considering myself lucky

zap5
zap5 Posts: 38 Member
edited November 16 in Health and Weight Loss
looking at my diary for today I realized I just hit about 1400 calories, and for me that's pretty much nothing, I'm lucky considering my tdee is over 3300 calories, anyways no questions here just wishing you the best of luck in your weight loss goals, to anyone who can only eat about 1400 calories as their goal, the fact that you're making the effort to count calories and stay in your limits is change enough and all your physical changes will follow in time, this post is really only being written because I can see how hard it could be for certain people to lose weight being restricted to far less calories, to those struggling, keep going, it gets easier, never thought I'd be 53 pounds down ever but here I am. good luck

Replies

  • Camarose79
    Camarose79 Posts: 86 Member
    Good for you! Yes when I look at some of my friends calorie intake and they eat around 1600 (or less) a day I'm like whoa I can barely ever stay under my 2400 a day, but then again I'm bigger than they are and I'm very slowly losing some weight. I do find it very hard to do because its like my appetite is huge and I'm never really full.
  • Spyer116
    Spyer116 Posts: 168 Member
    edited April 2015
    Wow, that is impressive, and definitely lucky you! :)
    I've had my limit at 1200 since starting counting calories and joining mfp. And my acitivity on sedentary (even though i'm moving at least 2+ hours / day). And even when burning 1k+ calories from the exercise I log, I barely ate 200-400 of them back, and not even every time. But just a while ago, I've changed my weight loss goals, and am gonna change some other things too.
    So now I can eat about 1450 calories / day, and I feel lucky just to be at that much for the base intake (excluding eating any back from exercise!) :smiley:
    You're certain to succeed in continuing to lose weight or any other goals you set, especially after being down 53 pounds so far! Congratulations :)

    Quick Edit: Part of the reason I increased my daily calories from 1200 to1400+ is that I can feel my body passing breaking point. 4 strength workouts / week along with 1.5-4+ hours walking / day. And that's not counting any core training that I don't log. MFP say i've burnt 5740 cals from exercise so far this week. I probably didn't even eat 1500 of those back - and was already at a 750+ deficit to begin with. A 15 min core exercise I did on monday, my abs still hadn't recovered by thursday - that's how bad my recovery is in my body :open_mouth:
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    1200 was really difficult for me. which is why i didnt stay there long ;)

    i do pretty well (most days) between 1500 and 1800.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Way to go on your loss!
  • zap5
    zap5 Posts: 38 Member
    thanks guys! yeah im 6'4, 217 lbs so thats why my tdee is so high, but overall i dont think its going to drop under 3000 for many years to come, thankfully.
    most of the time im between 1600-2000, which still isnt enough (mfp says i should have 2500 min per day) but i definitely dont ever get hungry during my eating hours (i do intermittent fasting)
    for anyone whos stalled, i highly recommend intermittent fasting, in the two months that ive incorporated it into my diet i've lost about 20ish pounds, and i dont think i ever restrict myself from any food, i simply eat whatever i want in my caloric limits
  • Spyer116
    Spyer116 Posts: 168 Member
    zap5 wrote: »
    thanks guys! yeah im 6'4, 217 lbs so thats why my tdee is so high, but overall i dont think its going to drop under 3000 for many years to come, thankfully.
    most of the time im between 1600-2000, which still isnt enough (mfp says i should have 2500 min per day) but i definitely dont ever get hungry during my eating hours (i do intermittent fasting)
    for anyone whos stalled, i highly recommend intermittent fasting, in the two months that ive incorporated it into my diet i've lost about 20ish pounds, and i dont think i ever restrict myself from any food, i simply eat whatever i want in my caloric limits

    I do the same - eat what i want in my calorie limit (which is quite difficult and still limits some things, since its such a small calorie limit haha) - as i'm thinking again, i'm gonna change my goals to 0.5/week loss, after one week of the 1lb/week loss.
    But just a quick question - why intermittent fasting? I know that its eating all your calorie limit in a few hours (i assume like 4-6 hours or smoehting?) and most your fasting then coming from sleeping (8+ hours generally) + the morning and afternoon then or something?
    But why do you recommend it? Or what makes it better, is what i'm trying to decide on if i was to try it? Would you not have lost those same 20 pounds in 2 months, just by eating the same calories, even if they were spread throughout the day?
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    3300 calories sounds like it has potential.
  • zap5
    zap5 Posts: 38 Member
    Spyer116 wrote: »

