[Joszac]

This is my first post here, besides the introduction.

So, as I read around on the net I find all these site that let me figure out how many calories I should consume in a day to lose weight. Most I've found say eat about 500 less than what your caloric intake is to maintain my current weight. Then I will lose 1 pound a week. Well, I'm not happy losing one pound a week. It'll take me about 2 yrs to lose the weight I want too and that is just not acceptable to me. So can you folks tell me approx. how many calories you cut from you diets to lose weight? How much weight a month are you happy to lose (yes i know any is good but what are you truly happy with?)

I have lost weight before but I had a trainer who worked me about 2 hours a day in a gym 5-6 days a week. I can't do that anymore so I have to figure this out on my own...with you guys help hopefully.

My current weight is:229
Height: 5'2"
age: month short of 45

I have not been exercising but I am willing to start doing the treadmill 3x a week for 30 minutes at a brisk pace. I hope as I lose weight I'll feel like using all the equipment at my disposal (complete weight system) but I know for now a realistic goal for me is the treadmill idea.

ALSO, not to overload you all but might as well get it out there, I am obsessed with food. I hate sweets but am obsessed with most other unhealthy food. I, until recently, would eat until I could barely breath and be miserable but as soon as that feeling started going away I'd eat again. Now I'm trying to think of food as fuel, my car has never gotten fat. But I am spending all day talking myself out of eating.

Ok, so there it is, for now. Can anyone help or give suggestions or post their story on how they got started and kept going?

Thanks,
Linda

[kuchick]

I ate 1500 calories to start and dropped to 1200-1400 calories for the last 4 months. All the calorie calculators said that I should lose 2 pounds a week at that rate, but that didn't prove true for me. It didn't take long for me to start feeling so much lighter and healthier even when I was still considered obese, so I found that I could be pretty patient as long as I was still losing. I found that substituting out foods I loved for slightly lower calorie versions worked for me. La Tortilla factory for soft tacos and wraps, fish tacos (or shrimp) instead of higher fat ground beef, and a lot of creativity. Buffalo shrimp tacos with feta and grape tomatoes are delicious. It seems overwhelming now, but you'll lose quickly enough to see positive changes soon.

BTW I use an elliptical 30 - 45 minutes 5 times a week, but started at 30 minutes about 3 months in.

Oh, and I'm also almost 40.

[Joszac]

Thank you for the suggestions I find it is very hard for me to stay at even 1500 calories. One day I did do 1122, not on purpose just ended up that way, but the next day I felt hungry and more obsessed with food. Why is it SOOOOOOOOO easy to gain this FAT and so hard to lose it

[jessy 49]

Getting the protein up and the carbs down will really help with the "hunger" and "cravings".

[Joszac]

I'm having a hard time keeping carbs down. I read somewhere try to keep them at 50g a day. A large apple has about 30g so I just don't know how to keep the carbs that low? I was surprised to see that tomatoes have carbs!

btw...Thank you

[lottie63]

I was doing 1500 while I was not exercising. When I am more active I eat 1600. I've been losing on average about 8-9 lbs a month. I'm happy with that but the next few months I"m trying so squeeze out 10 a month since I'm increasing my activity.

My starting weight was 299
current weight is 244
age is 31.

the bmr calculator I used for you, says you can eat about 1400 cals a week and expect to lose 2 lbs per week.

I also have pcos and am insulin resistant. 50 grams of carbs is really low. If you can't do it now, doing it for the rest of your life might not be realistic for you, trying to find a plan that is something you do for life and do as easily as possible is best.

Either way, a 'low carb 1400 cal plan' for you according to a calculator I use is almost 90 grams of carbs a day. This is net carbs, so you subtract fiber from carbs to get the new carb value.

example:

1 med granny smith has 22 grams of carbs and 4 grams of fiber, so the true value of carbs is 18.

I just added things up, I eat the recommended amount of fiber pretty much every day (25-35 grams, sometimes 40 or 45) and on average I eat about 150 grams of net carbs a day. This is not low carb, but it is about 50 less than a 'moderate' diet. while being about 50 more than low carb, and way way less than the standard american diet.

I generally eat 30-40% of my calories from protein. I'm vegan though, so my protein is generally low fat, low cholesterol, high in good fats. (avocado, nuts, beans, grilled/baked tofu, olive oil, etc)

I think it's just about finding what works for you personally.

Just experiement a bit and give each change a week or two to show if it's working out or not maybe?

[jessy 49]

Originally Posted by Joszac

I'm having a hard time keeping carbs down. I read somewhere try to keep them at 50g a day. A large apple has about 30g so I just don't know how to keep the carbs that low? I was surprised to see that tomatoes have carbs!

btw...Thank you

I have eliminated everything made with white flour. I eat some whole grain (oatmeal) for breakfast and usually 1/2 a whole wheat pita for lunch. I don't worry about fruit or vegetables (no white potatoes though). Occasionally I have a small amount of whole wheat pasta or brown rice for dinner. As long as I'm getting enough protein the hungry sensations and cravings for carbs are pretty much gone.


I agree with the OP that I don't see any point in doing any program that I can't keep up for a very long time (forever). I am tired of the "lose weight/gain weight cycle" and of fretting over my weight every day of my life!

[lottie63]

Yeah, I eat fruit and veggies, cept white potatoes, I eat yams instead.

I'm gluten free, but i eat whole grain breads (brown rice flour, etc), very rarely though. just got a bread maker and am limiting myself to bread every other day or so. I eat gluten free pasta a few times a week, usually one small serving loaded with veggies.

