Hiya, I need some advice!

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ambiences
ambiences Posts: 65 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This past June (June 10th!), I started a MFP and ate 1450 calories a day. My starting weight was 204 (at 5'3...oof.) I kept that up for a while, then switched to 1350 as I lost weight. On August 12th, I weighed in at 185.5 pounds. That was a nice feeling. However, late August I moved to college and long story short, I came back home December 18th and weighed in at...203 pounds. So I started again that day, eating 1450 calories just like I had before. Lucky me, for Christmas I received a food scale and I've been measuring pretty religiously. I've been doing fine, yesterday I weighed in at 193. I basically lost about 10 pounds in 3 weeks. At home, I'm pretty sedentary. I lay around all day, so I figure that 1450 is a pretty good goal. However, my BMR according to Scoobysworkshop.com is 1700. I mean, I've been losing weight pretty consistently, and I haven't been hungry at 1450. I'll go over some days but it's okay with me.

This being said, I don't want to mess up my metabolism by eating under my BMR, however since I don't exercise yet, I've been pretty okay with my rate of loss.
My question is: when I get back to school with a gym to utilize, what should I do? it's difficult counting calories at school (dining hall food) so I'm going to try to stick to salads with grilled chicken and possibly the occasional stir fry. Unfortunately everything is going to be pretty approximate. Does anyone have any advice as to what I should do? I really don't wanna reach my goal weight and have a messed up metabolism and I certainly don't want to gain the weight back!
any help is appreciated, sorry i'm a huge noob o:)

Replies

  • ambiences
    ambiences Posts: 65 Member
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    selfish bump :)))))
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    Firstly, you will not hurt your metabolism. Secondly, eating food you don't know the content of is trickier but not impossible. You will have to institute the plate method which is 1/2 plate fruit and veggies, 1/4 protein, 1/4 plate starch. Otherwise, you may just have to do your best guessing. I hope this helps :) Best wishes
  • summergirl212
    summergirl212 Posts: 91 Member
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    Go with what you feel. If you can eat only 1450 and still feel fine after working out, go with it. If you feel hungry, weak, grumpy, then add a couple hundred more calories with healthy snacks or more veggies and protein in your meal. I feel like people really stress not eating under your BMR but a couple weeks of eating lower calories while working out isn't going to ruin your metabolism forever. Good luck!
  • ambiences
    ambiences Posts: 65 Member
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    queenliz99 wrote: »
    Firstly, you will not hurt your metabolism. Secondly, eating food you don't know the content of is trickier but not impossible. You will have to institute the plate method which is 1/2 plate fruit and veggies, 1/4 protein, 1/4 plate starch. Otherwise, you may just have to do your best guessing. I hope this helps :) Best wishes

    that's a good idea, I forget that sometimes. I just like to know exactly how many calories because I get so nervous about overeating! but I'll do that and use my best judgment!
  • ambiences
    ambiences Posts: 65 Member
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    summergirl212 wrote: »
    Go with what you feel. If you can eat only 1450 and still feel fine after working out, go with it. If you feel hungry, weak, grumpy, then add a couple hundred more calories with healthy snacks or more veggies and protein in your meal. I feel like people really stress not eating under your BMR but a couple weeks of eating lower calories while working out isn't going to ruin your metabolism forever. Good luck!

    I might up it to 1600 when I start working out again because I've been sedentary and eating 1450, feeling just fine. When I workout, that may change!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    First, you're not going to mess up your metabolism. You may have to guess at some of your meals, but if you have weighed and measured enough, you can come pretty close. Remember to be conscientious and use moderation.
  • ambiences
    ambiences Posts: 65 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    First, you're not going to mess up your metabolism. You may have to guess at some of your meals, but if you have weighed and measured enough, you can come pretty close. Remember to be conscientious and use moderation.

    I think I have a good idea of what some things are. I'm just nervous to go back after last semester because I gained it all back. I spent a month or so there logging (definitely overestimating) and then just gave up. I gotta change my outlook!
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    edited January 2015
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    ambiences wrote: »
    I don't want to mess up my metabolism

    [url="http://"][/url]"Starvation mode" doesn't exist.
     (at least not in the way you think it does)
    You're not gonna "mess up" your metabolism.

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