Baby Food Diet

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  • MurpheysA
    MurpheysA Posts: 15 Member
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    MurpheysA wrote: »
    I just edited that response... It was suppose to be 2000/day, 0.5/1lb a week.

    Got it, that makes *much* more sense. Ignore what I said then.

    Are you truly hungry on 2,000 a day or is it more like cravings? If you are truly hungry, I would suggest making sure you are getting enough protein, fat, and fiber. Often when I'm hungry, it's because I'm missing one of these. Try drinking more fluid (if you think this could be an opportunity). Look at your meal spacing. Could you rearrange meals to eat more at the times of day when you're really hungry and less other times of day?

    If it isn't real hunger, but cravings -- are you getting enough of the foods that you truly enjoy or have you cut out too much of the stuff that you like? What are you craving?

    I honestly don't crave anything particular, I just feel hungry. And I try to just keep a water bottle on my desk but it doesn't always work.

    I also feel it's a bit of missing the fast food that I was eating, now I'm trying to cut down to once a week as like a cheat day.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
    edited January 2016
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    dubird wrote: »
    MurpheysA wrote: »
    dubird wrote: »

    Ok, yeah, much better! ^_^ Have you ever calculated your BMR? Your goal may be too high, but without knowing stats, can't really say for sure.

    I did the other day but don't know really know what it means. According to MFP, it was wanting me to try to eat 1690 a day. But I raised it so that I would be able start a little higher.

    Your BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate. This is the amount of calories your body needs to survive in a coma. What you need is your TDEE, Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This is the amount of calories you need for a normal day of doing whatever it is you're doing. What MFP does is try and calculate your TDEE and then take a certain percent off depending on what your weight loss goal is. So, if your TDEE was 2000, MFP would take off a % of that, and that would be your daily calorie goal. So if you up what MFP tells you, chances are you're setting yourself at or close to maintenance, which means you won't lose weight.

    This is a good place to start: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads
    That's got links to many helpful posts that have a lot of information you'll find useful. And it's explained better than I can do! XD
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    edited January 2016
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    erinc5 wrote: »
    MurpheysA wrote: »
    Well for one I posted this for experiences not your opinions kind of makes people NOT want to ask question.

    Well, personally, I do have experience with the baby food diet, but that was ages ago.

    I see levity is considered abuse now. I thought this joke was cute.

    I thought it was a joke too, I actually LOL'ed when I read it.

    Maybe we're the only ones who got the joke.

  • erinc5
    erinc5 Posts: 329 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I think she was referring to my joke as making her feel bad (and other people's jokes as well).

    I'm sorry for that. Nobody here thinks you are stupid or is making fun of you.

    We are making fun of the baby food diet. Because that diet is funny.

    Hopefully my snack suggestions earlier helped.

    Also, a lot of people will probably ask you if we can see your food diary. If you are eating 2000 cals and still hungry, then something is missing there, I think. If you don't want to open your diary , can you tell us what a typical day of eating is? Also, how long have you been counting calories and how do you measure/track (food scale, measuring cups, estimating, etc...)
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
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    I generally agree with the other posters that I would not recommend as a sustainable food alternative.

    That said, I tried eating baby food 5 years ago after having jaw surgery. I was on a liquid/super soft food diet for a couple months (no chewing). Honestly, I was pretty grossed out by it. It was bland and had a disconcerting texture given that I typically associate those flavors with crunchy. I personally would recommend eating the actual fruits and vegetables or even just get regular apple sauce. Aside from the calories, the act of actually chewing your food may help you feel more satisfied which could translate to feeling fuller.
  • Mavrick_RN
    Mavrick_RN Posts: 439 Member
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    erinc5 wrote: »
    MurpheysA wrote: »
    Well for one I posted this for experiences not your opinions kind of makes people NOT want to ask question.

    Well, personally, I do have experience with the baby food diet, but that was ages ago.

    I see levity is considered abuse now. I thought this joke was cute.

    I thought it was a cute little joke too.

    I think when someone knows they are asking a silly question they get real defensive when some one actually calls 'em on the silliness.

    Baby food for adults is a joke. It was a game people played at a baby shower I went to once. Peel off the label and guess the food. Bland mush. Winner got one of those little spoons. Hey, would that work for portion control?
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,089 Member
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    _dracarys_ wrote: »
    MurpheysA wrote: »
    just starting out and starving = you are lowering your calorie allotment too much.

    Start with smaller deficits and work your way down. If you start at crazy low calorie allowances you won't be able to lower your intake later when you are smaller and require less calories to fuel yourself.

    shoot for a 1 pound per week loss instead of a 2 pound per week. Eat back 50% of your earned exercise calories.

    Currently my calorie goal is 2000 calories a day. And my goal is to lose 1/2 pound to 1 pound a day.


    Baby food aside, I think you need some serious education on how weight loss actually works. You're setting yourself up for failure.

    This 100000%
    Op
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    I also get hungry a lot. There are lots of different methods for dealing with hunger. Here are several possibilities, but it's mostly going to take some trial and error to see what works for you:
    • Personally, once I start eating I'm hungry pretty often, so I have learned to skip breakfast, eat a midmorning snack around 10am and then I eat about every two hours during the day with dinner around 7pm.
    • I like large dinners and go out relatively frequently for dinner, so it's easier to stick to my goals if I have a lot of calories to work with when I do; I eat small snacks and lunch so that almost half of my daily goal is saved for dinner/dessert.
    • Other people have issues with small meals and snacks and prefer three large meals. Still others prefer a huge breakfast and then smaller meals throughout the day.
    • I stay full longer on lower carb during the day, but I do enjoy carbs at night. I actually have no idea why this works for me, but maybe some nutrient timing may affect your mood, so logging things like your mood throughout the day compared to what/when you eat might help.
    • In general, satiety can heavily depend on carb/fat/protein ratios, but it's very subjective. If you aren't full, try eating more proteins and fat (many people find them more filling). Others find carbs very filling, so don't limit yourself and experiment.
    • I'm a volume eater; I have to eat a larger portion of food to feel full most times. I like to utilize a lot of whole foods and vegetables to fill out my meals and make them feel larger for not that many extra calories.