I think if you eat enough protein, healthy fats, and veggies, that carbs will kind of fall where they should. (eating a 99% whole foods diet helps this happen naturally.)

[Joszac]

lottie63 - I'd love to know where you found the bmr calculator. I know you can't put the link here but could you pm it to me? I think my pm works now but not sure since I'm so new.

thank you both for the further suggestions. I think I need to change to whole wheat bread or pita. Right now for lunch I use 1 slice of potato bread and from what I'm reading here that probably isn't the wisest choice. I need to experiment with other substitutions as well because one of the things I miss is mexican food.

I would be happy with 8 pounds or even a little more right now. I know the heavier I am the faster the weight SHOULD come off in the beginning.

I can't wait til I've been here about 20 days so I can have one of those weight loss tickers. To me it seems like seeing that everyday I check the site would be a good incentive to keep going.

[Gale02]

Welcome! You've found a great community here, and I look forward to seeing you around.

So, a couple of questions. Why are you trying to go low carb? Is that the plan you're trying to follow in addition to calorie counting?

And my other question is about your rate of weight loss. I know you want to lose upwards of 8 lbs per month, but what are you going to do on the months when that doesn't happen? (Because, in all likelihood, those months will come.) What if you only lose 5 lbs in 3 months like I have the past few months? Are you going to give up and regain it back plus some because it's not fast enough success? Try to redefine your idea of success, if you can. Even a single pound lost is a spectacular success, no matter how long it takes.

[hayleycreates]

Just my 2 cents but I think you should stop focusing on the diet mentality of it or you'll end up right back where you started. It really sucks when we have to listen to our honest selves and figure out what is really going on. I'm losing weight steadily, I'm not suffering, I'm not in a rush and that's because I pay attention to what I eat - the quality, the portion, the why and the when. I'm not on a diet, I made a choice to change my life. I don't want to be heavy and unhealthy anymore. I want to be more active and feel personally stronger. I want to eat for the right reasons.

I hope you find the right path for yourself. I wish you only success.

[Joszac]

As for the question on carbs...from what i read online it seems most want you to limit the amount of carbs when you are trying to lose weight. Several sites have said to keep the carbs at about 50g a day. I also read that a higher carb intake can increase cravings. So that is why I'm trying to watch the carbs but have come to the realization that 50g a day is just not doable for me.

Losing weight "fast" to me doesn't mean immediately. won't happen. But I know myself well enough to know that if I eat 1400 calories or less a day and lose only a couple pounds in a month that will derail me, at least right now. In the beginning, because I weigh so much for my height, I think the weight should come off faster than that. I know that down the road my weight lose will stall at times and I'll have to make changes to get it going again. But again it is just my mentality for now that a few pounds a month will discourage me. Right or wrong that is unfortunately where I am at right now.

My hope is as I lose weight my thought process will start to change as well. For that is where my problem is. I have lost weight, gained it back, lost it again and gained it again. This time, with support here I'm hoping, I can learn to change my thinking on food and keeping the weight off once lost.

[carter]

I have to second what others say ... what's your rush? Those two years will pass whether or not you are losing weight ... better to lose slowly, in a way that you can get used to and live comfortably with, so that you can keep the weight off and not wind up right back where you started in four or 5 years.

Just to give you my experience - I started with 100+ pounds to lose, also. I'm about 19 months into my process and I've lost 80 so far - and I am completely delighted. For the first time in many attempts to lose weight, I feel I have succeeded in changing my habits for good. For the first time, I'm really confident that I won't ever gain it all back.

I don't eat low-carb; I haven't found that I need to - but lots of people do. That said, I choose my calories carefully, and I find that things like pasta and rice usually aren't worth the calories to me. It was a surprise to me to learn this, but there it is. (I do eat whole-grain bread sometimes - often in sandwiches at lunch - but I can't keep it in the house. ) Fruit, on the other hand, is a complete staple to me - I often eat 3-4 pieces of fruit a day, which serious low-carbers might not do.

Ultimately, you have to do the science experiment to figure out what is going to work for you. That means trying different plans, and giving them time before you decide whether they are working. At your weight, you might not have to eat as low as 1400 calories a day - try starting out at 1600 or 1700 and see how it feels, see if you lose - over a period of several months, not days or weeks. Adjust your thinking to the long term. It's trite but true - you didn't put the weight on all at once, and you can't take it off all at once either.

Best of luck to you.

[lottie63]

sorry, but you still don't have a contact on here. I think you need a certain number of posts? I"m not sure.

email me if you want it, my email is somethingshiny99 at gmail (dot) com

[Shmead]

Can we no longer post links? I thought we could once we had a certain number of posts.

To the OP: You know what sucks worse than taking two years to lose the weight? White-knuckling your way down 100 lbs, having everyone praise you and gush over you, and then, over the course of a year, put it back on, watching the looks in people's eyes as they notice you getting fatter and fatter as you approach and then exceed your old weight.

I don't know if you can lose weight at a rate of more than a lb a week. It may well be possible. All you can do is experiment with calorie levels and track the results and see what happens. But in the end, if you have to chose between fast-and-miserable and slow-and-easy, chose slow-and-easy. Because if a diet makes you miserable on AVERAGE days, it's not sustainable the day your dog dies, after a 16 hour work day, the day your kid vomits down your front as you walk out the door, the six weeks when you have a broken ankle and hurt all the damn time, the holidays, your mother in law's visit . . .you get my point.

Remember, too, that "two years" doesn't mean "two years at my current weight and then POOF it's gone". It doesn't work that way. You are losing weight the whole time, every day is a day of progress and happiness. TRUST ME, at 50 lbs down you'll love your body so much, you won't be upset that you aren't at goal.