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Weazy16
Weazy16 Posts: 20 Member
edited November 13 in Getting Started
hi,
I had hand surgery in October for a severed tendon. While in a splint for three months I wasn't able to do much including working out. I suffer from PTSD, anxiety and depression. With everything the extra weight rapidly came back and more. After three months my work uniform no longer fit. I weighed myself last night and was shocked to see the numbers at 242 lbs. I've never weighed this much. This is really affecting my overall confidence and when I look at myself in the mirror I no longer recognize myself. I also suffer from chronic back pain due to a work related accident twelve years ago. Some expertise I can no longer due, I need to be very creative. The extra weight has made my back pain worse of course. For last couple of days I've been tracking my food. I'm a bit confused with some food entries that seem to have some comments such as high calories, high fat such as eggs. I feel isn't it better to get the good fat and protein from eggs instead of eating bread for breakfast? Should I aim at 1500 calories or less when I work out? We are travelling to Florida for the next ten days and I plan on staying on track. Since I have no support from hubby, as he eats crap all the time etc, I would like to find support here if possible. I will be 40 in April and would like to feel and look good by then. Thank u.
Ps. I had lost 25 lbs on g.i diet three years ago after last pregnancy, I would like to follow g.i approach but all this bran makes me bloated!

Replies

  • meritage4
    meritage4 Posts: 1,441 Member
    enter your weight, your goal and a loss of 1 lb and week and see what MFP gives you for calories.
    Walking is a great place to start for exercise.
  • Weazy16
    Weazy16 Posts: 20 Member
    Should I not pout two lbs per week? I do find calorie intake at 1250 doesn't seem like much. I weigh 242 at 5'6
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    2 lbs is fine but sometimes it's a bit of a shock to the system. Like trying to go too fast too soon and you get hungry and emotional and frustrated and stuff. But you can play with the goal and see what it gives you, and try what you like, and change it if you need to.

    Though at 242 lbs, I really don't think it's necessary to eat 1250! I don't know your height so I can't pull up a calculator, but I'm guessing your real starting number will be a lot higher.

    Travelling to Florida for the next 10 days! That will make it harder for starting out. Give it a go, but if I were you, I'd set some fallback plans. Like:

    Plan A: 2 lbs per week cals
    Plan B: 1 lbs per week cals
    Plan C: Maintenance cals
    Plan D: Log it all and if you go over, you do, but at least you'll have a record and some awareness, and you can use that data & experience when you come home to help you figure out how to proceed better

    This sort of planning really helps me.

    And a tip you can follow or not: If you ever find that hunger alone is triggering you -- eat a bit. Ignore how many cals left you have for the day, but try to use your head and not your eyes, grab what seems logical. (Like some yoghurt and fruit, say.) When you feel better, you can then start looking at why it happened, start challenging negative thoughts, seeing if you need to adjust your plan or your thinking, etc. But it isn't worth your mental health, like a few hundred calories and slightly slowed progress.

    Not sure what you mean about food items having comments? Anyway, fat, carbs, etc are not "bad" so yeah, eat your eggs if you like eggs. :)

    Check out some of the sticky posts on the forums here for some really great guidelines for starting with MFP, and in general.
  • wildbrat66
    wildbrat66 Posts: 3 Member
    Hi there I do meal planning for a living (I own a nutrition club), I might be able to help.
    Please email me dnamindandbody@gmail.com
  • Weazy16
    Weazy16 Posts: 20 Member
    Hi thank u so much for everything you wrote, much much appreciated! I'm 5'6 at 242 lbs, muscular build.

    futuremanda wrote: »
    2 lbs is fine but sometimes it's a bit of a shock to the system. Like trying to go too fast too soon and you get hungry and emotional and frustrated and stuff. But you can play with the goal and see what it gives you, and try what you like, and change it if you need to.

    Though at 242 lbs, I really don't think it's necessary to eat 1250! I don't know your height so I can't pull up a calculator, but I'm guessing your real starting number will be a lot higher.

    Travelling to Florida for the next 10 days! That will make it harder for starting out. Give it a go, but if I were you, I'd set some fallback plans. Like:

    Plan A: 2 lbs per week cals
    Plan B: 1 lbs per week cals
    Plan C: Maintenance cals
    Plan D: Log it all and if you go over, you do, but at least you'll have a record and some awareness, and you can use that data & experience when you come home to help you figure out how to proceed better

    This sort of planning really helps me.

    And a tip you can follow or not: If you ever find that hunger alone is triggering you -- eat a bit. Ignore how many cals left you have for the day, but try to use your head and not your eyes, grab what seems logical. (Like some yoghurt and fruit, say.) When you feel better, you can then start looking at why it happened, start challenging negative thoughts, seeing if you need to adjust your plan or your thinking, etc. But it isn't worth your mental health, like a few hundred calories and slightly slowed progress.

    Not sure what you mean about food items having comments? Anyway, fat, carbs, etc are not "bad" so yeah, eat your eggs if you like eggs. :)

    Check out some of the sticky posts on the forums here for some really great guidelines for starting with MFP, and in general.

  • Weazy16
    Weazy16 Posts: 20 Member
    Oops what I meant was some food like eggs have very high calories and fat but I always thought it was a good fat and good protein. Fitness pal says high in cholesterol but I thought that was no longer true. Thank u for explaining my options. Have had two good days
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    Glad you've been having some good days!

    A quick calculator with an assumption that you're sedentary says you could lose 1 lb a week by eating about 1650. 2 lbs per week with no exercise would be 1150, which is not recommended, which would be why MFP set you to 1200.

    So what you might do is set to 1 lb loss. That gives you 1647 or so to work with. Treat that like a maximum, and 1200 like a minimum, and just aim to be in there somewhere. And on average, water weight and various fluctuations aside, you'll lose at least 1 lb a week!

    When you work out, MFP will add the exercise to your daily totals. You can eat some of that back if you like, which I'd recommend, especially if you feel you need it, are otherwise low, have been working really hard, etc. (Just keep in mind that exercise calories are also an estimate, so they're not 100% accurate.)

    And imo, eggs are great! Fat and protein are good for you, and dietary cholesterol does not affect your cholesterol levels (as we once believed). I actually sort of find the macro columns mess with my head a bit, so I'd say to ignore them for now. You can revisit them if you want to once you're not already working on so many other changes.
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