What do I eat to obtain the correct calories?

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jordanoye101
jordanoye101 Posts: 33 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Last August I realised that change was recquired to what i was eating - regularly having e.g 3 whole pizzas a week, another example being 2 pies with chips and beans + snacking on chocolate or a family bag of onion rings. All this in one week. Virtually no excersise and no fruit - maybe a little veg.

I weighed around 84kg and have now got it down to 70kg - I am no expert in weight loss do would like some guidance! -

I was able to stop with the regular high in saturated fat junk food fairly easily - in about a week and soon i was eating more cleanly - i.e meeting my 5 a day of fruit and veg, some excersise (cycling 10 - 15 minutes a day) and eating lean meats.

I am struggling to maintain my weight at around 70kg though - i don't want to be extreme with what I eat but at least try and be healthy.

I am 6'0 in height, 20 and just basically need ideas on what i should be eating to stay at around 70 kg - i don't want to be any lighter as currently my BMI is in the middle of that healthy weight band. Can i have some saturated fat? E.g chocolate etc...?

Thanks!
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Replies

  • bpotts44
    bpotts44 Posts: 1,066 Member
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    I assume if you are here on MFP then you want to count calories? If so use MFP's calculators for your daily goals. If not I would suggest cutting out junk, liquid calories (juice, soda, milk, etc), focusing on eating lean proteins, and getting a workout plan that is sustainable. At 20 years old this should give good results.
  • ElizabethHanrahan
    ElizabethHanrahan Posts: 102 Member
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    Put your stats in and see what calorie's you should be eating. You can eat ANYTHING within your calorie's even chocolate. If you want to maintain, calculate your TDEE and eat that amount. Again you can eat ANYTHING and still lose weight or maintain. You probably won't be healthy if you only eat chocolate or a lot of fried foods, but you can still lose weight eating them. Calories in/ calories out doesn't change what you eat, just the amounts. Changing you diet makes you healthier though. TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure, Good Luck.
  • PrincessMel72
    PrincessMel72 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    I agree with the above posters - put in your stats, generate that calorie goal and eat anything you want within that goal!
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    OP, to be honest, you can eat whatever you want as long as you are eating the right calories. Obviously, you are also concerned about your health, so it's important to get enough fiber, protein, and fat. Once you've eaten the stuff you need, there is no harm in eating some chocolate or a slice of pizza if you have the calories left.

    Make sure your stats are entered correctly on MFP and set your goal to maintenance. MFP will give you a calorie goal, as well as goals for carbs, protein, fat, and fiber. Most people look at their protein, fat and fiber numbers as minimums. Start logging your food and after a couple of days, look at those numbers and see what you have to tweak.

    But having said all that, for weight maintenance calories are king. :drinker:
  • mburgess458
    mburgess458 Posts: 480 Member
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    The answer is to find out what works for you... that might be through analyzing what went wrong on bad days. While you can eat whatever you want as long as your calories are right some things are easier than others to eat the right amount of. For example, it might be really tough to open a big bag of chips and eat just one serving... getting a pizza and just eating 1 or 2 slices can be rough... etc. If you find that you do fine with those things that's great.

    No one is perfect, you will make mistakes just try to learn from them so you don't keep repeating them over and over.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,682 Member
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    Also, if you want more flexibility, I would increase exercise to 45-60 minutes a day.
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
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    As far as what you can eat it really doesn't matter as long as you have no dietary restrictions. It's just a matter of plugging your stats into mfp and following the guidelines as far as what's recommended. There is a learning curve because everybody is going to be a little different as far as activity level their metabolism and a whole bunch of factors but it's a simple matter. to lose weight you eat less calories than your body consumes and to maintain weight it's just a matter of figuring out that equilibrium point.

