I need help desperately
Lqqieee
Posts: 45 Member
Hi everyone. I’m here and I think it’s time for me. For me to make a change. I just don’t know where to start. I eat like *kitten*. I don’t meal prep. I hate it. I’m an emotional eater. I need to lose at least 40-60 pounds. I don’t want to do Keto or any diets that eliminate an entire food group. I just feel lost. I do t know how many calories to consume and I dont want to overwhelm myself with tracking. I dont know what’s healthy to eat for breakfast lunch or dinner that will keep me satisfied. Im lost. Help!
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Replies
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If you hate tracking, and don't want to meal prep, and emotional eat - it's going to be difficult.
But not impossible.
You can do the old adage which always work - if current amount being eaten seems to be maintaining your weight, or very slowly increasing at this point, you merely need to:
Move a bit more, eat a bit less.
That extra moving can be from just increased daily activity, park farther out, take more stairs, get up on regular basis through day and move around more. Sometime you can keep doing.
It could mean a bit of exercise, enough for heart health or body improvement say.
The eating less could be as simple as no more eating some non-nutritious excess quantity of something.
Like maybe you enjoy chips with dinner - but you eat the whole big bag.
Could simply be buying a smaller single serving bags, and limit to opening just one.
Or cut 2 dessert servings down to 1.
Or many sugar soda drinks through the day to just 1.
Many ways to find extra calories to burn and extra calories to not eat without making wholesale changes to your life, and without tracking.
Be aware of known water weight fluctuations, of which you are likely aware of few through the month.
Weigh regularly WITH measurements, since scale weight doesn't always tell an accurate tale.
And stay at routine.
Knowing as those 40-60 lbs come off, you'll really have to eat less and less since you aren't moving around as big a body. Or you start moving more and more.
Knowing at the end, you'll be able to eat that bit more to stop losing.
Keep it sustainable, keep it realistic - and you can adhere to some changes that may become lifestyle changes.
That can allow you to avoid the huge failure that the majority have in maintaining their weight loss.14 -
Thank you! I need to make some big changes. Exercise will come later. I’m restricted because I just had ankle surgery in October but that will come in time as I heal more.2
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Thank you! I need to make some big changes. Exercise will come later. I’m restricted because I just had ankle surgery in October but that will come in time as I heal more.
If you wanna make "big" changes, I'd recommend making small changes over time. In my profession the biggest thing I learned early on is that big project is just a whole bunch of small projects strung together. One of the surest ways to short circuit yourself is to get in a rush. Don't do that. Your first reply above comes from one of the most knowledgeable folks on this site.
If you're used to eating a big dessert, eat a smaller one. If you are used to drinking sugary sodas, cut it back.
For a personal anecdote, I got big primarily because of my desire for Coca Cola. Still my favorite drink. When I started doing something about my weight I cut back from the equivalent of about 5 12 ounce cans per day to 1-2. Then 1. Then 1 every few days. I ate about 3 chocolate chip cookies almost every day while losing 50 pounds over 6-7 months. I didn't cold-turkey white-knuckle everything. Just stopped a little bit before I used to and made adjustments I could handle.
Until results started coming and the choices I made became a habit.
If that doesn't work for you, and still want to lose, then be prepared to make another choice: choose to use a food scale and track/weigh everything. Everything that worked for me above still included that. Not saying it can't work without it for you, but you should open your thought process to that possibility.
You can do this.7 -
I would say set yourself up to lose 1 lb per week and log consistently, as accurately as you can. In a perfect world, you'd weigh everything on a food scale, but if that's too much for you, just do the best you can. Sometimes just logging the food (before you eat it) is enough to keep you making better decisions.
Eat the food you like, you'll learn over time which are a waste of calories and which fill you up. Forget perfect, just be a tiny bit better
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Check out the Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each sub-forum, lots of great info there. Just try to incorporate a little change, one baby step at a time, and once that becomes second nature add something else. If you can accept slow progress, you can make it as not-overwhelming as you need to. Good luck!6 -
First things first, enter your stats in Myfitnesspal and it will calculate your calories for you. Set a reasonable goal and eat within your allotted calories. There is no reason to eliminate ANY food group if you keep within your calories. Set your activity level and any extra exercise will give you more calories for the day. Tracking does not have to be overwhelming. It is a good idea to track your daily calories before staring on any plan. This will give you an idea of how much you are currently eating, it can be quite an eyeopener. Then, track for a few weeks to get an idea of what your intake looks like. Measure and weigh in the beginning because we can fool ourselves into thinking we are eating much less than we actually are. Over time you will have certain meals that you know the counts for off the top of your head, we all have go to breakfast or lunch meals etc. I've been tracking for years on here ( lost my original profile for some reason which is why it looks like i'm new, lol), and it take less than 5 minutes out of my day. Once you enter stuff it goes into your food lists and is so much easier, just point and click. You can also enter recipes that you use often then just enter your portion each time without needing to enter each ingredient. I eat anything I want just keep to my calorie goals depending if I am cutting, bulking or maintaining, this site is very versatile!