    I do the same - eat what i want in my calorie limit (which is quite difficult and still limits some things, since its such a small calorie limit haha) - as i'm thinking again, i'm gonna change my goals to 0.5/week loss, after one week of the 1lb/week loss.
    But just a quick question - why intermittent fasting? I know that its eating all your calorie limit in a few hours (i assume like 4-6 hours or smoehting?) and most your fasting then coming from sleeping (8+ hours generally) + the morning and afternoon then or something?
    But why do you recommend it? Or what makes it better, is what i'm trying to decide on if i was to try it? Would you not have lost those same 20 pounds in 2 months, just by eating the same calories, even if they were spread throughout the day?

    how much weight do you have left to go? for myself i still have around 50lbs or so, or 24% BF, so im trying to lose about 13-18 pounds more of body fat while maintaining the most lbm i can.
    well it depends, the standard of most practiced time is 16 hour fast 8 hour eating window, so for example i would stop eating at 8pm on friday night, and saturday afternoon 12pm i would begin eating again. for myself, the hours work very well, often times i go 18,20, 21 hours fast, you get used to it pretty fast. the whole reason behind it is apparently fasting for longer lets your body digest the food, so youre now running on your fat storage rather than glycogen obtained from eating carbs beforehand. it also is supposed to help maintain the most lbm. i don't know if i would have lost 20 pounds in 2 months without it, but i can say that this is the first time i have done it, and i feel as if the pounds are just melting off. so far out of the 53 lost, 36 have been fat and 17 muscle.
    i dont know if i answered your question i may have just rambled a lot haha
  • zap5
    zap5 Posts: 38 Member
    999tigger wrote: »
    3300 calories sounds like it has potential.


    potential? haha
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    Spyer116 wrote: »

    I do the same - eat what i want in my calorie limit (which is quite difficult and still limits some things, since its such a small calorie limit haha) - as i'm thinking again, i'm gonna change my goals to 0.5/week loss, after one week of the 1lb/week loss.
    But just a quick question - why intermittent fasting? I know that its eating all your calorie limit in a few hours (i assume like 4-6 hours or smoehting?) and most your fasting then coming from sleeping (8+ hours generally) + the morning and afternoon then or something?
    But why do you recommend it? Or what makes it better, is what i'm trying to decide on if i was to try it? Would you not have lost those same 20 pounds in 2 months, just by eating the same calories, even if they were spread throughout the day?
    I'm kind of liking IF because it makes it easier for me to hit my calorie goals, not because I'm losing more on the same number of calories. (I'm not.)

    I am, however, looking more and more forward to eating at TDEE -- 3300-3500, depending on the calculator -- and even a little higher once I get to a low enough body fat to shoot for adding muscle.
  • zap5
    zap5 Posts: 38 Member
    I'm kind of liking IF because it makes it easier for me to hit my calorie goals, not because I'm losing more on the same number of calories. (I'm not.)

    I am, however, looking more and more forward to eating at TDEE -- 3300-3500, depending on the calculator -- and even a little higher once I get to a low enough body fat to shoot for adding muscle.

    100lbs lost, unreal, congrats
  • Spyer116
    Spyer116 Posts: 168 Member
    zap5 wrote: »

    how much weight do you have left to go? for myself i still have around 50lbs or so, or 24% BF, so im trying to lose about 13-18 pounds more of body fat while maintaining the most lbm i can.
    well it depends, the standard of most practiced time is 16 hour fast 8 hour eating window, so for example i would stop eating at 8pm on friday night, and saturday afternoon 12pm i would begin eating again. for myself, the hours work very well, often times i go 18,20, 21 hours fast, you get used to it pretty fast. the whole reason behind it is apparently fasting for longer lets your body digest the food, so youre now running on your fat storage rather than glycogen obtained from eating carbs beforehand. it also is supposed to help maintain the most lbm. i don't know if i would have lost 20 pounds in 2 months without it, but i can say that this is the first time i have done it, and i feel as if the pounds are just melting off. so far out of the 53 lost, 36 have been fat and 17 muscle.
    i dont know if i answered your question i may have just rambled a lot haha

