ARMY ready after two kids... help?
kpressnell2017
Posts: 26 Member
Looking to get ready for Basic next year and need to get into my weight bracket for the military! I have been struggling with calories and food for about 5 months.
Had my second child in February, weighed more that 265 at birth... now 8 months later I have not gone below 240. I workout 6 days a week 45 min a day. I break a hard sweat and keep my heart rate at about 150-160bpm.
I need help with what I/how much I should be eating. Before using MFP I tried eating at about 2300 and maintained. But also maintain at 1800? I recently tried "low carb" (less than 40g per day) but I don't want to live my life like that - not a real balance.
Help!!!
Stats
5ft9
242
26yr
Bf% unknown
Had my second child in February, weighed more that 265 at birth... now 8 months later I have not gone below 240. I workout 6 days a week 45 min a day. I break a hard sweat and keep my heart rate at about 150-160bpm.
I need help with what I/how much I should be eating. Before using MFP I tried eating at about 2300 and maintained. But also maintain at 1800? I recently tried "low carb" (less than 40g per day) but I don't want to live my life like that - not a real balance.
Help!!!
Stats
5ft9
242
26yr
Bf% unknown
1
Replies
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I'd suggest using a food scale to help. I thought I wasn't losing on 1200 calories but that's just sloppy tracking on my part. Ya know, 8 corn chips can possibly be 150 calories. So I would cut corners.
Eat closer to the source, I find it's easier to guess the calories than something pre prepared or eaten out.
Good luck! Stay active, I'm sure you'll get there! Congratulations on the bambino!1 -
In all sincerity eat less food and keep exercising. No special foods, no restricting of foods, eat all the things you already like to eat.. this is one of the best things about the MFP method, you do not have to give anything up, if you want to choose different foods in your diet, you certainly can, but not required. You will discover long the way the things you want to change, need to change etc. Just getting into the swing of losing weight at first should be your focus then making habitual changes are things you can work on as you go.
When you enter your stats (height, current weight, age, activity level, and number of pounds to lose each week) MFP auto generates your calorie goal for you to lose weight.. All you have to do is reach that calorie goal everyday (no going over and certainly do NOT go under)..
Lastly, you might want to get a food scale, you might not need it right away, but as you lose weight it will be important to get as accurate with your calories as possible.
If you want to learn all the ins and outs of weight loss, logging food, handling your exercise calories, etc.. the stickies at the beginning of the forums called Most Helpful Posts contain a great deal of help tips, guides, how to's etc..
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Thanks guys!!! I'll definitely get a food scale because I think it is sloppy tracking on my part1
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Just an fyi... If you are married, disregard the following. If you are a single mom you will have to sign away full custody of your kids for the length of your first enlistment. I have seen several soldiers fall into this trap.0
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hey! I agree with the above about scales and measuring-- sure helps me! Also I find writing a journal helps-- so i keep mine with me.. i eat two popcorn kernels-- it goes in, that way i dont ever justify cheating, and it helps me . i also plan my weekly meals once a week and stick to it, go shopping for the week and make sure i have everything. i dont drink pop/soda, but that's a big killer, but i justify coffee and it has a ton of cream and sugar which I need to work on... but from one lady that's near your size-- i can see your musculature so keep on keeping on! more muscle will burn more calories. The one suggestion I'd really go for is for your heart rate; interval training doesnt give your body an opportunity to get used to it... so if you are able to get a HR monitor (cheaper on ebay/amazon), i would go for it..... try 'cycling' for example, HR at 180, then walk for a few min or LIGHT exercise, then up again at intense exercise... due to everyone's fitness/size/health you need to do what's safe for you and make sure you follow up with a doctor if you do have health issues (sorry im a nurse and need to add that in there
). Lots of people believe in calorie cycling too-- i suppose i'd be ok with it if people werent starving themselves on the low carb moments... i dont think anyone has to starve their brain to lose weight. im 100% with you that its not a way to live life, and if it is to be used, cant be used long term, as it has poor success in the long term. have you looked at the american food guide? i'm assuming, im in canada, but i lost 100 lbs before on it prior to my medical issues 
but i'm on my downswing again, regardless of health-- dammit no more excuses, pain will not be enough to order me around! NO MORE!!!! xo goodluck to you! (ps: my body always plateaus around 230-240 range and maybe that's your sweet spot too... gotta change intensity to break that up, different exercises or make sure you're eating enough protein and good fats...especially early in the day..)