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If you fill in your numbers, MFP will tell you how many calories to eat every day in order to lose weight, at the rate you want to lose (.5 lb a week or more).
What to eat? The number one thing to me is to eat food you enjoy and that fits your lifestyle -- both the way the food tastes and the amount of work/prep that goes into meals. Food is similiar to exercise. What works is what you're willing to eat and do.
Calories are all you need to keep in mind for weight loss.
I wanted better nutrition as well as to lose weight, but what I like might not appeal to you at all. I usually have oatmeal with berries or an apple and a protein for breakfast, a large spinach salad with other veggies and a protein for lunch (my main meal), and a simple dinner, like soup, with snacks like almonds and fruit.
Best of luck!
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Hey there! Former emotional eater and current hater of meal planning. I agree with all the posts above, and want to add a few things that helped me. If I didn't have the energy/time/knowledge on how to meal prep, I instead added foods to my home and work that I could go to. I bought built bars, packets of tuna, threw steamable veggies and sides into my freezer at work and home. I keep a bag of whisps cheese crisps in my car and at home at all times. When I found myself hungry or getting closer to the danger zone of being *TOO* hungry, I would pick one of the items I enjoyed that were macro friendly for me and ate them. I also didn't say no to the things that were not nutritionally beneficial. Meaning, I still eat cake, cookies, chips. I just add them way less than I used to.
I go to therapy and one of the things I learned with emotional eating and really any food addiction was finding my triggers, journaling them, and learning to acknowledge the feelings I am having in tense moments.
For me, the most reasonable thing at first wasn't cutting out foods. I started adding more protein in and water, and working out doing something I enjoyed. When that become consistent and doable, I then started tracking what I ate and following a meal plan. That took months, but it sometimes can be better than going gung ho when you aren't mentally or emotionally prepared for big changes right away. Build small, consistent bricks that you can stand on to reach your goals.6 -
Also adding a post with a list of great resources.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest1 -
The only thing you need for weight loss is a caloric deficit, hence why logging/tracking is useful. Have you tried tracking your food for any length of time before to know it overwhelms you or are you assuming so?
As far as a calorie starting point, the guided setup built-in to MFP is a decent starting block. Conventional wisdom from the community is as follows:
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 lb/week is ideal
If you have 15-25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lb/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lb/week is ideal
I suggest that you go through the guided setup, don't change what/how you're eating yet but try logging exhaustively to see how that compares. More often than not it's readily apparent where you can start making sustainable incremental calorie cuts to bring down your daily intake. Personally, it was things like 3 oreos instead of 6, or spicy mustard over mayo on a sandwich that got me started in building long-term improved eating habits. Many find that manipulating macros is helpful to improve satiety as well; there's not a magic macro formula for everyone, you'll have to see what works for you.
I found success in that sort of iterative, step-wise approach to changing my habits in a sustainable way; I lost almost 20 lbs when I first got here and have stayed while maintaining that initial loss followed by improving my body composition over the last four years.2 -
Thank you all so much. I will get set up with my numbers to see where I am. I will try my best to log everything into MFP right now to see how much I’m overeating.
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Hi, first of all I want to congratulate you for taking the first step to admitting you need help and for joining MFP. Yes it is possible to lose weight without tracking, but it isn't sustainable if you can't even take the time to track. This is where you say, wtf lol. What am trying to say is, in order to master the art of not tracking calories, you need to learn how to track your calories first till it becomes second nature. Once it becomes a habit, and you can recognize what the size of food you eat per meal looks like and how much snack you eat, then you can indulge in not tracking as much. The best advice I can give you now is to stick with tracking your calories for now.
Yes, stay away from all those fad diets. Stick to your daily caloric intake. You can eat regular foods, but stay away from processed foods. Here are a few examples for breakfast/lunch/dinner meal.
Breakfast: eggs whites (real eggs not box), 1-whole grain toasted bread or oatmeal, black coffee
Lunch: Grilled chicken & Salad, low sugar dressing or use oil/vinegar.
Dinner: Brown rice, grilled or sauteed veggies, grilled fish (salmon, tuna, tilapia)
Snacks: Apples, bananas, nuts etc...
To plan you meal for the week, I will suggest get a sheet of paper, write down the days of the week on the left side and to the right of each day create a column for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In each column write down what you will all items you will eat for each meal. I have used the Walmart eMeals. It actually help you plan your meals for the week based on what ingredients you pick. you can then go shop based on the meal plan the emeals gave you.
https://emeals.com/grocery-delivery-pickup/walmart-grocery/
Like I said, it's going to take discipline to achieve not tracking your calories, but if you want to give it a shot, here's a link I found that gives suggestions on what kind of foods to eat. Just know if it was that easy, everyone will be doing it and melting that fat like crazy
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https://healthline.com/nutrition/7-ways-to-lose-weight-without-counting-calories#section8
Lastly, if you change you mind and decide you would like to track your calories and need help determining your daily recommended calories, feel free to message me if you like or add me.