    To put things in perspective January 1st 2016 I was 288 pounds. My current weight is 208 and I've been maintaining that for the last eight months. During that time even during my weight loss I ate whatever I wanted. I still had the occasional fast food hamburger pizza and beers on the beach. You could lose or maintain your weight by eating Snickers bars and drinking vodka. t's a simple matter of calories in vs. calories out. Of course that's not the best diet and it would probably destroy your body but calories are calories. I have a simple philosophy I eat whatever I want but I do it in moderation and within my caloric goals.
  • 883xlsportster
    883xlsportster Posts: 221 Member
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    Can you have your cake and eat it too? Is that the question? I personally don't buy into the "if it fits your macros" but do buy into cheat days. Friday night is takeout for me. The other 6 days is making good choices. I get my fat from avocados and nuts. But as others have wrote. Fill in the data in the goals area (TDEE) and log your food for a few weeks and take it from there. All the best.
  • licketysplit
    licketysplit Posts: 3 Member
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    I find this all very confusing as a new participant reading the response. I have a 1200 calorie a day program and while I do well to keep to the minimum for fat, sodium and sugar intake I am about 400 calories short a day and I have no idea what to eat that doesn't have the numbers for fat, sodium & sugar going well beyond the acceptable range. I don't want to be eating salad all the time. I checked out amaranth and was surprised that even a 1/2 cup would exceed the sodium limit. Would appreciate some suggestions for what to eat and where to find a list of foods that meet the target numbers.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    licketysplit wrote: »
    I find this all very confusing as a new participant reading the response. I have a 1200 calorie a day program and while I do well to keep to the minimum for fat, sodium and sugar intake I am about 400 calories short a day and I have no idea what to eat that doesn't have the numbers for fat, sodium & sugar going well beyond the acceptable range. I don't want to be eating salad all the time. I checked out amaranth and was surprised that even a 1/2 cup would exceed the sodium limit. Would appreciate some suggestions for what to eat and where to find a list of foods that meet the target numbers.

    Unless you have medical issues that dictate otherwise, don't be overly concerned with the fat, sodium, or sugar limits. I changed my macros from the MFP default to include more fat and protein and lowered the carbs but I'm not hung up on hitting them every single day. I'm always over in sodium and don't care. I don't even look at sugar. I'm still losing at the 1lb/week rate I'm set for.
  • cosmonew
    cosmonew Posts: 513 Member
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    Your daily calories are yours alone. Put in your stats in MFP and the amount you want to lose, (or maintain) and start there, you can always adjust up or down to see what works.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    OP your goal now is to maintain your new weight? What calorie goal does MFP provide when you put "maintain my weight" as your goal? What activity level did you select? When you were losing, were you logging accurately and eating back exercise calories? If so, keep that up. If not, that's an important habit to implement.

    As far as what foods, you can eat anything you want in order to maintain, or even to lose, weight. It's all about balance - you sound like you were not eating a very balanced diet before you lost the weight, so you made some big changes, and that's fine, but are those sustainable? There's nothing wrong with eating pizza in moderation. I don't consider three whole pizzas a week to be moderation though. Why not take the healthy habits you've recently adopted, and add back in some of the foods you enjoy - like pizza and chocolate - by logging accurately you should not undo the progress you've made.
  • geri1geraldinesuzanne
    geri1geraldinesuzanne Posts: 125 Member
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    883xlsportster wrote: »
    Can you have your cake and eat it too? Is that the question? I personally don't buy into the "if it fits your macros" but do buy into cheat days. Friday night is takeout for me. The other 6 days is making good choices. I get my fat from avocados and nuts. But as others have wrote. Fill in the data in the goals area (TDEE) and log your food for a few weeks and take it from there. All the best.

  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,949 Member
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    I think it's generally ok to think of an 80% "your def of healthy/whole foods/low sodium/transfat/etc" diet combined with 20% "freedom food" - i.e. what you feel like eating that day (which may be more of the stuff you consider healthy or it might be some treats). The treats could also consist of higher calorie items like avocados or cashews if that's what you prefer to eat now.

    In terms of maintaining your current weight, make sure you're meeting your maintenance calories. In maintenance... your weight will fluctuate a little. It's about having a maintenance range rather than a specific exact number.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    6'0" and you want to stay at 154lbs (70kg)....
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,949 Member
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    deannalfisher wrote: »
    6'0" and you want to stay at 154lbs (70kg)....

    It's still in the healthy range. 20.9 BMI.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    it might be in a healthy range but appears awfully skinny...
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    VeryKatie wrote: »
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    6'0" and you want to stay at 154lbs (70kg)....

    It's still in the healthy range. 20.9 BMI.

    My son is 6 feet tall and roughly 155 pounds. He's extremely slim. He's also 16 and still filling out. I expect he'll put on another 10-15 pounds at least. That's on the light side of what I'd expect an adult male of that height to weigh, depending on body type and muscle mass. Just offering my random opinion, since my son happens to fit the OPs stats almost exactly.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    deannalfisher wrote: »
    it might be in a healthy range but appears awfully skinny...

    Also might depend how quickly that 14 kg were lost...
  • licketysplit
    licketysplit Posts: 3 Member
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    I've always eaten healthy. No pre-packaged frozen foods or fast food. I was doing everything correctly: portion control, exercise but the layers of fat refused to budge so I went on a maintenance program that saw me lose all those layers that exercise wasn't doing for me. I still don't do fast foods or any sort of junk food. I shop only the perimeter aisles and do a lot of farmers markets shopping. I believe the weight/fat gain came from my age and the fact my metabolism changed.

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