    I really don't understand resorting to baby food, but definitely experiment to find something that keeps you feeling full longer!
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,089 Member
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    Op it sounds like you need to start from the beginning and learn about weight loss. Go back and read the stickied posts in the beginning of this board.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    The internet is very very grumpy today. General observation.

    2000 calories is a feast day for me and not because I'm on super low calories but because the food choices I make, on the whole, mean I can be perfectly satisfied eating much less. I'm wondering if these are real hunger cravings you are experiencing from making poor choices (and I don't mean that in a mean way, we all need to learn and tweak what works for us satiety wise) or if it's psychological, needing food as an emotional crutch. If you can work out what it is then you can start tackling it. Baby food won't help with either of those issues.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    OP there's nothing wrong with not knowing much about weight loss. MANY of us started out with little knowledge, incorrect knowledge, swayed by fad diets or misinformation that abounds online today. What is important in order to be successful is to be open to learning, and to have a bit of thick skin when people tell you that you've got it all wrong. You proposed a drastic, totally unnecessary, and let's be honest, a little silly idea for a grown adult to be considering. These are forums made up of adults, and humor/sarcasm is a prominent tool utilized on message boards. No one is attacking you or trying to make you feel badly for not knowing about weight loss. People are trying to let you know that going straight into aggressive, restrictive means for weight loss is not likely to give you the long term sustainable results that you should be looking for.

    Now with all that said - you have been given good information, and I STRONGLY encourage you to read the links to the most helpful getting started posts. If cravings are an issue, there are lots of threads about how to deal with those cravings, how to add more nutrient dense, satiating (real) food to your diet to deal with it.

    Here is my standard advice for people just starting out:
    1. Set up MFP with accurate stats (height, weight, gender, activity level) and a reasonable goal (1 lb/week seems about right for you).
    2. MFP will provide you a calorie target with a deficit built in. You should try to be close to this target every day. Some days you may be a bit over, some a bit under. A lot of people look at their weekly goal to balance things out.
    3. Eat food that you enjoy, logging everything (ideally using a food scale). Focus on nutrient dense foods, but leave room for treats if you like, just log everything.
    4. Pay attention to your hunger cues. On days that you had a lot of cravings, look back at what you ate that day and the day before. You may see a pattern (not enough protein, too many sweets, etc).
    5. Exercise if you enjoy it - if you do work out, eat back at least a portion of those exercise calories.
    6. Be patient - weight loss is not linear and it is not fast. What matters is that you are trending downward and learning healthy habits that you can use forever.
    7. Keep reading - these forums can be a wealth of information. I learned so much by lurking and reading along in threads before I ever posted a single comment.

    Good luck.
  • RetroPolkaDot
    RetroPolkaDot Posts: 83 Member
    edited January 2016
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    baby food? um...nope. baby food is not very palatable for adults. Plus you will miss chewing food more than anything. You don't even realize how satisfying it is to chew food until you can't.
    According MFP a 4oz jar of banana baby food has 90 calories. A medium apple is about 95 calories, 62 calories for an orange. wouldn't an apple or an orange be tastier snack than a jar of strained banana baby food
  • Annr
    Annr Posts: 2,765 Member
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    Personally I take pleasure in the cutting and chopping and sauteing of real food. For one it visually reinforces portion control, and gets my brain into what it means to eat good healthy food. Baby food has its place in the world, just not on my plate as an adult. Sure healthy food takes longer to fix, and there are days when I say aaaaak. On those days I have a meal that I pre-made. I am averaging 1100 to 1500 calories a day and I am content, never overly stuffed, and feeling really great. I am a bit confused about the 2000 a day and still not happy. Good luck in your journey.
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
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    Baby food diet fits right in there with the cabbage soup diet, the grapefruit diet, the no carb diet, etc etc etc. These diets are short-term-bandaid's that aren't long-term livable.

    It is just as unrealistic to continue eating the same foods, expecting different results. It takes making better food choices. Choices that will actually end up with you getting more food since it's quality food. The better the quality of food, the more of it you can have.

    Keep in mind that if you go to Olive Garden - yes, their salads are YUMMY, but you can have 3 bowls of the Pasta Fagiole soup vs. 1 bowl of their salad. The soup is so much better nutritionally due to the fiber and protein from the meat and beans. The salad has little fiber and virtually no protein, and high fructose corn syrup in the dressing. The dressing (while yummy) is NOT food journal friendly. 3 bowls of soup will really fill you up, and you can even have 1 breadstick!!

    Best thing would be to make an appointment with a nutritionist - someone who can help you understand how body's process food, what foods will take longer to digest and are more filling so that you won't be as hungry as often.
  • kiddiebqueen17
    kiddiebqueen17 Posts: 100 Member
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    I have started precutting vegetables and have multiple dips (cheese, hummus, Salsa, tzaziki & onion dips). When I get cravings, I grab some of the veggies and pick which dip will best help with my craving.