300lbs to lose, just beginning with a couple questions.

That calorie count does not seem realistic. What exactly did you eat? Did you use a food scale? Weigh and log everything?

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At your current weight, it takes more calories to maintain that weight than if you weighed less. You will notice as you lose weight and reset your goals (about every ten pounds for now and every five when you get closer to your goal) that the number of calories that you need to lose weight will get lower.

Also, remember that there isn't really good or bad foods just bad portion sizes. If you can make some of your favorite foods fit into your calorie goals each day then enjoy a small amount in moderation. I typically have a piece of dark chocolate with lunch and dinner.

Good luck!

It's great that you are using a food scale, but you really aren't eating much. It would be unusual that you could go from eating 4000-5000 calories a day to under 1000 and not be hungry, and it would not be sustainable or advisable in the long term.

However, at your weight, you could probably have a larger deficit than MFP would recommend. This is where you need to work hand in hand with your doctor to set a calorie goal.

Idk if you have medical problems where you have to eliminate foods or keep certain macros at certain levels, but aside from a medical issue, there's not really a reason to stop eating what you were eating before. Unless you're the type of person who can change everything about your eating habits in one swoop, you can have foods you enjoy just not as much as you'd like. You can have pasta, bread, desserts, chocolate, alcohol, potatoes, full fat items (dairy, dressings, cheese) etc.

I started at 320# and just went with basic portion control of my meals and snacks. I tried eating only "healthy" foods and lasted a day before I went ham on whatever I could find. I also tried eating 1200 calories, which lasted 3 days, again I went ham on all the foods. I learned that what works best for me is to eat what I like and use portion control. I have a serving/portion of something instead of the whole package. I also learned that I didn't have to eat so little to lose weight. The game is to eat as much as you can while still having a calorie deficit. No sense in being miserable, sleepy, and hangry while losing weight.

Hi Z_vette!!
I added u as a friend. I have 120lbs to lose. I have PCOS (Cysts on my ovaries unregular periods insulin resistant which is a fancy term that means all the sugar i eat stays in my body mainly my belly) I have lost 8lbs in 10days.
I have a 1770 calorie goal each day. I do a low carb. Try keeping my carbs under 50grams a day. That means no bread pasta cereals grains (not even whole wheat) etc. Some yummy things that dont have carbs string cheese, butter, broccoli, etc. Do research look success stories, low carb recipes i LOVE www.butterisnotacarb.com
You Should check it out. Its a few ingredients and some yummy dishes are like bacon cheesy broccoli bake!! Yummy!!!! And they are so simple to cook the lady that runs it has a MFP account also. So u can add her!
I also do HIIT (high intensity interval training) i walk 2 mins sprint 1min. You can adjust to your pace and ability. I work out 4days on 1day off.
I still have a lot of weight lose i have only lost 8lbs which isn't much but I'm seeing results so it motivates me!!!! Add me as a friend

Fats are important and not evil - they assist in brain function and keeping satiated - they are just generally higher calorie and need to be eaten in moderation (compared to how you previously consumed them). You need to incorporate things that you might not label as 'healthy' (butter/oil, small treats, meats etc) and higher calorie foods too otherwise you're going to crash and burn from lack of calories.
You probably don't need to eat 3000 calories a day - you can go for a larger deficit at your weight without dying, but you do need to keep yourself running. I would talk to your doctor, as I am no medical specialist, but I don't see a reason for you to go lower than 2000 calories a day. I eat nearly that much and I'm 140lb.

Welcome OP! You have a long journey ahead; but if you look at the success threads I am sure you will see that it CAN be done!

Many people have open logs. You can look at them for "logging" inspiration.

It is better to pretty much weight everything to the gram as opposed to using tablespoons. This applies to even butter or salad dressing.

It IS sometimes challenging to find the right entries in MFP. Even the green verified entries are sometimes wrong.

Do your best and over-time you will find yourself double checking packages and correcting them, researching things online, and looking up entries in the USDA database while slowly figuring out which entries are best to use.

Logging an omelette should look along these lines
Large egg (50g)
Onions -raw- (60g)
Pam spray 4 seconds
Butter 8g
Heinz Improved Tomato Ketchup UK 16g

I am borrowing ndj1979's advice from another post; maybe with a couple of tweaks for you!

