Need to lose 100lbs. Need tips.
ohhhhjenn
Posts: 12 Member
I just turned 30yrs old, have 5 children, am recovering from a major back injury in which I broke my back in Feb 2014. I was stuck in bed for quite some time and inactive then the pain turned in to depression and eating was such a comfort. I've gained a huge amount of weight in the last 11 months and am currently fluctuating between 249/256. I'm at a point now where I'm just disgusted with my body and my emotional well being is suffering and it's affecting my relationship and self esteem so negatively. I've gotta make a huge change and start my weight loss journey. Is there anything my fellow MFP family can recommend? What should my caloric I take per day be? I still can't do a lot of high impact stuff but I'll do whatever I can at home.
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There are two words you need to know and understand: Calorie Deficit.
All else is a matter of opinion and taste, but Calorie Deficit is both necessary and sufficient. You need it. And you need nothing else ... except maybe Time for the Calorie Deficit to do its job.
Use the tools you can find here on this site (myfitnesspal) and elsewhere on the Internet to determine the calories you need to take in, and to track what you are actually consuming. It's all here. Explore the site.
You don't need low impact - you don't need any impact. It can be done via diet alone if exercise is a problem.0 -
And one more word. Consistency0
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SergeantSausage wrote: »There are two words you need to know and understand: Calorie Deficit.
All else is a matter of opinion and taste, but Calorie Deficit is both necessary and sufficient. You need it. And you need nothing else ... except maybe Time for the Calorie Deficit to do its job.
Use the tools you can find here on this site (myfitnesspal) and elsewhere on the Internet to determine the calories you need to take in, and to track what you are actually consuming. It's all here. Explore the site.
You don't need low impact - you don't need any impact. It can be done via diet alone if exercise is a problem.
^
This.
The most important thing for me is to keep the daily diary religiously -- good days, not so good, or in-between.
I often log my foods the night before so I know what to expect the next day.
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How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
Just get started. That's all you have to do. Figure out how many calories you need to lose, based on little activity due to your back injury, and eat that. That's it! You've begun.
And then take it easy and allow your weight loss to come. If it doesn't come, that's when you start playing around with calories and macros, but no need to address that unless you get to that point; you may not (except for lowering your calories as you lose substantial amounts of weight and need less).
How absolutely terrible that you broke your back; what happened?0 -
I'm kind of in the same boat as yourself. 4 children ages 2-8. After I quit my job to be a stay at home mom I blew up, I mean I was bigto begin with but the past year I have gained at least 40 or 50 lbs by just being lazy. I'm on my 3rd day of this low calorie diet. Let's see if it works.0
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How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
Just get started. That's all you have to do. Figure out how many calories you need to lose, based on little activity due to your back injury, and eat that. That's it! You've begun. And then take it easy and allow your weight loss to come. If it doesn't come, that's when you start playing around with calories and macros, but no need to address that unless you get to that point; you may not (except for lowering your calories as you lose substantial amounts of weight and need less).
How absolutely terrible that you broke your back; what happened?
I fell at work on a wet floor and broke my tail bone and cracked my sacrum and fractured my wrist then 2 weeks later I got pinned between my car and another when I was picking up medication. A lady backed right in to me pinning me at the knees/hips.
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SergeantSausage wrote: »There are two words you need to know and understand: Calorie Deficit.
All else is a matter of opinion and taste, but Calorie Deficit is both necessary and sufficient. You need it. And you need nothing else ... except maybe Time for the Calorie Deficit to do its job.
Use the tools you can find here on this site (myfitnesspal) and elsewhere on the Internet to determine the calories you need to take in, and to track what you are actually consuming. It's all here. Explore the site.
You don't need low impact - you don't need any impact. It can be done via diet alone if exercise is a problem.
Based on the info I imputed on this app, I should be taking in 1600 cals a day. I honestly don't know if that's too much. Other sites and calculators I've used instruct me to less than 1k and that doesn't seem healthy to me either so I'm kind of lost.
