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Old 12-18-2008, 03:55 PM   #1  
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Default Multiple issues/problems that I need advice or just a me too...

Ok, so just let me know if these are things to worry about or if they're normal and if you can, tell me how to fix them.

1) Swelling - almost everyday my ankles get inflated while at work, so much that by the end of the day I am regretting wearing capris and open shoes because I feel like everyone can see my huge ankles and feet. My fingers are also swelling when I go for my nightly walks...so much that I can't get my engagement ring off without the soap and water technique. I know swelling is caused by water retention and salt causes water retention. But I honestly don't think I am consuming much salt. I really don't pay attention too much though. I guess I should. When I put on my socks and sneakers and go for the walk, when I come home and take them off my feet, my feet and ankles look super skinny and even smaller than before the swelling even started. Could it possibly be my work shoes? It only seems to happen when I wear a pair of 2 in platform flip flops with a thin strap, a pair of kitten-heel peep toes, and a pair of 1 in. platform peep-toes. But that is pretty much every day. Could it also be from sitting down all day? I just want it to stop and it is one of 25 reasons I want to lose weight.

2) Extreme hunger - I am on day 9 of 1200 calories a day and the hunger just has not subsided. I am even taking diet pills in hopes of curbing the appetite. They worked a bit in the beginning, but not too much lately. Will the hunger ever go away. I feel satisfied while I am eating and shortly afterward, but anymore than an hour later I could eat a cow (or something delicious but equally large). Please tell me that it goes away!

3) Heartburn - along with the extreme hunger comes heartburn. I went to the doctor yesterday and he said he thinks I have acid reflux and gave me a months worth of Nexium and told me to take Maylox or Mylanta 4 times a day (which is beyond disgusting). Does this happen to anyone else and if so does it get better as time goes on?

Here is the last two days of my food journal just to see if what I am eating is causing any of this:

12/17
Strawberry Smoothie - (1 cup strawberries, 6oz lite sugar free vanilla yogurt, ice, 3 packets splenda)
2 servings Baked BBQ lays
Medium Banana
Spinach Salad (2 cups raw spinach, 1 tbsp bacon pieces, 2 tbsp croutons, sprinkle of ff cheese, 1 tbsp lite honey mustard dressing)
Spinach and Artichoke Lean Pocket
Smart One Italian Calzone
1.5 cups frozen cauliflower with cheese nuggets
Total Calories 1,290
(I don't really eat whole meals, since I work in an office environment I just eat all day here and there, but that is the order that I ate it in except the chips - I had one serving late morning and one serving late night)

12/16
1 egg scrambled with ff cheese slice (made two but it tasted awful that early in the morning so the dogs got one - for some reason sometimes I can't stomach eggs in the morning)
2 pieces of white toast and 1tbsp strawberry jelly
Turkey and ff cheese sandwich
Spinach and Artichoke Lean Pocket
Frozen cut up potatoes with garlic and herb sauce - 2 cups
1 slice of graduation ice cream cake
Total Calories - 1155
(somehow I was less hungry this day than the previous-hence less calories)

HELP!
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Old 12-18-2008, 04:36 PM   #2  
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1200 calories - that's part the problem - too few calories. How much water are you drinking?

Please don't continue to set yourself up - this won't work long term. Your body needs fuel just like your car. When it runs out of gas it stops! Your body thinks it is starving so holding on to everything it can. Please go to one of the online sources to see how many calories you should be eating. Take it from the voice of experience - too few calories will not help you lose weight.

If you aren't sure you can go the thedailyplate.com or fitday.com to see how many calories you need.

Keep us posted.

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Old 12-18-2008, 04:48 PM   #3  
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Yeah, I think you need more calories too. Your body will be more healthy and be able to looser better if you eat more. I would think 1600 minimum.
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Old 12-18-2008, 04:52 PM   #4  
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Sorry I forgot to mention drinks
I drink AT LEAST 8 cups a day, but usually between 10-15 depending on how much I remember to pull that cup to my lips.
I have been off diet soda for about 3-4 weeks now. I used to drink 4-5 cans a day. But now I just have it about every other week, if that.
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Old 12-18-2008, 04:53 PM   #5  
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The very first thing is that at your current weight 1200 calories is NOT ENOUGH. No wonder you're starving. You should probably be eating around 2000 calories at this point to lose weight. Maybe even 2200. Raise those calories now before your body freaks out.