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Just an fyi... If you are married, disregard the following. If you are a single mom you will have to sign away full custody of your kids for the length of your first enlistment. I have seen several soldiers fall into this trap.
Yes married so no signing here hahahey! I agree with the above about scales and measuring-- sure helps me! Also I find writing a journal helps-- so i keep mine with me.. i eat two popcorn kernels-- it goes in, that way i dont ever justify cheating, and it helps me . i also plan my weekly meals once a week and stick to it, go shopping for the week and make sure i have everything. i dont drink pop/soda, but that's a big killer, but i justify coffee and it has a ton of cream and sugar which I need to work on... but from one lady that's near your size-- i can see your musculature so keep on keeping on! more muscle will burn more calories. The one suggestion I'd really go for is for your heart rate; interval training doesnt give your body an opportunity to get used to it... so if you are able to get a HR monitor (cheaper on ebay/amazon), i would go for it..... try 'cycling' for example, HR at 180, then walk for a few min or LIGHT exercise, then up again at intense exercise... due to everyone's fitness/size/health you need to do what's safe for you and make sure you follow up with a doctor if you do have health issues (sorry im a nurse and need to add that in there). Lots of people believe in calorie cycling too-- i suppose i'd be ok with it if people werent starving themselves on the low carb moments... i dont think anyone has to starve their brain to lose weight. im 100% with you that its not a way to live life, and if it is to be used, cant be used long term, as it has poor success in the long term. have you looked at the american food guide? i'm assuming, im in canada, but i lost 100 lbs before on it prior to my medical issues but i'm on my downswing again, regardless of health-- dammit no more excuses, pain will not be enough to order me around! NO MORE!!!! xo goodluck to you! (ps: my body always plateaus around 230-240 range and maybe that's your sweet spot too... gotta change intensity to break that up, different exercises or make sure you're eating enough protein and good fats...especially early in the day..)
Thank you!!0 -
kpressnell2017 wrote: »I workout 6 days a week 45 min a day. I break a hard sweat and keep my heart rate at about 150-160bpm.
I need help with what I/how much I should be eating. Before using MFP I tried eating at about 2300 and maintained. But also maintain at 1800?
There is no way that an active 240 pound person maintains on 1800 cals/day - or even on 2300 cals/day. That's my husband's approximate weight, and he maintains on ~3500 cals/day (with one long hilly walk at lunch and one flatter walk after dinner as his exercise). That means that something was off with your counting/logging. Either you weren't bothering to log a lot of things that seemed unimportant (e.g. drinks - which can have up to 500 cals each if they're of the creamy sugary Starbucks persuasion) or you were massively underestimating portions. The good news is that's easily fixed. You've already realized you need a food scale, so use that and log *everything* until you know what actually has zero calories (water and black tea, for me).
Enter your stats into MFP and it will tell you what you should set your goal to. You can also ask an external site like scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ - which calcuates your BMR to be 1904 calories (that's the calories you'd burn in a day if you were unconscious all day). With an hour of strenuous exercise 5-6 days per week, it estimates that you would maintain your weight on 3284 cals/day so should lose 2 pounds/week eating 2284 cals/day.0 -
So should I ignore what MFP set me at?? It has me eatSusanMFindlay wrote: »kpressnell2017 wrote: »I workout 6 days a week 45 min a day. I break a hard sweat and keep my heart rate at about 150-160bpm.
I need help with what I/how much I should be eating. Before using MFP I tried eating at about 2300 and maintained. But also maintain at 1800?
