This is why people gain weight, and why losing it is so hard.
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Replies
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
I think it's the teacher in me. I just dislike this sort of thing on principle.smotheredincheese wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
@Sued0nim do you agree that this is your daily approach?Packerjohn wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »I have always counted calories daily, but I've read that some people say weekly is the way to go. Do any of you guys kinda not really worry about daily and concentrate on weekly? Eating heavy one day and light on another day to make up for it?
Skip breakfast and eat 40g dry weight (non instant) oatmeal for lunch with peanut butter , have 3 slices of pizza for dinner. bam, full and satisfied and under cals for the day by a landslide. binge drink on Fridays. that is the plan you want and need
And your heath goes to *kitten*. Where are the fruits and veggies in this program?
For the OP. As you know 4500 calories is an insane amount on a regular basis, unless your a 200+ pound competitive athlete. As you work on cutting back you will get used to a lower number of calories. As been mentioned you can always up the activity.
Best of luck.
really bud?
Yes based on your suggested menu if this is suppose to be a common occurrence.
"Skip breakfast and eat 40g dry weight (non instant) oatmeal for lunch with peanut butter , have 3 slices of pizza for dinner. bam, full and satisfied and under cals for the day by a landslide. binge drink on Fridays. that is the plan you want and need"
Yes because my response was not flippant and was a 100% serious attempt at giving the OP a fully sustainable diet plan that he should adhere to daily; that approach and has worked well for users such as Sued0nim.
@Sabine_Stroehm reading comprehension and thread wide context go a long way. @Sued0nim gave the OP great examples to meet his goals in a healthy manner and OP whined them away. My post was not serious, but apparently that wasn't clear enough with the binge drinking and all.
I got what you meant. Are you British by any chance? I think it might be a case of our sense of humour not translating well/slightly different uses of language causing confusion.
To be completely honest with you, I truly would love to be helpful in a direct fashion. Helping others is one of the things I enjoy the most. Unfortunately, MFP is a depressing place to be helpful - the time spent writing a nice reply with solid information is often flamed to oblivion. Some of the best posters on here get some of the most vicious replies.
People often just want an echo chamber or for someone to validate their excuses. While others are willing to try to help the majority despite this, I just don't have the patience. I do actually give sincere advice and replies on posts that I feel I both have the proper insight for and that the OP seems receptive on.
I could just not post, but sometimes I hope my off the wall replies might strike a nerve and make an OP realize how ridiculous they are being. Other times I am just being a dork because I am bored.
I get it. Trust me. I keep ending up with bars in front of my pretty yellow face because I get frustrated. It can be depressing as heck.6 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
@Sued0nim do you agree that this is your daily approach?Packerjohn wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »I have always counted calories daily, but I've read that some people say weekly is the way to go. Do any of you guys kinda not really worry about daily and concentrate on weekly? Eating heavy one day and light on another day to make up for it?
Skip breakfast and eat 40g dry weight (non instant) oatmeal for lunch with peanut butter , have 3 slices of pizza for dinner. bam, full and satisfied and under cals for the day by a landslide. binge drink on Fridays. that is the plan you want and need
And your heath goes to *kitten*. Where are the fruits and veggies in this program?
For the OP. As you know 4500 calories is an insane amount on a regular basis, unless your a 200+ pound competitive athlete. As you work on cutting back you will get used to a lower number of calories. As been mentioned you can always up the activity.
Best of luck.
really bud?
Yes based on your suggested menu if this is suppose to be a common occurrence.
"Skip breakfast and eat 40g dry weight (non instant) oatmeal for lunch with peanut butter , have 3 slices of pizza for dinner. bam, full and satisfied and under cals for the day by a landslide. binge drink on Fridays. that is the plan you want and need"
Yes because my response was not flippant and was a 100% serious attempt at giving the OP a fully sustainable diet plan that he should adhere to daily; that approach and has worked well for users such as Sued0nim.
@Sabine_Stroehm reading comprehension and thread wide context go a long way. @Sued0nim gave the OP great examples to meet his goals in a healthy manner and OP whined them away. My post was not serious, but apparently that wasn't clear enough with the binge drinking and all.
Thanks for the insult. Cheers.
LOTS of folks come on a forum. They don't all read 5 pages of a thread. Posting misleading replies isn't helpful to anyone.
OP doesn't want to be helped, he just wants to complain.
I disagree. He's "in mourning". He's grieving the end of his old life. (If he makes the changes necessary).
Regardless, he's not the only one reading the thread. Nor will he be. Sarcasm on forums is always iffy.
I love this, because it IS a major loss, isn't it? Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, then Acceptance. OP, sounds like you might be in the anger or depression stage. Don't give up. Take to heart all the other suggestions and advice of the people who have posted - they've been where you are. It's hard to believe that you won't always feel the way you do today, but your feelings will change, your cravings will change, your goals will change, your body will change. You've heard it from many on here and it happened to me too. Follow the plan and refocus on your goal for TODAY. Then worry about tomorrow. Wishing you the best.