1) Swelling - There are a lot of things that can cause you to retain water around your feet and ankles especially. Environment can be a big factor, and so can salt intake. I notice in your menu, you're eating a lot of processed foods and white flour. That will also cause you to retain. And yes, sitting all day, especially when you're very overweight, is horrible for your circulation and will contribute to swollen ankles and feet. My advice would be to cut out the processed foods, really drop your sodium intake, and try to get up and walk around at least once every 2 hours (more if possible). Oh, and drink WATER. Not in huge gulps or a glass at a time, but sip on water all day and see if you can't get in at least 40 oz a day or more.

2) Extreme hunger - See above. Eat more. But not just more. Eat healthy, filling foods that make you feel satisfied. Lots of lean protein. Lots of veggies and fruits. Lots of *complex* carbs (not white bread).

3) Heartburn - The heartburn will go away if you eliminate the starchy, salty, processed foods. And it will go away as you lose weight. ONe of the best things for me about losing weight and eating healthier is that I haven't had heartburn in nearly 2 years.

Here's what I eat on an average day:

Breakfast: 1 serving Fage Greek Yogurt, frozen blueberries
Snack: apple with 1 oz sharp cheddar cheese
Lunch: leftovers from dinner the night before, but always protein, carbs and veggies. Today was whole wheat pasta, sauteed mushrooms and spinach, chopped chicken breast
Snack: baby carrots, celery and hummus
Snack: 1/2 peanut butter sandwich (2 T pb on 1 slice of whole grain bread)
Post workout snack: 1 scoop protein powder in water
Dinner: huge bowl of veggie stir fry sauteed in olive oil
Snack: Edy's all fruit lemon frozen fruit bar

That comes to around 1560 calories, of which 35% is protein, 40% is carbs, and 25% is healthy fat.

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Old 12-18-2008, 05:14 PM   #6  
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Ok, so I went to thedailyplate.com and told it how much I weigh, how old I am, how tall I am, and it said that to maintain my weight at a lightly active level I would need to consume 3,686 calories. It is absolutely impossible that I was eating that many calories!!! I was gaining too...so I had to be eating more like 4,000 or 4,500. There must be something wrong with me, because I truly don't think I was eating that many calories. I mean yes, maybe 2,500 or 3,000 at the tops, but not 4,000!!! It also said for me to lose 2 lbs a week at moderately active which I have made the effort to be, I would need to consume 3,253 a day. I don't even know what to do with this information. I guess I need to go to the doctor's to have some tests done, and see if there is anything wrong with me. In one year I gained about 40 lbs. That's 383 extra calories a day, so I had to be consuming (according to thedailyplate's calculations) 4,069 calories a day. Impossible. Either that or I am in a SERIOUS case of denial. Any suggestions?
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Old 12-18-2008, 05:20 PM   #7  
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Well ... um .. not to say you're in denial ... But you are probably in denial.

I was. Most of us here were.

It's easy to underestimate the amount of food you eat. And especially in our culture here today where portion sizes are so unnaturally skewed. Most Americans have *NO* clue what a real portion size of something is. Look at the food we eat every day - McDonalds and Wendys and Arbys and all those places with their "large" and super sized and biggie sized foods. Restaurants that serve an entire pizza per person or platter sized plates heaped with food. 30 years ago a McDonalds regular cheeseburger was the regular adult sized meal. Now it's a double QP with cheese.

It's easily possible to consume 4000 plus calories a day. I used to do it on a regular basis.

Think about what you used to eat on a daily basis. In fact, enter it into the Daily Plate and see what you come up with. One time I entered an average days worth of eating (including buying my lunch at Chick Fil A) and I came up with nearly 4200 calories. I just about passed out.

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Old 12-18-2008, 05:26 PM   #8  
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Btw, just as a point of reference:

A quarter pounder with cheese is 510 calories
A large serving of fries is 540 calories
A large Coke is 256 calories

One McDonald's meal then = 1300 calories

That's as much as some people eat all day. And that's not to say that you ate McDonald's every day, but it gives you an example of how many calories most Americans eat every day w/out even realizing it.

Or another few examples:
Chili's Crispy Chicken salad is 810 calories
Chili's Caesar salad with grilled chicken is 1100 calories

1 7oz filet mignon steak is 450 calories

1 deli turkey sandwich from Subway with cheese and mayo can have up to 500 calories.
The subway Italian BMT sandwich has nearly 600 calories.

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Old 12-18-2008, 05:39 PM   #9  
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I used to also suffer from the daily swelling of my feet and legs, extreme hunger, and daily heartburn.

I agree with others that you probably need to eat more, but what I also see is that you're eating a lot of refined carbs that give you no nutritional benefit...just empty calories.

I found that when I radically changed my diet and then lost about 20 pounds as a result, the swelling, hunger, and heartburn were absolutely GONE. I no longer suffer from these issues and haven't for months now.

