What do I eat to obtain the correct calories?
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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.
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.
One can be the same height and still have a completely different body type and composition.
If he were 18.5 BMI and still trying to lose, I'd say comment away... but 20.9 and wanting to maintain? He is a grown adult who is capable of assessing his own health and needs in terms of his weight.
And the poster I commented to also didn't provide any insight on the OP's original questions... so their criticism just seemed unnecessary and unconstructive. Not everyone even wants to look like the same body type. People have different goals.
I have a 6'0" brother in law who is probably only 155 ish lbs and he looks perfectly healthy. He's 30.1 -
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.
One can be the same height and still have a completely different body type and composition.
Which is why I said 'my random opinion.' They match in the given stats, as far as that covers. The OP is welcome to consider that worth exactly what they paid for it - nothing.0 -
OP, you readjusted your diet replacing pizza and pie with more fruits and vegetables. You lost the weight you needed to.
Just keep doing what you are doing.
If you are curious how many calories a successful diet makes, log your meals for a week. Keep doing what you have been doing.0 -
OP, you readjusted your diet replacing pizza and pie with more fruits and vegetables. You lost the weight you needed to.
Just keep doing what you are doing.
If you are curious how many calories a successful diet makes, log your meals for a week. Keep doing what you have been doing.
I appreciate all your comments, I certainly feel allot better than i did say a year ago when all i ate was junk. Although visually i didn't look overweight - it was just a concern that i was eating nothing healthy and no excersise.
I guess what started it was a family member had a stroke - 80 years of age so not young but it made me realise that i do need to improve my food intake and general lifestyle. Initially I started buying all these 'healthy living' weight watchers style foods - but i was getting 1200 calories of my 2400 MFP goal. Still i am about 600 - 800 calories off a day. The thing with pizza , burgers and the like is they are very high in calories. Before I would eat a whole 10 or 12" pizza not like 2 slices, but this is not good for cholesterol and the heart surely? Replacing these with a lower in fat alternative like Bolognese or a chicken casserole - although tasty - these are much lower in calories and i just cant see the logic in getting the extra 800 calories by eating lots of chocolate etc... I don't know about the US but here in the UK we have always had TV and outdoor poster campaigns telling us to cut out this and that and eat more fruit and more lean meats.
I am hearing people say eat ANYTHING as long as you get the calories - but surely you have to take into consideration saturated fats , salt , sugar levels etc... - from what i understand you can do all the excersise but going overboard on those regularly can be bad for health, cholesterol.
I am starting to be a little less strict on dinner meals but i am still way under my calorie intake - any doctor in the UK would say no junk food so still I am confused on what is right and wrong!
...1 -
For your health, yes you should eat healthy. But eating healthy doesn't mean you can't have some pizza. You just need to make sure it's SOME pizza, not all the pizza. Learn to have just a slice. You can make your own burgers with lean meat, or you can just have a fast food burger if it fits your calories. It's all about moderation, when it comes to health. You can have pizza. You can have saturated fats, you can have salt, etc. Just not in huge quantities.
A more important question is how is your current health? Have you had blood work done? Is there any indication at all that you need to change your sodium or cholesterol levels? If there isn't, then just work on portion sizes. Have a nice chicken casserole, and a slice of pizza. Have a salad, and a burger. Whatever works for you. This has to be a long term, sustainable change.2 -
For your health, yes you should eat healthy. But eating healthy doesn't mean you can't have some pizza. You just need to make sure it's SOME pizza, not all the pizza. Learn to have just a slice. You can make your own burgers with lean meat, or you can just have a fast food burger if it fits your calories. It's all about moderation, when it comes to health. You can have pizza. You can have saturated fats, you can have salt, etc. Just not in huge quantities.
A more important question is how is your current health? Have you had blood work done? Is there any indication at all that you need to change your sodium or cholesterol levels? If there isn't, then just work on portion sizes. Have a nice chicken casserole, and a slice of pizza. Have a salad, and a burger. Whatever works for you. This has to be a long term, sustainable change.
I have had a couple of recent blood tests and there hasn't been any concern for levels of cholestrol or sodium. I also feel good at the moment and happy that I am able to control what I eat fairly easily - but I was bordeline overweight originally and no excersice or healthy eating was just not that sensible really.
If anyone is interested in the sort of thing I might eat on a normal day: including 2 or 3 pieces of fruit apples, pears, grapes throughout.
Breakfast:
Weetabix or Shredded Wheat (2 biscuits) + roughly 150ml - 200ml of semi-skimmed milk + a piece of fruit.
