Hello!!

sdavis448
sdavis448 Posts: 193 Member
edited September 28 in Introduce Yourself
Hello everyone! My name is Samantha. I'm 21 years old, engaged to my highschool sweetheart, and mommy to a beautiful 2 year old boy. I'm looking to lose 110 lbs! YIKES!. Somehow since I was 17 I've just steadily been gaining wait, and I'm now up to 280 lbs. My mom was recently diagnosed with Diabetes, and has to give herself shots 2 times a day. It runs on both sides of my family. I originally hadn't planned on counting calories, but I found this site and it's just so easy! Once I saw how many calories I actually was eating daily, with pop, about 3500 calories/day, I decided to count.

I started on Saturday 6/11.

Completly cut out pop- not even diet
Started working out: Speed walk 2 miles daily, Pilates for 20 minutes. I want to gradually add more, and work to running, but i'm so heavy and out of shape now, it's too difficult, so I'm starting small.
I also cut my calories to 1200-1500 max per day, before working out. After I'm generally sitting between 700 and 1000.
I started taking Mega-T Green Tea and Acai Berry Fat Burning supplements. I know that I could get the same results without them, but I feel like it really does give me a energy boost.

I do have a few questions though;
1.) Do I have to eat back burned Calories. I guess I just feel I worked so hard to burn those calories, I don't want to eat somthing and erase it all!
2.) Is the 2 mile speed walk more of a work out for someone of my weight (280 lbs), then someone thats 180 lbs? Do I burn more calories doing the same workout as a 180 lbs person?

Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy. I'm making better eating choices, but it still seems crazy to me that I can eat 1000 calories and be full, when last week I was eating 3500 and still hungry? I guess maybe part of it is me feeling stupid for not doing this sooner when so far it has been so easy to cut calories, and still be full.

Anyways, it's hard for me to get the full support I need in real life. My fiance is great, and I tells me how proud of me he is everyday, but my family just kinda laughs at me when I say I'm trying to lose weight, because they've heard it all before. My co-workers all have pretty bad habits (smoking, drinking every night, junk food), but still manage to look fit and healthy, so it's hard talking to them about how heavy I am, and how much I want to lose, I feel like they are all just laughing at the fat girl :( I ideally would like to meet people with similar (large) weight loss goals, but would really just love to have some real support rather then laughter! Thank you!

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Replies

  • sdavis448
    sdavis448 Posts: 193 Member
    Also, What happens if I don't eat up burned calories?? The website wanted my calorie intake to be like 1800, my personal goal is 1200, so I lowered it. After working out though I'm normally under the 1200 mark. Is that bad?
  • ribbit2937
    ribbit2937 Posts: 4
    Hi Samantha!

    If you're looking to add friends, feel free to add me... I'm starting with a 75 lb goal, so I have a ways to go as well. I also am nervous about the diabetes that runs in my family that seems to hit all the women... despite my weight, I've avoided it and would like to keep it that way! I don't really look for support in my daily life, because I'm a compartmentalizer, and I hang out with mostly guys who never, ever consider calories when choosing a meal. :)

    As for your questions, you don't HAVE to eat burned back calories, but if you cut back your calories too severely too quickly, it can set you up for failure. Going from 3500 net to only 1000 net is a HUGE difference, and might be tough to sustain. Everyone starts great, but the follow through and the finish are the important part, so don't be too hard on yourself!!! Plus, calories will give you the energy to play with your munchkin.

    To the second question, yes, you do burn more than a 180 person doing the same exercise. The exercise counter uses the weight you enter to figure out the calories per exercise.

    Good luck in reaching your goal! You seem to have an awesome plan and the right attitude! =)

    -Kirsten
  • ldholcombe
    ldholcombe Posts: 97 Member
    Okay so my dietition told me not to eat back the burned calories (she told me about this site). But most people do eat them back, I try not to eat all of them. And for heavier people it is more of a work out because you are carrying around more weight than some people. I believe you can lose the weight. And dont listen to negative feed back!
  • mental_release
    mental_release Posts: 65
    Am I understanding correctly? Your calorie budget is only 1000? That seems low. Feel free to add me as a friend!

    --MR
  • onmyweightohappiness
    onmyweightohappiness Posts: 151 Member
    Welcome to MFP.
    Don't have your calories too low or your body will go into starvation mode. You typically want to stay at 1200 not below.
    I hear conflicting stories of whether to eat your work out calories or not. It just depends if your hungry or not is what I typically do, sometimes I eat them back most of the time I don't. If you did your settings right on MFP it calculates for you what your calorie intake should be if you want to lose or maintain. Follow that for a few weeks first. If you don't notice a different then lower your calories by 100 but don't get under 1200 it's not good.
    Another key thing is WATER and lots of it. That helps weight loss. Drink a minimum of 64 oz a day.
    Yes everyone burns calories different, even if two people are the same weight. Invest in a heart monitor, I love mine, it tells me how many calories I burn each work out. I spent a whopping $10 on mine and its totally worth it, down the road I will probably buy a more quality one but for now this is working for me. For me personally the treadmill would tell me for 30 minutes I would burn like 120 calories but with my heart monitor it consistently tells me over 300 calories.
    The full feeling all depends on your food choices. I try to pick low calorie, high protein foods mainly. I watch my sodiums and carbs too but I work on getting in a minimum of 60 grams of protein a day. Protein is a good weight loss toll too.
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