What I mean by changed diet is: Lots of green veggies, some fruit, some WHOLE grains in small portions, healthy fats, lean meats, and skim dairy. No refined sugar, no refined grains--basically no "white stuff." What I eat on a daily basis doesn't look too far off from the kind of food PhotoChick eats. Nominally, the South Beach Diet or the Superfoods approach will take you toward the kind of nutrition I mean.
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Old 12-18-2008, 06:45 PM   #10  
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So I thought about it...

Here's what I ate in a normal day...

Breakfast/midmorning snack
Sandwich baggie of Cheetos twisted puffs (300)

Lunch
Chick-fil-a sandwich with ketchup (430)
Large Fry (450)
Large Diet Dr. Pepper (0)
On occasion I would get a cookies n cream milkshake instead of the fries (400 extra calories)

Dinner
2 homemade hamburgers with bbq sauce (800)

Desert
big bowl of ice cream (600)

Total Calories 2580

Now I will be the first to say that the way I ate is completely unhealthy and had not one ounce of nutrition. I thought I was being really healthy if I ate a single serving of "real" veggies in a day. But I only ate 2580 in a typical day and maybe on a real "chubby" day I probably ate 3000. So how did I get to 350 lbs when the dailyplate says I need 4000 calories to gain at the rate I was gaining?
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Old 12-18-2008, 06:58 PM   #11  
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It's a little complicated, but basically, if you're starving your body of real nutrition, it thinks it is -actually- starving. Sure, it's getting calories, but it isn't getting any quality fuel. This ratchets your metabolism down so that you can gain , even on a lower number of calories. Your body says "I'm starving", and reacts accordingly by slowing down your bodily processes.

Still, this can be repaired by eating quality, healthy food in moderate amounts. I think you can probably eat 2000 calories or so of quality food and lose at your size. This is a guess - calorie levels are pretty individual. What I'd do is try 2000 calories of healthy food a day for at least 2-3 weeks. My guess is that you'll start losing at a good clip. If you don't, you can try lowering your calories by 100-200 a day for another 2-3 weeks. You will settle on the level that is good for you. You definitely need to give each level a good 2-3 weeks...sometimes, our bodies freak out a bit when we shift calories significantly, and it takes at least that long to see what's going to happen in the end.

What you DON'T want to do is go to that 1200 calorie level now. This is going to send that same "we're starving!" message to your metabolism. That'll continue the slowdown cycle you're on now, because it is way too little food for your current weight.
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Old 12-18-2008, 07:18 PM   #12  
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Also, the calorie estimates you get are often way off the reality of what a person needs. I know that whenever I figure my cals out, I should be able to eat about 1800 to lose... something like 2300 to maintain (rough guess from what I'm remembering). The reality - I can lose on around 1400 healthy calories a day. If I eat 2300 a day, I GAIN. Pure and simple, those calories counts are wrong for most people.

I do agree that you definitely need more than 1200! Maybe shoot for 1500-1600 and see what happens. You've made some very healthy changes... keep at it, and you will start feeling much better.

Good luck to you!
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Old 12-18-2008, 07:22 PM   #13  
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Quote:
It's a little complicated, but basically, if you're starving your body of real nutrition, it thinks it is -actually- starving. Sure, it's getting calories, but it isn't getting any quality fuel. This ratchets your metabolism down so that you can gain , even on a lower number of calories. Your body says "I'm starving", and reacts accordingly by slowing down your bodily processes.
Exactly. And the more junk you eat, the worse that happens.

If you're eating 2500 calories that have no nutritional value, your body doesn't necessarily pay as much attention to the calories, but to the nutrition. It needs vitamins and minerals and protein and healthy carbs ... and so if you don't give it enough of those, it doesn't matter how few calories you're eating, you'll gain weight.

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Old 12-18-2008, 07:41 PM   #14  
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It may take some tweaking but you will get the hang of it if you want it. Why not stick to 2500 calories (focusing on fruits, veggies and lean proteins) for a two-week period and see where that lands you on the scale and then you can adjust accordingly.

I'm a huge believer in whole foods. Let them fill your stomach, body and spirit with what it needs. This WILL work for you. Good luck.

Last edited by Thighs Be Gone; 12-18-2008 at 07:42 PM.
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Old 12-18-2008, 07:45 PM   #15  
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I'm 5'8 and weight 304 lbs right now and it tells me with five days of working out i should be eating 2500 or a bit more than that to lose weight at a healthy speed. I know it seems excessive, but you have to give it to the professionals to deal with, im nutritionally ******ed lol. But you will learn from coming here and asking questions, like you are, so congratulations on successfully becoming a healthier person, one baby step at a time.
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