Green Tea Meal Replacement

buhbyefatso
buhbyefatso Posts: 28
edited November 10 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone!! I just have a question, my mother in law recently replaced dinner with a cup of Green Tea in the evenings and has lost 17 lbs in 3 weeks due to this. Has anyone heard of a doctor approving this? Hers did and I was surprised, but it's working quite well for her, and I am beginning to consider adding that to my routine now..advice?
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Replies

  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Her doctor ... a MD not DO ... approved this?
  • fearlessleader104
    fearlessleader104 Posts: 723 Member
    Eat less move more. Ignore all the other noise.
  • sjaplo
    sjaplo Posts: 974 Member
    It's called intermittent fasting - or skipping meals. Of course you'll lose weight, you're ostensibly cutting out 1/3 of your calories for the day.

    I'd want to chew off my leg in the morning though.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    It's called skipping a meal. She's losing weight because skipping dinner has put her in a caloric deficit. Green tea had nothing to do with it.

    As long as she's getting adequate nutrition from her other meals, she's fine. This method is called intermittent fasting. It basically means consuming all your calories in smaller windows of time, so you might eat only 2 or even 1 meal, and it would all be eaten within 6 or 8 hours (there's varying methods) but the meals are typically larger so that they make up some or all of the missing calories from the skipped meal.
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    edited January 2015
    Thank you! She thinks it's the green tea completely, I was just curious. I'm new to becoming healthy lol
    Do you think the green tea could be helping keep the hunger pangs away? I feel like trying the intermittent fasting route for a jump start, but I get cranky when my stomach is empty.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Green tea isn't magical. Drinking more water and fluids can sometimes help people feel fuller for longer, and of course it's good to stay hydrated. But there's nothing special about green tea other than the fact that some people like the taste and others enjoy the caffeine.

    If your MIL is skipping meals, that's probably why she's losing weight. But, like with most other fad diets, is this something she thinks she can keep up for the rest of her life? If not, she's likely to gain the weight back when she goes back to eating normally.

    Don't worry about these fad diets. Calories in, calories out. Eat less, move more.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    buhbyefatso wrote: »
    Hi everyone!! I just have a question, my mother in law recently replaced dinner with a cup of Green Tea in the evenings and has lost 17 lbs in 3 weeks due to this. Has anyone heard of a doctor approving this? Hers did and I was surprised, but it's working quite well for her, and I am beginning to consider adding that to my routine now..advice?

    The green tea has nothing to do with her weight loss. Skipping dinner created a calorie deficit, therefore she lost weight.

    Green tea has no magic to it except the magic you and mom give to it. :)
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    buhbyefatso wrote: »
    Thank you! She thinks it's the green tea completely, I was just curious. I'm new to becoming healthy lol
    Do you think the green tea could be helping keep the hunger pangs away? I feel like trying the intermittent fasting route for a jump start, but I get cranky when my stomach is empty.

    Sure it could, but only because she's filling her tummy with tea rather than food.
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    edited January 2015
    Thanks again everyone:) I started Insanity today, and do a small cardio circuit in the morning, so I think maybe I will try the fasting thing. I will be eating adequate calories to fuel my body.. I spoke to my physician today and he said I shouldn't eat after 7 anyways because I *usually* am in bed by 9, which is right around the time I have my last snack. Healthing is not coming easy or naturally to me like it did my sister!
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,224 Member
    Green tea, water etc when it replaces food creates a deficit and you know what happens then right?
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    Yeah pretty sure everyone covered the calorie deficit.
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    I do have a question about calorie deficits though...or how really all of that works. According to my BME, I should consume 2100 calories to maintain, obviously I'm trying to lose weight...so, I've cut down by 400 calories. But, when I work out, obviously burning calories, (insanity burns a LOT), should I consume more calories to make up for that added deficit?
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    I don't want to starve my body or my muscles..and we eat low-carb paleo at my house..(my problem has mostly been with portion control until I learned how to hydrate and now I'm at a plateau)
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,224 Member
    buhbyefatso wrote: »
    I do have a question about calorie deficits though...or how really all of that works. According to my BME, I should consume 2100 calories to maintain, obviously I'm trying to lose weight...so, I've cut down by 400 calories. But, when I work out, obviously burning calories, (insanity burns a LOT), should I consume more calories to make up for that added deficit?
    Yes that's how it works to maintain a desired deficit, and for you it was 400 calories.

  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    buhbyefatso wrote: »
    I spoke to my physician today and he said I shouldn't eat after 7 anyways because I *usually* am in bed by 9, which is right around the time I have my last snack. Healthing is not coming easy or naturally to me like it did my sister!

    Somewhat surprised to hear that advice coming from a doctor. Some experts recommend avoiding caffeine and sugar very close to bedtime if you have insomnia or trouble falling asleep. But from a health or weight loss standpoint, it really doesn't make a difference what time of day you eat your calories.

    Instead of focusing so much on trying to follow programs or fad diets, if this is new to you, why not just spend the first few weeks focusing on the basics? That is, calories in, calories out. Fasting and calorie cycling aren't bad things, but they're usually things that you might try out if you're stuck or in a plateau. But for the vast majority of people, just eating at a reasonable deficit and getting your exercise in will be fine without having to add all these extra pressures.
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    I was 201lbs, lost 16lbs, and am at a plateau. I guess I will give the added cardio a go first and see how it does me! Thanks!
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    buhbyefatso wrote: »
    I was 201lbs, lost 16lbs, and am at a plateau. I guess I will give the added cardio a go first and see how it does me! Thanks!