Edit to add: P.S. I only had ONE bite of that donut in my profile pic. That NEVER would have happened two years ago. I would have eaten the whole thing and then some. I still have days those 4k calorie days, but it happens so few and far between now. It's a lifelong thing, not something that is a quick fix. Once I realized that (and grieved) my whole attitude changed.12 -
"This is why people gain weight, and why losing it is so hard." = Because when you're on the path to obesity (or already there), you don't think about tomorrow. And when you're trying to walk back, you never focus on today.10
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No offense, but ... The following site:
http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
says someone with your stats:
Sedentary - 1899 cals
Lightly active - exercise 1-3X per week - 2176 cals
Moderately active - exercise 3-5X per week - 2453 cals
So if you want to eat more and keep the weight off, you have to get more active. Exercising 3-5X per week gives you another 450 cals per day. And if the food choices you'd make to lower your input don't appeal to you and you're unhappy with lowering your input, well, you have a choice to make: eat as much of whatever you want and possibly die young, or modify your diet and monitor your input and probably live younger.
As others have said, it's eating whatever you want and as much as you want that's gotten you here. How's that been working for you?4 -
So I just did a little experiment. I started out just trying to see how many calories I would be able to eat per day once I reach my goal weight. The number was shockingly low. My TDEE, not including any exercise, will be 1899. That number hit me hard, I don't know how I can possibly live my life eating that few calories. I mean right now It's one thing because I am working very hard to cut weight, but to look up and see that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, because maintenance is so low calorie, its very discouraging.
So here's were the experiment comes into play. I thought, you know what, I've never just booked out a normal "non deiting" day, lets see how many calories that is. So I went into MFP and loaded up what I would eat on a normal day. Over 4500 calories!!! HOLY S**T!!!! No wonder people get so fat so quickly without even realizing whats happening!
So my takeaway: I don't know whats worse, thinking about how easy it was to get this way without even realizing what was going on, or thinking about how miserable its going to be trying to eat at maintenance once I get to my goal weight.
I'm 6'2" tall, 47 years old. My TDEE is in the 2000 calorie range without exercise and it isn't enough (for me). Honestly I can get by at that calorie range but on weekends, family gatherings, etc. it just isn't enough. I inflate that number with exercise, six days a week (up to 1000 calories extra) so that I can eat an average of 2500-3k per day and not gain weight. Here's the rub, I could eat 4500 calories a day easily if I went back to my old habits. But you can change WHAT you eat and still enjoy food. Start looking at lower calorie bread options, lower calorie ice cream, no-sugar added versions, etc. Eat multi-grain or whole grain pastas, breads, etc. Embrace some recipes (heck the ones MFP posts on their blog are sometimes wonderful).
Go to any grocery store and walk through the produce section and pick out what you're going to eat, then go to the front to check out. What's between you and the check out counters? Junk food. The stores in my area make huge displays in the isles of candy, snacks, everything terrible for you. Grab a few of those on your way out, or the 12 pack of Zingers or Twinkies, and you've screwed yourself. Pre-packaged food is designed to taste good, and to make you want more of it. It'll be filled to the brim with sodium, sugar, and carbs. Start cooking from scratch, and you'll find that you can not only eat until you are full, but some nights I struggle to get enough calories at maintenance after exercise for the day and not feel like a bloated pig. Once you learn what things are causing the calorie spikes, you'll learn ways to avoid those ingredients to some extent and reduce the calorie load of the foods you enjoy.4 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »
That calculator is very similar to the one I used. I just put in all of my information and calculated it at my goal weight. Other calculators have said 1899, this one says 1967. that's virtually the same thing. 68 calories is not enough to change anything.You sound discouraged, my man. If I could offer some hope... 1899 seems extremely low for any kind of maintenance. What are your stats?
This is what I was going to say. I'm a 5 ft 4 female at with a weight range 140-145 and I maintain in 1960 without exercise, and between 2060 and 2200 with exercise, depending on what I do. OP is a guy. Something is not right with the TDEE calc.
It's correct. I've tried it out on 3 separate calculators and they all say the same thing.
No it's not.
I just used this calculator set at the sedentary setting and came up with much higher numbers. You're inputting wrong information.
Your TDEE is: 2826 Calories per day
Your BMR is: 2355 Calories per day
We suggest the following for your goal to Maintain
2826 Calories per day
To lose to pounds a week you'd eat 2260, then your calories would decrease with every ten pounds you lose.
Let's say you reach your goal weight of 165 (I don't know if that's your goal weight, this is just for demonstration purposes) in 2018 (100 pounds is a lot to lose), then your TDEE at sedentary would be 2063.
There is a huge difference in how each of you is measuring this... @SLLRunner is calculating based on 265 lbs. and you are calculating based on 150 lbs. Of course a 265 lb. man is going to have a higher BMR and TDEE than a 150 lb. man. And since you are talking about what will happen when you reach your goal weight of 150 lbs., @SLLRunner is wrong because she is using the wrong input. Bad inputs = bad outputs.
