Changing my diet plan mid journey?

itsmemalak
itsmemalak Posts: 21 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey i'm new here and i've been eating a plant based diet for two months and I've lost 10kg (I think that's 20 pounds? Anyway, right now my weight loss is kind of slowing down a bit and I still have 12kg to lose to achieve my goal weight, I'm seeing a nutritionist soon (in 12 days) what I wanted to know is if I can change my diet? I want to cut down on the carbs/sugar, and I'm wondering if juice fasting would be beneficial if i do it for a week starting monday (I also exercise everyday with cardio and sometimes strenght) and after that juice fast I want to cut down all the carbs/sugar and add fish and maybe chicken breast and egg whites, because I feel like right now my diet is mostly carbs and fat and I think protein is more important especially since I want to up my strenght training a bit more. I was just wondering if this could kickstart my weight loss again since the body gets used to the diet you're eating after 21 days so idk..
I do want to get to my goal weight by january obviously I'll keep going on this journey to maintain it and get to my natural fit weight after january but I do want to see some actual visible results by january and rn even though I've lost 10 kg and I'm eating healthy/going to the gym regularly, I'm not noticing a dramatic change which I just find odd so by january I do want some noticeable change lol

Also I just wanted to mention i'm 164 cm, 22 yrs old and my:
SW 82kg
CW 71,6 kg
GW 59 kg

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited September 2016
    You can eat any way you want and change how you eat as often as you want - and still lose weight - as long as you have a sustained calorie deficit.

    Weight loss slows down when you lose weight because your body uses less energy and has smaller fat stores to take energy from. One percent of your total body weight per week is max of what you can expect if you do everything correctly.

    Fasting and "kick starting" is never a good idea. All you will accomplish is getting hungry and irritable. Any weight loss beyond 1% per week will be water/waste and come back when you start eating again. If you have starved yourself, you won't eat normally afterwards, you will binge.

    Your body doesn't "get used" to what you eat, and the "21 days to form a habit" is more a myth than anything else.
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    Your rate of weight loss will be controlled by how many calories you consume, not what kinds of food you eat. Some people eat higher protein and lower carb to help them feel full or avoid cravings, but if you're not struggling on your current diet there's no real need to switch it up.

    You've lost at a fast rate, and some of it was probably water. You can't expect to maintain that rate of weight loss. Be content with losing slower. If you completely stall out, look at how many calories you're consuming before you change anything else, especially if you're not weighing and measuring everything.

    I do agree it's important to get adequate protein. It's a good idea to increase your intake if you're not eating much right now.

    Definitely don't do the juice fast. That's a week of being unnecessarily hungry and depriving yourself of adequate nutrition.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    You seem more concerned with the types of foods you are eating but less so about the calories and macronutrients in them. Juice fasts are poor in my opinion as they are nothing but carbs. No protein, no fat, both things you want to have when dieting. I'd focus less on huge restrictions like plant based, juice fast, etc, and much more so on how many calories you are eating. If you have stalled in weight loss over the long run the only real reason is because you are not burning more calories per day then you are consuming. The easiest way to fix this is to eat less total calories. I'd set a calorie goal as well as a protein, carb, and fat goal and worry much much less about the types of foods as they make much less of a difference then total calories do for weight loss.
  • Bearbo27
    Bearbo27 Posts: 339 Member
    chocolate_owl wrote: »
    Your rate of weight loss will be controlled by how many calories you consume, not what kinds of food you eat. Some people eat higher protein and lower carb to help them feel full or avoid cravings, but if you're not struggling on your current diet there's no real need to switch it up.

    You've lost at a fast rate, and some of it was probably water. You can't expect to maintain that rate of weight loss. Be content with losing slower. If you completely stall out, look at how many calories you're consuming before you change anything else, especially if you're not weighing and measuring everything.

    I do agree it's important to get adequate protein. It's a good idea to increase your intake if you're not eating much right now.

    Definitely don't do the juice fast. That's a week of being unnecessarily hungry and depriving yourself of adequate nutrition.

