I'm ready for your advice.

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  • TeethOfTheHydra
    TeethOfTheHydra Posts: 63 Member
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    I think the thing you are (ultimately) missing, is finding time for exercise. You will, if successful in your weight loss, reach a point where the emphasis for your health shifts from burning fat to fitness and/or muscle. Its true, there are periods in life where we seem too busy to make time for ourselves, and for now your priority seems clear on weight loss, but I would think about the future and start finding a way to give yourself the time you need to work out in some fashion.
    Good luck!
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
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    Morganbennett1 wrote: »
    So, on the food scale debate....
    I have been on here for almost a year, and I found that I will never use a food scale. I don't think, for my lifestyle, that it is sustainable to use a food scale for every meal. Some people love it, I don't. I log as accurately as I can, and leave a little room for error.

    When I started on here, I set my calories to 1200, and lost a lot of weight really fast. (I'm 5'2") Over time, I've adjusted my calorie goals to 1450 for the summer as I'm really busy and stressed and haven't had time to exercise. I've still been losing, but slowly. So far I've lost 55lbs with about 35-40 to go. (Started at 223.8, now 168.0)

    There is no "right way" to do this thing. Some things work for some people, other things work for other people. Generally, eating at a deficit, you will lose weight, but it ultimately depends on what your goals are and what you want your body to do, if you decide exercise is needed.

    I work in Public Health, so I would recommend at the very least fitting in 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day, just so your body can stay healthy. I usually, at the very least, do a 30 minute brisk walk on my lunch break and add more exercise later if I have time.

    I completely agree, so at least there's no debate from me. I mainly just think that it's important for people to know that we are aiming for really rough targets that get smaller over time, and not to get frustrated if the numbers say they should be losing weight and they aren't, or not at the rate they expected.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Morganbennett1 wrote: »

    I work in Public Health, so I would recommend at the very least fitting in 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day, just so your body can stay healthy. I usually, at the very least, do a 30 minute brisk walk on my lunch break and add more exercise later if I have time.

    I work in the same office as some public health staff... recent comments overheard include...

    'it's not calories that matter, it's sugar'

    'Beef jerky is so bad for you'

    'I'm eating right and exercising but I'm not losing weight... it must be a medical problem'

    :'(


    But...
    amtyrell wrote: »
    Plug your stats into mpg. Set for 1 lb a week. Log everything. Weigh as much as you can. Follow the calories mfp gives you for a month and see how it goes. 1200 is pretty low and you might see longer term success with eating more.

    Yeah, that.
  • High_Five_
    High_Five_ Posts: 14 Member
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    Wow, so much good advice in this thread! I'm in a very similar position to you - 5'4 and starting at 184, and pescatarian too. I do use a digital food scale most of the time. I have my calories set at somewhere around 1500-1600 (I can't remember) but I usually eat between 1300-1400. Some days I have 1100-1200, but I like having my calories set higher and then eating lower most days. But when I go up to my higher limit, I'm okay with myself there too. As long as my scale keeps trending down, I figure whatever I'm doing is working.

    Going to friend you now! Also open to any other friend requests of folks with a similar mindset.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,982 Member
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    Morganbennett1 wrote: »
    So, on the food scale debate....
    I have been on here for almost a year, and I found that I will never use a food scale. I don't think, for my lifestyle, that it is sustainable to use a food scale for every meal. Some people love it, I don't. I log as accurately as I can, and leave a little room for error.

    When I started on here, I set my calories to 1200, and lost a lot of weight really fast. (I'm 5'2") Over time, I've adjusted my calorie goals to 1450 for the summer as I'm really busy and stressed and haven't had time to exercise. I've still been losing, but slowly. So far I've lost 55lbs with about 35-40 to go. (Started at 223.8, now 168.0)

    There is no "right way" to do this thing. Some things work for some people, other things work for other people. Generally, eating at a deficit, you will lose weight, but it ultimately depends on what your goals are and what you want your body to do, if you decide exercise is needed.

    I work in Public Health, so I would recommend at the very least fitting in 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day, just so your body can stay healthy. I usually, at the very least, do a 30 minute brisk walk on my lunch break and add more exercise later if I have time.

    Since you said "I will never use a food scale" can I assume you haven't ever used a food scale? Words cannot adequately describe how much I prefer it over trying to figure out how tightly I should pack a measuring cup or guess if I have a small banana or a medium banana. That is so imprecise; whereas 2 ounces of banana is 2 ounces of banana.

    I believe that if one is going to measure, one may as well weigh, as it is more accurate and faster. Of course one need neither measure nor weigh in order to lose weight, but if one is concerned with accuracy, weighing is the way to go.

