Looking for calorie advice

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andreadods
andreadods Posts: 37 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi I am ready to cry and need some advice. I have a lot of health problems and am on a lot of medication. I won't say the medication but depression and being left disabled has contributed towards me gaining a lot of weight. I am fed up and finally feel ready to commit to a diet. I am just over 300lbs. I had started on 1700 cals a day and initially lost 4lbs over 4 weeks and have just weighed myself and it has gone back on. I try to keep within the target for fat, carbs and protein every day. And have been making sure I have enough water. I know I have a lot to lose and know I will need to drop calories as I lose. So do you think I am OK to drop to 1400cals? I am disabled so don't walk much but have been exercising in the ways that I can.

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  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,039 Member
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    1400 calories sounds too low to me.
    Depending on your height, I guess

    How did you get the 1700 and 1400 figures?

    Put your stats in to MFP and set your activity level to sedentary and eat the amount it gives you, aiming to log accurately, at least in the beginning until you get a ball park of what works for you.
  • amskinner87
    amskinner87 Posts: 159 Member
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    Hi Andrea

    So sorry to hear you're feeling so fed up. Three of the most important lessons I've learn while losing weight are: eat the most amount of calories you can while losing 1-2lb per week; make sure you are measuring and tracking what you eat accurately and consistently; and don't sweat changes in the scale number unless they are sustained over several weeks.

    1700 sounds like it might be a little low for you (depending on your age and height), but so long as you are happy and satisfied with your diet then it is probably fine. I recommend using a tdee calculator (such as https://tdeecalculator.net) to work out what your maintenance calories are and then deduct 500 cals per day. As you are disabled you probably fall somewhere between the sedentary and lightly active figure. The reason why I recommend not eating too little (and def not going below your BMR) is because you need to be able to maintain it for months (if not years) and you are more likely to binge or give up if you feel hungry and deprived. I would always give a number of calories several weeks before determining if it is working for you, and assess its success based on the scale, body measurements and photos.

    There are loads of threads on here about the importance of logging your food accurately, as it is easy to belive you are eating say 1700 calories, but unless you are using a food scale for everything you could be eating considerably more. Also check that the database entries you use in MFP are accurate.

    Lastly, scale weight varies enormously based on all sorts of factors (there is a good blog post that someone else might have the link to? Something like - the weird and wonderful world of scale fluctuations). So if you know your calorie intake is in a deficit and you are logging accurately, sometimes you just have to have faith to ride out an increase in the scale number. This is why body measurements and photos can be so important to show that you are actually losing fat.

    The best of luck x
  • andreadods
    andreadods Posts: 37 Member
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    Hey the 1700 comes from mfp calculations losing 1 1/2 lbs a week. I have done my bmr which is 2010 and my tdee is 2400. I am 5ft 1. I think I am finding it hard as this last 4 weeks have been so hard seeing no results. My scales are pretty accurate as I check them with a weight. And I weigh and measure everything I eat. Obviously I need to learn patience and I will try doing measurements for a while and see if that helps. Thanks everyone for your input.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,786 Member
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    I would be patient.

    I would verify my instrument: you have to be holding the weight not just place on the scale. Scales perform differently at different weight ranges. Verify that your scale is on an even and unyielding floor.

    I would not reduce my target calories.

    I would verify all my measuring assumptions. I read all the stickies and still found myself making logging errors 6 months in.

    Goal is to have everything in your MFP log before it hits your mouth!

    Double check raw vs cooked values, condiments by weight, liquids by weight as a double check to volume measurement {but don't assume that 1ml is 1g for everything. oil, and churned or whipped products are often more than 1ml per gram%}. Don't assume that zero calorie products really are zero in the quantities used!
  • Ginny2442
    Ginny2442 Posts: 55 Member
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    Imma just peep in here with a less intense theory or goal , because what worked for me initially anyway was focusing on cutting one thing at a time. So as not to be overwhelmed, eg I used toast smothered in butter and peanut butter on the morning and I changed it to oats kept it up until I didn’t crave it anymore , then I focussed on fizzy , stopped drinking it slowly easing off with watered down cordial , now I crave water. Etc I dunno worked for me:)

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