Help! I can not eat less than 1500 calories a day!
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SherryTeach wrote: »Experiment with the settings. If you have a "two pound a week" setting, change that to .5 pounds per week. You will get more calories and it will be sustainable. As for "whatever I do, I'm always around 1500," what does that mean? When I think of "whatever I do" in this context, it means stop eating when you reach your calorie allotment.
"whatever I do" for me means eating small and healthy portions and also means trying really hard to cut carbs and increase protein.
If I reach my 1300 limit by late afternoon, I can not NOT have dinner, because I feel bad when I do: I may have a slight blood sugar regulation problem that if I don't eat every 4 hours I feel terrible.
I eat every three hours
gothicfires had some good suggestions on meals that will sustain you.
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My settings are to lose 1lb per week and I find that if I'm religious and stick to it I can lose up to 2 lbs a week sometimes! As long as you are at a deficit for the week you should lose. Maybe try calculating your BMR and seeing how many calories your body needs in a day. For example, my BMR is about 1800 calories a day and I eat anywhere between 1450 and 1660. It isn't a vast difference but it's effective!
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Given that OP has said she is losing MORE than 1.5 lb/week at what she's eating now (1500), and she's barely even overweight (BMI of 25.7), I'm not sure why anyone would tell her she's eating too much or that she needs to change things so she can eat 1300. Seems to me that she may find 1300 difficult because that's far too aggressive for her.
OP, I think you need to work on this:I'm torn between fear of eating more if I allow myself to take more calories in and the constant guilt of always being over 1300.
What's the magic of 1300? If it makes you feel guilty to be over your goal, change the goal. Manually put in 1500, since you are doing well on that, change 1.5 lb to 1 lb (especially since you will likely exceed it), change your activity level to lightly active if you are at sedentary, stuff like that.0 -
For one, how much are you trying to lose and how overweight are you? If you don't have a lot to lose but yet have your weight loss goals set too aggressively (trying to lose weight faster than you should) the app could have your calorie goal set pretty low making it hard for you to stick to. That may not be the case, but just a thought.
Also, if you are new to calorie restriction you will take some time to get used to consuming less food. You will be slightly hungry at times eating at a deficit. The trick is using your calories for more filling foods. Foods high in protein help. I personally liked snacking on almonds to help me fill up, or even protein snack bars (not the meal replacement ones).
I'm trying to loose about 15 lbs. I don't know how overweight I am, that's another confusing thing: I'm 41, 5' 7" and currently 164 lbs. Some websites say I have to be maximum 136 lbs, but the last time I was 136 lbs I was 15 years old!
Erm, no. I am 5 foot 4.5 and my max for healthy is around 145-150, depending on the website. So there's NO way that your max for a healthy weight range is 136. Your healthy weight range looks to be 118 to 160 for BMI, so knowing that is a good starting point.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Given that OP has said she is losing MORE than 1.5 lb/week at what she's eating now (1500), and she's barely even overweight (BMI of 25.7), I'm not sure why anyone would tell her she's eating too much or that she needs to change things so she can eat 1300. Seems to me that she may find 1300 difficult because that's far too aggressive for her.
That comment was made based on 1) the title of her post and 2) the fact that she said she didn't eat dinner if she had x amount of calories before dinner.
There was a point in my life where I couldn't imagine surviving off that many calories either. But I now know that it is possible to consume more volume of food at 1200 calories then at 1500. It is possible to eat 1200 calories and not be hungry and it is possible to eat 1500 calories and be hungry. So if she wants to eat less than 1500 calories a day... it is doable. If she is consuming all her calories she allows herself before the evening then she is overeating earlier in the day.
Considering her diary isn't public, it's difficult to be specific with what she should do differently, if anything at all.0 -
gothicfires wrote: »There was a point in my life where I couldn't imagine surviving off that many calories either. But I now know that it is possible to consume more volume of food at 1200 calories then at 1500. It is possible to eat 1200 calories and not be hungry and it is possible to eat 1500 calories and be hungry.
