. Most the rest of the stuff is prepackaged so very easy there to just open, cook and eat.

    Thanks for all the in put and help... I just want to be sure that if I can't eat the full 1500 calories I won't hurt the weight loss being I feel so full at 1325-1400 depending on the day.
  • AJPalmber
    AJPalmber Posts: 4
    Yep sorry... but not much at all and the pain isn't too bad if I seriously limit it... :flowerforyou:

    I also eat a lot of salads, tofu and other items such as cod, salmon and scallops... I don't use a veggie chicken patty everyday but a veggie soy patty will be better then a McDonald s burger every-time :)
  • dorisopen9
    dorisopen9 Posts: 94 Member
    Sorry mate, but if you are indeed coeliac you need to go gluten free. It might be inconvenient and time consuming but you will have to stop using most processed foods and cook from scratch. Learn to read labels and look around the stores, there are gluten free products although a lot of favourite foods are out of limits now.

    If you don't cut out gluten you will eventually develop malabsorption because a chronically inflamed bowel cannot do its job properly.

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