There is no way that an active 240 pound person maintains on 1800 cals/day - or even on 2300 cals/day. That's my husband's approximate weight, and he maintains on ~3500 cals/day (with one long hilly walk at lunch and one flatter walk after dinner as his exercise). That means that something was off with your counting/logging. Either you weren't bothering to log a lot of things that seemed unimportant (e.g. drinks - which can have up to 500 cals each if they're of the creamy sugary Starbucks persuasion) or you were massively underestimating portions. The good news is that's easily fixed. You've already realized you need a food scale, so use that and log *everything* until you know what actually has zero calories (water and black tea, for me).
Enter your stats into MFP and it will tell you what you should set your goal to. You can also ask an external site like scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ - which calcuates your BMR to be 1904 calories (that's the calories you'd burn in a day if you were unconscious all day). With an hour of strenuous exercise 5-6 days per week, it estimates that you would maintain your weight on 3284 cals/day so should lose 2 pounds/week eating 2284
So should I ignore what MFP set me at? It has me eating 16000 -
kpressnell2017 wrote: »So should I ignore what MFP set me at?? It has me eatSusanMFindlay wrote: »kpressnell2017 wrote: »I workout 6 days a week 45 min a day. I break a hard sweat and keep my heart rate at about 150-160bpm.
I need help with what I/how much I should be eating. Before using MFP I tried eating at about 2300 and maintained. But also maintain at 1800?
There is no way that an active 240 pound person maintains on 1800 cals/day - or even on 2300 cals/day. That's my husband's approximate weight, and he maintains on ~3500 cals/day (with one long hilly walk at lunch and one flatter walk after dinner as his exercise). That means that something was off with your counting/logging. Either you weren't bothering to log a lot of things that seemed unimportant (e.g. drinks - which can have up to 500 cals each if they're of the creamy sugary Starbucks persuasion) or you were massively underestimating portions. The good news is that's easily fixed. You've already realized you need a food scale, so use that and log *everything* until you know what actually has zero calories (water and black tea, for me).
Enter your stats into MFP and it will tell you what you should set your goal to. You can also ask an external site like scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ - which calcuates your BMR to be 1904 calories (that's the calories you'd burn in a day if you were unconscious all day). With an hour of strenuous exercise 5-6 days per week, it estimates that you would maintain your weight on 3284 cals/day so should lose 2 pounds/week eating 2284
So should I ignore what MFP set me at? It has me eating 1600
I would just re-do your numbers and make sure that 1) your rate of loss is not too aggressive (i.e. 2 pounds or more a week) 2) Following the MFP method be sure to eat back your exercise calories (at least a portion of them).
the idea is to stay in a moderate deficit (20% of TDEE) and to be able to fuel your day to day activities as well as all the exercise.
If you run the numbers using an external website to determine if MFP has you setup right, but know MFP does NOT include exercise so you will add to your calorie goal.
I like to use http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#results as linked previously.0 -
Sorry it has me at 1650. I set it at lightly active because outside of my workout time I'm a stay at home mom with two babies and spend most of my day play on the floor with my baby and toddler0
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kpressnell2017 wrote: »Sorry it has me at 1650. I set it at lightly active because outside of my workout time I'm a stay at home mom with two babies and spend most of my day play on the floor with my baby and toddler
Don't underestimate the activity for that. I did when I first started weight loss (also a mom of 2). Until recently I was a stay-at-home mom (I work now), however my activity level was at minimum lightly active with same days closer to active. I averaged around 2000 calories a day to lose weight (5'4.5 / 260 lbs to low 120's). I'm actually currently having to lose a couple lbs that I regained when I started working and my very sloppy logging this summer. I'm currently experiencing a slow loss at around 2200 (about 0.6 lbs a week) and that's with only getting to the gym 2 maybe 3 times a week if I'm lucky (sometimes not at all).0 -
shadow2soul wrote: »kpressnell2017 wrote: »Sorry it has me at 1650. I set it at lightly active because outside of my workout time I'm a stay at home mom with two babies and spend most of my day play on the floor with my baby and toddler
Don't underestimate the activity for that. I did when I first started weight loss (also a mom of 2). Until recently I was a stay-at-home mom (I work now), however my activity level was at minimum lightly active with same days closer to active. I averaged around 2000 calories a day to lose weight (5'4.5 / 260 lbs to low 120's). I'm actually currently having to lose a couple lbs that I regained when I started working and my very sloppy logging this summer. I'm currently experiencing a slow loss at around 2200 (about 0.6 lbs a week) and that's with only getting to the gym 2 maybe 3 times a week if I'm lucky (sometimes not at all).
