Diet Plan Going Forward

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Ishy451
Ishy451 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

By way of introducing myself, this January I decided to turn my life around. 20 years old, 1.65m and 117kg.

Following my diet, I reached 86kg at the end of June which I was really happy with. I then maintained over summer ad I was very busy with work and since coming back to uni in October have tried to get the progress back on track.

Things have been okay - I'm currently around 84kg. My main issue is sometimes losing control and having these cheat days where I eat 4,000+ calories (mainly when going out for meals with friends).

For the past few weeks, I've begin to cut those out, and this has been my diet plan:

Food - 1800-2200 calories a day, 180-200g protein.
Cardio - 4 30 min HIIT sessions a week (combo of burpees, pressups, star jumps etc.
3 running sessions a week (usually around 30 mins segmented into blocks using Couch 2 5k)
Strength - 3 resistance band sessions a week (30 mins each)
Random sets of pressups and situps throughout the day
Steps - at least 10,000 a day.

Following this, I haven't seen too much change on the scales. I appreciate that this could be down to muscle growth however (do feel as though I've developed more in the last month or so).

Overall, I was just hoping for comments/feedback/advice on my current setup. Apologies if I sound naive at any time throughout this post - always looking to improve!

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • HollyPFlax
    HollyPFlax Posts: 79 Member
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    Congratulations on your weight loss! When I notice a prolonged plateau for myself (more than a month) I look more closely at the calories I'm logging. Your diary is private, so I can't see if you weigh your food. Do you? If I skip out on doing that regularly, I will inadvertently eat too many calories. I have never been able to accurately estimate a 1 tbsp 95 calorie serving of peanut butter without weighing.
    Another way I consume too many calories is by eating out. For help logging these calories, know that large chain restaurants have to post calorie counts online. If I eat at a local restaurant and order a burger that is roughly the same size and ingredients as a chili's burger, I'll get the calorie count from the chili's website. Be sure to add the calories for side dishes, condiments, etc. Often restaurants will list them for just the main and the sides calories have to be added on by us.
    Lastly, MyFitnessPal is a great tool. However, many calorie counts are incorrect in the database. All of the entries were made by human mfp users and humans make mistakes. Always check your nutrition label.
    It is very easy to eat more calories than we mean to, especially when it isn't a large volume of food. Good luck and I hope I helped!
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 879 Member
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    Hmmm... it seems as if your calorie goal is appropriate right now depending on how you are logging things.

    It seems like 1900 (give or take) would be your maintenance cals (not taking into account your workouts). Maybe you need to recalculate your calorie goal (whichever way you calculated it to start)? You've lost a good bit of weight so it might just help to recalibrate things. It was still trial and error for me even after I changed from a calorie deficit back to maintenance.

    And yes - after logging for a while you sort of get to know how much food your doling out to yourself or eating out and it gets easier to just estimate vs. weigh/measure. So maybe spot weigh/measure just to make sure. I don't think it's good to get obsessed over every gram of food but it can be easy to slack and get way off.

    I think your plan sounds great though to be honest. How long has it been since the scale actually moved? Like you still lost weight from the time you weighed 87 kg to 84 kg so everything might be a-ok. I don't think it seems like you're doing anything wrong. Slow and steady wins the race. And as long as you aren't eating way over your calorie goal routinely - it's fine to indulge a bit with friends. I found that it was helpful for me to know where we'd be eating out if I was going with friends so that I could plan my meals for the day. You'd have time to check out the menu of the place you're going and use the nutrition info if they have it online or find another comparative meal to log. Then you can adjust what you eat the rest of the day (not to be starving the rest of the day obviously) but it can help you not go over by thousands of calories. Also, note the size of the dish at a restaurant. Often they are rather large....if I get one that I KNOW is way too big (like I'm not gonna eat it all for sure) I just immediately ask for a box and box up what I am not going to eat and then eat the rest as normal. Sometimes if there's food on your plate and you're still sitting around talking .... it's easy to just keep eating even if you're not actually hungry. Have it the next day instead.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,325 Member
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    Ishy451 wrote: »
    Hi all,

    By way of introducing myself, this January I decided to turn my life around. 20 years old, 1.65m and 117kg.

