A life without soda, salt, alcohol, juice, red meats, etc.

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24

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  • LaurenFOB2301
    LaurenFOB2301 Posts: 84 Member
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    jnv7594 wrote: »
    You don't have to cut any of that out. It's not what you eat...it's how much.

    Edit: I see someone made this (almost) exact comment above, lol. I didn't copy I promise...tis true though.

    Thank you! And I believe you!! lol
  • duckykissy
    duckykissy Posts: 285 Member
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    I suggest that you count your calories and weigh your food, it is so easy to eat much more than you expect. Measuring yourself may also help, to see whether or not you are gaining muscle with all the gyming.

    Additionally, I think that maybe you should get your thyroid checked and ask your doctor about other tests (for example Vit D, iron, B12, etc.) that could cause issues with weight and energy. If you are eating as well as you are, exercising regularly, and still having issues with weight gain and energy something else may be causing it and you should talk to your doctor about it.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »
    I average about 1,200-1,600 calories a day. Is that too much? I'm wondering if it's because I have a desk job...It's probably not helping the cause, anyway.

    That is too inaccurate. How did you get those numbers? Is it an estimate? Exercise will aid in weightloss, but is not necessary.

    How is that too inaccurate? I'm just saying...some days, I eat 1,200. Other days, I eat 1,600. Some days, I go below 1,200. So, in essence, that's as accurate as I can get. I wouldn't say it's INaccurate.

    Do you know what average means? From the dictionary: a number that is calculated by adding quantities together and then dividing the total by the number of quantities.

    There is quite a difference between 1200 and 1600 calories. Averaging 1200 will make you lose weight, 1600 will make you gain weight. What calorie goal did MFP give you when you signed up?
  • Linnaea27
    Linnaea27 Posts: 639 Member
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    Aha, lot of posts showed up while I was working on mine. At your height of 5'2", 1600 calories is just below maintenance (my maintenance level is 1650 or so at 5'1").

    Try looking at your calorie total by the week rather than by the day and see how you are doing on your intake goals that way. It's fine to be over sometimes and under sometimes as long as you stay near the deficit level you want for your chosen weight loss rate, which you can also calculate on a weekly rather than daily basis (I like this approach better sometimes).

    1200 calories a day is the recommended minimum for people of any size on this site and some others, BUT women around our size are OK for shorter periods of time eating a little less than that, I have read. I have found this site helpful: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm as it seems like a pretty accurate calculator with a lot of helpful and accurate info.

  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
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    You focus on food-types and creating categories of good foods and bad foods, and lack focus on CICO.

    For weightloss, your body really doesn't care that you choose 500 calories of nuts and granola instead of a 500 calorie cheeseburger.
  • LaurenFOB2301
    LaurenFOB2301 Posts: 84 Member
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    Wow...Yes, I know what average means. Please do not insult my intelligence. What I didn't want to do is say "Yes, I eat exactly 1,200 calories a day (which is my target on MFP) when some days, I naturally go over some days. What I'm saying is, I know there's a difference between the two. But that's the best estimate I can give you without making up some average. I don't log every single day, so coming up with a perfect average would be impossible.

    Hence, why I'm probably not losing weight...sounds like it doesn't matter what I eat, but how much.

    When I signed up, MFP gave me 1,200 target.
  • LaurenFOB2301
    LaurenFOB2301 Posts: 84 Member
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    duckykissy wrote: »
    I suggest that you count your calories and weigh your food, it is so easy to eat much more than you expect. Measuring yourself may also help, to see whether or not you are gaining muscle with all the gyming.

    Additionally, I think that maybe you should get your thyroid checked and ask your doctor about other tests (for example Vit D, iron, B12, etc.) that could cause issues with weight and energy. If you are eating as well as you are, exercising regularly, and still having issues with weight gain and energy something else may be causing it and you should talk to your doctor about it.

    Hi! Funny you say that...I actually had my doctor run blood tests back in October (and additional thyroid tests) to see if something was up. My blood work came back PERFECT. While I was happy about it, it also was a little discouraging knowing that there wasn't something else preventing me from losing weight!

  • LaurenFOB2301
    LaurenFOB2301 Posts: 84 Member
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    Linnaea27 wrote: »
    Aha, lot of posts showed up while I was working on mine. At your height of 5'2", 1600 calories is just below maintenance (my maintenance level is 1650 or so at 5'1").

    Try looking at your calorie total by the week rather than by the day and see how you are doing on your intake goals that way. It's fine to be over sometimes and under sometimes as long as you stay near the deficit level you want for your chosen weight loss rate, which you can also calculate on a weekly rather than daily basis (I like this approach better sometimes).

    1200 calories a day is the recommended minimum for people of any size on this site and some others, BUT women around our size are OK for shorter periods of time eating a little less than that, I have read. I have found this site helpful: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm as it seems like a pretty accurate calculator with a lot of helpful and accurate info.

    So I'm wondering, then, if the days I eat closer to 1,600, I don't have enough of a deficit to actually be on the path to losing weight.

    I've always heard to eat healthy, and not to worry about counting. MFP has definitely helped me learn about nutrition and counting. But it sounds like I have a lot to learn, still!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Eat everything, only at a deficit.
    Can you open your diary?
  • marinabreeze
    marinabreeze Posts: 141 Member
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    Do you accurately track what you're eating (meaning weighing/measuring foods and then tracking them)? I ask because there is a huge difference between 1200 and 1600 calories, especially when you need a proper weekly deficit for weight loss over time. Eating healthy is important when it comes to nutrition, but eating at a deficit leads to weight loss.
  • LaurenFOB2301
    LaurenFOB2301 Posts: 84 Member
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    marinabreeze wrote: »
    Do you accurately track what you're eating (meaning weighing/measuring foods and then tracking them)? I ask because there is a huge difference between 1200 and 1600 calories, especially when you need a proper weekly deficit for weight loss over time. Eating healthy is important when it comes to nutrition, but eating at a deficit leads to weight loss.

