Hello all, I am just beginning weight loss journey. I am a female, age 23 weighing 306pounds.
problem is that I am taking about 1300-1400 calories. Reading different articles and things I know this may be too little, but I am not hungry. I got fat by eating junk food, and being largely sedentary.
Now that I am incorporating more healthful foods, I eat till I am full but the calories are obviously a lot less.
I am trying to build muscle d burn fat and am introducing weights and doing cardio. I am also currently taking whey and fiber supplements.
I just want to know how its possible I can still accomplish goals even though calorie intake is lower than recomended. Any help would be welcome.
Not enough calories?
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
for one i wish you good luck on your journey I just registered here today and have seen some amazing before and after pictures. Id say life a little bit because muscle will burn more calories even when your not active 1 pound of muscle is a extra 50 calories burned per day. i think 1500 calories a day is good for a healthy wieght loss but im no expert on the subject. I reccomend you purhcase the abs diet book it tells you all the foods you should have and what they do and YOU on a diet by dr oz which tells you how the body works
Excellent first step!
You really need to calculate your BMR and add in your activity level to figure out what cals you should be taking. Undereating will not stimulate fat loss, quite the opposite. 6 meals daily, plus consider supplementing with fish oil (yes more fat).
With good nutirtion and exercise, you will see an initial loss fairly quickly, however you will need to re-evalute after 6-8 weeks and make caloric adjustments.
Post your diet and height, and I'll work the macros for you.
What is your weekly workout plan?
diana
You really need to calculate your BMR and add in your activity level to figure out what cals you should be taking. Undereating will not stimulate fat loss, quite the opposite. 6 meals daily, plus consider supplementing with fish oil (yes more fat).
With good nutirtion and exercise, you will see an initial loss fairly quickly, however you will need to re-evalute after 6-8 weeks and make caloric adjustments.
Post your diet and height, and I'll work the macros for you.
What is your weekly workout plan?
diana
Thank you quickness, thank you DianaB for the responses.
I'm excited about ieverything and want to make the best of things
@quickness The success stories and pics provided were a huge inspiration and made me want to join the forums.
@DianaB Just a little more info about me
I am 306lbs, at 5ft 7
Now calorie ranges depending on different calculators, are from 2,800 - 3500, which left me confused. I'm not intentionally trying to eat less calories than reccommended but I am more full on less calories with the healthier food. Should I eat more?
Currently I am following the couch potato - 5k programme. I'm in first week on that.
So every other day I jog for 60 seconds followed by 90 seconds of brisk walking. This is done for 20 mins, so a total of 8 sets.
I then have some oatmeal with semi-skimmed milk and then after an hour I do two tae bo dvd's total time 60 mins.
I eat immediately 2 ham slices with 2 slices of wholemeal bread plus 30g whey powder mixed with water.
After 3 hours I eat again, usually some salmon or sardines with brown rice and kidney beans and drink water with ground flaxseeds.
And then I do 30 minutes of dumbells. Working different sections each day. I'm not familiar with all the names yet
I just follow the instructions in a book I have with different dumbell excercises for women. Currently I am using 3.5kg dumbells.
After that I have another whey powder mix. and usually have some brown rice cakes.
last meal of the day is usually steamed vegetables with fish.
Thanks so much for your help. Its all a bit daunting and I just want to get it right, so its definitely appreciated.
I'm excited about ieverything and want to make the best of things
@quickness The success stories and pics provided were a huge inspiration and made me want to join the forums.
@DianaB Just a little more info about me
I am 306lbs, at 5ft 7
Now calorie ranges depending on different calculators, are from 2,800 - 3500, which left me confused. I'm not intentionally trying to eat less calories than reccommended but I am more full on less calories with the healthier food. Should I eat more?
Currently I am following the couch potato - 5k programme. I'm in first week on that.
So every other day I jog for 60 seconds followed by 90 seconds of brisk walking. This is done for 20 mins, so a total of 8 sets.
I then have some oatmeal with semi-skimmed milk and then after an hour I do two tae bo dvd's total time 60 mins.
I eat immediately 2 ham slices with 2 slices of wholemeal bread plus 30g whey powder mixed with water.
After 3 hours I eat again, usually some salmon or sardines with brown rice and kidney beans and drink water with ground flaxseeds.
And then I do 30 minutes of dumbells. Working different sections each day. I'm not familiar with all the names yet
I just follow the instructions in a book I have with different dumbell excercises for women. Currently I am using 3.5kg dumbells.After that I have another whey powder mix. and usually have some brown rice cakes.
last meal of the day is usually steamed vegetables with fish.