    ^^^This

    It doesn't matter what kind of foods you consume. You could add in chicken and fish right now and skip the juice fast. As long as you are not going over your daily calories, you'll be fine. As you get closer to your final goal, your weight loss will slow down.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    You are 5'5" and 158 pounds. Losing 28 pounds in 4 months is going to be pretty difficult for you. That's over a pound a week. I'd suggest scaling back your expectations and not putting a time deadline on your weight loss. Eat a well rounded and nutritious diet, aim to lose a pound a week for now, keeping in mind that as you get closer to goal a half pound a week will become a better goal. Good luck to you.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    You are 5'5" and 158 pounds. Losing 28 pounds in 4 months is going to be pretty difficult for you. That's over a pound a week. I'd suggest scaling back your expectations and not putting a time deadline on your weight loss. Eat a well rounded and nutritious diet, aim to lose a pound a week for now, keeping in mind that as you get closer to goal a half pound a week will become a better goal. Good luck to you.

    This^

    Besides, when you get to goal you will need to figure out how to sustain your new lower weight. Instead of changing "diets" every few weeks (to try to speed up weight loss....doesn't work) settle into an eating plan that is similar to how you plan on eating forever - well rounded nutritious foods. This will make the transition to maintenance easier.
  • Unknown
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  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    UKMFP4LIFE wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    You can eat any way you want and change how you eat as often as you want - and still lose weight - as long as you have a sustained calorie deficit.

    Weight loss slows down when you lose weight because your body uses less energy and has smaller fat stores to take energy from. One percent of your total body weight per week is max of what you can expect if you do everything correctly.

    Fasting and "kick starting" is never a good idea. All you will accomplish is getting hungry and irritable. Any weight loss beyond 1% per week will be water/waste and come back when you start eating again. If you have starved yourself, you won't eat normally afterwards, you will binge.

    Your body doesn't "get used" to what you eat, and the "21 days to form a habit" is more a myth than anything else.

    LOL

    Strong 2nd post.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    UKMFP4LIFE wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    You can eat any way you want and change how you eat as often as you want - and still lose weight - as long as you have a sustained calorie deficit.

    Weight loss slows down when you lose weight because your body uses less energy and has smaller fat stores to take energy from. One percent of your total body weight per week is max of what you can expect if you do everything correctly.

    Fasting and "kick starting" is never a good idea. All you will accomplish is getting hungry and irritable. Any weight loss beyond 1% per week will be water/waste and come back when you start eating again. If you have starved yourself, you won't eat normally afterwards, you will binge.

    Your body doesn't "get used" to what you eat, and the "21 days to form a habit" is more a myth than anything else.

    LOL

    I like to laugh, what's so funny? I didn't see anything funny in the post you quoted though. :(
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    itsmemalak wrote: »
    Hey i'm new here and i've been eating a plant based diet for two months and I've lost 10kg (I think that's 20 pounds? Anyway, right now my weight loss is kind of slowing down a bit and I still have 12kg to lose to achieve my goal weight, I'm seeing a nutritionist soon (in 12 days) what I wanted to know is if I can change my diet? I want to cut down on the carbs/sugar, and I'm wondering if juice fasting would be beneficial if i do it for a week starting monday (I also exercise everyday with cardio and sometimes strenght) and after that juice fast I want to cut down all the carbs/sugar and add fish and maybe chicken breast and egg whites, because I feel like right now my diet is mostly carbs and fat and I think protein is more important especially since I want to up my strenght training a bit more. I was just wondering if this could kickstart my weight loss again since the body gets used to the diet you're eating after 21 days so idk..
    I do want to get to my goal weight by january obviously I'll keep going on this journey to maintain it and get to my natural fit weight after january but I do want to see some actual visible results by january and rn even though I've lost 10 kg and I'm eating healthy/going to the gym regularly, I'm not noticing a dramatic change which I just find odd so by january I do want some noticeable change lol

    Also I just wanted to mention i'm 164 cm, 22 yrs old and my:
    SW 82kg
    CW 71,6 kg
    GW 59 kg

    Fasting won't help you. Learning how to eat properly, having discipline, and doing something you can sustain for the rest of your life will help you. It sounds like doing some research on healthy diets would be beneficial as you may gain alot of useful information that will help you succeed.

