nutrition
Replies
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It sounds to me like you are under tremendous stress currently and this is something you can control. A registered Dietitian can be very helpful. If you can't afford one the default macros (protein, fat and carb) that are set is MFP are a good place to start. Most of it is common sense. Lean meat and fish, lots of veggies, fruit occasionally, some healthy fat and the balance in carbs. You don't have to eliminate everything you love but you do have to eat it in moderation so that it doesn't crowd out the healthy foods with empty calories.
Going too low with your calories can create health issues. After about 3 or 4 months on super low calorie people tend to lose some of their hair demonstrating that they are under-fueling their body. You can lose muscle which burns more calories when you are resting. Also don't forget that your heart is a muscle. I would advise no less than 1300 calories a day minimum made up of protein, fat and some carbs. This is balanced eating and will help you to maintain muscle.
From your profile picture I would guess you aren't obese. To me you look healthy but it is a head shot so I can't see your body. Even if you want to be a bit leaner, at your weight it will be a very slow process. Take your time so that you learn new ways of eating that you can live with. Get some daily exercise even if it's just a walk in the park. That's a great stress reliever as well. Good luck.7 -
okay, i definitely don’t want to lose any hair or cause myself any harm. my head looks healthy, but my body looks fat and negligent. i am 22 and have the intention of looking my best. i understand now why is bad to eat less than you should, even when you’re trying to lose weight. i simply did not know, but i’m sure i’ll find some tasty recipes this week. i am a realistic person and have a lot of patience in this process.cheryldumais wrote: »It sounds to me like you are under tremendous stress currently and this is something you can control. A registered Dietitian can be very helpful. If you can't afford one the default macros (protein, fat and carb) that are set is MFP are a good place to start. Most of it is common sense. Lean meat and fish, lots of veggies, fruit occasionally, some healthy fat and the balance in carbs. You don't have to eliminate everything you love but you do have to eat it in moderation so that it doesn't crowd out the healthy foods with empty calories.
Going too low with your calories can create health issues. After about 3 or 4 months on super low calorie people tend to lose some of their hair demonstrating that they are under-fueling their body. You can lose muscle which burns more calories when you are resting. Also don't forget that your heart is a muscle. I would advise no less than 1300 calories a day minimum made up of protein, fat and some carbs. This is balanced eating and will help you to maintain muscle.
From your profile picture I would guess you aren't obese. To me you look healthy but it is a head shot so I can't see your body. Even if you want to be a bit leaner, at your weight it will be a very slow process. Take your time so that you learn new ways of eating that you can live with. Get some daily exercise even if it's just a walk in the park. That's a great stress reliever as well. Good luck.
thank you so much for info!
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okay, i definitely don’t want to lose any hair or cause myself any harm. my head looks healthy, but my body looks fat and negligent. i am 22 and have the intention of looking my best. i understand now why is bad to eat less than you should, even when you’re trying to lose weight. i simply did not know, but i’m sure i’ll find some tasty recipes this week. i am a realistic person and have a lot of patience in this process.cheryldumais wrote: »It sounds to me like you are under tremendous stress currently and this is something you can control. A registered Dietitian can be very helpful. If you can't afford one the default macros (protein, fat and carb) that are set is MFP are a good place to start. Most of it is common sense. Lean meat and fish, lots of veggies, fruit occasionally, some healthy fat and the balance in carbs. You don't have to eliminate everything you love but you do have to eat it in moderation so that it doesn't crowd out the healthy foods with empty calories.
Going too low with your calories can create health issues. After about 3 or 4 months on super low calorie people tend to lose some of their hair demonstrating that they are under-fueling their body. You can lose muscle which burns more calories when you are resting. Also don't forget that your heart is a muscle. I would advise no less than 1300 calories a day minimum made up of protein, fat and some carbs. This is balanced eating and will help you to maintain muscle.
