Want to lose weight but have no idea where to start!!!
casandraeaddy
Posts: 37 Member
Hello I’m Casandra I’m in my 30’s I’m 5’1 my start weight was 151 but..., I tried the VLCD (500 calories) I did it for 3 days and went down to 144 it made me sick and just wasn’t for me in the past few days I went back up (not much) to 146.6 my goal is 120-125 lbs I have no idea where to start and honestly I’m scared ( it that makes any sense) to give up food! I’m lazy (hence the high weight gain of 151! ) but I’m starting to walk with my kids we do at least a mile a day ... any advice or motivation is welcome!
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Replies
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Use the MFP calorie and activity tracker to set up your calories based on activity level and make a point to eat less calories than your allowed limit.
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My calorie intake is at 1340 so I should eat less than that ?1
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When you exercise MFP will add in additional food calories for you. Don't eat all of them back. Maybe eat half the extra calories back.
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Go to this mega-thread and read the linked threads there. Lots of good information.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads6 -
I am turning 58, 5'2" and over the last 2 years, I went from 117 to 141(all belly). I am trying a low carb diet change. It's been 16 days. Eating 700-900 calories a day, staying under 100 carbs, usually 60-70 and only lost 3 lbs. This programs says I don't eat enough, but this is who I am. I have cut out all snacking, carbs & sugar add weight. lol. Will the changes kick in eventually? Seems really slow progress or not working.0
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I am turning 58, 5'2" and over the last 2 years, I went from 117 to 141(all belly). I am trying a low carb diet change. It's been 16 days. Eating 700-900 calories a day, staying under 100 carbs, usually 60-70 and only lost 3 lbs. This programs says I don't eat enough, but this is who I am. I have cut out all snacking, carbs & sugar add weight. lol. Will the changes kick in eventually? Seems really slow progress or not working.
Health issues aside, the problem with eating such a low amount is that it is unsustainable and you will probably just end up having a binge and undoing a hunk of your efforts.
Eat a bit more; accept losing weight takes time.4 -
I think this is one of the very best "getting started" posts at the link Jruzer helpfully and correctly provided:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
It's like an MFP on-ramp.
Since "I don't know what/how to eat" featured in a couple of posts on this thread, I'll also ( . . . ahem . . . ) boost my own post that's in that same set of posts at Jruzer's link:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1
It's pretty much how I lost around 50 pounds in less than a year, at age 59-60, while hypothyroid, going from 30+ years of previous obesity to a healthy weight, and how I've maintained a healthy weight for 4+ years since. (I just left out my mistakes and backtracks when I wrote it up ).
Losing any meaningful amount of weight is a long-ish term proposition: Weeks to months, maybe even years if one has a large amount to lose. That means the process needs to be tolerable, even enjoyable if possible, and very sustainable. Trying to lose super fast tends to be miserable and unsustainable.
Most of us out of our teen years understand that we can yo-yo our weight for literally years, and get nowhere (well, usually get just a little bit heavier with every round of regain, sadly ). What it's useful to understand is that although losing slowly and manageably may be frustrating in terms of instant rewards on the scale, it can actually be sustainable enough to stick with long enough to not only lose the excess weight, but also learn how to eat in a way that will keep us at a healthy weight permanently. And isn't that the real goal?
Best wishes!5 -
@casandraeaddy you can do this. You do not have to give up food, any of it. All you have to do is eat a little bit less calories than you burn. That’s it. And by a little bit, I mean a little bit. Based on your stats, it sounds like 1lb per week or slower would be a reasonable speed of weight loss.
You said your calorie intake is 1340 calories. What goals and activity settings did you use for MFP to give you that number? If you forgot, do the guided setup in MFP again. Then eat as close to the calorie number MFP gives you as you can. It doesn’t have to be exact every day, but try to at least average that on a weekly basis. If you do any intentional exercise (like walking with your kids) that you didn’t include when you decided your activity level, log the exercise and eat back the calories the system tells you to eat. Log every single thing you eat and drink, and try to be as accurate as possible with your logging.
Continue this for at least a month (or if your period cycle is longer, until you have reached the same point in your cycle again), and see your results. If you’re happy with your results and/or you’re on track with the weight loss speed you selected, carry on just like that. If not, make some adjustments.
Notice what I didn’t say? I didn’t say anything about what you should or shouldn’t be eating. That’s because it doesn’t matter. Eat whatever you want, just keep your portions in check so you don’t exceed your calories.5 -
casandraeaddy wrote: »My calorie intake is at 1340 so I should eat less than that ?
No, you should eat that plus at least some of any exercise calories added.5 -
casandraeaddy wrote: »My calorie intake is at 1340 so I should eat less than that ?
No, you should not eat less than that. The person above is taking rubbish. Sorry to say. Eat what MFP gives you, provided your rate of weight loss is realistic and not too high. And log your workouts separately, which gives you more calories.4 -
@hipari i put the lightly active exercise 1-3 times a week because I just started and didn’t want to go higher than that just in case I didn’t do exercise more than 3 days a week I will adjust when my activity level goes up. I use the scanner option and verify the information is correct on MFP be the container I’m scanning. I do not have a monthly cycle as I had to have a hysterectomy in December. Thank you for your help !0
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@yirara if I choose to do an at home workout such as a routine I found on YouTube how many calories do I put for that ?0
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OK, even if you don't have a monthly cycle give it some time. Periods often create strong weight fluctuations, but those happen for other reasons as well, so it's good to give things some time before trying to readjust your plan.