All the best in your journey.
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Thank you all so much. I will get set up with my numbers to see where I am. I will try my best to log everything into MFP right now to see how much I’m overeating.
Try to not to get overwhelmed. My best advice is to make changes slowly to avoid panic and burnout. I know you said tracking would be overwhelming but I usually suggest people start by getting in the habit of tracking and learning to select reasonable entries from the database. Not focus on meeting calorie or macro goals, but just start logging. If that's too much for you though, then focus on making small changes 1 or 2 at a time. Don't completely overhaul your diet at once but just start reducing or replacing a couple of things with lower calorie options.
I personally find that fat is what keeps me full longest but other people find it is protein. You don't have to go on a special diet to make small changes that work for you. Expect to have off days and set backs, don't punish yourself, just learn from them and move forward.2 -
There is so much good advice above. Small steps are probably best for you, getting to understand yourself is a good thing to do. You know you need to improve your health so, it may take a while to gain the understanding you need, the best thing is you are starting to address your issues. Possibly seeing where your financial budget is going and how this is hitting your pocet might be something of an incentive. Wishing you all the very best as you discover what is right for you.3
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I had a trimalleolar fracture, so understand the increased daily mobility to move a bit more will be difficult then.
I was full weight bearing and mobility allowed after 3 months.
So in that time you can practice the eating side of the equation.
Sadly with decreased mobility, to lose you'd have to eat a lot less than you are used to before injury.
Also this isn't the time to rob the body of potential nutrients so it can heal the fastest/best it can.
So this would be the time to practice what can be filling that is more nutritious, and what can you eat that's fun that won't cause you going overboard if that's an issue.
But not really the time to attempt to lose weight, except minimum - while body is healing.4 -
Nobody said this was going to be easy....sorry but I am being realistic....you have to want it enough to do it!0
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Find what works best for you, and it may take trial and error. You have to want it for yourself and nobody else. Maybe find someone who is on a similar journey and hold each other accountable. Try your best to make new habits and stick to what works. You can do this!1
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Hi everyone. I’m here and I think it’s time for me. For me to make a change. I just don’t know where to start. I eat like *kitten*. I don’t meal prep. I hate it. I’m an emotional eater. I need to lose at least 40-60 pounds. I don’t want to do Keto or any diets that eliminate an entire food group. I just feel lost. I do t know how many calories to consume and I dont want to overwhelm myself with tracking. I dont know what’s healthy to eat for breakfast lunch or dinner that will keep me satisfied. Im lost. Help!
1. you're at a great site filled with USEFUL information - read all the sticky posts at the top of all the forums. OR at least just this Getting Started forum. Believe what you read about Calories In, Calories Out - it really is the one main thing to know about how to succeed.
2. Use MFP to set your calorie budget (Goals).
3. weigh and log everything you eat and drink.
4. Eat what you enjoy - use a food scale to weigh the portion you are about to consume, and adjust the portion as needed to fit in your calorie budget for the day/meal.
5. Allow yourself to accept fluctuations in your weight from one day or week to the next; assess your progress by looking back 2-3 months at a time.
6. don't try to rush the weight loss. Time spent changing habits will serve you better in the long run.
good luck0 -
I just started a program in August and it takes al lot of work and dedication. I would recommend a good scale and weigh yourself everyday. I purchased a feelfit scale, but I'm sure there are many to choose from. Be sure it is calibrated correctly. I also just started using the app happy scale hoping to see trends in my weight loss. I would not change your eating habits for a week and log everything you eat and I mean everything. I weight and measure anything I put in my mouth. Use a food scale and measuring spoons and cups. Be diligent. After a week see where you can adjust. I can't say how much fat, carbs, and protein you should have because it is unique to each person. I had genetic testing and am following a diet specifically for me. Start with small changes, like no soda. Drink half your body weight in water each day. I think this is the best habit you can start. Also, incorporate exercise. I walk 6-7 days a week.
Good luck and stay positive. A positive mindset can go a long way. If you don't have support at home find it else where.1 -
fdlewenstein wrote: ». Drink half your body weight in water each day. ...
I weigh 169 pounds. Water weighs 8 pounds per gallon. By your advice, I should be drinking 10 gallons of water a day.
Is there maybe a mistake in what you wrote?1 -
My success using my fitness pal to lose weight was because of going to a nutritionist ! I found out that my health insurance covers this and I pay a small co-pay. Started May 22 this year. I therefore recommend this to you too.0
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