Newbie tips and suggestions ?

milawilwin · September 1

I’ve come to a point in my life where I’m discontented and disconnected with my body. I’m 20 years old, and have went from being active and full time athlete as a juvenile, to a completely sedentary adult. I believe the polarizing activity levels took quite a toll on my body so I gained it quick and stubborn. I was always cautious of my calories when I was younger but never needed to pay attention to the macronutrients in my food I was so young and at least visually and aesthetically healthy. Are there any petite women out there with successful tips on macronutrients and overall weight loss?

rudyzenreviews · September 1

Welcome! You’re not alone and lots of us had to adjust after going from active to sedentary. Focusing on protein first and then balancing carbs/fats however feels doable is a great start. Small consistent steps add up.

AnnPT77 · September 1

I'm midsized (5'5"/165cm, 130 pounds/59kg) but pretty old (69) so of course I have an opinion 😉 . . . but also perhaps a bit of a long view?

At 20, transitioning into adult life, this is the perfect time to focus your attention on finding long-term habit eating and activity habits that will initially take you gradually to a healthy, attractive weight, then help you stay there long term, ideally permanently.

That's a very different mindset from "lose weight fast", requiring quite different tactics. At 20, you're in a position to positively influence your quality of life for many decades ahead by finding those habits. (I wish my young self had been smart enough to do that; it would've saved me a lot of negatives that did happen to me as a result of being inactive and overweight for decades.)

Within that "long term habits" focus, think about how to get plenty of protein, fiber, and other nutrients, and get them from mostly (maybe 80% or so) from meat, fish, dairy, veggies, fruits, whole grains. These tend to be nutrient-dense, not as calorie dense. Also choose cooking methods and condiments most of the time that don't double or triple the calories in the food (less frying, more roasting; more vinaigrette than creamy dressing; etc.)

Include some treats for joy, because deprivation isn't a sustainable lifestyle. Anything you personally can eat in moderation (portion size or frequency) is fine to eat, unless literally poison or an allergen for you. (Don't believe dumb internet influencers who claim sugar is poison, oatmeal (!) is poison, blahblahblah.)

Counting calories pretty consistently for at least a month or two will give you good insights about what is filling for you within a reasonable calorie level, and help you figure out that portion size and frequency stuff. If you want to count longer and can do that without sliding into obesssion/compulsion or other negative psychological territory, it's fine to continue.

As long as you don't try to cut calories ultra-low for aggressively fast weight loss, the MFP recommended macros are a fine place to start for most people. However, I'd personally recommend not worrying too much about macros for the initial weeks: Get calories, satiety and general happiness dialed in first. After that, you can review your diary, note any nutritional aspect you'd like to improve, and tweak your eating habits - choosing foods you enjoy - to improve that.

If you want to refine that more, common rules of thumb are to go for 0.6-1g protein minimum daily per pound of goal weight, maybe up to 1.2 if aggressively working at progressive strength exercise. For fats, if female, 0.35-0.45g minimum daily per pound. (Men might get away with a bit less.) Bonus if a substantial fraction of the fats come from nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil and that sort of thing.

Carbs are more flexible, because protein and fats contain essential nutrients (essential amino acids, EAAs; essential fatty acids, EFAs), but strictly speaking carbs don't. Some people find carbs spike their appetite. Those people may be better off eating fewer carbs. Some people find that low carb eating tanks their energy level. Those people may be better off eating more carbs. You'll figure that out. Despite what some people say, carbs are not the devil. Our bodies appreciate carbs so much that they're able to manufacture them out of other intake if necessary, which they can't do with EAAs and EFAs.

Admittedly, adequate protein is considered expecially important for appearance and health. If you want even more detail, this is useful, and science based:

https://examine.com/guides/protein-intake/

But repeating: Start with portions/frequencies (calories) of nutrient-dense foods you enjoy, and find filling. Work on nutrition later.

You didn't ask about exercise, but of course that's part of the equation, too. General recommendation for health is to do 150 minutes of moderate cardiovascular exercise weekly, ideally spread over 5 days, or 75 minutes of more intense cardiovascular exercise, or a proportional combination of those intensities; plus at least 2 days a week of strength-challenging exercise. If you're appearance focused, more attention/time with the strength exercise tends to have a good payoff, within reason. If that's a lot more than you're doing now, phase that in gradually: Overdoing exercise is counter-productive for any of weight loss, fitness improvement, or healthy/attractive appearance.

If you can get a realistic, enjoyable (at least tolerable/practical) long term set of eating and activity habits worked out now, you'll get the kind of results you're looking for, and your future self will thank you, besides.

Best wishes!

Strudders67 · September 1

All of what Ann said.

I'm 5'1" (possibly 5'2") and 58kg. I'm happy enough where I am, but am trying, very very slowly, to lose another couple of kg to get me to the middle of the BMI range. I'm already a healthy weight and am not very tall, so I know that any further weight loss is going to be very slow. Play around with what helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer - I focus on getting enough protein for my weight and try to keep my carbs below 120g a day (Type 2 diabetic). Fat falls where it does, based on the other two. I also try to make sure I get enough fibre - UK dietary advice suggests 30g a day.

When I first started losing weight, I initially continued eating the things I liked but reduced the quantity that went on my plate, especially pasta, potatoes and rice. I don't eat a lot of bread anyway. I then noted what I was eating, regularly, that was high in calories and looked for alternatives. Gradually, I swapped out some things for lower calorie alternatives that I also liked - no point swapping to something you don't like, as you won't stick to it. My typical lunch now is a large salad, no dressing, with protein. The artichoke antipasti that I usually add to my salad is in oil in the jar anyway and some oil gets into my bowl, no matter how hard I try to drain it, so separate dressing isn't needed. My typical dinner is a lot of vegetables with protein. I almost never have pasta, rice or potatoes at home now. If I want a snack, it'll usually be 20g of almonds (high in cals, but also in protein & fibre) or some soya yoghurt with some berries and seeds thrown in (high in fibre) or cheese on crackers (protein). That won't work for everyone, but it suits me and they're foods that I like.

It was a lot of trial and error to find out what worked for me though, so don't get discouraged if it takes time to get to grips with what works and what doesn't.

age_is_just_a_number · September 4

What Ann said.

Btw, congratulations on finding MFP at an early stage in your life. If you build healthy habits, you’ll have those for life and live a long and healthy life.

One other question: You were an athletic youth and are now a sedentary adult. I completely understand how that can happen. Are you able to find an activity you love to do that fits into your current life? I exercise for my mental health more than my physical health.

Newbie tips and suggestions ?

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