    The best diet incorporates high-quality foods in appropriate portions; there isn’t one “perfect” diet for everyone.
    https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/best-diet-quality-counts/

    FYI - nutritionist are garbage. Dietitians go to school, have degrees, intern and usually know more about the human body and nutrition then most GP doctors. Is that what you meant? The problem with nutritionists are anyone can call themselves one. I could call myself a nutritionist because... well I can because there is nothing stopping me. I'm not though.
  • itsmemalak
    itsmemalak Posts: 21 Member
    Hey guys!
    Thx for the insight, I won't try the juice fast thing. Right now, I don't know what I want to eat for the rest of my life, i'm debating whether i should go low carb or vegan/plant based except when i go out which i'm trying to do as less as i can.
    I think my calorie intake is pretty low rn, it doesn't even reach 1000 sometimes it's even 400 (I'm in college and i'm really busy and i'd rather not eat at all then eat at the university restaurant because idk what's in the food exactly and that freaks me out especially since I started this journey i do want to meal prep but sometimes i'm just way too lazy on the weekends) but really since I don't really weight everything like I do it approximatively so I think the number probably doubles itself especially since I dont really feel hungry except at night and I dont want to eat at night so I wait for the morning. I don't really know much about macronutrient or anything that's why i'm going to see a dietitian (yes i meant dietitian but english isn't my mother tongue lol) becayse I want to have a healthier journey and like a plan for life basically. I do agree that 4months is really short to lose weight, but since I lost 10kg in a month and a half i thought maybe you know? I mean I have to say that I ate like crazy before so i think when i started portion control and stopped eating out a lot my body started losing weight fast, my water pourcentage is still 47% which I think is really high still, I'm not really sure though maybe it's low.
    The thing is at the 4months i want to actually look good. Normally if i'm 65kg My IMC won't be too bad and it will actually be in the normal weight mark so I do want to achieve at least that and lose like 6,6kg by then which i think is achievable if I continue on my journey and don't like stray from this, so far, I think i've been doing good and resisting the temptations. The 4months i'm giving myself is honestly not really so I could be a certain number on the scale, it's honestly that I don't want to look/be overweight in that moment
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    itsmemalak wrote: »
    Right now, I don't know what I want to eat for the rest of my life, i'm debating whether i should go low carb or vegan/plant based except when i go out which i'm trying to do as less as i can.
    You don't have to eat the same way for the rest of your life. And your only choice isn't between low carb or vegan. You are young and shouldn't stop eating out. Just be a bit mindful and try to get some real food, and don't stuff yourself.

    I think my calorie intake is pretty low rn, it doesn't even reach 1000 sometimes it's even 400 (I'm in college and i'm really busy
    but really since I don't really weight everything like I do it approximatively so I think the number probably doubles itself
    You can't know how much you are eating if you don't log correctly. But you can tell by your weight whether you are eating at maintenance, or above, or below.

    i'd rather not eat at all then eat at the university restaurant because idk what's in the food exactly and that freaks me out especially since I started this journey
    especially since I dont really feel hungry except at night and I dont want to eat at night so I wait for the morning.
    These are not good thoughts. Eat when you are hungry and don't worry about what's in the food. I'm sure it's real food and not going to kill you.

    i do want to meal prep but sometimes i'm just way too lazy on the weekends)
    Meal prep if that gives you an advantage, not because you think you should. If you need the weekends to rest, you have to prioritize that. You can still meal plan so that everything is ready, and then you will have fresh food for all meals (I do that).

    I don't really know much about macronutrient or anything that's why i'm going to see a dietitian becayse I want to have a healthier journey and like a plan for life basically.
    You don't have to know so much about nutrition - most people can just eat and be happy and healthy - but if you are totally at loss about how much and what to eat, and resources like Myplate doesn't make sense to you, and your thoughts around food and eating are causing you real distress, I think a dietitian is a good idea.

    I do agree that 4months is really short to lose weight, but since I lost 10kg in a month and a half i thought maybe you know? I mean I have to say that I ate like crazy before so i think when i started portion control and stopped eating out a lot my body started losing weight fast
    The thing is at the 4months i want to actually look good. Normally if i'm 65kg My IMC won't be too bad and it will actually be in the normal weight mark so I do want to achieve at least that and lose like 6,6kg by then which i think is achievable if I continue on my journey and don't like stray from this, so far, I think i've been doing good and resisting the temptations. The 4months i'm giving myself is honestly not really so I could be a certain number on the scale, it's honestly that I don't want to look/be overweight in that moment
    I think a normal BMI/IMC is a good goal to have. You will be able to get there by January, if you don't mess things up. Trying all sorts of crazy things, and not sticking to good things, and trying to push through beyond your body's limits, is messing up.