And complete reading comprehension fail. She went on to calculate it at 165. That is still a bit higher though than the OP's goal of 150 (which she didn't see).
OP, I'm going to 9000th everyone else and suggest getting active. Using this same calculator referenced above, I got that at goal weight and sedentary I have a TDEE of 1751. If I workout 3-5 days a week and get moderately active, I can maintain at 2261.
Those 500 calories per day are so worth it.
No, click on the link @SLLRunner provided and you will see it is calculated for 265 lbs. In fact, that is embedded into the link itself (as 120.2 kg): http://mytdee.com/#gender=male&yr=27&cm=165.1&kg=120.2&bfp=&goal=maintain&formula=standard&units=imperial&exercise=sedentary
ETA: And if she had read the OP and calculated at 150 lbs. instead of 165 lbs., she would not have been that far off. The point OP kept making when everyone said, "OMG, no way are you going to have to eat that little... I'm X weight and Y height and I eat Z calories, so there is no way your calories will be so low." is that his calculation is correct. Sorry, but an argument that calories at current weight are so much higher and therefore a calculation for TDEE at goal weight can't possibly be that low is like comparing apples and oranges.5 -
Man, that pizza analogy hits me hard though, talkin about eating two pieces and four being "overboard". I can eat an entire pizza myself, and I don't mean on a dare or because someone said I couldn't. I mean like, I ate the last piece and reached for another one and said "well hell, I guess I ate it all". I hope my appetite shrinks like everyone says, but i feel like its gonna be really hard to maintain my goal weight when I get there.
I hear you. Months ago, I could easily eat an entire frozen pizza by myself. Now, if I let myself go to town, the most I can eat is 5 pieces. If it's takeout pizza, probably even less (unless it's super delicious because it's the taste that makes me eat more, not the hunger
)
You'll get there. You just have to start small. Don't eat the last piece. Save it for tomorrow's breakfast. Eventually make it 2 pieces. Then 3. I think at this point, I'm okay with binging on 4-5 pieces, but then busting kitty booty (since apparently you can't curse without it being a kitten xD) in cardio (seriously that stuff sucks sometimes. 5-10 min stretches on one machine and then having to switch to a different type of cardio because my legs are too sore)
I got some protein bars that I use for right after my exercise if I have to spend time cooking, or if I need to fill holes in my deficit. I'm sure saving part of pizza and eating a chocolate protein bar would help you reach your goal. (Make sure it's 19-20 grams of protein or more. 10g of chocolate protein bar just isn't worth it for the sugar it gives)
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midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »
That calculator is very similar to the one I used. I just put in all of my information and calculated it at my goal weight. Other calculators have said 1899, this one says 1967. that's virtually the same thing. 68 calories is not enough to change anything.You sound discouraged, my man. If I could offer some hope... 1899 seems extremely low for any kind of maintenance. What are your stats?
This is what I was going to say. I'm a 5 ft 4 female at with a weight range 140-145 and I maintain in 1960 without exercise, and between 2060 and 2200 with exercise, depending on what I do. OP is a guy. Something is not right with the TDEE calc.
It's correct. I've tried it out on 3 separate calculators and they all say the same thing.
No it's not.
I just used this calculator set at the sedentary setting and came up with much higher numbers. You're inputting wrong information.
Your TDEE is: 2826 Calories per day
Your BMR is: 2355 Calories per day
We suggest the following for your goal to Maintain
2826 Calories per day
To lose to pounds a week you'd eat 2260, then your calories would decrease with every ten pounds you lose.
Let's say you reach your goal weight of 165 (I don't know if that's your goal weight, this is just for demonstration purposes) in 2018 (100 pounds is a lot to lose), then your TDEE at sedentary would be 2063.
There is a huge difference in how each of you is measuring this... @SLLRunner is calculating based on 265 lbs. and you are calculating based on 150 lbs. Of course a 265 lb. man is going to have a higher BMR and TDEE than a 150 lb. man. And since you are talking about what will happen when you reach your goal weight of 150 lbs., @SLLRunner is wrong because she is using the wrong input. Bad inputs = bad outputs.
And complete reading comprehension fail. She went on to calculate it at 165. That is still a bit higher though than the OP's goal of 150 (which she didn't see).
OP, I'm going to 9000th everyone else and suggest getting active. Using this same calculator referenced above, I got that at goal weight and sedentary I have a TDEE of 1751. If I workout 3-5 days a week and get moderately active, I can maintain at 2261.
Those 500 calories per day are so worth it.
No, click on the link @SLLRunner provided and you will see it is calculated for 265 lbs. In fact, that is embedded into the link itself (as 120.2 kg): http://mytdee.com/#gender=male&yr=27&cm=165.1&kg=120.2&bfp=&goal=maintain&formula=standard&units=imperial&exercise=sedentary
Yes, which gives a TDEE of 2826. Like she posted. And then if you change it to 165, you get 1967. Like she posted.