    Following my diet, I reached 86kg at the end of June which I was really happy with. I then maintained over summer ad I was very busy with work and since coming back to uni in October have tried to get the progress back on track.

    Things have been okay - I'm currently around 84kg. My main issue is sometimes losing control and having these cheat days where I eat 4,000+ calories (mainly when going out for meals with friends).

    For the past few weeks, I've begin to cut those out, and this has been my diet plan:

    Food - 1800-2200 calories a day, 180-200g protein.
    Cardio - 4 30 min HIIT sessions a week (combo of burpees, pressups, star jumps etc.
    3 running sessions a week (usually around 30 mins segmented into blocks using Couch 2 5k)
    Strength - 3 resistance band sessions a week (30 mins each)
    Random sets of pressups and situps throughout the day
    Steps - at least 10,000 a day.

    Following this, I haven't seen too much change on the scales. I appreciate that this could be down to muscle growth however (do feel as though I've developed more in the last month or so).

    Overall, I was just hoping for comments/feedback/advice on my current setup. Apologies if I sound naive at any time throughout this post - always looking to improve!

    Thanks in advance!

    Sounds like you've been doing pretty great!

    If strength, muscle mass increase, or "toning" are your goals, it's possible that a progressive full-body bodyweight or weight lifting program would serve your goals better than a resistance band routine, for similar time investment. There are some suggested programs that other MFPers have used here:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

    With the strength routine 3x a week, then some calisthenics in your HIIT routine, and pressups randomly through the day, make sure you're giving the muscle groups adequate recovery time somewhere in there, for best progress. Recovery is when gains (the muscles rebuilding better) happen.

    How fast are you losing weight now, at 1.65m (around 5'5" for the other USAians like me) and 84kg (185 pounds), 1800-2200 calories with some 4000 calorie social days in there? I'm wondering if you're eating enough on your average days. Are you eating any of your exercise calories on top of the 1800-2200? How often are the 4000 calorie days? How accurate is your logging (food scale? eyeballing?)?

    I admit, I'm mysteriously a good li'l ol' calorie burner, but I'd lose at least a pound a week at age 65, your height, weight 57kg (around 125 pounds), and 100% more female, eating at 1800 (not adding for exercise). Seems like your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) would certainly be over 2500, and maybe even over 3000 as someone that active, young, male (according to your MFP profile, anyway).

    If your weight's holding steady, but you just got into (or resumed) this workout routine in the past few weeks, you could have some new-exercise water retention hiding fat loss on the scale, still. You're at the perfect age/sex to gain muscle, but still a couple of pounds a month gain would be a good result, so it's unusual for muscle gain to mask any really meaningful rate of fat loss, even when you're in the demographic where such a thing is most possible.

    Best wishes!
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
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    Echo the kudos for doing a good job so far. Good advice above regarding re-checking appropriate calorie intake appropriate to your goal and also measuring the intake more accurately (with a scale) as you get closer to goal.

    The times I have jumped the tracks and ate waaaay more than planned? It has always been after a few days of eating too low. It seems counterintuitive, but undereating is as bad for your weight loss goals as overeating is. Personally, I am a binge waiting to happen if I try cutting too hard. It is really worth the extra effort to dial in your appropriate calorie level (rate of loss) at the front end. It will save you frustration and setbacks because your plan will be more sustainable and more enjoyable to stick to.

    Best of luck to you!
  • dralicephd
    dralicephd Posts: 401 Member
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    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/46419254#Comment_46419254

    This! Also, make sure you're getting enough protein. Even when I hit my calorie goal (or close to it), if I am low on protein, I get the munchies the next day.

    Congrats on the progress you have already made!

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