Author wannaberunner Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Hmm I appreciate all the input. I have only consistently lost weight and kept it off by two methods in the past: 1. Tracking my calories in MyFitnessPal. At the extreme end of things, I would eat 1200 calories a day, plus any calories that I burned through exercise (up to a reasonable amount-- if I ran a half marathon or a mountain run etc., I wouldn't eat ALL those calories back!). Usually this meant I ate 1200 calories a day if I didn't work out, and anywhere from 1400 to 1600 or more if I did work out. (This is when I weighed quite a bit less than I do now.) After awhile I hit a plateau and I only successfully lost weight by *increasing* the number of calories I ate a day-- so my new base was 1400, plus workout calories, and then I lost weight again (until I threw it all out the window, went back to eating whatever and rarely working out, and gained it all back and then some!) 2. Doing an eat-clean diet/lifestyle where I could eat whatever/how much I wanted, as long as it was clean, whole, and natural (and I would aim to eat 4 - 6 small meals a day, and mix my veggies and protein etc. with each meal). Or doing the Atkins diet where I could eat as much as I wanted as long as it wasn't any carbs! Honestly my *preferred* way of eating would be a healthy lifestyle where I only ate natural food and stayed away from sugar, processed foods, most carbs and dairy (because I think I have food allergies) etc. But realistically, I have tried this several times in the past few months and quickly fall off the wagon, as soon as someone waves some pizza in front of my face, or I skip a meal because I'm too hungry and then I want to chow down on some McDonald's. :-/ So I think the most realistic approach is to start out just tracking what I eat and trying to make sure I stay under a realistic calorie limit. I think to start out it will be 1600 calories, which is somewhere in between both of your recommended numbers (which I appreciate!), which I feel is realistic, and which is MUCH less than I know I've been eating, so I'm bound to lose weight even if it isn't the most ideal start! Once I've done that for awhile, I'll start to look at WHAT I'm eating and when I'm eating it etc. and make small changes-- I often feel very very motivated once I've lost some weight and see some good physical and emotional changes, but it's harder for me in the beginning, when it seems like this huge challenge and it's just easier to ignore it. So hopefully starting with a small, consistent change (track my calories every day and don't go over 1600, no matter what or when I eat), will lead to bigger changes that I want to make. With both of your recommended numbers, do you eat the same amount of calories even when you work out, or do you eat more calories to compensate what you burn when you work out? Essentially should I say 1600 plus workout calories, or 1600 no matter what? Also, thanks for the book suggestion, I'll check it out! Link to post Share on other sites
fucpcg Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Those are pretty technical questions you needn't worry about at this stage yet. Just focus on eating healthy and exercise. The more tuned up you become, the more you can worry about specific diet strategies like how many exact calories per day, based on exercise level and other things. The best diet is a mixing of high calorie, low calorie, medium calorie days, but that is really advanced levels before becoming relevant. Link to post Share on other sites
brahmabull117 Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Workout and go to bed a little hungry that's really all I focus on and I get great results. Lot of times I don't even count calories, I just eat small portions and make sure I go to bed on empty stomach/little hungry Link to post Share on other sites
Author wannaberunner Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Thanks guys Link to post Share on other sites
crazylove Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Really useful thread, and must say that I can totally relate to you wannaberunner. I know I tend to overeat, and think i'm addicted to sugar. If i tend to have large meal sizes, and although i am in the 'healthy' range for my height (i'm also 5'3), I feel sluggish and big for my height. I have every intention of eating healthily, but, if I stray with one meal or have a unhealthy 'snack' (eg chocolate) I also tend to think...well, i'll start again tomorrow, and eat rubbish the rest of the day because i've already 'failed' for the day anyway! I'm about to start (yet again) to lose weight and get really fit ready for summer here. I have a physical job, so i have a good base level of fitness, but i'm determined to try and get toned up and feel good about myself again. I too will take the advice of fucpcg and Brahmabull about concentrating on eating healthy to start with, keeping calories within a certain level and having smaller meal sizes more often. Link to post Share on other sites
