Am I doing this right?

Hi, I haven't posted before, but in case it helps I thought I would let you know that I've just lost over 4 stone in 5 months with the help of MFP following something similar to you. I am a 5'2" 47 year old woman who had a huge appetite and a chocolate addiction and weighed over 14 stone. I have basically been eating 1200 calories a day during the five months it took to get to my target weight of 10 stone. I started using MFP because I was worried when I started eating a calorie restricted diet that I might be missing out on key nutrients during my effort to loose weight and I wanted to be healthy and to be kind to my body.

I ate no bread, a tiny bit of gaba rice, and no pasta (but I could see thanks to MFP that I was still getting plenty of unrefined carbs and fibre via the rest of my food so I didn't stress about my carb intake).

Although I was eating just over 1200 per day, I have been eating really good quality foods: green smoothies for breakfast, lots of leafy greens, lots of veg, some fruit (but was careful about eating too much very sweet fruit), some pulses, good quality meat and eggs. Using MFP enabled me to be sure that I was getting plenty of protein and fat but also showed me that I was getting lots of vitamins (usually 600-800% over rdi for vits A and C). When I first started logging I could see that my calcium and iron intakes were too low so I adjusted what I ate (planning each day in advance) to improve my minerals. Apart from good general diet I take Pure Synergy green powder every day and let myself have a couple of squares of dark chocolate every couple of days: all logged of course! :-) I plan for a couple of snacks a day so I never feel hungry between meals: e.g. nuts, hemp milk or tiger nut milk.

During those five months I have taken up running (couch to 5k) having never run in my life and built up to cycling 10 miles a couple of times per week. I walk more. I have been eating back between 0-20% of my exercise calories but rarely more. At no time have I felt lacking in energy, in fact, I have never felt better. It has been a revelation! My skin is better than in over a decade and, basically I have found myself again. Getting the food right has taken effort, I won't lie, but it has been worth it.

I hope that this gives you some reassurance that it is possible to be healthy and loose weight whilst still being calorie restricted. Obviously you are taller than me and I have realised that everyone's body, and therefore nutritional needs, are different but by eating good food, planning carefully and watching and listening to your body you will find the right way for you. I gather that some people manage to loose just by watching their food and with little exercise but exercise has been key for me, as much for how it makes me feel as anything else. Since right now your plantar facititis limits you to swimming, I would work on challenging yourself with your swims. If you don't already try to add in interval training to your swimming programme or anything that can shake things up a bit for you. Could you try using a rowing machine? What about some weights?

Good luck with getting to your goal. It sounds like you have made a great start!