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Returning to MFP and I really need help

trying_to_focus
trying_to_focus Posts: 2 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello MFP. I hope I'm posting in the right place.

I'm returning to MFP after a year (new account; never really got off the ground before) and I'm looking to make this work. I have been trying to lose weight for years now with no success. In fact, I'm heavier than I was when I started. Now I'm really tired of giving up. Part of me wants to just accept my new weight, after all being a lower weight isn't the end of the world. However, I was always an active child and honestly the weight doesn't look good on me.

So today is my 26th birthday and I really want to make it work. My issue is I don't know how. My bf is very pro Taubes so I tried that for a while. It worked for a period but it wasn't sustainable for me. Since then I have significantly reduced my sugar and carb intake and yet the weight increases. I'm heavier than when I was eating 4 slices of toast a day and taking three sugars in my tea!

Long story short, I'm looking into IIFYM. Which seems doable for me. This week I've been tracking to try and get a feel for it. I've been averse in the past because as a black African-Brit, I don't know how to track traditional foods. Now I just track what's trackable and go from there. My macros are set at 35% fat, 45% carbs and 20% protein. I am 163cm tall and 87kg. My goal weight is somewhere around 65kg. To achieve this I'm planning to eat 1500 calories a day. Would anybody be able to advise whether these ratios sound right? I noticed this week that I keep going over my fat and am not hitting my carbs (testing to see how my regular diet looks in terms of macros). I know I will need to readjust my calorie intake as I lose weight. When does this happen?

Secondly, the question of exercise. This part really gets me conflicted. I see so many stories about people dropping 20lbs just from not drinking coke and I barely even drink coke! Many people I have come across say exercise has little bearing on weight loss, it's all diet. I'm going to exercise anyway - any general advice in this area would be much appreciated. C25K, which I have started many times and never finished, will be my friend, along with kettle bell and spin class at the gym along with general lifting.

I appreciate that is rather garbled. Basically, I don't know where to start. I'm the kind of person always looking for the plan with guaranteed results who gives up early. I would really be grateful for guidance and general advice on my plan of action as I try to focus!

Thanks for reading.

PS: I'm looking for friends too!

Replies

  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    Start by realizing that weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. Slow and steady wins the race. Don't look for fast, guaranteed results. You can keep eating the foods you like, just with portion control and perhaps some different choices within those foods.

    Your macro balance looks fine if it works for you. There's nothing wrong with going a bit higher on fat and lower on carbs if you wish.

    You need to track everything in order to track as accurately as possible. Even if you can't find the nutritional info for the foods, you can find it for the ingredients.

    Use a food scale to weigh solids and only use measuring cups/spoons for liquids.

    Calories adjust down if you want to keep the same rate of weight loss because you are fueling a smaller body. For me, I prefer to keep the same calories and just let the rate of weight loss slow down.

    Exercise is great and it sounds like you have a plan.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    You should read the stickies, there's a lot of valuable information there.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,054 Member
    edited January 2016
    Happy birthday!

    It sounds like you know exactly where to start. The stickies are incredibly helpful. I agree also that tracking every morsel--even when you have to guess--will be very valuable over time. Consider fat and protein goals minimums, so yes, it is perfectly fine to go over either at the expense of carbohydrates. Finding the macro balance that works best for you takes a little experimenting. Your present setting is a reasonable place to start. Actually, minimums in grams are more meaningful than %.

    Protein minimum- 1g per kg
    Fat minimum- 0.6g per kg
    Carb minimum- 50g (mostly for the brain, not dependent on body weight)

    Don't give up early! If something isn't working, tweak it and be patient enough to wait for results. Best wishes!
  • Shrinking_Erin
    Shrinking_Erin Posts: 125 Member
    In 10 years you could be me... Starting your weight loss journey AGAIN.

    My 2 cents- just start logging. Everything. If it goes in your mouth, it gets logged on here. Then try hitting your target each day. Soon enough you'll see results AND it will start to feel like part of your daily routine. Just have to stick with it. Even when you want to do anything BUT weigh and log your food.
  • trying_to_focus
    trying_to_focus Posts: 2 Member
    Thank you for all your input. I've been logging as best I can (fell off last week but back on it). Haven't dropped any weight though. Not a pound. Went for a run yesterday just because I was stressed and it was good. Decided to just keep doing it and review in a couple of months
  • mrs_sjlarsen
    mrs_sjlarsen Posts: 76 Member
    edited February 2016
    eringurl33 wrote: »
    In 10 years you could be me... Starting your weight loss journey AGAIN.

    My 2 cents- just start logging. Everything. If it goes in your mouth, it gets logged on here. Then try hitting your target each day. Soon enough you'll see results AND it will start to feel like part of your daily routine. Just have to stick with it. Even when you want to do anything BUT weigh and log your food.

    ^^^ This... You'd be amazed at what you can eat when you aren't tracking what goes in your mouth... Your mind will always try to play tricks on you... and it will tell you it is "OK" to add a little something extra... and that you "DESERVE" a break from counting... but I will tell you from experience... every time you listen to that nasty little voice it will always be bringing you 1 step back instead of 2 steps forward.

    Constant Mindfulness goes a long way... when you are about to put something in your mouth... think... Do I NEED this right now? Or WANT it? Will eating this help me ACCOMPLISH my goals??? Or will it SABOTAGE my goals?

    Losing weight is more a mind game then anything else....
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