Calories... Are They Kidding?!!!

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  • liveonlocation
    liveonlocation Posts: 90 Member
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    I figured it out shortly after I started. I was eating on average 5 -7000 calories a day. Everyday! No wonder I was 460lbs. Now eating 2100 per day and not hungry most days. I used to have lunches that were bigger than my daily calories now.

    Perspective is a funny thing.
  • ronandcathy1
    ronandcathy1 Posts: 11
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    I have eaten way to many calories, but by eating less than I do NOW. I ate all the wrong things. I eat healthier, I make better decisions about what I eat and I have trouble eating 1200 calories a day. I used to come home from work and sit at the computer til betime, Now I Zumba every morning at 5am and usually go for a 3 mile walk every evening. I have way more energy and have trouble sitting still for any length of time. Some of my co-workers are jealous of what I have been able to do. I tell them will power to say no to things that aren't the wisest choices. I do not really restrict myself I just try to make better choices
  • tyj247
    tyj247 Posts: 18
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    Hang in there! It does get better and easier. As someone who never thought they would survive on the calorie count that MFP put me on, after a while, you learn to love vegetables and fruit (easiest ways to feel full without taking in a ton of calories) and avoid the junk. Also, when you get to the point where you lose all the weight you intended to lose, you can gain some of your calories back. I am currently at my goal weight and sometimes I find it hard to eat all my allotted calories for the day (which is currently 1800, up from 1340 when I losing weight).

    The best I can say is, start experimenting with different dishes, do some google searches for healthy alternatives for your favorite foods and make sure you have a good support system of friends and family to help you through the tough times. Good luck and feel free to add me if you need additional MFP friends!
  • niss63
    niss63 Posts: 82 Member
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    In the increase of knowledge lies the ability to change.

    Some things surprised me, but others, not so much. When I learned that the types of food you eat is information to your body - not just nutrition - that was my epiphany.
  • maryhegdal
    maryhegdal Posts: 6
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    I've been tracking my calories now for several weeks. I've been stuck on 165/166 lbs. I dropped to 163...only to creep back, 1/2lb day to 166. I am just so discouraged. I've been working out HARD for a year and can't drop any weight. Even working w/ a nutritionist at the gym. I've mixed up my work out schedules/routines with no luck. I don't know what to do anymore. I've tried more calories/ less calories, more exercise/less exercise....nothing changes for me.
  • SoozeE512
    SoozeE512 Posts: 439 Member
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    The first day I ever logged food on here, these were my numbers:

    Remaining -923 -66 -6 -48 -40 -1,296
    Calories Fat Sat Fat Carbs Sugar Sodium

    I had already started trying to eat healthier before I joined this site and I'd always thought that the lunch I got at the cafe near my office (which I frequented back then) served healthy foods. Generally, they are healthy, but in moderation - and their portion sizes, like any other restaurant or cafe in America, were WAY too big. My lunch alone was 1,216 calories with 3,144mg of sodium.

    Needless to say, I stopped buying that lunch and started planning my lunches ahead of time!
  • Jauryn
    Jauryn Posts: 73 Member
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    I'm curious if you all out there were as shocked as I was about how many calories you were consuming?

    Oh hell yeah I was surprised. You never think, or at least I didn't, that all those little snacks through the day can add up the way they do, even if you THINK they're healthy. I'd have a granola bar here, a smoothie there, lunch, dinner and all the snacking between and it just really hit me that I'm eating way more than my activity level allows once I started to record it all.

