Under daily calorie, but consistently over on protein, sugar, or both
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Lucybell9
Posts: 3 Member
Hello!
I am finally trying to be VERY serious about losing weight and getting into shape (I'm on day 8 today). I am 47 and have been overweight for 6-7 years now. I did it to myself, I ate junk and became really addicted to sugar. I am hoping for some ideas of things to eat to better balance my daily nutritional intake. I have been under the calorie count most days, but consistently over on protein, sugar, or both.
More about me: I work in an office and I sit in front of a computer all day. I have been making sure to take my 2 (15min each) breaks each day and walk with some co-workers. Also my awesome coworker brought in a stationary bike, so I have been riding it on lunch break.
I have a husband and 2 kids at home (almost 8 and 10 years old), and we always try to sit at the dinner table and eat together, usually between 5:45-6:30pm. My kids are kind of picky eaters, but I try to give them balanced meals, too (we all eat the same thing, usually, unless we are finishing up different leftovers).
That's it for now. I have been up since 4:30am and I am tired! Thanks for any/all your help! Have a great evening/day!
Best wishes,
Leslie Ann
I am finally trying to be VERY serious about losing weight and getting into shape (I'm on day 8 today). I am 47 and have been overweight for 6-7 years now. I did it to myself, I ate junk and became really addicted to sugar. I am hoping for some ideas of things to eat to better balance my daily nutritional intake. I have been under the calorie count most days, but consistently over on protein, sugar, or both.
More about me: I work in an office and I sit in front of a computer all day. I have been making sure to take my 2 (15min each) breaks each day and walk with some co-workers. Also my awesome coworker brought in a stationary bike, so I have been riding it on lunch break.
I have a husband and 2 kids at home (almost 8 and 10 years old), and we always try to sit at the dinner table and eat together, usually between 5:45-6:30pm. My kids are kind of picky eaters, but I try to give them balanced meals, too (we all eat the same thing, usually, unless we are finishing up different leftovers).
That's it for now. I have been up since 4:30am and I am tired! Thanks for any/all your help! Have a great evening/day!
Best wishes,
Leslie Ann
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Replies
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I have the same problem!! I've wanted to know if this hurts weight loss as well! I have to say, I have lost weight even being over my sugars or protein limit, but I'm wondering if i would lose quicker or more if i hadn't....0
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don't worry too much about those limits. Just focus on measuring your calories accurately (using a food scale and logging everything) and you'll do great.0
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Being over on your protein limit certainly isn't a problem. if your sugar limits are not limits you set for yourself, they are just presets that don't mean all that much. As long as you are eating at a calorie deficit, you will lose weight, regardless of the source. Being over on your sugars isn't going to matter unless you have some serious health concern. Protein is a good thing, so don't worry about it.0
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I can't really say much because I don't have any numbers to work with. However eating more protein can be beneficial to weight loss not only because it has a higher thermic effect than the other macronutrients, but also prevents muscle wasting to an extent. Since muscle is what burns the majority of your daily calories, keeping muscle mass is essential. Strength training is the better way of preserving muscle, but eating a lot of protein certainly can aid it as well. I'd say anywhere between 100-180g of protein per day (depending on duration and intensity of exercise) is adequate.
About the low total calories, this can be detrimental depending on how low you're talking about. If you're eating 300-700 cal under your TDE (total daily expenditure) then this is ok and probably the best deficit range depending on your body comp. If your deficit is anything less than that for an extended period of time, your body's levels of thyroid hormone will decrease, slowing your metabolism and making weight loss slower. In addition, the bigger the calorie deficit, the more muscle mass you risk losing, which also slows down your metabolism.
On the high sugar topic, it also depends how much sugar you are consuming. if you are replacing fat with sugar, you are slowing down fat loss. Different enzymes are required for breaking down the different types of macronutrients. The levels of enzymes present in your GI tract are directly related to your diet. A higher carb diet will have more enzymes that break down carbs and less enzymes that breakdown proteins. With less fat enzymes you will only be able to break down a limited amount of fat per given amount of time. Also there are essential fatty acids that a necessary to have in the diet.
Another thing about added sugar is that it is a combination of half glucose and half fructose. The glucose is absorbed in the blood stream and causes the pancreas to release insulin and the glucose is stored in the muscles and the liver. Fructose however, can only be used by the liver unless it is converted (by the liver) to glucose. It is absorbed in the blood stream and doesn't cause an major insulin release by itself so it is metabolized by the liver and stored as liver glycogen. However when the liver is full of glycogen and there is still fructose in the blood stream, the liver will convert the fructose into free fatty acids which are stored in the fat cells.
Sorry this is so long. I hope this helps.0 -
Your body does not need simple sugars because it can extract what energy it needs from other sources such as protein or complex carbs. BUT it does need protein because it cannot manufacture the essential amino acids that it contains.
Excessive protein can increase the load on the kidneys but this is not as bad as the anti-protein lobby makes out. Making sure your water is good assists the kidneys. Try to keep your protein to a max of 40% of calories consumed.
Protein will reduce the "hungries". Sugar will increase them. A recent experiment on sugar cane hand-cutters showed that they performed better for longer if they snacked on protein rather than carbs and felt less hunger pangs as well.