From your profile picture I would guess you aren't obese. To me you look healthy but it is a head shot so I can't see your body. Even if you want to be a bit leaner, at your weight it will be a very slow process. Take your time so that you learn new ways of eating that you can live with. Get some daily exercise even if it's just a walk in the park. That's a great stress reliever as well. Good luck.
thank you so much for info!
my hair used to be to my waist, it is now to my shoulders. please take care of yourself, i am proud that all these amazing people have helped you7 -
body mass index. a short woman over 60-65 kilograms is fat, let’s not deny that.
i know 48-49kg is the ideal weight for me and i know it will take months and months to achieve that since i am not an active person and will try to do it all by dieting. i am also after building healthy habits. i just never cared about what i eat and how my body looks until now. i didn’t know what’s good and what’s bad for me. i want to learn.
I had to google conversions because I'm a dumb American, but at 160cm your lowest weight to be healthy per the BMI scale is 48kg - and that's the absolute minimum. You can be healthy still at 61kg. I would suggest picking a point in the 50kg-60kg range as your end weight goal, and not go lower. It will take time to get there, especially if you only have 10kg to lose. Judge your progress in terms of months, not weeks. Build healthy habits and ensure you are providing your body with the adequate food it needs to perform its daily functions plus your activity levels.
You know what's a healthy habit? Eating enough. Healthy weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint; and someone who undereats may feel fine until they really, really don't, by which time any damage has already been done.
If you want to do this in the healthiest possible way, then eat at least 1200 calories, including plenty of protein (which you can get from animal products, soy, beans and tofu) and fats (oily fish such as salmon is good). And try to get at least some exercise, even if it's only a bit of walking. Exercise is good for your heart and lungs, and can help you feel happier too.
(I am also curious as to how you 'know' that the lowest possible healthy weight for someone of your height is the 'ideal' weight for you, but that's a slightly different conversation)
Body mass index may well say that a short woman over 60 kg is fat, but it is a LONG way from there to deciding that you have to weigh 48 kg.
What’s wrong with, say, 55 kg? Why are you so certain that that isn’t the weight at which you’ll be most healthy?3 -
You say that you want to be healthy, but you're also saying that skinny is "impeccable." For a lot of folks on this site, those two don't necessarily match. Being healthy requires a lifetime commitment. Read the stickies at the top of each forum. They're full of information to get you off on the right footing. Under eating will get you skinny, but it's a far cry from healthy.6
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Being healthy is a better goal than looking healthy, especially when you define looking healthy being as skinny as possible.7 -
i think you are manipulating the definition of the word. we are talking about human beings, female body figures. my sister is very skinny and tall, has 0 health issues. her body is not fit and firm, it’s just thin and looks impeccable.
Meriam Webster definition of skinny
1 : resembling skin : membranous
2a : lacking sufficient flesh : very thin : emaciated
b : lacking usual or desirable bulk, quantity, qualities, or significance
Fit & firm is a healthy look. Strength training (recomposition) will help you lose fat and keep muscle. Women don't get bulky like men do, we don't have the hormones. Skinny (fat) is lowering your weight while keeping the same body fat % , that means the same you (same shape now) only smaller.
I don't know you or your sister. I think you're entitled to your own preferred aesthetic, even if I wouldn't choose it for myself . . . but I'd strongly encourage that it be a healthy one.
You appear fairly young (from my vantage point of age 64), so I assume your sister is fairly young, too. People at extremes of body weight - low or high - are at higher health risk. If your sister is indeed fairly young, and super thin, there is no guarantee that that super-thinness will serve her health well as she ages. As they age, super thin people are at higher risk of certain health problems (osteoporosis is a well-known one, but it isn't the only one). (I'm not saying there are guarantees of earlier illness/disability from extreme thinness. It's just a risk, that's all. Whether to risk your health, and how much, is a personal decision.)
If you have a very delicate frame - very narrow hips, narrow shoulders, long/narrow arms/legs from a skeletal standpoint, small breasts, little muscle - it's possible that the lower end of the healthy BMI range is a healthy weight for you. For most people, it represents a point of slightly higher health risk (and I say that as someone who prefers to be on the lighter end of the BMI scale myself, though not absolutely at the bottom of the healthy range).
Right now, you're eating too little, which is to say you're risking your health on that basis alone. Your nutrition is lacking in fats and protein for sure, plus possibly some micronutrients. That's a health risk, too. You've decided you don't want to exercise. That's another health risk. Give it a bit of a think, OK?