The words, they are there to be read.2 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
@Sued0nim do you agree that this is your daily approach?Packerjohn wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »I have always counted calories daily, but I've read that some people say weekly is the way to go. Do any of you guys kinda not really worry about daily and concentrate on weekly? Eating heavy one day and light on another day to make up for it?
Skip breakfast and eat 40g dry weight (non instant) oatmeal for lunch with peanut butter , have 3 slices of pizza for dinner. bam, full and satisfied and under cals for the day by a landslide. binge drink on Fridays. that is the plan you want and need
And your heath goes to *kitten*. Where are the fruits and veggies in this program?
For the OP. As you know 4500 calories is an insane amount on a regular basis, unless your a 200+ pound competitive athlete. As you work on cutting back you will get used to a lower number of calories. As been mentioned you can always up the activity.
Best of luck.
really bud?
Yes based on your suggested menu if this is suppose to be a common occurrence.
"Skip breakfast and eat 40g dry weight (non instant) oatmeal for lunch with peanut butter , have 3 slices of pizza for dinner. bam, full and satisfied and under cals for the day by a landslide. binge drink on Fridays. that is the plan you want and need"
Yes because my response was not flippant and was a 100% serious attempt at giving the OP a fully sustainable diet plan that he should adhere to daily; that approach and has worked well for users such as Sued0nim.
@Sabine_Stroehm reading comprehension and thread wide context go a long way. @Sued0nim gave the OP great examples to meet his goals in a healthy manner and OP whined them away. My post was not serious, but apparently that wasn't clear enough with the binge drinking and all.
Thanks for the insult. Cheers.
LOTS of folks come on a forum. They don't all read 5 pages of a thread. Posting misleading replies isn't helpful to anyone.
OP doesn't want to be helped, he just wants to complain.
I disagree. He's "in mourning". He's grieving the end of his old life. (If he makes the changes necessary).
Regardless, he's not the only one reading the thread. Nor will he be. Sarcasm on forums is always iffy.
I love this, because it IS a major loss, isn't it? Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, then Acceptance. OP, sounds like you might be in the anger or depression stage. Don't give up. Take to heart all the other suggestions and advice of the people who have posted - they've been where you are. It's hard to believe that you won't always feel the way you do today, but your feelings will change, your cravings will change, your goals will change, your body will change. You've heard it from many on here and it happened to me too. Follow the plan and refocus on your goal for TODAY. Then worry about tomorrow. Wishing you the best.
Edit to add: P.S. I only had ONE bite of that donut in my profile pic. That NEVER would have happened two years ago. I would have eaten the whole thing and then some. I still have days those 4k calorie days, but it happens so few and far between now. It's a lifelong thing, not something that is a quick fix. Once I realized that (and grieved) my whole attitude changed.
Where did you get that donut? I need one ...for reasons.10 -
For me that's why 'you can lose weight without exercise' is a load of BS. I'd never have lost the weight without exercise. I exercise 1.5 hour a day in average at this point... and it's still a *kitten* to maintain the weight loss!
I basically end up eating less on days when I have more willpower/I'm less hungry so I can indulge occasionally. It's working but still frustrating.
I do say that it's technically possible to lose weight without exercise, but I personally couldn't do it. I need those exercise calories. I'd be ravenous and miserable without them. Right now, I'm only hungry right before meals.
I often extol the other virtues of exercise, in short, cardio for the heart and strength training for muscles and bone health.3 -
LiminalAscendance wrote: »For me that's why 'you can lose weight without exercise' is a load of BS. I'd never have lost the weight without exercise. I exercise 1.5 hour a day in average at this point... and it's still a *kitten* to maintain the weight loss!
I basically end up eating less on days when I have more willpower/I'm less hungry so I can indulge occasionally. It's working but still frustrating.
Yes, I'm often amused at how easy the "regulars" here make weight loss out to be. "Eat what you want, exercise optional, and watch the pounds melt away!"
And it was easy for them.
Sure, there are individuals that, for whatever reason, let their weight creep up on them. Once they made up their mind to lose, however, they succeeded because they had the right tool set, and understood concepts such as "delayed gratification."
A bit earlier, I read a post where someone asked whether they should do cardio or weight training. It was amazing how many said to do both. That wasn't the question, and it's surprising how disconnected some of the answers here are on occasion.
Not everyone is set up the same, and I tend to think that those who could follow most of the advice on here don't really need it all that much anyway.
Not to mention the fact that those left posting on a fitness-oriented site aren't going to be representative of the population at large, and the challenges (whether self-imposed or not) that they face.
Sure, we often answer the question that should have been asked, not the one that was actually asked.
I probably did not see the particular thread to which you refer, but do give the 'both' answer, because for optimal health, one should indeed do both cardio and strength training. My mom's brittle bones would be in better shape if she'd started weight lifting years ago. My OH's mother wouldn't be in a nursing home if she were still able to go the the bathroom unassisted.
