How do I stop eating 6,000 calories??

To all of you who took the time to look at my diary and offer me some help - I really appreciate that you have reached out and given me some support. I can't believe what a great (and helpful!) community there is out here, I am so glad that I checked it out

I am so grateful for all the advice about substitutions. I can't believe that some of you even typed out meal plans for me. You are amazing!

If you are interested in what I am taking from all of this so far:

- I have calculated my BMR and TDEE at fat2fitradio.com and changed my calorie goal to 1,700 (if I exercise then I will eat more). I am going to see how this goes for today and if I feel that I need to, I'm going to increase it to 2,000 until I get the hang of things
- I will definitely be making substitutions/eliminations of the fattier foods I eat (bacon, cream, cheese, cookies, chocolate)
- I am going to try not to drink calories and try to drink much more water instead
- for now I am going to walk more (and put more effort into it) but I will be looking into some sort of exercise routine/schedule
- I will educate myself more on nutrition and eating healthy (I might be too lazy to input all of my own foods in the database but hopefully some education will help me spot the entries that are off)
- the thought of life without chocolate milk is making me very sad so I am going to look into chocolate protein shakes

AMAZING followup reply YOU CAN DO IT! :bigsmile:

You can do it! But, start slowly. If you try to do too much at first you will give up and quit. Here are a few tips:

If you don't already have it, get the app for your phone. That way, your diary is at your fingertips at all times. No more forgetting!

Starting with drinking only water was a good tip. If you are really craving a soda or carbonation, try a La Croix. It is flavored soda water. It has zero calories and counts towards your water intake for the day. The bubbles make you feel full and tricks you into thinking you are having a treat. Don't expect it to taste like a Dr. Pepper or anything though!

Another tip is to look at your calorie goal as a game. Do some research on low calorie foods, healthy snacks, etc. Then see how much you can eat and still stay within your calorie range. Trading veggies for chips with your dips is a good place to start.

Exercise and tally up those calories, too. Exercise=more food.

Watch out for dairy products! Especially cheese. Just a little bit has tons of calories. There have been many times one slice of cheese sent me over my limit, and the sandwich would've been just as good without it!

If you aren't satisfied after one helping, load up on veggies and fruit. You're still eating, getting fuller, but it will be less calories than if you eat another cheeseburger.

Read healthy food blogs and talk to your friends.

My number one tip! Be honest! Log everything even if you go over. It will open your eyes to how much you have been eating--so many of us are clueless until we start tracking-- plus, it will motivate you to d better the next day. The more you log, the easier it will be for you to make smart choices and see patterns. Plus, even if you are over chances are it will still be less than what you have been eating, and that is progress! Lying to yourself will only make you feel worse.

Good luck!!!!

Hi,

Just wanted to say well done for starting!!!

I can totally see how you have reached that figure and how easy it would be to allow your self to eat like that...I have spent years letting myself eat however I want....more often than not just simply not tracking the bad foods (if I don't track they calories they don't count right???).

Way to go on acknowledging that you need to, and are ready to start looking at cutting back and looking at what you have tracked for breakfast you are well on your way to a much better day today.

My only advice would be not to go the whole way on day one because in my experience this will leave you feeling deprived and almost resenting the diet!!

Take your time and if each day you make one smarter choice than the previous day you will see your calorie intake come right down.

Good luck with your losses :bigsmile:

haha I can relate...

Mfp takes off 500 calories for every pound you want to lose a week which isnt exactly accurate (but 1 lb of fat is burned with 3500 calories, it doesn't mean everything your burning is fat though). If your falling off the wagon eating 1500 then jump off and jump on a different one. Figure out your tdee and know that if you eat anything below that you should lose weight. Also tdees are estimated, so some people can eat at their tdee and lose. Just type tdee calculator in a search engine and you will likely come up with fitness frogs.

Im 120 and 5'7 and agree that 1500 is not allot. I have to eat over 2000 to be happy so I make sure I move. At the same time what your eating is a lot. Cut down by small amounts so your not hungry at first and you will eventually get to weight loss zones (look up tdee).

PS I wouldn't listen to what a lot of people are saying on this thread so don't assume everything everyone is saying is right.

It is a shock when we finally face the fact that we eat more than we ever dreamed.It scared the hell out of me. Yes, 1500-1600 calories are possibe. Things that have worked for me include using a salad plate instead of a dinner plate, drinking a full glass of water (or milk) before sitting down to eat, no white food, no eating out and, most important to me, No processed food!!! I cook everything from scratch. I use whole grain pasta, when I eat pasta, eat sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, drink 1% milk (or non-fat if you can stand it). It is the little tricks that are allowing me to drop weight and inches. And that was without exercise. I hate exercise, so I garden, take short walks (to the end of the block and back), and play with the dogs. Don't forget to add activities you don't think of as exercise. Mostly, don't give up. This site is a real blessing for me, if for no other reason than to have a place to turn to with people who understand. Friend me if you like. Love and Light thruthewoods13

In essence, less sugar, less white bread (will bread in general, but white bread specifically), less bacon, less cheese... and one does not need to eat 4 pieces of garlic bread.... I know this sounds a bit judgey.....