Lunch:
Chicken sandwhich / soup / or a ready meal this sort of thing...
e.g... https://goo.gl/8QavAY or https://goo.gl/EkrhiX or https://goo.gl/32m8GW or https://goo.gl/tnGhf0
Dinner:
Lasagne, Casseroles, Bolognese, Breaded Fish etc... all these with say some veg, baked beans, sweet potato and the like.
e.g... https://goo.gl/LhnkfL or https://goo.gl/jh9jnz
Obviously not limited to just those I am not that stringent but that is the sort of thing I might have.
Another thing is say occasionally when I am out - I feel like a mcdonalds mcflurry https://goo.gl/76Atba maybe once a week or every 2 weeks - but the sugar content is very high - the NHS reccomend no more than 30g of free sugar per day for a lightly active individual. I would happily eat it - providing someone could justify why it is OK from time to time. I understand moderation and balance is important but if I do eat that mcflurry - I will then think well surely having a piece of fruit instead would have been the better option!
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Add toast and peanut butter or Marmite for breakfast. Do you like full fat milk? Switch to that. Full of fat soluble vitamins.
Have a mid morning and afternoon snack like cheese and crackers.
Add fruit and veggies with a handful of nuts at lunch.
Add a glass of milk at dinner.
That should get you close to adding your required calories.
As long as you are getting your allotted fruits and vegetables daily the McFlurry is perfectly fine. The WHO chiefly suggested the sugar limits to prevent tooth decay so if you are worried, gargle or drink water afterwards.0 -
There's some awful advice being banded around here.
However, this first post and piece of advice is as close to spot on as you'll get.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.1 -
Also, rather than get the "low calorie/low fat" ready meals get the normal ones (if you are not in a position to cook from scratch), as the "diet" ones are often surprisingly high in sugar. A lot of products aimed at those wanting to lose weight are not as low calorie as you think either - "Go Ahead" for example gives the calories for one biscuit but packs them in 2s. If you had enough will power not to eat both you wouldn't be trying to lose weight! Most ready-made soups are also very high in salt - soup is easy to make with limited kitchen space and equipment, and most freeze well.
At only 20 you should be trying to eat the MFP calories most days unless you are saving some for a night out, and certainly not be more than 100-150 UNDER. As others have said, things like plain nuts (often found in the bakery aisle rather than the snack one) are a good way to add protein and calories, or maybe something like houmous or guacamole with veggie sticks.
If you do have access to a kitchen, try cooking one-pot meals at the weekend (or when you have time) and freezing portions (labelled!) then you will always have a few meals easily available which you know are lower in saturated fat and salt (to make up for the days when only a pizza will do), and you will probably find them more filling as you can pack them with veggies.2 -
Also, rather than get the "low calorie/low fat" ready meals get the normal ones (if you are not in a position to cook from scratch), as the "diet" ones are often surprisingly high in sugar. A lot of products aimed at those wanting to lose weight are not as low calorie as you think either - "Go Ahead" for example gives the calories for one biscuit but packs them in 2s. If you had enough will power not to eat both you wouldn't be trying to lose weight! Most ready-made soups are also very high in salt - soup is easy to make with limited kitchen space and equipment, and most freeze well.
At only 20 you should be trying to eat the MFP calories most days unless you are saving some for a night out, and certainly not be more than 100-150 UNDER. As others have said, things like plain nuts (often found in the bakery aisle rather than the snack one) are a good way to add protein and calories, or maybe something like houmous or guacamole with veggie sticks.
If you do have access to a kitchen, try cooking one-pot meals at the weekend (or when you have time) and freezing portions (labelled!) then you will always have a few meals easily available which you know are lower in saturated fat and salt (to make up for the days when only a pizza will do), and you will probably find them more filling as you can pack them with veggies.
Thank you, this is something i want to start doing - using slow cookers and making one pot meals - making large batches and having them ready to re heat whenever. There are loads of great recipes out there. Your idea on soups as well is great - as you said most are so full of salt and even half a can is 30 - 40% of your sodium intake! Thanks for your nice response.0 -
jordanoye101 wrote: »For your health, yes you should eat healthy. But eating healthy doesn't mean you can't have some pizza. You just need to make sure it's SOME pizza, not all the pizza. Learn to have just a slice. You can make your own burgers with lean meat, or you can just have a fast food burger if it fits your calories. It's all about moderation, when it comes to health. You can have pizza. You can have saturated fats, you can have salt, etc. Just not in huge quantities.
A more important question is how is your current health? Have you had blood work done? Is there any indication at all that you need to change your sodium or cholesterol levels? If there isn't, then just work on portion sizes. Have a nice chicken casserole, and a slice of pizza. Have a salad, and a burger. Whatever works for you. This has to be a long term, sustainable change.
