[panshrmu]

I am so glad I got back on here. Actually many many moons ago when 3FC started I was on here, but goodness, that was way over 7 years ago.

I never did calorie counting and have read the frequently asked questions. So I just want to get this right:

1. it is best to start out say, 1800 calories and see how that goes and then go down from there? If I get hungry, I get issues like headache or stomach pains. I am prone to migraines, so trying to avoid the onset of headaches is a must!!

2. if I am exercising, should I "eat back" those calories or if only feeling hungry?

3. Just gotta jump in I guess!

4. I started using the iphone app, myfitnesspal...I like it so far. Does anyone use it and how do you like it?

I am 210 lbs, my highest ever. It is mostly in my hips to my knees. I am going to ride my bike as we live on a beautiful part of Taiwan, near mountains and oceans and there are bike trails.

I will join in the daily accountability and try to gain as much wisdom from you all that I can!! So ready to get this weight off!!!

[smashley52683]

Welcome!! I am new here myself, so I can't offer too much advice on the issue of exercise and calorie intake. I think it's a debate on whether or not to count those extra calories burned. I am sure some more experienced CC's will chime in on that. I just wanted to say I use myfitnesspal and I LOVE it. I do sometimes double check the entries for foods because they are all added by users and I have found them to be slightly innacurate at times. Overall it has been a very valuable tool for me. Best of luck, I look forward to updates on your progress

[Queen Sarah]

Welcome, panshrmu! (Welcome back!)

I agree -- never be hungry!

To avoid hunger, I make sure I eat TONS of nonstarchy vegetables. I might eat a large bowl of spinach, but I only count the calories of one serving, for example. I make sure I eat about 4-5 vegetables, most days.

The second thing I do that wards off hunger is to eat more lean proteins and fewer carbs. And never eat a carb without also eating some protein or healthy fat.

Also, drink water! And try not to go more than 3 hours without eating at least a small snack.

If you're doing a lot of biking, maybe 1800 is a good level, but it sounds a little bit on the high side for weight loss mode. Can you get by on 1600? I suppose you could start with 1800 and see -- maybe you are burning enough calories that it would work.

I use a Fitbit to monitor my calories in vs. calories out. When I'm in weight loss mode, I try to get the calorie deficit to be at least 500. (But if I have a very sedentary day, and my calories burned are only 1600, I don't go for such a huge deficit -- I just aim for breaking even that day, and try to be more active the next day. I have lost almost all the weight, so some weeks I take it easy and just maintain.

If I do enough activity that I need to eat more calories, and I'm not hungry, I consider it a bonus. I'll just lose more. But I try not to let my calorie deficit be more than 1000 in a day. That's not eating enough!

Just jump in, and good luck! Enjoy the bike rides and the scenery! I'm jealous!

[philana]

Welcome!

Never get hungry! That's a first. But then obviously you need to be aware of the difference between hungry and craving. Sometimes when you are tired it can seem like hunger when it really is just a craving.

I agree with the previous poster, what has helped me tremendously is paying attention to protein vs carbs. Protein really makes you feel satiated much longer and for me, (simple) carbs make me crave more food than I need. I am thinking that if you eat whole foods, the chances of getting a headache from what you are eating are slim to none. Maybe you'll migraines will even go down if you eat healthy balanced foods.

I don't know taiwanese kitchen but I know some about aasian cuisine and I can imagine staying away from the carbs is gonna be difficult, but atleast you could portion-control them so it's less than it was.

Opinions differ on eating back the calories from exercise. I don't do it unless I burned more than 500. Which barely ever happens. You just have to see how your body feels. It helps to pay close attention to what you eat before your work out and after your workout. Not so much quantity wise but quality wise that is.

Goodluck! For me calorie counting is the best way to lose weight. It gives a lot of freedom and it is so easy to do once you know the basics of nutritional value. I found about.com a very helpful website for that.

[sontaikle]

Depending on your personality, I'd advise you not to just jump into a diet and exercise routine. I think part of my own success was starting slow so while it took me seven years to get to the point where I lost the majority of my weight, I'm still here.

Choose one: exercise or eating right. Do that for a while and slowly add in the other one when it becomes routine. It can be very difficult to change you entire life in a short period of time!

I started exercising long before I started watching what I ate. This is why I list my weight as 200+, because I lost weight when I began exercising to get DOWN to 200. Exercise became routine to me, to the point where I didn't question going because it was just something I did. So when I was 190 and it came time to change my eating habits, it wasn't all that big a deal. I didn't feel overwhelmed that I was eating right and exercising because exercise didn't feel like a change I was making in my life at that point.

YMMV, but if you find that it's too much to change it all at once, try a slower approach. This isn't a race after all It's not about how fast you get to the finish line, but that you get there in the first place.

[LisaLou]

Welcome! I use MFP also and like the app and site a lot. There's a topic a little further down of others at MFP if you're looking to add "friends" on there.

Good luck on your journey!

[lin43]

I can only share my experience. Perhaps it will help you.

I started 6/2011 w/ about 40 lbs. to lose. I ate an average of 1400 calories per day, but I cycled my calories, so my daily total was inconsistent (although I don't believe I ever went below 1200). In Oct. 2011, I increased my calories to 1700 because I thought I looked pretty good & wanted to maintain. The weight fell off of me even at that higher number. So, I've kept increasing and think I can maintain my weight of 135-137 on 2100 calories a day (I'm 5 ft 3, 43 yo, btw). If I were you, I would start at the highest calorie count I could to still lose whatever amount you want to lose per week.


I didn't and don't worry about my macros because I don't want to be bothered. I subscribe to the K.I.S.S. philosophy (you know, "keep it simple, stupid"). I knew fr/ the get-go that if I made it too complicated, I would never stick w/ it. However, I like most healthy foods anyway and generally incorporate them into my everyday eating; there's not a day that goes by that I don't have at least 2-3 servings of fruits and/or veggies (often more).

I have this same K.I.S.S. philosophy w/ exercise. I try in every way I can to incorporate exercise into my daily life. During the first few months of my weight loss, I was not a member of a gym. I joined the gym only several months into my weight loss and only then because they were running a special & I like their fitness classes.

I never ate back my exercise calories because it's just too hard to figure out how many calories are really burned during a specific activity (unless you have a heart rate monitor & I don't). Also, I didn't want to tie my activity into my eating. I try to think of exercise as something I do for fitness, health, and toning. Vaguely, I'm aware that it helps me with my weight loss, but I just don't want to quantify it to the point where it affects my calorie allotment. This makes little sense to many people because I am so particular and precise with quantifying other things (e.g., see below), but there you have it.


As for calorie trackers, I've tried MFP 2-3 times, but there are two things I don't like about it:

1) It adds your exercise calories on top of whatever calorie allotment it gives you. That's inaccurate, IMHO. After all, the calories you burn during exercise are not your net calories burned. In other words, if I were to burn 300 calories walking for 45 minutes, I cannot add that 300 calories on top of my calorie allotment because I would have burned about 50 calories anyway just existing. So, the most I could add to my calorie allotment is 250 calories. I know this shouldn't make a difference since I don't intentionally eat back my exercise calories anyway, but for some reason, this bugs me.

2) MFP doesn't allow you to be as precise as some other calorie trackers in terms of serving size. For example, if I enter that I ate 1/4 serving of peanut butter (so, half of a tablespoon), MFP automatically increases it to .3 . I know that some will say that this is no big deal, but I often eat odd portions, so this is important to me.

I prefer an app called Calorie Counter by Fat Secret. It's database of foods is not as big as MFP, but I can always find a comparable food item if the one I'm eating isn't in the database.