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I totally understand this entire thread. It's true, you have to retrain yourself to be focused on other things. But for those of us who are NOT emotional eaters and simply take pleasure in the sensory input of, say, an excellent slice of pie, there isn't a protein bar in the world that can replace that.
I'm a 40yo woman with thyroid issues and about 25-30 lbs left to lose - about 15 lbs away from the peak normal weight for my height (5'7") but I'm narrow-framed. I know can get there, but the reality is that I either have to exercise a LOT more than I am right now (about 3-4 times a week - strength training is tough due to cervical neck issues and a bad shoulder so it's mostly HIIT or cardio for now) or I have to consign myself to eating very little day after day for months, with only very occasional desserts.
Those macro calculators are telling me that I can eat 1650 calories a day and still be at a deficit. Personal experience bears out that's not true: even calculating every gram that goes into my mouth with a digital scale, 1650 is very close to maintenance for me and doesn't result in more than a pound or so lost per month. That means that even having dessert ONCE a week may sabotage all of my deficits the rest of the week if I don't add an extra workout or a couple of extra long walks. That's depressing for someone who enjoys the end result of her baking efforts.
Yes, I'm very grateful for the food I'm able to buy and that I'm not starving. I'm not angry, I'm not bitter, I know that my love of sweets contributed to being 60+ lbs overweight and out of shape and I'm okay with the way things have to be in order to prioritize my health. But it does suck to deprive yourself of things that you legitimately enjoy. There's nothing wrong with noting that even if you move on and still make the necessary changes and intellectually accept that they're necessary. It is what it is. I didn't take the OP's posts as complaining, it's just expressing the fact that it isn't awesome to give up things you enjoy.11 -
That calculator is very similar to the one I used. I just put in all of my information and calculated it at my goal weight. Other calculators have said 1899, this one says 1967. that's virtually the same thing. 68 calories is not enough to change anything.You sound discouraged, my man. If I could offer some hope... 1899 seems extremely low for any kind of maintenance. What are your stats?
This is what I was going to say. I'm a 5 ft 4 female at with a weight range 140-145 and I maintain in 1960 without exercise, and between 2060 and 2200 with exercise, depending on what I do. OP is a guy. Something is not right with the TDEE calc.
It's correct. I've tried it out on 3 separate calculators and they all say the same thing.
No it's not.
I just used this calculator set at the sedentary setting and came up with much higher numbers. You're inputting wrong information.
Your TDEE is: 2826 Calories per day
Your BMR is: 2355 Calories per day
We suggest the following for your goal to Maintain
2826 Calories per day
To lose to pounds a week you'd eat 2260, then your calories would decrease with every ten pounds you lose.
Let's say you reach your goal weight of 165 (I don't know if that's your goal weight, this is just for demonstration purposes) in 2018 (100 pounds is a lot to lose), then your TDEE at sedentary would be 2063.
I tried it too for the hell of it. It gave me an extra 88 calories lol. Beats me!1 -
The more you move, the more you can eat. The less you weigh, the less you require. When your weight drops to your target weight, you won't be the same kind of "hungry" you are every day now...Go with the flow, keep to the system, stay on plan, and you'll be ok. But my first statement is king....Move more to eat more.2
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OP, you seem set on feeling like the rest of your life will be a constant burden of not eating what you want. I don't think you need to worry about it, because with that point of view, you'll never get to goal weight.
You have a long journey ahead of you. If that journey is successful, your tastes, preferences, energy level, and goals will slowly change over time. If you focus on making small tweaks to the way you eat, one at a time while being patient you will find yourself enjoying different foods and portions and feeling satisfied. If you experiment with your way if eating and keep an open mind, you will find new ways to enjoy your food without eating 4000 calories and being 100 lbs overweight.
There are hundreds of people here at MFP who lost 100 lbs and even more. Do you actually think they are all miserably eating food they don't like, wishing they could stuff themselves like they used to?
Stop looking at 2 years from now and making assumptions. Start looking at today and tomorrow and baby steps. Start looking forward to being healthier and more energetic and looking good and feeling more confident and feeling proud of accomplishing your goals and let the rest figure itself out. You won't feel the same way about 2000 calories two years from now as you do now. Don't let yourself set that fear up as an excuse you can use later to give up.
Things taste vastly different after you've been off the high fat/salt/sugar things for a while. You become able to taste and enjoy subtler flavors. That causes the healthy foods to taste really good. I know it's hard to imagine at first, but it totally happens.3 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
@Sued0nim do you agree that this is your daily approach?Packerjohn wrote: »Packerjohn wrote: »I have always counted calories daily, but I've read that some people say weekly is the way to go. Do any of you guys kinda not really worry about daily and concentrate on weekly? Eating heavy one day and light on another day to make up for it?
Skip breakfast and eat 40g dry weight (non instant) oatmeal for lunch with peanut butter , have 3 slices of pizza for dinner. bam, full and satisfied and under cals for the day by a landslide. binge drink on Fridays. that is the plan you want and need
And your heath goes to *kitten*. Where are the fruits and veggies in this program?