Enter your stats into MFP and set for two pound per week loss
Unless you move around more than the equivalent of about 3500 to 5000 steps a day set yourself as sedentary.
Eat up to the number that MFP gives you.
At your current weight your body can probably accommodate a faster level of weight loss than someone with just 10lbs to lose. and it can probably accommodate a weight loss faster than MFP will suggest.
This doesn't mean that you HAVE to lose faster than 2lbs a week; but, it also doesn't mean that you HAVE to eat 3,000 Cal if you are OK with 2,500 on a particular day.
Mainly because of how long you will have to do this, I would probably not aim for less than 2,500 Cal a day for a while, not unless your doctor is after you to speed things up even more!

Find a form of exercise that you like and do it. Especially in the beginning I would be extremely careful with this. It is NOT necessary to exercise for weight loss and your risk of injury given your current weight is very high.

Water based activity and walking may be your best bets, at least for a while. Lifting weights will probably come into play down the road too!

Try not to demonize food: it is just something that gives you nutrients and energy. Having said that, whether you choose a chocolate bar, a steak, a piece of fruit, or a protein powder based drink does depend on your goals for the day and on what else you've eaten already.

In general, choosing food that makes you feel fuller longer is a great strategy to avoid spending a good part of the day feeling hungry!

Any macro recommendation based on your current weight will be off. However in general and for a while I would try to eat some extra protein (assuming you don't have any kidney problems!). At least 150g, if not 200g a day of protein (which is like only 800Cal, so you can easily fit that in your eating) to ensure that you are protecting your muscle mass and are mainly losing fat!

Of course eating mostly high quality nutrient dense food is wonderful; but, if you've hit your macros and have enough calories left, the occasional treat is perfectly ok to have too! And if all your budget allows is beans and rice... hey that can be made to work too ;-)

Meal timings, etc, are really much less important that just consistently eating less calories than you're burning over the course of the day or the week!

Take care, and good luck!

NPetrakis wrote: »

Avoid sugars and starches, breads/pasta/processed foods etc. Meaning eat only what was alive. Real meats, produce, minimally processed dairy. Follow a menu. IF you're have satiety problems, consider a higher fat lower carb ratio with moderate protein. 70-20-10% fat protein carb. It's called a Keto diet and requires some discipline to pull off until it becomes a lifestyle. The ratios can be set in food area of MFP. I recommend doing research before attempting it, and include your doctor in your decisions!

Why make it more difficult than it has to be? Why should OP eat keto? Because you eat it or you believe it the best? Why avoid sugars and starches?

OP, here's something I asked myself when I was deep in the pile of what diet to follow: Can I eat this way for the rest of my life? If you're indecisive or say no, then find a WOE (way of eating) that will work for you. It can be as simple as eating less of what you currently eat. It may be something different (keto, IF, paleo, low carb, etc.).

Just because someone on here, myself included, tells you need or have to eat a certain way, doesn't make them right or that it will work for you.

In this Community section "Getting Started" you will see at the top a thread called" Helpful Posts". There is a tremendous amount of info here to help guide you. You will have to read and research to find your path and these threads are always there to refer back to when the need comes up.

It's good to ask for help because the folks here can give you suggestions for what works for them. Understand however that there are so many things that work for folks that it can be confusing.

Remember. Diet = Weight loss
Exercise = Fitness

It is not necessary for these to take place at the same time. Work on your diet first, then add exercise to increase your caloric deficit.

Much good luck to you! This is a great site to interact with folks and find support and encouragement.

preparation is the key to success. spend one day a week doing a ton of food prep. yesterday i stuck two pounds of chicken breast in the slowcooker along with spices, corn, beans, and salsa to make a bunch of shredded chicken for lunches and dinners, and it's about 335 calories for a cup and a half of it. i made a big pot of rice as well... i should've grilled up some veggies, but i prefer them fresh.

blankiefinder wrote: »

It's great that you are using a food scale, but you really aren't eating much. It would be unusual that you could go from eating 4000-5000 calories a day to under 1000 and not be hungry, and it would not be sustainable or advisable in the long term.

However, at your weight, you could probably have a larger deficit than MFP would recommend. This is where you need to work hand in hand with your doctor to set a calorie goal.

^^This. Good luck on your journey, OP!

It's already been covered, but it's really important, so I'll be redundant: When you don't eat enough calories, you WILL get tired. If you continue to eat too little, you risk becoming sick. Starving yourself can cause a slew of health issues - things like your hair falling out, bones weakening, etc. Your body needs the nutrition you get from the calories you eat. If you're having trouble getting enough calories, try adding in things you enjoy (just measure your portions) or finding higher calorie snacks, like nuts/avacados/peanut butter/ice cream (yes, I really just typed ice cream). You definitely want to fuel your body with nutritious foods, but having 'treats' is important too. You're more likely to stick to your new way of eating if you allow yourself treats here and there. Welcome to MFP and good luck!