Weight loss SLOW down...

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TracyTesch83
TracyTesch83 Posts: 17 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I have been very faithful to the MFP app and have kept track of as much info as I can. My first 30 days on my "diet" were hard yet fulfilling, I lost quite a bit of weight by drastically changing my eating habits and lifestyle. My family has been great and supportive as well but as the weight loss is slowing down to a more "reasonable and realistic" rate I feel like I'm missing out on the foods that I loved. How do you find a balance to the food you use to love to cook/eat and the healthy food I have to choose now? I LOVE to cook and bake and feel like I'm missing out on a big part of my "old" life to create a "new/healthy" life.

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  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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    I mostly eat what I used to eat, just less of it.

    I don't feel at all deprived because I can still eat anything I really want to eat.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    I bake and love to cook, so I make the calories fit into my allotment for the day. What did you set your weekly calorie goal to lose? Maybe you are being too aggressive.
  • TracyTesch83
    TracyTesch83 Posts: 17 Member
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    MFP put it at 1200 daily. I don"t feel hungry (most of the time) just feel like I am missing out on something I love to do. Its not that I ate a lot of the things I baked before but haven't wanted to bake delicious things I can't have because it would use up to many calories. I am new to the whole lifestyle change to lose weight and the thought of not eating baked goods and pizza or a savory home cooked dinner for the next year is kinda well to be honest sad...
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    edited December 2015
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    Again, did you set your weekly weight loss goal 2 pounds per week?

    What is your height, weight, age and goal?
  • TracyTesch83
    TracyTesch83 Posts: 17 Member
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    yes, 5'4 32 currently 214.4
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    Put your weekly goal to 1 or 1.5 pounds per week, this will give you more calories per day. And you can also track your calorie intake by the week and eat less during the week so you can eat your baking treats on the weekend. That's what I do. Eat light during the week and eat more calories on the weekend. MFP's app tracks weekly totals.
  • ncfitbit
    ncfitbit Posts: 1,058 Member
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    I totally don't think of this as a diet because you can go off your diet. I just have days where I do better at sticking with my calorie goal and other days not so much (right now lots of days!) Lol. I know I could be losing weight faster, but I choose to keep doing the things I love to do and that includes eating out and social dinners where I don't just pick at the vegetable tray.

    If you love to cook and bake, that's great! My best advice is to find recipes that fit those tastes and textures that you love and figure out how to make them fit your calorie goals or figure out how often you can have the higher calorie stuff and still be on track. It's worth figuring out which things will be satisfying and worth it to you and which things you'll say, "meh, that was not worth 600 calories" or whatever.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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    TracyTesch83 wrote: »
    I am new to the whole lifestyle change to lose weight and the thought of not eating baked goods and pizza or a savory home cooked dinner for the next year is kinda well to be honest sad...
    That's why it's best to use this time to figure out how to integrate the foods you love into your new eating style rather than avoiding them.

    The people who completely change how they eat when they lose weight and then go back to their old way of eating when the "diet" is over are the people who regain.
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
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    I'm 5'6, 36, and have lost about 125 lbs eating 1500-1700 a day for approximately 18 months. I'm 160 lbs now and am still losing eating 1600 on avg.

    1200 is very low, not much freedom or room for flexibility.

    But if your heart is set on reaching goal a couple months earlier, I second the recommendation to bank calories for the weekend or for whenever you want more calorie-dense foods and cooking and baking. And maybe alter your recipes some to shave off calories discretely. Which is pretty easy since many recipes are more fatty and caloric than is necessary for good flavor.

    Getting your weight down and getting enough nutrition from a variety of sources is healthy. You can do this without sacrificing pizza and baked goods. A varied diet is more important factor for good health than any singular food or food type. Pizza and baked goods are not exempt from the food rainbow.
  • TracyTesch83
    TracyTesch83 Posts: 17 Member
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    Thank you for your kind and thoughtful response
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    All of the above answers are good.

    I'd also suggest eating at least 50-75% of your exercise calories back if you're not already.

    A lot of new people think they shouldn't do that, but your MFP calorie limit already makes you lose weight, so any exercise you do on top of that needs to be adequately fueled.
  • TracyTesch83
    TracyTesch83 Posts: 17 Member
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    Yeah as a newbie it's hard to understand which is the best method, lower calorie in = more weight loss or slow and steady. I'm sure with time infill learn to find the balance
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    TracyTesch83 wrote: »
    Yeah as a newbie it's hard to understand which is the best method, lower calorie in = more weight loss or slow and steady. I'm sure with time infill learn to find the balance
    People do not really settle into one system. They might do the slow and steady for a while and then mix it up with much more activity for a few months, and so on.

  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    TracyTesch83 wrote: »
    Yeah as a newbie it's hard to understand which is the best method, lower calorie in = more weight loss or slow and steady. I'm sure with time infill learn to find the balance

    I wish that I knew the things I know now when I started with MFP.

    One of those things being - unless you have a medical reason to lose SOME weight quickly, slow and steady is best. It requires a lot (A LOT) of patience at times. That alone is why some people want to lose quickly - "If I don't see quick/consistent/big results, I'll lose motivation." Well, that's fine, I guess, if you really need to do things that way. But, in my opinion, and it seems to be supported by a lot of successful people on this site, going slow results in a higher probability of sustaining the loss. While I may be logging for the rest of my life, I don't want to be losing over and over again.

    Also, and this is really, really something I wish I knew at the beginning, slow and steady, with some type of weight training (preferably a progressive lifting program) is more likely to get me closer to the body I want. I'm probably too old, and was overweight for too long, and got through the first half of my weight loss without weight training, to have the body I would really like to have, but I will do what I can to get as close as I can.

    Sustainability is key. It's already been mentioned, but it's best to find a way of eating that is sustainable for you. That's usually easier with a slower loss, which gives you a higher calorie allotment. You definitely need to get away from the thinking about this being a year-long thing, after which you can go back to eating the things you miss.

    Just some things to think about.

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