    my water pourcentage is still 47% which I think is really high still, I'm not really sure though maybe it's low.
    I don't know the significance of this.
  • itsmemalak
    itsmemalak Posts: 21 Member
    Also my weight is heavily concentrated on arms, shoulders and upper back (my neck too which is really annoying) also my inner tighs, I'm trying to look at some exercises and do them but idk it just feels like it doesn't work like i don't see any noticeable difference (also it burns and it hurts and sometimes i stop for a bit or i do them all wrong, did that ever happen to you? And did you get fit anyway? Because sometimes i do circuit training and I'm like the last to finish and it's idk embarrassing) except that i do fit in smaller clothes that makes me happy but idk maybe it's just me but for some reason i don't see anything especially when i look in the mirror at the gym and i wear leggings and stuff it feels like i'm not getting any fitter and with all the intimidating really ripped guys and girls i feel kind of out of place lol. Anyway everyone has to start somewhere, but i do have to mention that because i don't really know what i'm doing when strenght training i tend to do cardio/circuit training/dance classes more, I don't have a trainer because it costs so much money and i'm already putting in way too much money in this for a college student.
    I also worry about loose skin on my arms because small mention, I gained all this weight in the span of like 3months but the weight stayed on for 4years (i was in a new long term relationship, moved out of my parents house, went to college, got on the pill for the first time etc...) so i have lots of strecht marks on my arms (triceps area) my inner tighs and my boobs. So i think i need to do my arms and pecs and work on my inner tighs, but idk how many times a week i should work on them should indo it everyday or more times a day? i'm a little worried about it. I know that there are people with far more weight than my SW and with strenght training they had just a little bit of loose skin so maybe i can avoid it but idk
    I also added waist training to my work outs, (idk if that will do anything but i wear it whenever i go to the gym because idk maybe it'll give me some abs haha)
    I'm just really serious about this and i do want a little bit of guidance lol because admittedly I have no idea what i'm doing and I seriously hope I will never get fat ever again
  • itsmemalak
    itsmemalak Posts: 21 Member
    Thx for your answer, I actually went out all day yesterday and I ate a salad because i didn't want to mess up, I did eat way less calories because I was out all day and I only ate a salad all day (i was staying at a friend's house and she doesn't have a kitchen lol and i didn't want to eat mcdonalds at 1am) i should definitely eat more i think because it's probably bad for sure.
    I know that like i don't have to eat a certain way all my life but ut's true that i do want to maintain it and like celebrities are on all kinds of crazy diets except that they have cheat days sometimes and I make sure to have those like since i started this "diet" i did eat two tuna sandwiches and a shrimp salad (lol i'm litterally counting them)
    I think i definitely need to buy a food scale soon so i can weight my food.
    The thing is,, about the university restaurant i don't really know what's in it qnd since i started using this app i've noticed just how much calories is in little stuff like oil and i don't know how much oil is in it so i'd rather eat something i made myself or wait until i go home and cook something (i mean i'm starved by the time i go home but? I don't know isn't it better to wait than to eat something you have no control over?)

    Tbh all i know about nutrition is that your plate should be 50% vegetables 25% feculent (rice pasta bread) and 25% protein that's all i know

    I think i need to start meal planning or prepping when i have the time because it's trye that sometimes i get too lazy and i eat nothing at all or i just snack on healthy stuff but it's way too low

    Yes i mean my goal here is to have a normal weight, the reason i wanted 59kg was because i was 54kg before my weight gain and so since i know i can't get back there i settled for 59 lol but yeah i shouldn't go on crazy diets.

    Idk how accurate it is but i went on a scale the other day and it could give you the pourcentage of body fat body muscle and water weight. It's probably not even accurate but idk
  • Bearbo27
    Bearbo27 Posts: 339 Member
    edited September 2016
    You don't have to eat a certain way for the rest of your life to make this work, just eat less. I didn't take anything out of my diet or change anything up to lose the weight I have lose so far. Set your goal for 2 lbs per week to lose and eat those calories. Do not do days where you only eat a salad and nothing else. Don't do days where you only eat 400 calories. You need to fuel your body. If McDonald's is your only option, try and pick a healthier item off the menu. If the University restaurant is your only option, pick something healthy to eat and log it using the best estimate from the data a here. Get yourself a food scale to weigh your foods or you will never truly know how many calories you eat. Don't make this more complicated than it needs to be. You can eat the food at your University and still lose weight. The only thing you are doing by missing meals and having those VLCD is setting yourself up to binge and gain weight back.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    Its your journey, change it as often as you want. Ive changed my goals and plans as I went based on how I feel and what works for me.

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