For the OP. As you know 4500 calories is an insane amount on a regular basis, unless your a 200+ pound competitive athlete. As you work on cutting back you will get used to a lower number of calories. As been mentioned you can always up the activity.
Best of luck.
really bud?
Yes based on your suggested menu if this is suppose to be a common occurrence.
"Skip breakfast and eat 40g dry weight (non instant) oatmeal for lunch with peanut butter , have 3 slices of pizza for dinner. bam, full and satisfied and under cals for the day by a landslide. binge drink on Fridays. that is the plan you want and need"
Yes because my response was not flippant and was a 100% serious attempt at giving the OP a fully sustainable diet plan that he should adhere to daily; that approach and has worked well for users such as Sued0nim.
@Sabine_Stroehm reading comprehension and thread wide context go a long way. @Sued0nim gave the OP great examples to meet his goals in a healthy manner and OP whined them away. My post was not serious, but apparently that wasn't clear enough with the binge drinking and all.
Thanks for the insult. Cheers.
LOTS of folks come on a forum. They don't all read 5 pages of a thread. Posting misleading replies isn't helpful to anyone.
OP doesn't want to be helped, he just wants to complain.
I disagree. He's "in mourning". He's grieving the end of his old life. (If he makes the changes necessary).
Regardless, he's not the only one reading the thread. Nor will he be. Sarcasm on forums is always iffy.
I love this, because it IS a major loss, isn't it? Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, then Acceptance. OP, sounds like you might be in the anger or depression stage. Don't give up. Take to heart all the other suggestions and advice of the people who have posted - they've been where you are. It's hard to believe that you won't always feel the way you do today, but your feelings will change, your cravings will change, your goals will change, your body will change. You've heard it from many on here and it happened to me too. Follow the plan and refocus on your goal for TODAY. Then worry about tomorrow. Wishing you the best.
Edit to add: P.S. I only had ONE bite of that donut in my profile pic. That NEVER would have happened two years ago. I would have eaten the whole thing and then some. I still have days those 4k calorie days, but it happens so few and far between now. It's a lifelong thing, not something that is a quick fix. Once I realized that (and grieved) my whole attitude changed.
Where did you get that donut? I need one ...for reasons.
@zyxst It's a Lard Lad donut from The Simpsons park in Universal Studios and it was amazing. I made my kids eat the rest of it after I had my bite so I wouldn't be tempted because I needed to save room for Butter Beer in Harry Potter.13 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »
That calculator is very similar to the one I used. I just put in all of my information and calculated it at my goal weight. Other calculators have said 1899, this one says 1967. that's virtually the same thing. 68 calories is not enough to change anything.You sound discouraged, my man. If I could offer some hope... 1899 seems extremely low for any kind of maintenance. What are your stats?
This is what I was going to say. I'm a 5 ft 4 female at with a weight range 140-145 and I maintain in 1960 without exercise, and between 2060 and 2200 with exercise, depending on what I do. OP is a guy. Something is not right with the TDEE calc.
It's correct. I've tried it out on 3 separate calculators and they all say the same thing.
No it's not.
I just used this calculator set at the sedentary setting and came up with much higher numbers. You're inputting wrong information.
Your TDEE is: 2826 Calories per day
Your BMR is: 2355 Calories per day
We suggest the following for your goal to Maintain
2826 Calories per day
To lose to pounds a week you'd eat 2260, then your calories would decrease with every ten pounds you lose.
Let's say you reach your goal weight of 165 (I don't know if that's your goal weight, this is just for demonstration purposes) in 2018 (100 pounds is a lot to lose), then your TDEE at sedentary would be 2063.
There is a huge difference in how each of you is measuring this... @SLLRunner is calculating based on 265 lbs. and you are calculating based on 150 lbs. Of course a 265 lb. man is going to have a higher BMR and TDEE than a 150 lb. man. And since you are talking about what will happen when you reach your goal weight of 150 lbs., @SLLRunner is wrong because she is using the wrong input. Bad inputs = bad outputs.
And complete reading comprehension fail. She went on to calculate it at 165. That is still a bit higher though than the OP's goal of 150 (which she didn't see).
OP, I'm going to 9000th everyone else and suggest getting active. Using this same calculator referenced above, I got that at goal weight and sedentary I have a TDEE of 1751. If I workout 3-5 days a week and get moderately active, I can maintain at 2261.
Those 500 calories per day are so worth it.
No, click on the link @SLLRunner provided and you will see it is calculated for 265 lbs. In fact, that is embedded into the link itself (as 120.2 kg): http://mytdee.com/#gender=male&yr=27&cm=165.1&kg=120.2&bfp=&goal=maintain&formula=standard&units=imperial&exercise=sedentary
Yes, which gives a TDEE of 2826. Like she posted. And then if you change it to 165, you get 1967. Like she posted.
The words, they are there to be read.