So it says bmr is 1950 and tdee is 2750
Should I start high and lower or the opposite?
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If you were to eat 2000 a day, then (providing TDEE is correct and accurate logging) you would lose approximately 1.5 lbs per week.
Or you could opt for a 20% cut which would be: 2200 cals a day and roughly 1.1 lbs per week loss.0 -
Realize that your metabolism can adjust to lower calories over a period of time. That's why about every 3 months I do a change in my routine (cut calories, up exercise, combo of both). I would suspect however that you're not accurately tracking your caloric intake or expenditure. Maintain on both 1800 and 2300 calories a day just is not possible if your activity level stays the same.
BTW....8 months...going from 265 down to 240 is not bad. That is an average of 3.5 LBS per month, or about a LBS per week...which isn't bad.
As far as being ready for boot camp, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Get active with the MEPS program before you leave and they will ensure your are ready for day one at boot camp (physically at least
). Then when you get there, they will exercise your azz off and put you on a diet to get you where you need to be. We had a couple of Fat Bodies in USMC boot camp that were on restrictive diets (think it was about 2500 calories a day) to get the weight off them. We even had one Barney Fife guy in our company that was on increased rations. That extra chicken leg on his plate sure looked good! 
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kpressnell2017 wrote: »shadow2soul wrote: »kpressnell2017 wrote: »Sorry it has me at 1650. I set it at lightly active because outside of my workout time I'm a stay at home mom with two babies and spend most of my day play on the floor with my baby and toddler
Don't underestimate the activity for that. I did when I first started weight loss (also a mom of 2). Until recently I was a stay-at-home mom (I work now), however my activity level was at minimum lightly active with same days closer to active. I averaged around 2000 calories a day to lose weight (5'4.5 / 260 lbs to low 120's). I'm actually currently having to lose a couple lbs that I regained when I started working and my very sloppy logging this summer. I'm currently experiencing a slow loss at around 2200 (about 0.6 lbs a week) and that's with only getting to the gym 2 maybe 3 times a week if I'm lucky (sometimes not at all).
So it says bmr is 1950 and tdee is 2750
Should I start high and lower or the opposite?
do TDEE (2750) -20%.. this will be your calories to eat that include your deficit.. If you do TDEE method this includes your exercise..
If you chose MFP method it will be plus exercise.. So MFP calories will be lower but you add your exercise daily to this amount to this which will even back out to what the TDEE method would be..
You can do either or..1 -
My recommendation is to set it at what your calorie burn is for 0 activity/exercise. The logic being, any exercise will be contributing to your goal versus counting it in and then not doing it for whatever reason life provides (sickness, injury, crazy day, kids sick, etc.)kpressnell2017 wrote: »
So it says bmr is 1950 and tdee is 2750
Should I start high and lower or the opposite?
1) Get a scale and weigh EVERYTHING. It will also help reset your eyes and brain as to what a single portion really looks like. Something to remember: the weights on prepackaged foods do have some variance.
2) Log EVERYTHING.. every morsel, bite, lick, nibble. Those can add up. If you don't want to do it forever, do this at least for the next 3 months so you can see how much they can add up.
3) Exercise, in some form, EVERY day for at least 30 minutes. More is better.
4) Weigh yourself frequently. It's easier to make corrections after one or 2 bad days than it is after a few bad weeks.