I have had a couple of recent blood tests and there hasn't been any concern for levels of cholestrol or sodium. I also feel good at the moment and happy that I am able to control what I eat fairly easily - but I was bordeline overweight originally and no excersice or healthy eating was just not that sensible really.
If anyone is interested in the sort of thing I might eat on a normal day: including 2 or 3 pieces of fruit apples, pears, grapes throughout.
Breakfast:
Weetabix or Shredded Wheat (2 biscuits) + roughly 150ml - 200ml of semi-skimmed milk + a piece of fruit.
Lunch:
Chicken sandwhich / soup / or a ready meal this sort of thing...
e.g... https://goo.gl/8QavAY or https://goo.gl/EkrhiX or https://goo.gl/32m8GW or https://goo.gl/tnGhf0
Dinner:
Lasagne, Casseroles, Bolognese, Breaded Fish etc... all these with say some veg, baked beans, sweet potato and the like.
e.g... https://goo.gl/LhnkfL or https://goo.gl/jh9jnz
Obviously not limited to just those I am not that stringent but that is the sort of thing I might have.
Another thing is say occasionally when I am out - I feel like a mcdonalds mcflurry https://goo.gl/76Atba maybe once a week or every 2 weeks - but the sugar content is very high - the NHS reccomend no more than 30g of free sugar per day for a lightly active individual. I would happily eat it - providing someone could justify why it is OK from time to time. I understand moderation and balance is important but if I do eat that mcflurry - I will then think well surely having a piece of fruit instead would have been the better option!
It's ok to have the McFlurry from time to time because there are likely many days you're coming in under the 30 g recommendation. It'll all balance out (your body doesn't reset at midnight). McFlurry vs fruit - you're not going to get calcium, healthy fats, or protein from fruit. While fruit has lots of nutrients and can often be a good choice, it doesn't contain all the nutrients you need in your diet. Of course I'm not saying ice cream is always a "healthy" food but it isn't nutrient devoid!
(The following paragraph is my interpretation... so you might want to fact check it since I haven't done that in detail yet - it's on my to do list). Sometimes you need to consider the NHS guidelines in context. They put a limit on sugar to try to help address the obesity problem. They are recommending people who routinely get more than the recommendation to try to reduce it. However, they don't talk about "non-free" sugars. Which is odd since all sugar is the same once you eat it. Fruit, McFlurry, or other. They don't like to say it, but even the sugar in fruit can cause problems for people who eat too much of it.
There are higher calorie items that you can eat that are very good for you. Avocados, nuts, tofu/bean products, legumes, whole grain pastas, higher fat milks and dairy products, some oils etc. Maybe try making some of those substitutions with what you're eating, or adding them to your diet.
Also blood cholesterol =/= dietary cholesterol. There has been studies showing they are usually completely unrelated unless you have some underlying genetic cause for them being related. That's why eggs are no longer limited by the NHS or whomever.
Taking into consideration sat fats, sodium, sugar, etc is good. But that doesn't mean cut them out completely. It means CONSIDER how much you're having and ensure it's reasonable.
I was saying before that a 20.9 BMI isn't a problem for some people. But now you're saying you're still coming in 800 calories under your maintenance goals every day. Which means you're still losing weight, and fairly aggressively. It might be time to talk to a doctor about it.
I know it's hard to eat when you're not hungry. I'm having the same problem right now. I'm supposed to be eating 2800 calories a day but coming in closer to 2600 calories a day and am not gaining weight at the rate that I should be (yes my goal is to gain). This is specifically the reason I started eating cashews every day and is the reason I'm talking to my doctor about it today. My advice is to not wait too long. Although you say you're trying to be less strict, you may still be being TOO strict.1 -
licketysplit wrote: »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.
no, the weight gain came from eating in a caloric surplus....2 -
jordanoye101 wrote: »For your health, yes you should eat healthy. But eating healthy doesn't mean you can't have some pizza. You just need to make sure it's SOME pizza, not all the pizza. Learn to have just a slice. You can make your own burgers with lean meat, or you can just have a fast food burger if it fits your calories. It's all about moderation, when it comes to health. You can have pizza. You can have saturated fats, you can have salt, etc. Just not in huge quantities.
A more important question is how is your current health? Have you had blood work done? Is there any indication at all that you need to change your sodium or cholesterol levels? If there isn't, then just work on portion sizes. Have a nice chicken casserole, and a slice of pizza. Have a salad, and a burger. Whatever works for you. This has to be a long term, sustainable change.
