How I'm dropping the weight

Options
2»

Replies

  • krazygloo
    krazygloo Posts: 7 Member
    Options
    Thank you for posting this! It's interesting that MFP had my calories way off, but my husbands was pretty much dead on. Though he thinks he should be eating more? Any advice on loosing weight for guys?
  • bethvandenberg
    bethvandenberg Posts: 1,496 Member
    Options
    Thank you for posting this! It's interesting that MFP had my calories way off, but my husbands was pretty much dead on. Though he thinks he should be eating more? Any advice on loosing weight for guys?

    IDK but I'm thinking he should be lifting. The higher the muscle mass the higher the calories :) I'm thinking the calories are the same for women/men as BMR and deficits etc.
  • kumarprabhat
    kumarprabhat Posts: 116
    Options
    Interesting read and discussion.

    My 2 cents: MFP does not do such a bad job. with some googling and reading on various websites, here are my observations:
    - Thumb of rule: My Body wt (lb) * 10 = 1593
    - www.body-perfect-fitness.com: The Harris-Benedict Equation: 1615
    - Bodytransformation.com: BMR - 1578
    - MFP (with my target wt loss of 1lb /wk) - 1470

    I think they are all very close.

    Now coming to the general observation, why we do not lose wt the way MFP tells us we will (and this is happenning to me as well":
    - we are not disciplined enough to exercise the way we think we will (yah, we cheat too)
    - we do not track all that we eat (lazyness, inaccuracy in measurement, memory retention, etc)
    - in thought of victory, we reward ourself, and often go overboard. (we binge)
    - every recipe and food is different - no two salads and their calories are same, ingredients will vary.
    - and last but not the least: we are not robots, we are living being. Our body has a mind of its own, and a complex one.

    Whatever and however we plan, we can't force body to act the way think it should. Every day will be different, and results will vary all the time.

    What will happen for sure is that if we are disciplined and motivated enough, results will come. There is no way it can't. Just that time taken will be different. If output cal - input cal is more than zero, wt loss is bound to happen. There is no other way - starvation, retention, whatever...

    That is my observation and matches my story and seems similar to the story to many of us here. It has been 3 months in MFP for me and I have just lost only about 3 KGs (7 lb). But I can say that I am satisfied the way it has worked so far. I know I am much more disciplined now, my wt loss is gradual but permanent, my cloths fit me better, and I feel good.

    So, why worry...if we have been harsh on our bodies for so long, we need to give it time to recover as well...deterioration went on for sooooo long, I am sure recovery will be much quicker..... I AM SURE....
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
    Options
    Great post, it's good to hear your story, thanks.

    I think a lot of people fall into the trap of wanting to lose weight FAST so select "lose 2 pounds a week" which for most women seems to mean the minimum of 1200.

    When I started, I knew that if I went too low in calories I would last about 3 days before I binged and gave up. So, I started with 1/2 pound weight loss, and the minute I started recording and keeping my calories around 1660 net cals I started losing weight, much faster than 1/2 pound a week. Now I've lost some weight and dropped my calories a bit (anywhere from 1500 - 1600 net cals a day) and am still losing.

    I agree, it can be a case of eat more, lose more! My guess as to why this works is that once we start monitoring what we are eating, we are making healthier choices and finding out that this means a whole lot more quantity of food than if we eat junk. So, we're probably eating more quality, reasonable quantity and less empty calories!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,015 Member
    Options
    MFP is a "dumb" tool. So if you ask it to help you lose more than is healthy, it's gonna try to help you do that.

    You can't make a wizard that will impart common sense.
  • kumarprabhat
    kumarprabhat Posts: 116
    Options
    @cm..: You are absolutely right. But that applies to any tool or teacher.. that's why god has given everyone a brain and common sense inside that to use....we are what we desire for ourself, not what others (living and non-living included)...
  • Ladyrabc
    Ladyrabc Posts: 8
    Options
    All of these messages are music to my ears as I believe my body has been in starvation mode for years, after breakfast I can go all day without getting hunger pains or eating so have changed to ensure i eat every 3hrs at least and then eat and good meal in the evening. Nothing seems to be happening on 1200 cals a day let alone when I exercise which is regularly it could go up to over 2500 a day. how do I go about finding out how many calories my body actually needs a day to get it out of starvation mode?

    Any suggestions would be soooooon appreciated, I only want to loose a 1 to 1 1/2 but nit even a pound is coming off.......

    Rachel
  • kumarprabhat
    kumarprabhat Posts: 116
    Options
    Most accurate way would be to meet a nutritioninst/dietician in person and get a good idea about it. Rest will all be debatable...
  • krazygloo
    krazygloo Posts: 7 Member
    Options

    Any suggestions would be soooooon appreciated, I only want to loose a 1 to 1 1/2 but nit even a pound is coming off.......

    Rachel

    Rachel, I've been experimenting with lowering my acidity to loose weight. There are tones of info on the web about how to do this, but one of the easier ways is to increase the amount of Green Food you consume. You can even get kits to test what PH balance you are, you'll probably find that you are very acidic. I am trying a Green drink 2 x a day, but that could even be increased to 3 x i'm sure. Good luck and keep on it!
  • bcklee
    bcklee Posts: 50 Member
    Options
    bump to read for later
  • tellybelle
    tellybelle Posts: 144
    Options
    I eat fairly clean. I eat (or try to) fruits and veggies each day (at least one fruit and 3 veggies). I eat eggs/chicken/fish/pork and some lean beef. I eat what my family eats. I try not to over eat. I measure stuff and make sure my servings are really a serving and not 3. I do drink protein shakes with milk, banana, plain yogurt, and flax. I do try to stay within my calories. I am not stressing about food anymore. I eat. Some days I can't make all the calories (if I wake late, forget to eat, etc) and I find the next day I'm starving. So it's been a balance. I try to cook every night and try to stay away from anything white. I don't really know what's going on but love that I get to eat, and that I fueling my body with what it needs. That's really the goal. I'm not on a diet. I'm eating right and setting a great example for my teen daughters. My 16 yr. old likes to work out with me. They get that it's a slow thing when it comes to weight loss. They see that it takes lots of hard working out to reshape your bod. They also are great eaters (always have been) when it comes to fruits and veggies. We try to have at least two veggies at dinner.


    Wonderful explanation! This is a very refreshing post. Thank you for sharing and I wish you all the best. I am increasing my calories this week and am so scared but reading this helps assure me I am more than likely doing the right thing.
  • JCfabulous
    JCfabulous Posts: 11 Member
    Options
    If you want the most accurate measurement google "your city RMR testing" or "your city Korr Metabolic Testing." From putting on muscle and dropping body fat my metabolism went from +9% to +35% which meant I could eat more 400 more calories and still drop weight :-) Getting my metabolism tested on Day 1 and then every few months after has really helped me get consistent results.

Categories