Good luck!1 -
We’ve all heard the basic rule of weight loss is calories in- calories out. With that being said though- it is so important to eat enough calories for your metabolism! I see so many people that say; I’m going to eat between 500-1000 calories a day- ummm, NO!! That’s not healthy nor is it sustainable. Our bodies may initially drop weight at first but generally don’t respond well to extreme diets. You’ll end up gaining it all back at some point and maybe even more.
Tracking calories can be tedious; however for me- I have had the most success in doing so. Not only does it allow me to stay within a certain number, but I get a good feel for what a portion size really is & for food content in general. I don’t agree with cutting out food groups (carbs for example) & I feel that everything in moderation is ok & most sustainable. Some people thrive on low carb diets and have great success, but that just doesn’t work for me. I think whatever you choose has to be something you can do long term, otherwise you are not learning anything & old habits will just creep back in.
Without knowing a lot about you, it’s hard to say how many calories you should be eating. Make sure that you are filling up on foods that offer nutritional value instead of eating a lot of empty calories. Sometimes you just have to try different things & see what works best for you.
Also, don’t get super caught up on the scale- it can be your best motivator or your worst enemy! As long as you are making better choices & becoming more active; you will see your weight decrease. We all want instantaneous results, but losing at a gradual pace is best for long term success. Good luck!6 -
@melissatwill I think I’m going to just input the calories on MFP do my normal exercise routine and see how i feel if I don’t feel like I have enough energy I’ll bump my calorie intake up a bit . I have cleaned my pantry of the junk and put in mor healthy snacks and side dish options2
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casandraeaddy wrote: »@melissatwill I think I’m going to just input the calories on MFP do my normal exercise routine and see how i feel if I don’t feel like I have enough energy I’ll bump my calorie intake up a bit . I have cleaned my pantry of the junk and put in mor healthy snacks and side dish options
That sounds perfect!! It’s funny how sometimes in order to lose weight, we actually need to eat a little more calories, but it’s definitely true!
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casandraeaddy wrote: »@hipari i put the lightly active exercise 1-3 times a week because I just started and didn’t want to go higher than that just in case I didn’t do exercise more than 3 days a week I will adjust when my activity level goes up. I use the scanner option and verify the information is correct on MFP be the container I’m scanning. I do not have a monthly cycle as I had to have a hysterectomy in December. Thank you for your help !
MFP's designed for you to set your activity level based on your daily life (job, home chores, etc.), not including intentional exercise. Then, it wants you to log exercise when you actually do the exercise, and eat back a reasonable estimate of those calories, too.
It seems like doing it that way would better suit you, if you're uncertain of exercise amounts? (It will put the calories on the day of exercise, but if you want to "bank" some and eat them on a near-future day, that's fine. Quite a few people go by their weekly total, to do that. (It can be seen in the phone/tablet app, on the Nutrition/Calories/Week View part of the app. I don't think it shows up in web-browser MFP).
If you prefer to have the same calorie goal every day whether you exercise or not, a slightly better way to do that** would be to use an outside TDEE calculator to estimate your calorie needs, then manually set a calorie goal in MFP. (** That's because of some technical differences in how they typically do the calculations between NEAT (pre-exercise) needs calculators, which MFP is one of, and TDEE (all-activity) needs calculators. There are lots of TDEE calculators, but one I think is help full is https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/ , which has more activity levels to choose from, with good descriptions of the activity levels, and uses/displays multiple different research-based formulas so you can see the range of variation between different studies' implications).
BTW: I personally use the MFP method, with a pre-exercise calorie goal, then log and eat back exercise. Been doing it that way for almost 5 years now, to lose weight for almost a year, and now to maintain a healthy weight.
It's good that you're checking the scanner results against the package, because the scanned entries are no more accurate than any others in the database: They're still crowd-sourced (user entered), so can be wrong, sometimes very wrong. It's not a direct data feed from the manufacturer, as some people imagine.
You don't have to answer this question on the forum, but what type of hysterectomy did you have? Sometimes they leave one or both ovaries in place, sometimes they remove them. If you still have ovaries, you can still have hormonal cycles that can have water weight implications for some, even though you're not having actual menstrual periods anymore.
Best wishes!3 -
@AnnPT77 I filled out the information on the link you posted however, with all the numbers and things to look at my eyes went cross eyed lol
In regards to the hysterectomy they did leave both ovaries.1 -
casandraeaddy wrote: »@AnnPT77 I filled out the information on the link you posted however, with all the numbers and things to look at my eyes went cross eyed lol
In regards to the hysterectomy they did leave both ovaries.
If the TDEE calculator is a bit much, I'd suggest you use MFP as designed, then: Set your MFP activity level based on what your life is like not including intentional exercise. Then, log your exercise when you do it, and eat those calories back, too. (It's fine to carry some over to a later day.)
Some people worry that their exercise calories may be overestimated. A common strategy is to eat back half or three-quarters of them at first, until you have that 4-6 weeks of actual weight loss experience. At that point, you can use your average weight loss rate to figure out whether you can eat a little more for better energy/fullness, or can safely eat a little less to lose faster without it becoming unsustainable or unhealthful.
Best wishes!
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I can’t seem to eat all the calories I need for example yesterday I was supposed to eat 1340 cal and I only ate 1100 cal I don’t want to eat when I’m not hungry so what are alternative snacks or something that I can eat to help me reach my calorie intake for the day or is it ok to be a few hundered calories under ?0
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