Need help for weighloss

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Hello everyone my tdee is 2,481 5'8 242lbs 23 years young :) i work as a bank teller so there is not alot of movement compared to other jobs. i would like to lose 2lbs but i have no guidance at all, what would be the step to achieve my goal? Thank you!

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  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    Well, the first thing is to plug your stats into MFP and tell it how much you want to lose and what your goal weight is.

    For 2lbs/week if your TDEE is 2481, you'd want to consume 1481/day. Going by your username, I'm thinking you're a man. In that case, the minimum you should be on is 1500. 19 calories give or take won't make that big a difference.

    When it comes to weight loss, the calorie deficit is the only thing that matters. When it comes to issues of health, energy, nutrition, satiety, and probably some other stuff I'm leaving out, that's where macros (protein, carbs, and fat) and micros (vitamins and minerals) come into play. Studies have shown that weight loss, even from eating high-calorie, low-nutrient foods in a calorie deficit will improve your health markers across the board. Google 'Twinkie Diet' or check out this thread: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10348650/cico-still-skeptical-come-inside-for-a-meticulous-log-that-proves-it/p1. Don't take this as encouragement to eat a nutrient-poor diet, by the way.

    Experiment a bit to find the macro mix that works for you and the foods that help you stay full. There are people who will swear by low-carb/high-fat or whole foods or vegetarian or intermittent fasting, etc. Bottom line? Everyone loses weight in a calorie deficit. The different eating plans show different ways to arrive at it and you need to find one that works for you.

    (Personally, I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian. Have been for 26 years and I've gained and lost weight this way. I focus on hitting my protein target and my iron RDA and let everything else fall where it falls... which generally means hitting or slightly exceeding MFP's default carb target and coming in at 50-60% of the default fat target. This works for me. It may or may not work for you.)

    Don't approach weight-loss as 'a way to eat until you reach goal and can go back to eating normally'. The most sustainable weight-loss program is one where you eat the foods you love and mean to keep eating when you're in maintenance. You may not be able to eat them as often in a deficit, or in the same amounts. But if you want a chocolate bar? It's about 240 calories. There are ways to fit it in. (Exercise will give you more calories. Some people can leave over half a chocolate bar in the fridge and have it another day. There are 'fun size' bars that are about 80 calories. And sometimes, it becomes, 'So, today, I'll be in a 760-calorie deficit instead of 1,000. Which brings me to another point...)

    Weight-loss is a marathon, not a sprint. There's no prize for losing weight quickly. And if you lose it too quickly, you could be setting yourself up for other issues. In addition to more intense hunger and cravings and loss of energy, your body can only burn so much fat reserve in a day. After that, it starts on muscle. Your heart is a muscle. The general guideline is:

    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal

    Note that if you've got 75+ lbs to lose and you're finding yourself miserable on 1500 calories, there is nothing wrong with setting your MFP goal to 1.5 lbs per week or less. This does not have to be a painful process.

    Finally, MFP gives you a calorie goal for weight-loss without exercise. If you exercise, you are meant to eat those calories back. However, the fitness burns (i.e. calories burned for exercises in the database) may be inaccurate. Best bet is to start with eating back 50% of the calories it tells you you burned and see what your weight-loss is over the course of the next few weeks. If you're just getting started, you may see extremely high losses in the first couple of weeks (like 5lbs or more). Most of that is water weight, not fat. Enjoy it while it lasts. You should settle into something more reasonable by week three, in most cases. Strength training will help you strengthen and preserve muscle, so you won't lose as much. It doesn't burn as many calories as cardio in general. There are people here who just focus on strength training. Others (like me!) do a mix of strength and cardio.

    Good luck!
  • michael2187
    michael2187 Posts: 9 Member
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    From the tdee website it says for weightloss i need to consume 198g of protein 88g fat 99g of carbs it says 40/40/20 do i just eat to meet those goals? Want to lose about 40lbs to start off i work 11 hours a day mond-sat office job so there is not alot of exercise. I just want to turn my life back around, i used to eat very poorly because i wouldn't even feel hungry and probably dropped very short on my calories daily, and think is why ive gained weight, my parents would tell me to eat once a day, throughout the years i got used to that. Now I'm probably force feeding to achieve the nutrients
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    I'd start with eating what you normally would eat and tracking the calories. Get a feel for what's in the food you're eating. (Example: my iron is low. When I started tracking my iron intake, I discovered that, as much as I love dairy, it's got negligible/trace amounts of iron. So, in order to hit that RDA, I find that I've cut back on my dairy consumption and included more veggie dogs and legumes for protein. I've also started snacking on dry cereal. That doesn't mean I've cut out dairy. It does mean that I've reduced it so that I have room for more iron-rich options.)

    If you don't already have one, invest in a food scale. Measuring cups and spoons are extremely inaccurate for solids. With fruits and vegetables, it's not that big a deal. I was measuring out a cup of grapes for weeks, which the MFP database says is about 90 grams. Then I put that cup on a scale and discovered it was more like 155. Calories were off by about 50 or so. On its own? Not that big a deal. Fifty extra calories in a day has a negligible effect on weight. But if my tbsp of peanut butter contains 21 grams instead of 15, my half cup of corn is 95 grams instead of 75... all these little things can start to add up.

    As far as the macro-split, it varies according to the individual. I use the macros MFP gives me, but apart from protein and iron, I'm not really concerned about whether I hit them. I worry about my calories first and foremost.
  • michael2187
    michael2187 Posts: 9 Member
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    Thank you so very much for such detailed posts!!! MFP put me on 1,580 calories 198g carbs, 53g fat, 79g protein, so do i just add everything i eat and reach those goals daily?
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    Pretty much. Again, don't stress over the macros too much. If you find you're fuller on more fat, fewer carbs, higher protein, etc., you should be fine.