    My current goal is to lose about 9 more pounds. I've lost between 30-33 pounds so far. I'm 5'4 in height. And started at around 182, give or take. Am now 149. How did you measure pounds lost in pure fat, and in lbm? :o , I have no equipment or methods of measuring body fat %. But I estimate that i'm 20-21%-ish.
    It does seem interesting, I - for the most part - do eat a low(er) carb diet though. And higher in protein. But its flexible. I still eat treats and stuff a few tmies a week, or most days even, once I stay in my calorie limit. I'm almost completely cut out potatoes. I've limited bread and cereal-type stuff. But far from whatever diets try to make you eat like 0-20 grams or whatever. Although looking at recent ratios, I think i'll try bring carbs back down to 100g, or at least no more than 150g at most. So my body's use of glycogen, shouldn't be "too" high i'm hoping. But I think I will try out the IF, and see how it goes.
    Its not too different anyway from what times I normally eat in. Just means i'll be wating a few hours after getting up before eating. And cut out that 9-10pm snack (a little chocolate, or box of berries or something similar) that I have a few times a week. Haha.
    And do you do any cardio or strength training during that fasting period (like in the mornings, or late at night?) That's probably the main question I have regarding it. :open_mouth:
  • Spyer116
    Spyer116 Posts: 168 Member

    I'm kind of liking IF because it makes it easier for me to hit my calorie goals, not because I'm losing more on the same number of calories. (I'm not.)

    I am, however, looking more and more forward to eating at TDEE -- 3300-3500, depending on the calculator -- and even a little higher once I get to a low enough body fat to shoot for adding muscle.

    Easier to hit them how? I don't really understand that. Like easier because you know you must get them all in a certain time, or that "this time till that time" you're not allowed eat at all, so no chance of going over them? Or something else? :)
  • zap5
    zap5 Posts: 38 Member
    Spyer116 wrote: »


    And do you do any cardio or strength training during that fasting period (like in the mornings, or late at night?) That's probably the main question I have regarding it. :open_mouth:

    I do all my workouts fasted actually, it's usually in the morning once i've already fasted for about 15 hours, so by the end of my workout and cooking and everything ive fasted about 17-18 hours on average. i do hiit sprints when i do cardio, i also have soccer practices that i go to fasted once a week so thats about an hour of fasted cardio, and i do strength training 5-6 times a week fasted. personally as a kid i would never eat breakfast and then wouldnt like my lunch at school cold, so a lot of the time i would go 10 hours without food and at the same time i would have recess and lunch where all we did was play soccer, so going to the gym, running, and working out fasted is very easy on my body, everyone is different so youll have to find that out for yourself when you try it.

    also, in regards to your other question, its easier because i know i have to eat before my hours are up. also it helps a lot when you set timings in regards to when you cant eat, because then you feel bad if you dont wait. i fast everyday and i think i may have broken those fasts 3-4 times in the past 2 months so not too many times

  • Spyer116
    Spyer116 Posts: 168 Member
    Really? Thats amazing. And I thought doing strength training when fasted, just prompted catabolism of the muscles rather than anabolism / hypertrophy, you don't think so?
    Yeah I was similar in school too. Either I didn't eat breakfast, or 'at most' it would be 1 slice of bread. Then I'd wait till the second lunch (5-6 hours into the school day, the first lunch being 2 hours) before eating usually. Haha

    That's great control and mentality, to break your timings so few and far between! :)
  • zap5
    zap5 Posts: 38 Member
    ive read quite a bit about it and there are gonna be benefits and deficits to everything, for myself i see that the benefits of working out while fasted are worth it and relate to my personal goals so i do it haha

    it took about 6 years of failed attempts to finally learn everything about nutrition and do this haha so the mentality gained has come from lots of failure, appreciate the compliment though!
  • zap5
    zap5 Posts: 38 Member
    zap5 wrote: »
    ive read quite a bit about it and there are gonna be benefits and deficits to everything, for myself i see that the benefits of working out while fasted are worth it and relate to my personal goals so i do it haha i dont wanna give you the wrong information so i highly suggest doing a quick search and reading a few articles, see if youre interested

    it took about 6 years of failed attempts to finally learn everything about nutrition and do this haha so the mentality gained has come from lots of failure, appreciate the compliment though!

  • Spyer116
    Spyer116 Posts: 168 Member
    zap5 wrote: »

    Thank you so much for all the help! I think i'll definitely give it a try. 16 hours / day without eating shouldn't be much a problem. :)
    I really appreciate it :)
  • zap5
    zap5 Posts: 38 Member
    no problem, its really easy once you figure out your schedule and get used to it. personally now i can stop eating for any amount of time after ive had one meal, i throw in the occasional 24 hour fast. good luck trying it out if you try to do so
  • zap5
    zap5 Posts: 38 Member
    zap5 wrote: »
    no problem, its really easy once you figure out your schedule and get used to it. personally now i can stop eating for any amount of time after ive had one meal, i throw in the occasional 24 hour fast. good luck trying it out if you try to do so, its really easy because you just stop eating 4 hours before bed, go to sleep for 8 hours, and then wait 4 before you start eating again

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