Is this too ambitious

vilyda123
vilyda123 Posts: 27 Member
edited November 22 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi. I'm 5'3" and 240 lbs, hypothyroid but we'll controlled and pre-diabetic. I have had a lot of false starts. I need to lose weight for my sanity and my health. If i set my goal at 2lbs per week, it goes to 1200 calories. But when I set it for 2.5 or 1 lb a week I feel like there is too much room for me to stray and I go off on a tangent and give up. I'm contemplating reducing carbs to 100 a day because they are my weakness. Please give me some advice on how to proceed.

Replies

  • vilyda123
    vilyda123 Posts: 27 Member
    Actually MFP recommends I have 150 grams of carbs a day on a 1200 calorie plan.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    If carbs are your weakness, limiting them to 150 will likely be challenging enough. Set yourself up for success by taking smaller steps that you can stay with.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    Do you think you're more likely to stray with a few hundred extra calories to work with or after trying to hit 1200 week in and week out? That said, I'm really not sure about your situation. Most people at 240 would want to pursue a 2 lb/week loss, and if you have immediate health concerns all the more so. But if someone had told me I could only have 1200 calories a week when I started, I don't think it would have gone well. Many can and have done it, though. You know yourself... would you be able to stick with 1200, or would you be more likely to stick with it if your allowance was less restrictive? As for the carb thing, I think if you go with a 1200 calorie diet, that will be limiting enough in itself. You will likely find yourself passing on empty carbs in favor of more filling choices, or foods that allow you to have greater volume. But I consider oatmeal and my 150 calorie high-fiber pasta my friends :) What is satiating can be highly individual and will likely require some experimentation on your part. Wish you well.
  • NetiOne
    NetiOne Posts: 56 Member
    I've had my share of false starts so I get it. Don't give up because -you got this. It's a marathon and not a sprint. Personally I think you may want to start with 1400 cals a day and add a little exercise. You may have to resort to 1200 cals at some point but hold that until you are closer to your goal and need to kick it into overdrive. For excersize I recommend: cardio for 30 minutes (5 min warm up/20 min target rate/5 min cool down) * 3 days, along with a 1 hour yoga or stretch class * 2 per week. Also, eat 5-6 smaller meals/snacks throughout the day rather then larger meals and at a minimum drink 8 glasses of water. Let me know how things go. I'm betting you will loose 2 - 2.5 lbs a week.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    Regardless of the calorie allowance you end up going with, focus on accuracy in your logging (there are stickies about this at the top of the Getting Started and General Diet & Weight Loss sections) and eat back a portion of any calories earned through intentional exercise (even though MFP asks about your workout goals during set-up, it doesn't factor this into your calorie allowance).
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    NetiOne wrote: »
    I've had my share of false starts so I get it. Don't give up because -you got this. It's a marathon and not a sprint. Personally I think you may want to start with 1400 cals a day and add a little exercise. You may have to resort to 1200 cals at some point but hold that until you are closer to your goal and need to kick it into overdrive. For excersize I recommend: cardio for 30 minutes (5 min warm up/20 min target rate/5 min cool down) * 3 days, along with a 1 hour yoga or stretch class * 2 per week. Also, eat 5-6 smaller meals/snacks throughout the day rather then larger meals and at a minimum drink 8 glasses of water. Let me know how things go. I'm betting you will loose 2 - 2.5 lbs a week.

    Agree that it's nice if we can hold off on the ultra-low calorie allowance until later in the game, but exercise & meal spacing are up to you. Grazing keeps me thinking about food all day, so 3 larger meals that allow me to feel full work better for me and some others. Some also benefit from intermittent fasting, where they hold off eating altogether until later in the day. Again, these are things you'll learn about yourself as you go along.
  • jackiehauer24
    jackiehauer24 Posts: 1 Member
    2 lbs a week seems okay if you have a lot of weight to lose.