5) (if you aren't already) Incorporate each of the exercises from the PRT in your training.. even better if you do it in addition to your training/exercise. Get to the level where you easily exceed the minimums by 20% more or better.
Pushups - Min: 11
Sit-ups - 43
2 mile Run - 20:36
In addition to the above, walk... ALOT. Do it with weighted a backpack (even if it's just stuffed with books, rocks, sand, whatever.) You'll be doing alot of marching so might as well get conditioned and used to it now. This is something you can also do just about daily (depending on our lovely DFW weather). Depending on the age of your kids, you can do this pushing them in a stroller.. or strapped to your back as weight.
Boot camp is just as much physical as mental. Getting the physical part locked down means you can concentrate just on the mental aspect.
The good news? Your head seems like its' in the right place: on improvement rather than excuses. You've got lots of time to get to your goal so long as you stay focused and committed every day. You've gotten alot of solid advice on this thread. Use it to help you.
Feel free to add me as a friend as well.
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kpressnell2017 wrote: »shadow2soul wrote: »kpressnell2017 wrote: »Sorry it has me at 1650. I set it at lightly active because outside of my workout time I'm a stay at home mom with two babies and spend most of my day play on the floor with my baby and toddler
Don't underestimate the activity for that. I did when I first started weight loss (also a mom of 2). Until recently I was a stay-at-home mom (I work now), however my activity level was at minimum lightly active with same days closer to active. I averaged around 2000 calories a day to lose weight (5'4.5 / 260 lbs to low 120's). I'm actually currently having to lose a couple lbs that I regained when I started working and my very sloppy logging this summer. I'm currently experiencing a slow loss at around 2200 (about 0.6 lbs a week) and that's with only getting to the gym 2 maybe 3 times a week if I'm lucky (sometimes not at all).
So it says bmr is 1950 and tdee is 2750
Should I start high and lower or the opposite?
do TDEE (2750) -20%.. this will be your calories to eat that include your deficit.. If you do TDEE method this includes your exercise..
If you chose MFP method it will be plus exercise.. So MFP calories will be lower but you add your exercise daily to this amount to this which will even back out to what the TDEE method would be..
You can do either or..
This is super helpful!!! Thank you so much
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My recommendation is to set it at what your calorie burn is for 0 activity/exercise. The logic being, any exercise will be contributing to your goal versus counting it in and then not doing it for whatever reason life provides (sickness, injury, crazy day, kids sick, etc.)kpressnell2017 wrote: »
So it says bmr is 1950 and tdee is 2750
Should I start high and lower or the opposite?
1) Get a scale and weigh EVERYTHING. It will also help reset your eyes and brain as to what a single portion really looks like. Something to remember: the weights on prepackaged foods do have some variance.
2) Log EVERYTHING.. every morsel, bite, lick, nibble. Those can add up. If you don't want to do it forever, do this at least for the next 3 months so you can see how much they can add up.
3) Exercise, in some form, EVERY day for at least 30 minutes. More is better.
4) Weigh yourself frequently. It's easier to make corrections after one or 2 bad days than it is after a few bad weeks.
5) (if you aren't already) Incorporate each of the exercises from the PRT in your training.. even better if you do it in addition to your training/exercise. Get to the level where you easily exceed the minimums by 20% more or better.
Pushups - Min: 11
Sit-ups - 43
2 mile Run - 20:36
In addition to the above, walk... ALOT. Do it with weighted a backpack (even if it's just stuffed with books, rocks, sand, whatever.) You'll be doing alot of marching so might as well get conditioned and used to it now. This is something you can also do just about daily (depending on our lovely DFW weather). Depending on the age of your kids, you can do this pushing them in a stroller.. or strapped to your back as weight.
Boot camp is just as much physical as mental. Getting the physical part locked down means you can concentrate just on the mental aspect.
The good news? Your head seems like its' in the right place: on improvement rather than excuses. You've got lots of time to get to your goal so long as you stay focused and committed every day. You've gotten alot of solid advice on this thread. Use it to help you.
Feel free to add me as a friend as well.