It really depends. I happily ate 1250 or less for months, when I had lots of fat to lose, was less active than now, and 2 lb/week was a reasonable goal. I wasn't hungry at all. Now--when I'm more active, am almost at goal, and 2 lbs is not a reasonable goal--if I were to eat the same exact thing I was happy with before I would not be happy with it. The volume of food would still be high, but volume just isn't everything, and the calories would reflect too aggressive a cut given circumstances.
IMO, given her stats, the amount she has to lose, and the fact that she's losing over 1.5 lb at 1500 (so is likely more active than she thought), she's probably hungry not because she's eating wrong, but because she's eating too few calories.
Anyway, I see her asking whether eating 1500 is a problem. It's not.0 -
futuremanda wrote: »For one, how much are you trying to lose and how overweight are you? If you don't have a lot to lose but yet have your weight loss goals set too aggressively (trying to lose weight faster than you should) the app could have your calorie goal set pretty low making it hard for you to stick to. That may not be the case, but just a thought.
Also, if you are new to calorie restriction you will take some time to get used to consuming less food. You will be slightly hungry at times eating at a deficit. The trick is using your calories for more filling foods. Foods high in protein help. I personally liked snacking on almonds to help me fill up, or even protein snack bars (not the meal replacement ones).
I'm trying to loose about 15 lbs. I don't know how overweight I am, that's another confusing thing: I'm 41, 5' 7" and currently 164 lbs. Some websites say I have to be maximum 136 lbs, but the last time I was 136 lbs I was 15 years old!
Erm, no. I am 5 foot 4.5 and my max for healthy is around 145-150, depending on the website. So there's NO way that your max for a healthy weight range is 136. Your healthy weight range looks to be 118 to 160 for BMI, so knowing that is a good starting point.
So..if she weighs 164 she is overweight according to BMI?0 -
She's BMI 25.7. But the point that poster was making is that she certainly doesn't need to get to 136 to be a healthy weight. 136 is a healthy weight, of course, but so are higher weights if she feels more comfortable there (as her post suggested).0
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I must say I am happily overwhelmed with all the help and the information pouring in. I need to "study" them a little (don't know what BMI is) and get back to you all. Meanwhile THANK YOU ALL for taking time to write and to sincerely help. I didn't realize how helpful this website can be with this community aspect.0
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Body Mass Index... Got it... I really AM a beginner in this, obviously
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I'm set at 1.5 lbs per week. I thought about lowering it to 1 lbs a week, but then I don't want to end up eating more .In other words, I'm torn between fear of eating more if I allow myself to take more calories in and the constant guilt of always being over 1300.
Funny thing is, I'm still loosing more than 1.5 lbs a week even if I'm over 1300 calories a day? Confusing...
Oh, I missed this earlier. In that case, set your goals less aggressively so that you get 1500 calories and enjoy them!
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Tell your boss that because of other results in studies, scientists expect that people who walked at lunchtime would be more productive.
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OK, here's what I learned much needed lessons from all of you:
1- I shouldn't assume what this MFP website app tells me is God's word Eating over 1300 calories a day is not a problem as long as I continue to loose weight.
2- Sustainability is the key. Which was one reason why I was troubled by this 1300 cal/day business, because I knew I can't sustain it. I see this new eating pattern not only as a weight loss thing, but as the way I eat from now on.
3- I may be underestimating my activity level. That looks like the most reasonable cause of still loosing weight eating 1500 cal/day. I told the app that I'm moderately active, but I run after a toddler all day, maybe that's it. Also I do Bikram Yoga 4-5 times/week and scientifically I'm only burning maximum 300 cal per one class, but because it's a hot humid crazy yoga my heart is pounding crazy for the entire 90 min class. Some websites claim you burn more than 300 cal per Bikram class. In short the activity area is in the gray area, am not sure about the numbers.