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Glad your back healed! Calorie deficit. Count everything. Don't try to do it too quickly. It will take time. Eat healthy.0
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I'm 5'5", 42 years old and have a desk job. I entered in I want to lose 2 pounds a week and sedentary. I'm currently 272 pounds and it gives me 1390 calories a day. I don't know what your settings are but by following what it says and eating about half my exercise calories back I'm losing between 2 and 2 1/2 pounds a week so I'm pretty impressed that it's accurate. I've lost 32 pounds in 87 days.
Having a support system really helps so be sure and add plenty of friends.0 -
I would trust MFP I had the best results when I trusted the numbers it gave me, ignored everyone else's well intended but devastating advice (in my case I got on a message board with a bunch of people who were all about all natural eating, great for them but I was not at that point in my journey and I got all bummed and derailed my progress :-) )
Now I am doing what it says eating 1649 cals a day and losing I do work out some but lately I have been really busy so it's just been eating right, some days I might go anywhere from 49-100 cals over but I am losing and excited again.
Do not try to work out until you are ready I wanted to cry for you when I read what happened to you that is total horrendous and your body will need lots of TLC probably from now on. I was in a car accident in 2008 and my back it completely messed up and I didn't break anything so I can only imagine and to be hit like that Oh my gosh! Anyway that's my two cents from my journey. Feel free to friend me if you like oh and remember water is your friend drink tons of water. Water = energy and a full belly! ;-)0 -
friend me, so later you can messege with any questions, will help you as much as I can I need to loose 120lb,30 done, 90 to go...yes,1600 kcal its a good start, try for couple weeks, see how its works, worked for me first month, but later I reduced to 1550 and later 1500.... 0
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For caloric goals per day see article on changing shape
Mifflin-St Jeor Equation
This equation is one of the most accurate methods to use when it comes to figuring out you’re your particular caloric needs should be for the day.
For men: RMR = 9.99 x wt (kg) + 6.25 x ht (cm) – 4.92 x age (yrs) + 5
For women: RMR = 9.99 x wt (kg) + 6.25 x ht (cm) -4.92 x age (yrs) – 161
Step 1: First convert pounds to kilograms by dividing by 2.2.
Step 2: Next, convert the inches to centimeters by multiplying by 2.545. For the most part, all moderately active people are generally advised to consume about 1.5 to 1.7 times the calculated resting metabolic rate (RMR).
http://www.changingshape.com/calculators/daily-calorie-intake/
Make it a goal to be BORING!
http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/The-Habbits-of-Highly-Boring-Pe
Make your diet a habit meaning eat pretty much the same everyday with one 'cheat' day a week. Dont cut anything out but eat in moderation. Once you get the calories adjusted to your goals then focus on the micronutrient dense foods.
I'm a sloth. I changed my diet from daily restaurants (exciting) to sandwiches and International Harvest snacks (boring but healthier). The o-food tastes fresh and fantastic and I'm much more satisfied after o-food snacking than chips and dip!
Check out the 5lb+ deals.
http://internationalharvest.com/
To be normal in the USA is to be fat. Join the MFP abnormal and boring healthy movement!
http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/02/04/food-addiction-could-it-explain-why-70-percent-of-america-is-fat/#close
Baby steps to healthy living!0 -
The most important thing is to not give up.
If you stop trying, things are not going to change for the better.
If you have a day where you completely blow your calorie goal, accept it & do better tomorrow.
Here's a newbie help blog post I did compiling a bunch of useful info, including sexypants, goal setting (calories, weight, macros), and motivation / encouragement.
A healthy goal weight, and linked to that a healthy calorie intake, depends largely on your height and to some degree your frame size. For now, pick a number in the middle to top of the green range on a BMI chart. Once you get there, you can see how you feel. Maybe you'll like it, maybe you'll want to drop another 10 lb, or maybe you'll increase your weightlifting to shape up at the higher weight.
"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake.
However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity."
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html
Last week I was sick (starting Monday), this week I'm still fighting a deep cough, so I haven't exercised in more than a week. (Other than working 2 days, and shoveling snow 40 min.) I'm still losing weight because I'm eating under my calorie goal.