Author wannaberunner Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 Well yesterday was an epic fail. :-( I barely ate all day because I wanted to save my 1600 calories for a big dinner my friends and I were going to in the evening. It was at a Mexican restaurant (I love Mexican food!) so I figured I'd have some chips and salsa, half of an entree and half a sopapilla, and a margarita or two, and that would be about 1600 calories (I drank coffee with flavored creamer and ate 1/4 a cup of pistachios other than that during the day). Well I ate about what I'd planned on eating at the dinner, or even less (maybe 1/3 of my huevos rancheros, and a 1/4 of a sopapilla). But I drank much more than I'd planned. My friend who was in town from out of state wanted to go to a bar near my house after dinner, so we did, and I drank 3 cranberry vodkas and some kind of mixed drink that was the bar's specialty. To me this illustrates a bigger problem, lack of discipline in general... we closed the bar down and I slept in late this morning, which might have been fine if it was a weekend but of course it's not (I own my own business which is nice but I should still put in at least 8-hour days and get to work at a reasonable hour, not 1 pm!) I hate that I can't stick to what I plan to do, and instead go way overboard. I know it's related to other issues I have, such as an anxiety disorder/occasional depression, but I really want to break the cycle and don't know how to do it without completely changing everything about my life!! I guess counting calories is the least of my problems and I have to figure out how to be consistent in accomplishing my goals. I'm very mad at myself and bummed today. Link to post Share on other sites
brahmabull117 Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Well yesterday was an epic fail. :-( I barely ate all day because I wanted to save my 1600 calories for a big dinner my friends and I were going to in the evening. It was at a Mexican restaurant (I love Mexican food!) so I figured I'd have some chips and salsa, half of an entree and half a sopapilla, and a margarita or two, and that would be about 1600 calories (I drank coffee with flavored creamer and ate 1/4 a cup of pistachios other than that during the day). Well I ate about what I'd planned on eating at the dinner, or even less (maybe 1/3 of my huevos rancheros, and a 1/4 of a sopapilla). But I drank much more than I'd planned. My friend who was in town from out of state wanted to go to a bar near my house after dinner, so we did, and I drank 3 cranberry vodkas and some kind of mixed drink that was the bar's specialty. To me this illustrates a bigger problem, lack of discipline in general... we closed the bar down and I slept in late this morning, which might have been fine if it was a weekend but of course it's not (I own my own business which is nice but I should still put in at least 8-hour days and get to work at a reasonable hour, not 1 pm!) I hate that I can't stick to what I plan to do, and instead go way overboard. I know it's related to other issues I have, such as an anxiety disorder/occasional depression, but I really want to break the cycle and don't know how to do it without completely changing everything about my life!! I guess counting calories is the least of my problems and I have to figure out how to be consistent in accomplishing my goals. I'm very mad at myself and bummed today. Get back on the horse and remember what I told you about removing your attachment to food and alcohol Restrict your eating as much as possible within reason. Try to only go out once or twice a week and make sure your non going out days that you are eating very low calories You can do it. I was 250 LBS @ 35% bodyfat in high school and now I'm at like 12% bodyfat. You can do it Link to post Share on other sites
fucpcg Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Don't punish yourself over the things you shouldn't. You had a night out with friends, good for you! Don't police what you do on a night of pleasure, unless you are out 7 days a week. NEVER skip eating all day even if a big meal is coming. You are not looking at the bigger picture, and you need to be. Weightloss is NOT measured day to day, nor week to week. It should be month to month. And a truer measurement of results anyway should be the tape measure, not the scale. Link to post Share on other sites
betterdeal Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 I found that eating some yoghurt in the morning helped stabilize my "food mood". I also started taking Probio 7 and that really helped: turns out establishing a good balance of "friendly" microbes in your gut is a good thing. Link to post Share on other sites
Author wannaberunner Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 Thank you both for the encouragement. I live a life of excess/extremes... way too much going out for dinner, drinks, etc. Seems there is always something to do and people inviting me out and I always want to go. So I need to scale that back for many reasons-- nutrition, health, finances, getting other more important things done, getting better sleep (I have a sleep disorder but I don't do much to make it better!), etc. I will try to keep the overall picture in mind and to start over again even though I didn't even make it one day! Thanks guys. Link to post Share on other sites
brahmabull117 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Thank you both for the encouragement. I live a life of excess/extremes... way too much going out for dinner, drinks, etc. Seems there is always something to do and people inviting me out and I always want to go. So I need to scale that back for many reasons-- nutrition, health, finances, getting other more important things done, getting better sleep (I have a sleep disorder but I don't do much to make it better!), etc. I will try to keep the overall picture in mind and to start over again even though I didn't even make it one day! Thanks guys. Stay positive and grind through it. Everybody feels like they want to give up sometimes, you gotta fight through the defeatist attitude I'm telling you I went from 250 LBs with a belly all the way down to 190 Lbs with a six pack last summer. Anybody can be in great shape, it's not hard. You just have to try to remove your attachment to food and live a controlled lifestyle Link to post Share on other sites
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