4- The reason why some days I'm at 1300 by the afternoon may be the fact that my body is not used to a) cutting calories and b) cutting carbs, so I feel hungry. Or maybe 1300/day is simply too little for me.
5- As long as I am loosing weight I should not feel guilty about those minus numbers in red. Especially that I don't plan to reach my goal in a short time.
6- Planning ahead what and when I eat can be very helpful. Several of you mentioned that, thank you. That's what I will do for a while now and see how it works.
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1500 calories per day is fine for weight loss. If you want to lose weight faster, increase the amount if exercise you're doing and keep the calories consistent. It takes both to have success.0
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lemurcat12 wrote: »She's BMI 25.7. But the point that poster was making is that she certainly doesn't need to get to 136 to be a healthy weight. 136 is a healthy weight, of course, but so are higher weights if she feels more comfortable there (as her post suggested).
I agree!
I also think 164 for a 5'7" person is not bad at all. I say, BMI many times mess with people's minds when they should worry about how they feel, how their clothes fit etc.0 -
And here are a few more thoughts based on what you've all said:
- 4 or 5 times a week I take a Bikram Yoga class after work. I have to stop eating 4 hours before class otherwise I feel sick on my stomach during class. So my typical last meal of the day on those days is at 2 pm. I finish eating by 2:30 pm and take a 6:30 pm class. When I get out of class at 8 pm, I am seriously hungry. Problem was I don't get home before 9:30 and need to sleep by 10 pm, which I solved by having a snack on the train home instead of a meal after I get home and going to sleep right after a meal. Now, this is why I need to eat most of my calories by 2 pm, because I don't get to eat them after 2 pm: yoga class interrupts and I don't want to eat too much calories at night right before I sleep. Also, when I eat less calories by 2 pm, I feel very weak and shaky during and after the yoga class (Bikram Yoga is not a very gentle slow type of yoga.) Last Saturday I felt so bad after class I had to lie down for 30 min to be able to get up and walk, I thought my body was collapsing into itself. So then I got afraid of fainting during class and ate more calories the next day. In short, there's a fluctuation of not eating enough then eating too much.
-maniacallaugh wrote: »Carb cutting does very little for weight loss anyway,
Really? So what's the deal about all those low carb diets? A friend lost a lot of weight with the Ideal Protein diet and said your body goes to carbs first for energy and if you're eating little carbs but high protein, it will burn your stored fat. Which sounds logical? Seeing her results made me cut carbs, which consisted of morning cereal, chickpeas, bananas and once a week rice. Now I don't eat any of those. I feel -kind of- fine as long as I eat more protein, which is challenging because I'm a vegetarian. Without nuts (too much fat) and without legumes (too much carbs), I can only eat so much tofu and eggs. Frankly, I can not eat more than 2 eggs a day and a 1/5 block of tofu. Which brings me to another confusion I have:
- Some websites say 60-70 grams of protein per day is enough. Some say I have to multiply my weight in lbs with 0.8 to find out how many grams of protein I need daily, which is 164x0.8=131.2 Also I heard that %30 fat, %30 carbs and %40 protein is ideal daily. That seems to fall around 130 grams of protein a day for me. Now, without much carbs, 60-70 grams of protein doesn't satisfy me. But being a vegetarian, I can not seem to come close to 130 grams a day. Which one of those is true? 70 grams or 130 grams?
Yes I do eat one high protein bar a day, I eat tofu, milk, yogurt and cheese. But all of that, if consumed in the amount of suggested servings, do not come close to 130 grams of protein a day.
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I am a nanny so yes, every day I take my toddler out for at least an hour walk and run after her. But I didn't think that was exercise.0 -
Luckily my bosses (the parents) encourage me to take their kid out every day But again, that's not rigorous exercise.. I thought exercise means that I have to sweat like crazy and it had to be some kind of cardio workout.. 0
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