    Personally, I've had a lot of luck with the keto diet, so I recommend you research it and see if it's something you'd be interested in trying if you're looking to lose a bunch of weight. There's a lot of people that have tried it and loved it (myself included), so I thought I'd mention it to you. I LOVE carbs too, so when my coworker introduced me to keto, I thought she was crazy. Surprisingly though, restricting carbs via keto hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be. After limiting my carbs, I found that I stopped craving them as intensely as I have in the past. I didn't have a lot of weight to lose, so I dropped a pound every 1.5-2 weeks, but I've heard a lot of people have lost a bunch of weight pretty quickly (water weight) then a pretty steady 1-2 lbs a week. Personally, the diet has been successful for me because the foods you eat keep you satiated for longer periods, and you don't eat as much (because everything is so filling). On a regular low fat diet, I found myself struggling to stay under 1400 cal, but with keto, I have the opposite problem of struggling to eat _enough_ to hit my macros. The main idea for keto is high fat, moderate protein, and low carb (20-50g). Basically, eating more wholesome foods and taking out all the unnecessary sugars that are basically added in everything we eat in foods in the US. Keto is pretty contrary to basically we've learned in the past decade or so about health, but I suggest researching it. Let me know if you have any questions :smile:
  • fighting2bfit89
    fighting2bfit89 Posts: 17 Member
    Also make sure you are drinking plenty of water. I'm going to add you as a friend. :smile:
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    seska422 wrote: »
    Don't change more than you have to change. All that you need to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than your body uses. Make things as easy and comfortable for yourself as possible.

    Start from your comfort zone and make small, sustainable changes that you can stick to forever. Log your normal way of eating for a couple of weeks to collect some data. You can then look back through to see where you might reduce your portions and/or make satisfying substitutions. Use your weight loss time to experiment and practice how you plan to eat when you reach maintenance.

    Losing slowly over time results in weight loss. Giving up doesn't result in weight loss.

    This^^
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    What's your goal weight? I put your numbers in another calorie counter and it says that to lose 1-2 lbs a week you need to net 1600 to 1800. Double check your numbers.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,557 Member
    seska422 wrote: »
    Don't change more than you have to change. All that you need to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than your body uses. Make things as easy and comfortable for yourself as possible.

    Start from your comfort zone and make small, sustainable changes that you can stick to forever. Log your normal way of eating for a couple of weeks to collect some data. You can then look back through to see where you might reduce your portions and/or make satisfying substitutions. Use your weight loss time to experiment and practice how you plan to eat when you reach maintenance.

    Losing slowly over time results in weight loss. Giving up doesn't result in weight loss.

    I have given the above advice to quite a few people, but never so clearly and succinctly.

    I endorse this advice (. . . from the perspective of my 2nd, creeping up on 3rd, year of maintaining a healthy weight after losing about 1/3 of my bodyweight, BTW).
  • vilyda123
    vilyda123 Posts: 27 Member
    My goal is 150.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    OP, if someone else mentioned it I missed it, but if mfp is giving you 1200, that's 1200 + exercise.

    Usually over restricting hurts compliance, not helps. But you know you better than anyone else. I'm also a big fan of small incremental changes. Many people quit because they make huge changes and cut out all their fave foods, then they hit a wall when that first jolt of motivation fades and their body begs for a break. Obviously health concerns play a factor there though.

    Whatever you decide, good luck!
  • dwilliamca
    dwilliamca Posts: 325 Member
    I am older, 63, 5'6, and started around 200 pounds. I want to lose 2 pounds per week, but at 1200 calories I'm only at a deficit of 600 calories. I try to do a little exercise every day like aerobics or yoga, or sometimes just an activity like cleaning or yardwork. That gives me about 250 extra calories above my normal sedentary numbers. I use these calories to add to my deficit and as a buffer. This way if I'm hungry one evening and have already gone over 1200, I still have 250 calories to play with, otherwise it goes to my weight loss. I typically eat less than 100 of those calories back, but almost always eat the 1200 calories. This is my 2nd month (this time around...another story) and I'm losing 2 lbs./week doing it this way. As for the carbs I find I naturally only eat about 100 grams/day now that I don't eat sugar and watch my amounts on white carbs. This of course makes my fats go up. I just changed my percentages to 45%/35%/20% but it is not in stone, and I don't worry much about the macros. Ironically today I ended up higher in carb and lower in fat. I'm more concerned that I keep protein at 20% and my micronutrients balanced.
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