I know what I choose to eat. You are in control of what you eat.0 -
Reduce sugar and carbs. Doing so will improve your life.
Drastically limit bread, pasta, pizza, rice, corn, potatoes, and fruit.
Eat more fats and oils to get to your calorie goal and to replace the sugar: butter, olive oil, hummus, nuts, avocados, sunflower seeds, chia seeds. Also whole fat milk and yogurt and cheese.
Eat lots more low carb/low sugar frozen/fresh/ canned veggies like broccoli, swiss chard, kale, spinach, romaine, cabbage, mushrooms, asparagus, avocados, okra, cauliflower, bell peppers, snow peas, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, winter squash, brussels sprouts.0 -
"Test out" what you're gonna eat the next day. Every night, I input a couple food options until I hit my macros and my calories. You'll get better at it... trust me.0
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Going over on protein is not a problem; As regards sugar - it depends what kind of sugar. I drink a lot of milk, which has lactose in it, which is a kind of sugar and that often pushes me over my goals. However, I'd only consider it a problem if I was eating too much processed or added sugar - chocolate, fizzy drinks, etc.
If your sugar is coming from fruits, milk and unprocessed carbs then I wouldn't worry at all but if it's coming from less than healthy food then I'd take note of what has a high amount of sugar and cut back on those. For me, I didn't realise that my coffee creamer had extra sugar in it, and once I cut back on that I did my teeth and my diet a whole lot of good :-)0 -
Sugar isn't a problem unless you're diabetic, and MFP's limit is way too low. Same for protein, you should try to be at least 20g over. It might be a good ratio for someone trying to maintain weight, but when you lose, you want to keep your protein up to minimize muscle loss.0
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Weight loss is calories in vs calories out. Period.
This thread is an excellent starting point for your weight loss journey and this one is a great one on setting calorie and macro targets.0 -
Not sure what your limits are but your protien shouldn't be any lower than .7g/lb of body weight and wouldn't hurt to have it at 1g/lb while losing even if you are not active, unless of course you have kidney issues. I don't worry too much about the fat and carbs, they tend to take care of themselves, as long as my calories, fiber and protein are where I want them to be then I don't worry.0
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Reduce sugar and carbs. Doing so will improve your life.
Drastically limit bread, pasta, pizza, rice, corn, potatoes, and fruit.
Eat more fats and oils to get to your calorie goal and to replace the sugar: butter, olive oil, hummus, nuts, avocados, sunflower seeds, chia seeds. Also whole fat milk and yogurt and cheese.
Eat lots more low carb/low sugar frozen/fresh/ canned veggies like broccoli, swiss chard, kale, spinach, romaine, cabbage, mushrooms, asparagus, avocados, okra, cauliflower, bell peppers, snow peas, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, winter squash, brussels sprouts.
How does drastically limiting bread, pasta etc improve life?
And why eat more fats and oils? I personally can't stomache full fat milk...the thought of it makes me sick to my stomache to be quite frank...
why go low carb?
Our bodies are designed to eat those things, want them, use them why not eat them.
To the OP MFP is minimums...don't worry about it unless you have a medical reason to...and no it won't hinder weight loss. CICO0 -
Thanks everyone for your kind responses!0
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You are exactly doing the opposite of what you should do, which is going low in fat and high in sugar, switch that balance and you will see the results, of course when I say eat more fat I mean healthy fats, not canola oil and margarine.0
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Scarecrowsama wrote: »You are exactly doing the opposite of what you should do, which is going low in fat and high in sugar, switch that balance and you will see the results, of course when I say eat more fat I mean healthy fats, not canola oil and margarine.
Why? What results?0 -
I don't know what is that "why" for but I really encourage you to research about the truth of fat intake.
The common misconception of "fat makes you fat" is what makes nations like the US have the obesity epidemic that they have. You can't have more low-fat *kitten*, diets, products in that country but ironically people is fatter and fatter every day, sometimes things are so easy to see.
If you ask about fats in particular, there are hundreds of places in which you can read about it.
I recommend you these series of articles.
http://chriskresser.com/essentialfattyacids
It is going to be hard to find better information about fats than that.0 -
Echoing a lot of the sentiments - the overall number is the biggest indicator of loss. Make sure you are drinking enough water to help your liver sort all that protein though! My dietician friend gave me this advice when I she looked at my numbers. I don't have studies to back this up though...0
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Scarecrowsama wrote: »I don't know what is that "why" for but I really encourage you to research about the truth of fat intake.
The common misconception of "fat makes you fat" is what makes nations like the US have the obesity epidemic that they have. You can't have more low-fat *kitten*, diets, products in that country but ironically people is fatter and fatter every day, sometimes things are so easy to see.
If you ask about fats in particular, there are hundreds of places in which you can read about it.
I recommend you these series of articles.
http://chriskresser.com/essentialfattyacids
It is going to be hard to find better information about fats than that.
The point is people don't have to eat high fat and low in sugar. There is no rule to that. I eat moderate fat 60-70g per day and I could care less about the sugar. Why haven't I failed?
That exactly. Fat doesn't make you fat, sugar doesn't make you fat, a surplus in calories makes you fat.0 -
Since you have just begun, I would worry only about staying within your deficit. After you have the hang of it, worry about your macros.0
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