I have had a couple of recent blood tests and there hasn't been any concern for levels of cholestrol or sodium. I also feel good at the moment and happy that I am able to control what I eat fairly easily - but I was bordeline overweight originally and no excersice or healthy eating was just not that sensible really.
If anyone is interested in the sort of thing I might eat on a normal day: including 2 or 3 pieces of fruit apples, pears, grapes throughout.
Breakfast:
Weetabix or Shredded Wheat (2 biscuits) + roughly 150ml - 200ml of semi-skimmed milk + a piece of fruit.
Lunch:
Chicken sandwhich / soup / or a ready meal this sort of thing...
e.g... https://goo.gl/8QavAY or https://goo.gl/EkrhiX or https://goo.gl/32m8GW or https://goo.gl/tnGhf0
Dinner:
Lasagne, Casseroles, Bolognese, Breaded Fish etc... all these with say some veg, baked beans, sweet potato and the like.
e.g... https://goo.gl/LhnkfL or https://goo.gl/jh9jnz
Obviously not limited to just those I am not that stringent but that is the sort of thing I might have.
Another thing is say occasionally when I am out - I feel like a mcdonalds mcflurry https://goo.gl/76Atba maybe once a week or every 2 weeks - but the sugar content is very high - the NHS reccomend no more than 30g of free sugar per day for a lightly active individual. I would happily eat it - providing someone could justify why it is OK from time to time. I understand moderation and balance is important but if I do eat that mcflurry - I will then think well surely having a piece of fruit instead would have been the better option!
It's ok to have the McFlurry from time to time because there are likely many days you're coming in under the 30 g recommendation. It'll all balance out (your body doesn't reset at midnight). McFlurry vs fruit - you're not going to get calcium, healthy fats, or protein from fruit. While fruit has lots of nutrients and can often be a good choice, it doesn't contain all the nutrients you need in your diet. Of course I'm not saying ice cream is always a "healthy" food but it isn't nutrient devoid!
(The following paragraph is my interpretation... so you might want to fact check it since I haven't done that in detail yet - it's on my to do list). Sometimes you need to consider the NHS guidelines in context. They put a limit on sugar to try to help address the obesity problem. They are recommending people who routinely get more than the recommendation to try to reduce it. However, they don't talk about "non-free" sugars. Which is odd since all sugar is the same once you eat it. Fruit, McFlurry, or other. They don't like to say it, but even the sugar in fruit can cause problems for people who eat too much of it.
There are higher calorie items that you can eat that are very good for you. Avocados, nuts, tofu/bean products, legumes, whole grain pastas, higher fat milks and dairy products, some oils etc. Maybe try making some of those substitutions with what you're eating, or adding them to your diet.
Also blood cholesterol =/= dietary cholesterol. There has been studies showing they are usually completely unrelated unless you have some underlying genetic cause for them being related. That's why eggs are no longer limited by the NHS or whomever.
Taking into consideration sat fats, sodium, sugar, etc is good. But that doesn't mean cut them out completely. It means CONSIDER how much you're having and ensure it's reasonable.
I was saying before that a 20.9 BMI isn't a problem for some people. But now you're saying you're still coming in 800 calories under your maintenance goals every day. Which means you're still losing weight, and fairly aggressively. It might be time to talk to a doctor about it.
I know it's hard to eat when you're not hungry. I'm having the same problem right now. I'm supposed to be eating 2800 calories a day but coming in closer to 2600 calories a day and am not gaining weight at the rate that I should be (yes my goal is to gain). This is specifically the reason I started eating cashews every day and is the reason I'm talking to my doctor about it today. My advice is to not wait too long. Although you say you're trying to be less strict, you may still be being TOO strict.
I could quite easily eat allot of food, i have always had the ability to eat lots of food i.e a whole pizza and i could easily eat another. I have taken advice here on this post and started to realise that i can be less strict on my meals but just watch that it's in moderation. There are so many people on TV, ads , posters saying eat this and that, 0% fat yogurts etc... so it's easy to get the wrong idea on what to eat.
Mentally i am strong so i can adjust very easily whether i need to eat more or less. I have only started to think about what i eat recently so i am still working out what works for me. The last couple of days have been better in terms of calorie intake.
Today I bought some cashew and pistachio nuts as many have suggested to me. I definitely feel more relaxed about what i can eat now - whereas when i started out - it was to strict.2 -
If you haven't got one in the house, also invest in a food scale. While nuts etc are a great way to make sure you are eating enough nutritional calories, its very easy to under-estimate how many calories you are taking in, especially things like nuts, pasta, cereal. They are quite inexpensive - I've even seen very basin ones in the £1 shop!0
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