Am I doing this right...?

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MeisjeandDanny
MeisjeandDanny Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've rearranged my lifestyle nearly 3 weeks ago (joined mfp again 2 weeks ago) in the name of losing weight for the umpteenth time, and want to make sure that I'm not just setting myself up to fail after many unhealthy previous attempts.
Is someone able to peek at my diary or something 😅
I'm 5'5 and weighed 74kg 2 weeks before I started. Haven't weighed myself since, I will every 5 weeks as I don't want to throw myself off, but have noticed physical changes.
I work a super active job (sweating daily, basically a workout at the same time, it's very physically taxing) and my average cals last week was just under 1500. This week my average is almost 1600. I also need to increase my protein I think.. I don't eat a lot of milk, but chicken twice a week, Greek yoghurt almost daily, bit of milk and cheese every now and again and protein bars. I'm still not sure I'm getting enough.
In theory, is my eating good enough to work long term with a few tweaks to my macros or do I need to overhaul the whole thing?

Replies

  • MeisjeandDanny
    MeisjeandDanny Posts: 22 Member
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    Lietchi wrote: »
    Your diary isn't public, you'll need to change the settings.

    As for sustainability, I would say the most important elements are:
    - not being overly restrictive, caloriewise or regarding the types of food. 1500-1600 calories sounds low for someone with a (very) active job. What weight loss rate did you enter in MFP?
    - making changes that you can imagine doing for the rest of your life. 'Rearranging your lifestyle' in one go three weeks ago, while you don't say what that means, sounds like a bit of a red flag to me. Generally, small gradual changes are better.

    That's strange.. it definitely says 'public' in my diary settings..

    I put it to lose 0.5kg a week on 'not very active' (I know, bit of a discrepency😅😬) which gave me 1300 cals, which I always make sure to go over. I have it set a bit low as I'm sure I'm actually eating a little more, i dont log cooking oils and I'm just using rough calorie calculating, cups vs weighing everything to a T. I know it's recommended to, if nothing changes or weight loss is too quick or I start to feel unsatisfied I'll tighten up on it for sure.
    I've created a weekly plan which I follow 80% of the time with recipes I created and I make them exactly the same each time so it should all balance out enough. (In my head anyway. Tell me if I'm way off here)

    And it's not a huge reconstruction to my lifestyle either, sorry if I made it sound that way. Previously, whenever I cooked it was always healthy, loaded with Veges etc I just couldn't be bothered to cook a lot of the time so would end up buying a lot of food instead. Now im cooking every day, which I do enjoy, and do a big batch of soup I can freeze for the days I get a bit tired. I still have treats 4x a week, just limited to a better portion instead of scoffing the whole packet like I used to
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    Other than trying to increase your protein I think it is a matter of seeing out those 5 weeks between weigh-ins to know the results. If you are losing faster than 1/2 kg a week average then up your calories slightly, if less lower them slightly. If you become stuck along the way then start by properly monitoring what you are eating, at least for a while to get a better idea of portions. If you find you are always hungry then play around with your macro ratios. Some need higher protein, others fat, yet others complex carbs or fibre to help them with satiety.

    The best advice I can give, however, is to find out what gives you the results you desire in a healthy and sustainable way and I think you could be on the right path with working out what works for you.
  • MeisjeandDanny
    MeisjeandDanny Posts: 22 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    "I work a super active job" and setting your activity to not very active means that's a clear and obvious answer of no, you aren't doing it right.

    The idea of a calculator is you put in the right data if you want a chance of getting the right numbers. If you want to know what 2+2 equals you don't type in 2+1 !!

    Don't game the numbers to achieve a particular result - use the tool as designed.

    You're right, I think it's more of a mental thing for me knowing that the calories I've set for myself is a bit lower and I'm allowed to go over. For example, today my daily intake will be nearly 2000, and I know that's still going to be fine and I'll still lose. I eat close to 2000 twice a week and the rest hover a bit lower.
    If I change it to 'active' at 0.75kg a week loss it gives me 1520 a day (the most you should lose is 1% of current weight, correct?) Or at the same weight loss at very active it gives 1800. I am wanting to get down to about 60kg ultimately but starting with 67kg goal for now where I used to sit comfortably-ish.
    Due to my current averages I'm sitting a little above the 1520 rate so I don't think it's too far off with what I'm currently doing.
    There's maybe 2 days a week where I'm a little less active in my job, so I'm a little unsure if I should sit at the highest level or go one below for a more accurate average.

    What's a good high protein food that I could start to incorporate in more foods (salads, smoothies, stir fry etc) that's cheap, preferably not meat?
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,151 Member
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    Lentils and chickpeas for vegetarian protein options. Most seafood is good too, especially shrimp.
  • MeisjeandDanny
    MeisjeandDanny Posts: 22 Member
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    Lietchi wrote: »
    Lentils and chickpeas for vegetarian protein options. Most seafood is good too, especially shrimp.

    Thank You! 😊 I'll start adding them to my soup and maybe make some hummus as well.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,705 Member
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    It probably comes from a link in an MFP discussion that I've lost track off, but you could save a copy of the spreadsheet in google drive, sort by column, and then scan for items that suit your eating preferences.

    https://drive.google.com/open?id=12LrMGp8HiWl2FW-odoexKBMxeDTMUhwd4ooT6VoolJk

    As you know, you don't need to only eat complete proteins if you're taking in sufficient amino-acids from complementary proteins over a close enough time period. In any case a lot of foods with complementary proteins sort of flow together in normal use: lentils or chick-peas eaten with bread or rice would be classic examples.

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