    My brother lost weight without counting a single calorie - he ramped up exercise and high volume/low calorie foods, and the pounds melted off. But he's not working a desk like many of us.
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
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    You are already doing so much right! Yay! But since you asked, this is my own personal perspective:

    First, I couldn't do this without a food scale! I'm 5'5", weighed 240 last December and now I'm 176. I like being very accurate with food weights and calorie counts, because if I estimate and guess I will certainly get it wrong. I don't want to be wrong in either direction with too many or too few calories. I know that being a little bit wrong over and over throughout a day or a week can add up to a whole lot of wrong! Especially with calorie dense foods like avocados and nuts. I want this diet to work optimally and I don't want to waste time.

    Second, make sure you're hitting your protein goal every day. It will likely keep your hunger in check.

    Third, keep your carbs under goal whenever possible as this will also likely keep your hunger under control. Beans are a great protein and fiber source, but they they're also carb heavy so just something to watch.

    Fourth, besides avocados, do you eat nuts or nut butters or olive oil? I go a bit above the MFP fat recommendation because I think it's good for my skin and hair.

    Fifth, if you're eating fish daily, you might want to occasionally get your mercury levels checked.

    Best of luck to you!

  • Morganbennett1
    Morganbennett1 Posts: 106 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Morganbennett1 wrote: »
    So, on the food scale debate....
    I have been on here for almost a year, and I found that I will never use a food scale. I don't think, for my lifestyle, that it is sustainable to use a food scale for every meal. Some people love it, I don't. I log as accurately as I can, and leave a little room for error.

    When I started on here, I set my calories to 1200, and lost a lot of weight really fast. (I'm 5'2") Over time, I've adjusted my calorie goals to 1450 for the summer as I'm really busy and stressed and haven't had time to exercise. I've still been losing, but slowly. So far I've lost 55lbs with about 35-40 to go. (Started at 223.8, now 168.0)

    There is no "right way" to do this thing. Some things work for some people, other things work for other people. Generally, eating at a deficit, you will lose weight, but it ultimately depends on what your goals are and what you want your body to do, if you decide exercise is needed.

    I work in Public Health, so I would recommend at the very least fitting in 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day, just so your body can stay healthy. I usually, at the very least, do a 30 minute brisk walk on my lunch break and add more exercise later if I have time.

    Since you said "I will never use a food scale" can I assume you haven't ever used a food scale? Words cannot adequately describe how much I prefer it over trying to figure out how tightly I should pack a measuring cup or guess if I have a small banana or a medium banana. That is so imprecise; whereas 2 ounces of banana is 2 ounces of banana.

    I believe that if one is going to measure, one may as well weigh, as it is more accurate and faster. Of course one need neither measure nor weigh in order to lose weight, but if one is concerned with accuracy, weighing is the way to go.

    My brother lost weight without counting a single calorie - he ramped up exercise and high volume/low calorie foods, and the pounds melted off. But he's not working a desk like many of us.

    You are correct, never used a food scale, and never will. For my lifestyle, I prefer to not use one. I know that some people swear by it, but I know that I won't keep up with it if I started it. I've been doing pretty well with the way I am tracking, and find it is more sustainable. My point is, and it seems like you agree, that you can lose weight without tracking, and if you are tracking, try to be as accurate as you can to make it fit into your lifestyle. Some people will swear by one thing, others will swear by another. Everyone is different, it just depends on what works for you. Sometimes that means sneaking in a tiny workout when you get the time, or cutting down on types of food. For me, it took a lot of trying and failing to figure out what works best for me, and now that I found my groove, it is quite a bit easier for me to lose and maintain.

  • elinordashed
    elinordashed Posts: 9 Member
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    Hi OP! Thanks for posting. I personally think it sounds like you are doing great. It took me long time to hit that aha moment, but like you... I realised that overeating was totally my go to when I was stressed, emotional, tired, whatever. It is so easy for me to eat a bag of blue corn chips with guac, tell myself it's healthy, but consume 2000+ cals in one sitting.

    I think for me... the hardest part is the first part when you finally go okay, this isn't gonna work fulltime.

    Then the hardest part is your first stressful day when you wanna stress eat some pizza or some Thai takeout and a bottle of wine.

    Then the hardest part is bouncing back from a bad day or week, or seeing the scale and knowing you just gotta keep going and don't give up and keep losing.

    You got this. Celebrate the victories always (probs not with 2000 cals in one meal ;)), don't give up, forgive yourself, love yourself. I'm not perfect at this either. I have lost and gained the same twice over now and starting this journey over... again. (5'2", 150, 32, vegetarian if any of matters).

    I think you got this. Stay strong!

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