    The added cardio won't necessarily get you out of a plateau. If you eat back your exercise calories, be aware that many people find that MFP often overestimates their calorie burns. I'd suggest starting by eating back 50% of your estimated burned calories, and then, if you're losing weight too quickly, you can increase from there.

    But my first thought is that, with a 400 calorie daily deficit, if you lost weight at first and then hit a plateau, then it's very likely inaccurate tracking. In other words, what you thought was a 400-calorie deficit was actually only 200 or 300 calories, but that was okay at first because you were losing anyway. However, with the weight you lost, your calorie needs dropped, so the deficit shrank and now you're essentially eating at maintenance.

    Do you weigh everything you eat? Are you eating back exercise calories? Can you open your diary? It's possible that you could break this plateau simply by tightening up on your logging and tracking methods, without having to change anything else.
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    I just type in my food here. But when I started my plateau, honestly, I quit logging. Today is my first day back. And I ate bread today, which wasn't my brightest idea, but I need to go grocery shopping..which I do on Fridays. We've been eating low-carb paleo style diet for 2 months now and I really thought that would change everything up for me, but alas, I haven't lost weight. I hadn't increased my activity at all either though. Just maintained portion control by eating on smaller plates and stuff. Tips from my dr and sister. My doc said he could prescribe me Topamax(sp?) but that is definitely NOT the route I want to take. I changed my calorie intake here from 1700 to 1250 and am just going to try to meet that daily instead. If I lose to rapidly I'll know it's too much, if I'm not losing I will know I'm not doing something right. Or I'm destined to be a little meatball lol
  • octogirlpretty
    octogirlpretty Posts: 45
    Interesting..
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    1250 calories? At 185 lbs and 24 years old? That's not recommended at all.

    Instead, try to stick to the 1700 but make it a *real* 1700. In other words, log and measure everything you eat, carefully, and make sure it's actually 1700, not wild-guess-1700-that's-more-like-2200.

    Read this thread: community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10012907/logging-accuracy-consistency-and-youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p1

    I'll seriously never understand why people insist on torturing themselves when there's a way to accomplish their goals without it.
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    It really I think boils down to not knowing what we are doing lol
    How do I weigh food? I've never even heard of that. I will give the article a read, but for a beginner in working out and apparently really tracking their calorie intake (which I thought I had down
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    And I honestly thought 1200calories was more-so where a 5'3" 24 year old should be. I was just going to adjust and readjust until I hit a healthy weight..
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    edited January 2015
    I don't log alcohol consumption. DUH. So easy to forget that those drinks you have every so often have calories too! I just had a face palm moment. So here is another question, if you don't mind...
    I don't drink often, maybe every two or three weeks, just one evening, but probably upwards of 4-7 drinks, anything from wine to a vodka mixer.
    How do I maintain progress and still be able to have those evenings?
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Until you know how much you're actually eating, it's pointless to keep readjusting it. The first step is to figure out what your current calorie intake is.

    A little digital food scale for the kitchen will run you $10-$15 at Wal-Mart or on Amazon. Pick one up, and weigh every single thing you eat on it. (Except liquids; you can measure those in a liquid measuring cup). Any solid food should go on the scale. Even foods that have their calories written on the package, because, as you'll notice, the listed weight on the package often differs significantly from the actual weight.

    Do this obsessively for a couple of weeks. Log everything in weight (ounces or grams). Be as accurate as you possibly can.

    Then, figure out how much you're actually eating. That will give you some information to work with, and then you can start figuring out the next step. But until you know that, you're just stumbling around in the dark.

  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    I've been trusting the packages:/
    Ordering a food scale off amazon now.
    How do you figure out how many calories are in each ounce?
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    buhbyefatso wrote: »
    And I honestly thought 1200calories was more-so where a 5'3" 24 year old should be. I was just going to adjust and readjust until I hit a healthy weight..

    Try inputting your stats in this: scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/.

    Depending on body fat percentage or equation used, your BMR (the calories your body burns just from being alive, basically, what you would burn each day if you were basically in a coma) is probably around 1550-1600. Then, on top of that, you have your normal daily activity PLUS your exercise. That means that your maintenance calories are probably around 2000-2200 or thereabouts, at least.

    So if you're not losing weight, you're probably eating that many calories right now. And cutting to 1500-1700 per day would mean you'd likely lose around a pound a week, which is a healthy rate of weight loss that makes sense for your stats.
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    My sisters weight loss made this seem easy lol
    She didn't even track her food. She just ate cleaner and less and walked and boom, in 3 months dropped 35lbs
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Seriously, don't be scared. This isn't that hard. It seems complicated at first but it's actually pretty easy once you get used to it.
  • buhbyefatso
    buhbyefatso Posts: 28
    Thank you so much! You've really helped me a ton. I really haven't had a clue and I really thought I did! It feels good to be learning about it though!
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    No worries! You'll get the hang of this.
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