On the eating front, It's not that there are objective "good foods" we can tell you to eat, or "bad foods" you should never eat. What's important is that you get adequate nutrition overall, from your eating as a whole. (Part of it can even be the chocolate muffins or eclairs, within reason: They're calorie dense and not nutrition dense, but they do have some nutritional content, and are fine in moderation.)
Adequate nutrition starts with adequate calories: Have MFP calculate a goal for you. If you have 10 kg in total to lose, 0.25kg per week would be a sensible loss rate. Eat that much, not less.
Beyond that, the next goal is adequate macronutrients. Macronutrients are fats, protein, and carbohydrates. Fats, protein and fiber (a type of carbohydrate) are the important ones to get a certain minimum of. If you use MFP to track your food, the default macronutrient goals it gives you are a good start. You don't have to hit them exactly, close is good enough, especially if you're over/under on different ones on different days.
So, eat, log, then review your MFP diary. Low on some macronutrient? Find a food(s) you ate that had quite a few calories, not much of that macronutrient, but more of some macro that you had extra of by the end of the day. Eat less of that, and find some other food you like that has more of the macro you're short on. Eat more of that food that helps you meet your goal. Keep fine-tuning and reviewing. In a fairly short time, you'll have the healthy diet you say you want, using foods you personally enjoy.
If you like the idea of that "log and gradually improve" strategy, see this thread for more details, including the micronutrient part:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1
We can't tell you what to eat, but you can learn what to eat. It's very manageable.
Best wishes!
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According to the BMI chart, at 1.6 meters, 55 kg would be just barely lower than the middle of the healthy range.
According to a random tdee chart, an average 22-year old female 1.6 meters tall weighing 55 kg should eat about 1981 calories to maintain their weight if they are as active as an average 22 year old. If you have very little weight to lose, you don’t need to eat many calories lower than that to lose in a healthy manner.
I never saw in your posts how much you weigh now.
It would be healthy to aim for a balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates at every meal.
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I remember being at my lowest weight, eating 500 calories a day and walking 4 miles a day. I was able to maintain that for about a month before feeling the side affects such as dizziness, heart palpitations, severe hunger, and loss of hair. I wanted to do too much too fast. I could see my hip bones, my rib bones, I was ecstatic! I felt great! Or so I thought.
People were talking about me behind my back, wondering if I was okay, had health issues such as cancer or anorexia.
Now, I eat healthy, track calories and exercise with MFP and take in around 1200 calories a day. This a.m. I had a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon and chopped apples(one of my fav breakfasts)and now having 1/2 no fat plain yogurt to give my protein a boost. Plus a cup of coffee.
At each meal I eat between 300-400 calories plus have little snacks, depending on calories left for the day.
Think of healthy foods you like and try to incorporate those into meals. I stay very basic in my food selections such as green salads with chopped tomato and chunks of chicken, covered with low fat dressing, some fruit. My indulgence is Italian bread with peanut butter.
YOU need to figure out what you like and add the healthy foods to your 'can eat' list.
You'll get there, just don't go extreme and lose steam, like I did. That'll get you someplace fast and back again because it's not someplace you can stay for long. Good luck!!2 -
Work on getting more protein. Greek yogurt, nuts, cheese, chicken, pork, red meat, eggs are all good sources of protein. This will also help you meet your calorie goal and help maintain your muscle mass. Do not go too low on your fats, as that is what can cause hair loss, bad skin and hormone difficulties. Carbs are personal preference. Some people work better with a low carb diet. Personally, my diet is high in carbs because that's what works for me.2
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I hope you've been doing well, eating well, staying on plan.i have been getting less than 500 calories for three days now and it doesn’t feel right at all, but at the same time i am not hungry. all that i think about is chocolate muffins and eclairs. although, i am now getting an idea of what i should be adding to my meals. i hope to eat at least 1100 calories tomorrow.
thanks!
Don't worry about trying to eat 'perfectly'.
You have probably noticed by now that, if you've completely cut out eclairs and chocolate muffins, you will crave them.
Focus on calories, not too many, and certainly not too few, and leave room for foods you like. Have a chocolate muffin once in a while, it's fine as long as you're also eating nutritious foods.
Remember - everything in moderation.
This also means not trying to lose too fast on too few calories.
This sounds trite, but, trust the process.2
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