Thanks so much for your help. Its all a bit daunting and I just want to get it right, so its definitely appreciated.
justme
According to Harris Benedict, and factoring in light activity, you need about 2600 cals a day for maintenance. Now since you want to drop lbs, here is a suggestion for daily macros:
306 grams of protein = 1224 cals
17 g fat=153 cal
156 g carbs=624 cal
2000 cal/day
You will be dropping of 4228 cals from maintenance, which should translate into 1.2 lbs/per week. On paper. Thee calculations are not written in stone, rather a staring point. You will need to track carefully, and adjust as needed. As soon as the weight loss stops, you will need to make adjustments first to your activity levels, then to your macros.
Fats: all fats should come from lean meats, olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds and flax. Try taking about 4 grams of fish oil daily.
Try to adjust your meals so that you eat your carbs + protien in the first 3 meals of the day.The exception to this is post workout, but until you increase your resistance training, it's not really applicable.
Last 3 meals of the day are fat + protein meals. BTW, egg whites are a cheap and abundant source of protien. No processed foods, or cured meats.
Cruciferous veggies are "free" (brocolli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage)
Drink as much water as you can stomach, make it your only source of hydration (green tea is also good).
This is far from anabolic, see how you do, but we are all individuals so expect to make changes in the near future.
As for exercise, you need to add more resistance training. Start with one of these:
http://www.t-nation.com/portal_includes ... eath2.html
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/body_barbell.htm
If you can't do all of them, it's ok. Modify push ups to the knees if you can't do them on your toes, it's a goal.
Follow up with us, let's see where it takes you!
d.
According to Harris Benedict, and factoring in light activity, you need about 2600 cals a day for maintenance. Now since you want to drop lbs, here is a suggestion for daily macros:
306 grams of protein = 1224 cals
17 g fat=153 cal
156 g carbs=624 cal
2000 cal/day
You will be dropping of 4228 cals from maintenance, which should translate into 1.2 lbs/per week. On paper. Thee calculations are not written in stone, rather a staring point. You will need to track carefully, and adjust as needed. As soon as the weight loss stops, you will need to make adjustments first to your activity levels, then to your macros.
Fats: all fats should come from lean meats, olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds and flax. Try taking about 4 grams of fish oil daily.
Try to adjust your meals so that you eat your carbs + protien in the first 3 meals of the day.The exception to this is post workout, but until you increase your resistance training, it's not really applicable.
Last 3 meals of the day are fat + protein meals. BTW, egg whites are a cheap and abundant source of protien. No processed foods, or cured meats.
Cruciferous veggies are "free" (brocolli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage)
Drink as much water as you can stomach, make it your only source of hydration (green tea is also good).
This is far from anabolic, see how you do, but we are all individuals so expect to make changes in the near future.
As for exercise, you need to add more resistance training. Start with one of these:
http://www.t-nation.com/portal_includes ... eath2.html
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/body_barbell.htm
If you can't do all of them, it's ok. Modify push ups to the knees if you can't do them on your toes, it's a goal.
Follow up with us, let's see where it takes you!
d.
quality suggestions from D but i would not have you counting cal's...at this point we need to change simple behavioural / training and diet patterns...small steps at a time...
3 sessions a day is a bit much and all that will do will get you injured and quickly...give your body time to adapt from doing nothing to doing something...
do wts 3/week...do the interval stuff 3/week and the tai bo 1/week for now...maybe something like this:
mon - wts
tue - intervals
wed - wts
thu - intervals
fri - wts
sat - tai bo
sun - intervals
i would rather have you do 20 - 30min sessions everyday hard to raise metabolism than do 3 sessions a day not very hard
so for now follow the plan above and make sure that your food choices (not neccesarily) portions are correct...a simple way to do it is fruit, protein meals x 3 followed by protein, veg and slsad meals x 3...make these as small as you need to fit them in but make sure you have protein everytime you eat something...no excuses with this one
3 sessions a day is a bit much and all that will do will get you injured and quickly...give your body time to adapt from doing nothing to doing something...
do wts 3/week...do the interval stuff 3/week and the tai bo 1/week for now...maybe something like this:
mon - wts
tue - intervals
wed - wts
thu - intervals
fri - wts
sat - tai bo
sun - intervals
i would rather have you do 20 - 30min sessions everyday hard to raise metabolism than do 3 sessions a day not very hard
so for now follow the plan above and make sure that your food choices (not neccesarily) portions are correct...a simple way to do it is fruit, protein meals x 3 followed by protein, veg and slsad meals x 3...make these as small as you need to fit them in but make sure you have protein everytime you eat something...no excuses with this one
@ DianaB thanks so much for the suggestions and the information you provided. It really is a tremendous help. You have no idea. Such encouragement and aid are things that are spurring me on so thank you.
@swanso5 thank you also for your suggestions. With regards to counting calories, its kind of easier for me having a ball park figure for each meal. and I will definitely be more intense with workouts with your suggestions.
I will definitely check in reguarly and inform of progress. It makes me feel more accountable and its so nice to have informed suggestions from people willing to offer their help.