    Hi marinabreeze -- I measure my foods, but I do not weigh them. I noticed several people suggesting I weigh my foods, too. I think that's my problem. I'm not tracking accurately enough. I can eat all the health foods in the world, but if I'm going over on my calorie intake, I won't lose. Thanks!
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
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    LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »
    I definitely know what a 4 oz. piece of chicken looks like lol :)

    How?
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »
    I definitely know what a 4 oz. piece of chicken looks like lol :)

    You definitely don't or you'd be losing weight.

    Start logging your food consistently and honestly. Also, buy a food scale and weigh every single thing you eat.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
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    LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »
    I average about 1,200-1,600 calories a day.

    No you don't.

    You *think* you do, but your fundamental problem with not losing weight is that you actually don't.

    If you did actually average in this range, we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?

    I'd suggest you start there: what are you really consuming. Estimating doesn't count, and it's exactly why you don't really know how much, right?

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    Cannot read whole post. It hurts. OP, just eat less of whatever you eat. You got this.
  • LaurenFOB2301
    LaurenFOB2301 Posts: 84 Member
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    Actually...Whether I know what a 4 oz. piece of chicken looks like has nothing to do with whether or I lose weight. There's no direct correlation. Did I say that's all I ate during a meal? No.

    Eyeing a 4 oz. piece of chicken isn't that difficult. Especially when the deli package states 4 oz. Other items are much more difficult to eye. Chicken is not one of them.

    I love how some people have wonderful constructive criticism and kind words for motivation. I appreciate that.

    Others think quick and punchy lines work in the same way.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited February 2015
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    I read your title and thought wow, how miserable

    You truly can eat every kind of food you want if you wish to

    I'm going to be blunt, based on your clear medical results.

    You are not a special little snowflake, you are simply fooling yourself and eating too much. No way are you eating under maintenance calories and maintains 176 at 5'1

    Throw away every single piece of information you think you know about dieting

    Weigh on a digital scale every single solid. Log it carefully, use non-starred MFP entries, check google calorie counts. Never use "homemade" entries. Build your own recipes. Log every single thing

    Move more - get active, lift heavy things and put them down again


  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,014 Member
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    LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »
    marinabreeze wrote: »
    Do you accurately track what you're eating (meaning weighing/measuring foods and then tracking them)? I ask because there is a huge difference between 1200 and 1600 calories, especially when you need a proper weekly deficit for weight loss over time. Eating healthy is important when it comes to nutrition, but eating at a deficit leads to weight loss.

    Hi marinabreeze -- I measure my foods, but I do not weigh them. I noticed several people suggesting I weigh my foods, too. I think that's my problem. I'm not tracking accurately enough. I can eat all the health foods in the world, but if I'm going over on my calorie intake, I won't lose. Thanks!

    You have answered your own question then.

    Yes if you go consistently go over your calorie target, you will not lose weight regardless of what foods you are eating.

    Yes you need to weigh foods- get a digital scale with a tare function. Very cheap at any chain store like Target or Woolworths etc
    Weigh everything. Log everything every day and aim to be as close to your calorie target as possible.
  • soidade
    soidade Posts: 116 Member
    edited February 2015
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    [/quote]
    So I'm wondering, then, if the days I eat closer to 1,600, I don't have enough of a deficit to actually be on the path to losing weight.

    I've always heard to eat healthy, and not to worry about counting. MFP has definitely helped me learn about nutrition and counting. But it sounds like I have a lot to learn, still!
    [/quote]


    "Healthy food" does not equal "weight loss friendly food." Peanut butter has a ton of nutrients. It'll also turn you into a blimp if you eat too much of it. Log everything you eat. Whole-grain bread isn't any lower in calories in white bread. A cup of walnuts has 500 calories. A cup of avocado has 230 calories. You're championing that you don't eat red meat or dairy, but both are filling and high in protein. From a calorie standpoint, you're worse off eating nuts and grains (trail mix is higher in calories than M&Ms!) than eating some beef jerky and a glass of milk.

    And salt has NOTHING to do with calories, aside from sodium affecting water retention.

    Eating "healthy" =/= losing weight. If you want to do both, go for it! But I've steadily lost 40 pounds in the last 6 months with a diet that has regularly included all of the things that you avoid, often in fast food form! I don't say that to suggest that you should eat fast food, but rather to underscore the overarching point, here: weight loss is solely reliant upon eating fewer calories than you expend. The "quality" of those calories is certainly relevant to your overall health (heart, blood sugar, etc.), but from a weight loss perspective, there's NO difference between eating 1500 calories of broccoli and 1500 calories of pizza.

    Also, you need to do an actual calculation based on your activity level (x hours of light activity, x hours of sleep, x hours of strenuous exercise) to calculate your daily calorie expenditure, but I can tell you that 1600 is NOT your maintenance level. At 5'2 and 175 pounds, even if you were completely sedentary, your maintenance calories would be closer to 1800. If you're lightly active, closer to 2000. If you're moderately active, closer to 2400. You burn more than 1600 calories just by breathing. But here's the cincher: you're not eating 1600 calories, or you'd be losing weight. If you're not measuring and logging, you're underestimating. Log. Measure. Get a scale. You will be very surprised at how many actual calories you're putting in your body.

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