But 1500 calories is totally doable... fill up on proteins of the plant (things like avacado, tree nuts and the like) and animal varieties (just the lean versions of the animal)... eat more spinach (or kale).... more things from the ground, less things that had blood (though some is perfectly fine).

I just checked out your diary, and GREAT JOB on making adjustments already! Your breakfast caloric intake is down 800 calories alone, so you've already cut back to under 5000 for the day from yesterday!!!! Keep it up, and by tonight I bet you'll find that you are WAY under yesterday's total!!! You CAN do this!!!!

Tiny tidbit of advice for ya. Make one of your fruit choices dried plums (prunes). Eating prunes will do two things:

1. It will help clear out your intestines of all the crap youve been eating and keep you regular.
2 Most ppl dont know that while prunes move things along in your intestines, they actually slow things in your stomach. Digestion takes longer so you feel full longer!

Work up to eating 6 a day in twos. (Two a day the first week, four a day the second week, and 6 a day the third week)

they have a ton of other health benefits but in your case feeling full longer is a great bonus to help you cut down your calories!

I looked at your food diary and I think you might have doubled up on some enteries on the day I saw that you reached over 4,000 calories. I saw many of the same things that were on your breakfast enteries that were also on your lunch enteries. Are you sure your really eating that much and maybe not making an error entering your food?

For lower calories and ultimatley better for you, try switching a few things I saw in your diary. EX: bacon switch for turkey bacon, bread switch to wheat or even better for you whole grains bread, have one serving of M&Ms once in a while.Try egg whites or beaters, and throw a real egg in once in a while, increase your H2O intake. I try to stay in between 1200-1400 reguardless of my exercise, that is what works for me when I stay focused. So find your number stay focused and you will reach your goals. We didnt put the weight on over night and its not coming off overnight. Good Luck !!!!!

The easiest way to consume calories (and least fulfilling) is by drinking them. If I had to give just one tip to someone starting out I would tell them to not drink anything except water for 2 weeks and see how much weight they loose. I was never overweight and even I dropped 6-8 pounds when I stopped drinking a gallon of orange juice every 3-4 days. Good luck, you can do it!

You may be setting yourself up for failure to suddenly go down so low from what you are used to eating. Maybe you can do changes in your diet without worrying so much about the calories. The changes will automatically bring down the calorie count.

I would immediately get rid of all those sweets. Heck 460 calories for just TWO cookies and I used to eat half a bag at a sitting! Maybe if I would have used MFP sooner I wouldn't have gotten so fat!

Anyway, also limit yourself to only whole grains bread and pasta. Getting in fiber will really help fill you up.

I noticed a BIG difference when I cut all processed foods too.

I'd stop drinking your calories, you will limit what you can eat.

Make veggies your new best friends.

Try leaner meats without all the condiments. I used to scoff behind people's backs who were ordering turkey burgers instead of the "real" thing but have now found that I really like them!

I live on 1280 and that is to only lose 1 1/2 lb a week. First adjust what you want to lose to less a week and get used to eating that much and then taper down for bigger losses weekly.
You probably need to educate yourself a bit about food and nutrition. Get a decent food scales and learn what nutirents your body needs. It sounds like you are choosing high calorie things to eat that have little fiber. Fiber fills you up. Protein takes longer to go through your system and keeps you fuller longer also.
Drink water. Alot of the time what we take as hunger is really thirst. Drink before you are thirsty. It will also help you fill up.
At the very least, if you can't take a class on nutrition I would recommend Bob Harpers new book called The Skinny Rules. I read it and actually "get" why some things I eat make me full and others dont. Just and FYI...I am not following all the rules in the book but I am following some and seeing progress. Most importantly, I can stop eating and be full.

Hello,

I am new to this. I put it in most of what I ate today and it is around 5,744 (I cannot remember everything) but this program says my goal should be 1,530.

Is this right? I know I eat more than some other people but is 1,530 really manageable? I am not very active but now I think I should start! Please feel free to send me any advice.

Well if I was you, i'd cut out about 2,000 calories and start there. Jumping that low makes no sense from your starting point. Over time decrease them as you lose weight.

This, but seriously you need to really look at that diary and evaluate it, you had about 1000 calories in dessert type food and that's not considering the crap you're drinking. . . I see no complex carbos only ultra processed breads (if it says that it is enriched that's a bad thing, it means that it's so over processed that it needs to have nutrition added back to have any nutritional value), and no lean meats, I can't even figure out how you are pooping.

Start at 2500 to 3000 calories by making smarter decisions (lean meats, whole grains, more fresh veggies). Log the food you are consuming BEFORE you eat it so you can regroup and make a different decision if necessary. Up your protein by A LOT. After you get used to the decrease in calories go on a 2 week sugar detox then add it back (a life without chocolate isn't a life I want to live) so that you're more reasonable with your portions (your body will find that less is more when it's not used to it).

Eat thoughtfully.

Also, move, move, move.

Plan ahead. Focus on lean meats and complex carbs. Log your whole day ahead of time. Stick to it day in and day out, you'll get the hang of it.