JustME
@swanso5 thank you also for your suggestions. With regards to counting calories, its kind of easier for me having a ball park figure for each meal. and I will definitely be more intense with workouts with your suggestions.
I will definitely check in reguarly and inform of progress. It makes me feel more accountable and its so nice to have informed suggestions from people willing to offer their help.
JustME
No problem.
If your not up to counting macros yet, at the least write down what you eat from every meal. This way when you start to bottom out, you will be able to track why and when it happened. This will save you a few weeks of frustration. Be prepared to lose rather quickly, initially, but also be prepared to plateau. It's normal, and having a record of food/diet will help you tremendously when you get there. The frustration of a plateau often causes a decrease in motivation, "why am I doing this to myself" feeling which is often rewarded with overeating. At your weight, I'd predict you have about 2 months before you see a slow down.
Recording your habits is a great way to stay accountable.
BTW, you have about 335 cals per meal x6 meals a day. Don't forget to reward yourself on a weekly basis, either with a "cheat meal" or buy yourself something nice. You deserve some pay-off for hard work!
d.
If your not up to counting macros yet, at the least write down what you eat from every meal. This way when you start to bottom out, you will be able to track why and when it happened. This will save you a few weeks of frustration. Be prepared to lose rather quickly, initially, but also be prepared to plateau. It's normal, and having a record of food/diet will help you tremendously when you get there. The frustration of a plateau often causes a decrease in motivation, "why am I doing this to myself" feeling which is often rewarded with overeating. At your weight, I'd predict you have about 2 months before you see a slow down.
Recording your habits is a great way to stay accountable.
BTW, you have about 335 cals per meal x6 meals a day. Don't forget to reward yourself on a weekly basis, either with a "cheat meal" or buy yourself something nice. You deserve some pay-off for hard work!
d.
Thanks DianaB, your response is encouraging and reassures me I am on the right track. I am doing all of what you ae saying. Recording all food. Counting calories and having percentages to aim for with nutrients., recording all food and activity. Also incorporating cheat meal on Sundays. I fgure not only will this give me a mental break but shock body somewhat.
Thanks for the encouragement DianaB
Quick update: I had a workout with trainer at the gym and I've lost 3kgs.
I'm starting to get back into going to the gym a bit more.
I know that the plateau will come but I am focused on FITNESS goals as well. I want to be able to use and treat body in the way it was intended.
Quick update: I had a workout with trainer at the gym and I've lost 3kgs.
I'm starting to get back into going to the gym a bit more.
I know that the plateau will come but I am focused on FITNESS goals as well. I want to be able to use and treat body in the way it was intended.
Low Calories
I just started weight loss journey. I would like some help in figuring out how many calories I should be consuming. I'm afraid if I start too low, I will lower metabolism and not have anywhere to go as I lose weight.
I started at a disturbing 242 lbs in late September. I am currently 238 lbs, 5'4'' and 44 years old. I've recently been started on Metformin for lab identified Insulin Resistance. I'm not having any trouble with the Meformin. Most complaints I hear about are GI disturbances and mine are minimal.
I've been logging food for one week. I've been taking an average of 1300-1500 calories and aiming at a 40 percent Carbs, 30 percent fat and 30 percent protein diet. exercise goal for the next 30 days is to walk daily 30 minutes. Go to the gym 3x week doing 30 min. weight training and 30 minutes eliptical trainer.
I would love recommendations on calories I should be consuming right now and any tips to help me. first goal is to hit 195 by birthday late March. life goal weight is 145.
I've lost weight before but have never been able to maintain it. I've also had to practically kill myself at the gym to lose weight in the past. I'm hoping the Metformin will make losing weight easier with the right calories and moderate exercise. I tore achilles tendon the last go around trying to lose this weight, which was over one year ago.
I started at a disturbing 242 lbs in late September. I am currently 238 lbs, 5'4'' and 44 years old. I've recently been started on Metformin for lab identified Insulin Resistance. I'm not having any trouble with the Meformin. Most complaints I hear about are GI disturbances and mine are minimal.
I've been logging food for one week. I've been taking an average of 1300-1500 calories and aiming at a 40 percent Carbs, 30 percent fat and 30 percent protein diet. exercise goal for the next 30 days is to walk daily 30 minutes. Go to the gym 3x week doing 30 min. weight training and 30 minutes eliptical trainer.
I would love recommendations on calories I should be consuming right now and any tips to help me. first goal is to hit 195 by birthday late March. life goal weight is 145.
I've lost weight before but have never been able to maintain it. I've also had to practically kill myself at the gym to lose weight in the past. I'm hoping the Metformin will make losing weight easier with the right calories and moderate exercise. I tore achilles tendon the last go around trying to lose this weight, which was over one year ago.
Low Calories
Swanso, I found the site and left you a post to reply to.