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How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
Just get started. That's all you have to do. Figure out how many calories you need to lose, based on little activity due to your back injury, and eat that. That's it! You've begun. And then take it easy and allow your weight loss to come. If it doesn't come, that's when you start playing around with calories and macros, but no need to address that unless you get to that point; you may not (except for lowering your calories as you lose substantial amounts of weight and need less).
How absolutely terrible that you broke your back; what happened?
I fell at work on a wet floor and broke my tail bone and cracked my sacrum and fractured my wrist then 2 weeks later I got pinned between my car and another when I was picking up medication. A lady backed right in to me pinning me at the knees/hips.
Oh my gosh. I am so sorry this happened to you.
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The easiest fix to eating less calories is buying smaller plates, bowls and skinnier drinking glasses. Psychology is a powerful tool to mass loss and hacking our brains into believing the portion sizes are bigger with smaller plates actually works. Throw in some color contrast and before you know it the mass melts away without much effort.
Science to the rescue
see large plate study
http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/outreach/large-plates.html
see colored plate study
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/03/21/want-to-eat-less-change-the-color-of-your-plate/
Baby steps to healthy living!0 -
I'm 5'5", 42 years old and have a desk job. I entered in I want to lose 2 pounds a week and sedentary. I'm currently 272 pounds and it gives me 1390 calories a day. I don't know what your settings are but by following what it says and eating about half my exercise calories back I'm losing between 2 and 2 1/2 pounds a week so I'm pretty impressed that it's accurate. I've lost 32 pounds in 87 days.
Having a support system really helps so be sure and add plenty of friends.
That's amazing! So glad you're seeing results. I'm hoping for the same
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I really appreciate all the advice and support. I'm 5'5 if that makes a difference. I used to be extremely big about 260lbs and I ended up very sick due to some heart problems and the weight melted off at that time because of my health deteriorating but then I gained back a little due to just getting comfortable where I was and after this accident, I blew up. I'll post some pics0
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Hi, not sure how this works, I'm terrible with technology. I was very happy to read your entry because I see that not alone in my struggles. I too have back problems and asthma and tibia very hard for me to loose weight. In addition to working, I go to school and raise 2 boys on my own, so the stress kind of adds to my weight problem. Have you got any advise from the community yet as to what is our best choice since we can't really exercise like others might? I'm interested to know what choices I have.0
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I totally understand where you are coming from. I had a bad neck injury several years ago and gained a lot of weight from the meds, and lack of moving. I'm now working on losing 89lbs more, after losing 41lb the last few months.
I know for me, I can't do any high impact exercise, and have to be careful what activities I do, as I have nerve damage, and chronic pain, as well as damage that means a high risk of further injury. I've found that walking is great, and I've also found lots of good pilates videos (for seniors actually... but they limit the stress on the spine so they are great) and low impact exercise videos on youtube. Check out FitnessBlender on youtube... they have lots of low impact videos, and activities for all levels. They're free, and really great!
I've also started swimming again (I was a lifeguard before my injury), and do aqua aerobics. Both take the stress of your spine, and are excellent, full-body workouts. I really recommend doing some sort of water activity.
Take it slow, and keep at it! You will be great. 0 -
First of all, don't just blindly go by what MFP tells you for how many calories you need daily...it often underestimates. Do some reading (use the stickies on the forums). There's tons of amazing information out there that will help you better decide the number of calories your body needs during this journey. I've lost 107 pounds and still eat 1600 calories daily.
Next, don't get discouraged when weight loss stalls out, because it will. This takes time so stay the course.
While exercise isn't needed for weight loss, you will probably eventually find that you will feel better if you do start to incorporate some movement into your days. Find something that you enjoy. I've found running at the age of 46...never in a million years would have guessed that I'd enjoy running!
Best of luck to you...you can do this!0 -
I've got a bad back - be kind to your body and only push it gradually if/when you get into exercise - putting yourself off your feet will having you going backwards - managing your calories and keeping the scale slowly moving down is what it's all about - don't get "greedy" and set your goals beyond what you can reasonably do and still be happy and not continually distracted by calories and exercise - I've lost weight before and lost it faster, but it wasn't sustainable - going slower this time and am hitting numbers on the scale that I don't remember when I last saw and it doesn't seem I'm trying half as hard as other times0
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