Awesome! I can already do all of the PRT requirements... the two miles kills me but I can do it in 20. It's the damn weight. They want me at 170 even though I know my BF will be in range wayyyy sooner than that.
This was super helpful! Thank you!0 -
Something you might check with is your recruiting station.. they probably have delayed entry programs and they will usually meet on the weekends and will do something to get you ready for boot camp from marching, to exercise, to the PFT/PRT.. it would help you also to do that in order to be ready for the first week of boot camp... you head is in the right place... just be more accurate with the logging... I can tell you that I when I logged fairly accurately and used what MFP gave me and ate as close to the the number they gave me I went from 219 down to 204... no cutting foods... no restrictive dieting... nothing special... just honest input into exactly everything that I ate.. NO MATTER WHAT...
Hope this helps and feel free to add me as a friend.. Good luck with your journey...0 -
My recommendation is to set it at what your calorie burn is for 0 activity/exercise. The logic being, any exercise will be contributing to your goal versus counting it in and then not doing it for whatever reason life provides (sickness, injury, crazy day, kids sick, etc.)kpressnell2017 wrote: »
So it says bmr is 1950 and tdee is 2750
Should I start high and lower or the opposite?
1) Get a scale and weigh EVERYTHING. It will also help reset your eyes and brain as to what a single portion really looks like. Something to remember: the weights on prepackaged foods do have some variance.
2) Log EVERYTHING.. every morsel, bite, lick, nibble. Those can add up. If you don't want to do it forever, do this at least for the next 3 months so you can see how much they can add up.
3) Exercise, in some form, EVERY day for at least 30 minutes. More is better.
4) Weigh yourself frequently. It's easier to make corrections after one or 2 bad days than it is after a few bad weeks.
5) (if you aren't already) Incorporate each of the exercises from the PRT in your training.. even better if you do it in addition to your training/exercise. Get to the level where you easily exceed the minimums by 20% more or better.
Pushups - Min: 11
Sit-ups - 43
2 mile Run - 20:36
In addition to the above, walk... ALOT. Do it with weighted a backpack (even if it's just stuffed with books, rocks, sand, whatever.) You'll be doing alot of marching so might as well get conditioned and used to it now. This is something you can also do just about daily (depending on our lovely DFW weather). Depending on the age of your kids, you can do this pushing them in a stroller.. or strapped to your back as weight.
Boot camp is just as much physical as mental. Getting the physical part locked down means you can concentrate just on the mental aspect.
The good news? Your head seems like its' in the right place: on improvement rather than excuses. You've got lots of time to get to your goal so long as you stay focused and committed every day. You've gotten alot of solid advice on this thread. Use it to help you.
Feel free to add me as a friend as well.
I agree with almost everything in this post. The only thing I disagree with is the advice to set calorie burn at 0 exercise. If you are a person who gets a lot of "nonpurposeful exercise" (in other words, is on their feet a lot, chases kids a lot, etc.), you are better off choosing the appropriate activity level and only logging actual "work outs" on top of that. It is very difficult to track "nonpurposeful exercise" if you don't have an activity tracker like a FitBit, and they can really add up for some people. (You could get a pedometer, wear it all day and add all the steps as one exercise if you wanted, I suppose. But then you'd have to figure out how many steps were already counted in the "sedentary" setting; I think it's about 3000?)
It might seem like a good idea to just burn these "extra" "free" calories without logging them for extra-fast weightloss, but it could also see you undereating dramatically, being hungry all the time and increase your risk of raiding the pantry after the kids go to bed. For context, I get 15-20K steps per day between my job and parenting. FitBit typically gives me about 400 calories extra per day *over and above* the "active" setting - which is already about 600 cals/day over "sedentary". So, if I had followed the recommended approach and been able to stick to that calorie limit, I would be undereating by 1000 cals/day and losing 2 pounds/week *more* than my goal. That might sound good in the short term, but it would not be good weight loss because I would have exceeded my body's ability to burn fat and it would have started burning muscle instead.0
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