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Please help! Trying to lose weight by watching how much and what I eat.

emilylingerr
emilylingerr Posts: 2
edited March 6 in Health and Weight Loss
I am a high school student. I wake up at 6:20AM and sleep at around 10:30PM. During the school year I realized it's really hard to set aside time for exercising so now I moved on to watching what I eat. I'm trying to lose weight by eating around 1400 cals a day. Could you guys please recommend me what times to eat my meals? And how many meals should I have with just 1400 cals as my limit?

Replies

  • shadowofender
    shadowofender Posts: 786 Member
    Weeeeeeeeeeeeeellll

    How old are you? If you're under 18 you shouldn't be here and should check out maybe spark teens? Dietary needs can be different for younger people.

    If you're 18...meal timing doesn't matter at all, except for in terms of satiety. What are your stats? Age/weight/height/goal? Did MFP set you at 1400 and how many pounds per week did you tell it you wanted to lose?
  • emilylingerr
    emilylingerr Posts: 2
    I'm 18 :) weight 128 and 5'4 but my goal is 120! it set me 1306 and 1 pound!
  • Frankiigii
    Frankiigii Posts: 62 Member
    First, don't cut calories too drastically right away, you want to be able to step down over time to maintain weight loss. Also, look into IF. It's been working amazingly for me. I eat only in an 8 hour window and fast the other 16 hours, including sleeping hours. Loving it so far. Their are health problems that can make fasting unsafe though, so do some research.
  • shadowofender
    shadowofender Posts: 786 Member
    edited October 2014
    Okie dokie.

    So with not a lot to lose, I wouldn't go above .5lb a week for sustainability. 1400 should be fine, but if you find yourself lacking energy, or starving, then it's ok to increase a bit based on those numbers.

    Try to find foods that fill you up. Protein helps me a lot with this. Peanut butter, nuts, whatever. I work a lot so I can't always cook, so protein bars and shakes are my friends sometimes.

    *edit to say by starving I just mean super hungry. More than just your body telling you "I'm bored so eat" but really actual hunger. This can be hard to read for some people.

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    emilylingerr wrote: »
    I am a high school student. I wake up at 6:20AM and sleep at around 10:30PM. During the school year I realized it's really hard to set aside time for exercising so now I moved on to watching what I eat. I'm trying to lose weight by eating around 1400 cals a day. Could you guys please recommend me what times to eat my meals? And how many meals should I have with just 1400 cals as my limit?

    I'm 18 :) weight 128 and 5'4 but my goal is 120! it set me 1306 and 1 pound!

    You don't have to eat at any certain times. All you need to do is to eat the foods you love in moderation so you eat less calories than you burn.

    Also, since you are already a healthy weight and have only have 8 pounds to lose, you need to set your goals to lose only one half pound a week. That will give you more calories to eat.



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