Sure, and the argument is "Your numbers are wrong, and see these numbers I came up with!! Look at these enormous numbers using your current weight!!! They are way bigger than your calculations!" and then "Oh, but by the way, I know it doesn't make any difference and I have no idea what your goal weight is anyway." So the argument is that the numbers are wrong based upon using a bad weight input.
Here's the sad truth for OP: He will have to eat less after he loses weight. He just realized this and is very discouraged by that fact. Arguing that his TDEE is higher now than it will be later does nothing to help him. He is going to have to come to terms with the fact that weighing less = eating less. I'm already at that point where I am getting close to goal and have to eat very little. So I know firsthand that OP is right to be concerned about what lies ahead in terms of a lack of food intake.4 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »
That calculator is very similar to the one I used. I just put in all of my information and calculated it at my goal weight. Other calculators have said 1899, this one says 1967. that's virtually the same thing. 68 calories is not enough to change anything.You sound discouraged, my man. If I could offer some hope... 1899 seems extremely low for any kind of maintenance. What are your stats?
This is what I was going to say. I'm a 5 ft 4 female at with a weight range 140-145 and I maintain in 1960 without exercise, and between 2060 and 2200 with exercise, depending on what I do. OP is a guy. Something is not right with the TDEE calc.
It's correct. I've tried it out on 3 separate calculators and they all say the same thing.
No it's not.
I just used this calculator set at the sedentary setting and came up with much higher numbers. You're inputting wrong information.
Your TDEE is: 2826 Calories per day
Your BMR is: 2355 Calories per day
We suggest the following for your goal to Maintain
2826 Calories per day
To lose to pounds a week you'd eat 2260, then your calories would decrease with every ten pounds you lose.
Let's say you reach your goal weight of 165 (I don't know if that's your goal weight, this is just for demonstration purposes) in 2018 (100 pounds is a lot to lose), then your TDEE at sedentary would be 2063.
There is a huge difference in how each of you is measuring this... @SLLRunner is calculating based on 265 lbs. and you are calculating based on 150 lbs. Of course a 265 lb. man is going to have a higher BMR and TDEE than a 150 lb. man. And since you are talking about what will happen when you reach your goal weight of 150 lbs., @SLLRunner is wrong because she is using the wrong input. Bad inputs = bad outputs.
And complete reading comprehension fail. She went on to calculate it at 165. That is still a bit higher though than the OP's goal of 150 (which she didn't see).
OP, I'm going to 9000th everyone else and suggest getting active. Using this same calculator referenced above, I got that at goal weight and sedentary I have a TDEE of 1751. If I workout 3-5 days a week and get moderately active, I can maintain at 2261.
Those 500 calories per day are so worth it.
No, click on the link @SLLRunner provided and you will see it is calculated for 265 lbs. In fact, that is embedded into the link itself (as 120.2 kg): http://mytdee.com/#gender=male&yr=27&cm=165.1&kg=120.2&bfp=&goal=maintain&formula=standard&units=imperial&exercise=sedentary
Yes, which gives a TDEE of 2826. Like she posted. And then if you change it to 165, you get 1967. Like she posted.
The words, they are there to be read.
Sure, and the argument is "Your numbers are wrong, and see these numbers I came up with!! Look at these enormous numbers using your current weight!!! They are way bigger than your calculations!" and then "Oh, but by the way, I know it doesn't make any difference and I have no idea what your goal weight is anyway." So the argument is that the numbers are wrong based upon using a bad weight input.
Here's the sad truth for OP: He will have to eat less after he loses weight. He just realized this and is very discouraged by that fact. Arguing that his TDEE is higher now than it will be later does nothing to help him. He is going to have to come to terms with the fact that weighing less = eating less. I'm already at that point where I am getting close to goal and have to eat very little. So I know firsthand that OP is right to be concerned about what lies ahead in terms of a lack of food intake.
The point was to clarify all the numbers, not just to confirm what his TDEE would be at his goal weight. Showing what his TDEE is today, and what calorie level he needs to eat at in order to lose 1 lb/week provides a solid baseline of what is an appropriate goal based on current stats. Confirming the numbers he was so discouraged by, or finding out that those were actually too conservative based on calculations from another site, is also a helpful piece of information.
The OP didn't talk about his TDEE of today. He talked about his TDEE of the future, and what his current eating habits were like. One is far too high for his current stats, and one is far too low. The point people are making is that learning how to eat for your current size, then taking a moderate deficit from that, takes effort but it retrains your body. The defeatist attitude of looking at extremes, woe is me I'll never be able to eat like I used to, isn't helpful. The numbers @SLLRunner provided are.
9 -
kshama2001 wrote: »For me that's why 'you can lose weight without exercise' is a load of BS. I'd never have lost the weight without exercise. I exercise 1.5 hour a day in average at this point... and it's still a *kitten* to maintain the weight loss!
I basically end up eating less on days when I have more willpower/I'm less hungry so I can indulge occasionally. It's working but still frustrating.
I do say that it's technically possible to lose weight without exercise, but I personally couldn't do it. I need those exercise calories. I'd be ravenous and miserable without them. Right now, I'm only hungry right before meals.