    That's why tracking things has been such a good thing for me I think, really keeps me in line, especially on really inactive days; 1200 doesn't go very far >_< That's why I love IF too, easier to handle my small amount of calories :)
  • matthej28
    matthej28 Posts: 40 Member
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    Oh yeah, when I joined MFP and started logging in everything I eat, I realized that before I was probably consuming at least 2500-4000 a day!!!!! I was like, "Well dang no wonder I can't lose weight!" Those calories add up. And it wasn't like I was eating tons of food either. Like the stuff I was eating was high-caloric and I didn't even realize it! It was always 400 calories here, 375 calories there, 200 for nibbling on this thing in the fridge...
  • Cyndieann
    Cyndieann Posts: 152 Member
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    It blew my mind, the # of calories in some of my favorite foods! Especially cheese, which I used to eat several times every day. You get to know what the low foods are and making the best choice gets easier. Plus, once you've logged everything for a while you learn how to include your favorites now and then, and still hit your goals on a weekly basis. I don't eat my daily exercise calories, I save them for the weekend so I can relax when I'm hanging out with my friends.:drinker:
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
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    I know, right?
  • susiesweets
    susiesweets Posts: 48
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    Hello All! I am in my first week of using this site because a friend at work introduced me to it and " Calories... Are They Kidding?!!" was pretty much my first thought when I discovered what they wanted me to consume for calories in a day. I don't even get to dinner before I'm out of calories and I felt so guilty the first day I entered in my foods I decided to do 2 exercise videos and some crunches to make up for it and I was just barely in the green. I don't know if I can survive on so few calories. I feel terribly hungry by the end of the day and usually give into a snack after dinner that pushes me over my calories. Who would have thought Steak would have so many calories!!!!!!!! I need my beefy critter it's too yummy to give up. So moderation moderation moderation... the new mantra that will hopefully get me happy with my body.
  • Peppah7
    Peppah7 Posts: 64 Member
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    I learned that all the little tastes & bites of things throughout the day really add up. MFP has been such a great tool
  • FitNWise
    FitNWise Posts: 12 Member
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    I've tried to eat healthy for years now, but just starting logging my food on mfp in January of this year. It was been a real learning experience. One of my biggest surprises was the calorie and sodium content of food that I thought were healthier choices - like Panera and Subway. Even the "lighter" options at Chilis are around 750 calories which is a big chunk of my daily intake. I now eat at home much more and have changed the type of food I eat. My weight is coming off slowly, but I've lost inches and my clothes fit better. The awareness I've gained from journaling my food is well worth the time spent.
  • Cyndieann
    Cyndieann Posts: 152 Member
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    I've been tracking my calories now for several weeks. I've been stuck on 165/166 lbs. I dropped to 163...only to creep back, 1/2lb day to 166. I am just so discouraged. I've been working out HARD for a year and can't drop any weight. Even working w/ a nutritionist at the gym. I've mixed up my work out schedules/routines with no luck. I don't know what to do anymore. I've tried more calories/ less calories, more exercise/less exercise....nothing changes for me.

    Same for me...I lost nothing for the first 3 months. Turns out, since I was a couch potato, I had lousy muscle tone. I went pretty hard with weights & cardio right from the start, I was losing weight & building muscle at the same time, so there was no difference on the scale. Then one day...boom! I've been losing 1lb/wk for 11 weeks, lost over 6 inches, and had my first 2lb loss this week. My new muscles have now become fat burning machines! Keep working hard on your muscles...not just cardio. Give your body the chance to get used to your new way of doing things & loss will happen for you. You can do this!:flowerforyou:
  • mango281
    mango281 Posts: 12 Member
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    I was surprised as well! but now it really helps me when I'm at restaurants. I either choose something else that is healthier or just eat 1/2 a serving.
  • Perfectdiamonds1
    Perfectdiamonds1 Posts: 347 Member
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    I'm curious if you all out there were as shocked as I was about how many calories you were consuming?

    Thx,
    Scott


    Oh yes, very surprised. This site let you know when doing the calorie count. Eat a piece of grill chicken and keep it moving. NOT THE WHOLE CHICKEN!!!!! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :tongue:
  • MissFit0101
    MissFit0101 Posts: 2,382
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    It was a shocker for me as well. When I joined MFP and became conscious of not only how much I was eating but how horrible the food choices I was making was, I really couldn't believe it. I've learned so much since then. I'm very thankful for that. I now not only pay attention to the number of calories but the list of ingredients on labels. I know what is good for me, what is not, and know that high calorie or fat foods can often be great for me,, so long as it is the healthy fat. I've learned it's also okay to eat less than stellar food sometimes if I can fit it into my macros and not binge on it. I have learned so much that I was able to maintain my weight for 5 months without counting calories anymore. Good luck to you!
  • Josephina57
    Josephina57 Posts: 170 Member
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    Ya know there were things that I thought were healthy until I found out how many calories were in them. At times 1 meal would be like 1100 calories wow that's my whole day in 1 meal...no wonder America is fat. lol.

    This.
    Keeping a dairy is an eyeopener.
  • kathleennf
    kathleennf Posts: 606 Member
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    ABSOLUTELY!! I have learned SO much from logging on MFP. I have been here for a year and a half. Before I was on MFP I went "home" to Mom and Dad's house for a week at Christmas and gained 5 lb in a week- seriously! It took me almost 6 months to lose it back. A year later, on MFP, I went home for Christmas and started logging. Yep- the "Christmas at home" food that I started logging would've seriously put me a full DOUBLE my normal (necessary for MAINTENANCE) calories every day for a week. WHOA! I learned again.

    What happens later- a year down the road? Well now those serving sizes look HUGE. Last night I was going to have a piece of cake that I had already budgeted into my meal plan and I went to cut it, measuring the proportion of the cake you know, and I thought but that's HUGE. I really didn't WANT that much. Hang in there- yes you have to keep doing it for your whole life, but it gets way easier as you go along!!!
  • PrfctGdess
    PrfctGdess Posts: 257
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    " The "sigh" part, I know I'll need to watch this the rest of my life to keep the weight off... I think I'm ok with that. "

    The truth is after awhile it becomes your lifestyle and you don't " worry or have to watch " ... it becomes " normal "

    ^^^ This :smile: Exercise becomes second nature, too, and you start feeling bad if you don't get up and move enough, because you actually MISS it :tongue:

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