Making a change, could use some advice

I second getting your calories under control. Do you have a digital food scale? Do you use it? Are you weighing and measuring everything you eat and drink? Do that for 2 weeks and then come back and report in.

Have you accounted for everything you did not eat, but drink in your calorie calculation? Lattes, soft drinks, juice, etc. can add up faster than you'd think.

seanmccauley41 wrote: »

Quick bio: 25 M 6'4" 255lbs total nutrition newbie.
So for the least 7 or 8 years I've been a total potato. Nearly no exercise at all and eating like crap. I've paid no attention to what I'm putting in my body. I'm trying to change that. What is surprising me is that with what I was regularly eating (2x frozen burritos in the AM and 2x packaged top ramen in the PM) I was only totaling like 1500 to 1700ish calories on an average daily basis. This is pretty low for a guy my size, yet I'm 255lb and have quite a beer belly - almost zero muscle mass. I'm also shockingly realizing how bad the sodium intake was, I added it up and it was like 5000mg+ every day. Maybe on average once a week I would eat a TON with like a whole pizza or a large takeout order (these were probably 3500cal+ days) and I'd be full until dinner the next day. Even with that crap low calorie diet I never really felt hungry. This past week I said enough was enough, so I've started eating healthy meals, counting calories with the app, and starting to workout at home. (Still having a hard time reaching a normal amount of calories though)
So what's going on here?

• Has my metabolism just slowed to a crawl?

No. Not a thing that happens. With long-term calorie reduction, your overall activity level (including subtle things like hair growth rates) may slow down calorie expenditure a little, but the effect won't be dramatic unless you're having major, obvious symptoms (like near-paralyzing lethargy and weakness).

• Is it mostly the no exercise that could be affecting my metabolism?

Also no. Exercise does burn calories, and it's good for you, so it's worth doing.

• What should my daily calorie goal be if it is my metabolism? 2000 ok?

Whatever MFP's guided setup tells you it should be, to start, based on accurately input data values. Stick to that goal, logging accurately, for 4-6 weeks, then adjust based on real world results.

• How important is it to stay low on sodium? I've had a hard time keeping under 2000mg a day this last week.

Do you have a health condition, such as high blood pressure for one example, that requires you to limit sodium intake? If not, then it's minor, and furthermore it has no effect on fat gain/loss.

• Could it be partially water retention because of all the sodium?

While sodium intake can affect water retention, and water retention can mask fat loss temporarily on the scale, a healthy person will tend to have a stable sodium-related level of water retention if consuming their normal average amount of sodium. Having an extra-high day might cause a scale jump, but it'll slowly drop away with a return to normal sodium intake levels.

• Should I workout on the bike or start building muscle? I've read that muscle helps a lot with metabolism?

Yes to both, but not for "metabolism". Both are good for your health.

Muscle does not help "a lot" with metabolism. A pound of muscle burns something like 4 more calories daily than a pound of fat (tiny effect), and muscle is very slow to gain under ideal conditions (takes many months for multiple pounds). In a calorie deficit, muscle gain will be even slower. While losing weight, strength train to help you keep the muscle you've got, because strength is useful. (If you're lucky, and new to strength training, you might even see some small gains.) Long term, stronger people may move more than weak ones, so burn more calories that way, but that's a long-term thing, too.

Any advice would be awesome as I'm a bit clueless when it comes to nutrition - thanks

Start by trying to hit your MFP protein and fat goals as *minimums*, once you're consistently hitting your calorie goal. That's the biggest deal. Once that's dialed in, you can start looking into more minor things, but eating plenty of varied, colorful fruits and veggies will be high on that next-priority list, and many people find them filling, which could help on the calorie/satiation front.

Best wishes!

seanmccauley41 wrote: »

(snip for reply length, here and elsewhere)
Looking back at what I was eating over these years, yes that is pretty accurate. I would eat the burritos with BBQ sauce or ranch and the ramen I would load with PB,teryaki, and sriracha (all of this I accounted for in my calorie/sodrium estimation). That was it, the only time it would change would be the 1 or 2 days a week when I'd get takeout. I'd say even at the highest estimation I was eating like 1900 calories on average daily, and let's say those pizza days were more like 4000 or 4500 - is that enough for a guy to be gaining weight up to 255-260lbs?

All it takes to gain weight is calories eaten being higher than calories being expended. A person who eats on average 100 calories over their needs every day would be expected to gain over 10 pounds per year. People often don't realize how little it takes to gain, if one is consistent about it.

The past you report (using 1900 for 5 days, 4500 for 2 days) would be 2643 calories daily, on average.

I'd also observe that underestimating calorie intake is absolutely standard and normal, which is why so many around here so strongly recommend using a food scale. Without intending to deprecate or criticize your honesty in any way, looking backward at what we used to eat (but didn't measure) would be expected based on research results to be 50% underestimated, and it can be more.

In particular, one needn't be very far off in estimating an amount of PB to be off by hundreds of calories - so many people here are struck by how small and pitiful an actual serving of peanut butter (2 Tablespoons) looks, when they weigh it out. Othe condiments (the BBQ sauce, ranch, teriyaki, sriracha, etc.) can be difficult to estimate, too, and can be high in sugars, oils, etc. that are quite calorie-dense. Before we start calorie counting, most of us just splorch a satisfying-looking blob of those onto our food, and it can be a surprising amount, meaningful if calorie-dense.

Good to know. Hair loss actually did start like a year ago, but I figured it was genetic.

Very possible. Can also be nutritional (not enough protein, low in certain micronutrients, etc.).

Best wishes.