I often extol the other virtues of exercise, in short, cardio for the heart and strength training for muscles and bone health.
Yes I Have lost weight without exercise...prior to knowing about CI/CO...
I have done it a couple of times.
once in high school eating 1k calories a day
once because my job had me on the move all the time.
once due to illness0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »
That calculator is very similar to the one I used. I just put in all of my information and calculated it at my goal weight. Other calculators have said 1899, this one says 1967. that's virtually the same thing. 68 calories is not enough to change anything.You sound discouraged, my man. If I could offer some hope... 1899 seems extremely low for any kind of maintenance. What are your stats?
This is what I was going to say. I'm a 5 ft 4 female at with a weight range 140-145 and I maintain in 1960 without exercise, and between 2060 and 2200 with exercise, depending on what I do. OP is a guy. Something is not right with the TDEE calc.
It's correct. I've tried it out on 3 separate calculators and they all say the same thing.
No it's not.
I just used this calculator set at the sedentary setting and came up with much higher numbers. You're inputting wrong information.
Your TDEE is: 2826 Calories per day
Your BMR is: 2355 Calories per day
We suggest the following for your goal to Maintain
2826 Calories per day
To lose to pounds a week you'd eat 2260, then your calories would decrease with every ten pounds you lose.
Let's say you reach your goal weight of 165 (I don't know if that's your goal weight, this is just for demonstration purposes) in 2018 (100 pounds is a lot to lose), then your TDEE at sedentary would be 2063.
There is a huge difference in how each of you is measuring this... @SLLRunner is calculating based on 265 lbs. and you are calculating based on 150 lbs. Of course a 265 lb. man is going to have a higher BMR and TDEE than a 150 lb. man. And since you are talking about what will happen when you reach your goal weight of 150 lbs., @SLLRunner is wrong because she is using the wrong input. Bad inputs = bad outputs.
And complete reading comprehension fail. She went on to calculate it at 165. That is still a bit higher though than the OP's goal of 150 (which she didn't see).
OP, I'm going to 9000th everyone else and suggest getting active. Using this same calculator referenced above, I got that at goal weight and sedentary I have a TDEE of 1751. If I workout 3-5 days a week and get moderately active, I can maintain at 2261.
Those 500 calories per day are so worth it.
No, click on the link @SLLRunner provided and you will see it is calculated for 265 lbs. In fact, that is embedded into the link itself (as 120.2 kg): http://mytdee.com/#gender=male&yr=27&cm=165.1&kg=120.2&bfp=&goal=maintain&formula=standard&units=imperial&exercise=sedentary
Yes, which gives a TDEE of 2826. Like she posted. And then if you change it to 165, you get 1967. Like she posted.
The words, they are there to be read.
Sure, and the argument is "Your numbers are wrong, and see these numbers I came up with!! Look at these enormous numbers using your current weight!!! They are way bigger than your calculations!" and then "Oh, but by the way, I know it doesn't make any difference and I have no idea what your goal weight is anyway." So the argument is that the numbers are wrong based upon using a bad weight input.
Here's the sad truth for OP: He will have to eat less after he loses weight. He just realized this and is very discouraged by that fact. Arguing that his TDEE is higher now than it will be later does nothing to help him. He is going to have to come to terms with the fact that weighing less = eating less. I'm already at that point where I am getting close to goal and have to eat very little. So I know firsthand that OP is right to be concerned about what lies ahead in terms of a lack of food intake.
The point was to clarify all the numbers, not just to confirm what his TDEE would be at his goal weight. Showing what his TDEE is today, and what calorie level he needs to eat at in order to lose 1 lb/week provides a solid baseline of what is an appropriate goal based on current stats. Confirming the numbers he was so discouraged by, or finding out that those were actually too conservative based on calculations from another site, is also a helpful piece of information.
The OP didn't talk about his TDEE of today. He talked about his TDEE of the future, and what his current eating habits were like. One is far too high for his current stats, and one is far too low. The point people are making is that learning how to eat for your current size, then taking a moderate deficit from that, takes effort but it retrains your body. The defeatist attitude of looking at extremes, woe is me I'll never be able to eat like I used to, isn't helpful. The numbers @SLLRunner provided are.
OP is concerned about how little he will be able to eat when he reaches his goal weight. How exactly does pointing out how much he can eat now help him? If it were me, I would be looking at what I can eat now without gaining any more, look at the much smaller amount to maintain in the future, then the choice to abandon a weight loss goal becomes very attractive. Perhaps this helps, but I'm not seeing it.
ETA: And now I'm considering how much more delicious food I could eat when I was heavier and I'm thinking about abandoning my diet now... I've been at this a lot longer than OP and didn't start out in this thread ever thinking I would consider stopping, but with the much higher calorie allotments, I am really thinking about this. If that is the case for me, it may very well be that OP looks at those numbers and thinks, "Yep, losing weight is a bad idea."3
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