[adachan]

I just started my diet yesterday. I finally got fed up with being overweight and decided to do something about it. I'm hoping I can find support and helpful advice toward my goal weight! I'm very new to dieting as a lifestyle. I'm very inexperienced so I thought I could get some help from the pros

My current weight is 172 and I just started my diet yesterday. I have a goal weight of 135. I have done some research on dieting and am hoping I am doing it right.

My current regimen consists of a 1200 calorie diet while doing brisk walk exercise to the grocery store everyday to pick up food for my diet. It's kind of a double dip as I am getting food for the day and a decent exercise. The walk is ~3.5 miles equating to about 1 hour total.

My foot intake for yesterday was this:

Breakfast:
2 scrambled eggs
1 slice Whole wheat toast
1 tablespoon ketchup

Snack:
1 Large Fuji Apple

Lunch:
4 oz of tuna
2 slice wheat toast
1 tablespoon light mayo

Snack:
Fiber bar one

Dinner:
4-5 oz (cooked) skinless Chicken breast
1 cup steamed broccoli (salt and pepper)
about 1 serving of almonds


I was also wondering if i'm suppose to be eating 1200 calories a day while doing exercise. I heard that you are suppose to eat the equivalent in the calories burned from the exercise.

Example:
1200 calorie diet
350 calories burned
=Eat 1550 calories for the day.

Apart from that, any advice involving my diet would be highly appreciated. I am very excited to start the journey with you guys!

[lin43]

Well, personally, 1200 would be a bit too low for me. I mean, I sometimes do just eat 1200 if I have a busy day and had to skip lunch or something, but as a rule, I get too hungry with that few calories, especially if I'm exercising. Also, you might want to start a bit higher so that if you do plateau, you can always drop your calories; with 1200 calories, though, you don't have anywhere to "drop" [safely].

Just my opinion, of course. YMMV

[adachan]

Originally Posted by lin43

Well, personally, 1200 would be a bit too low for me. I mean, I sometimes do just eat 1200 if I have a busy day and had to skip lunch or something, but as a rule, I get too hungry with that few calories, especially if I'm exercising. Also, you might want to start a bit higher so that if you do plateau, you can always drop your calories; with 1200 calories, though, you don't have anywhere to "drop" [safely].

Just my opinion, of course. YMMV

I'm not a really big eater. I've been on this diet for 4 days now and I don't seem to have any hunger problems at 1200 calories. I do get hungry whenever I hit those times that I need to eat though. Since i'm starting at the lowest calories that I can safely go, will it be beneficial to go higher and drop when I plateau like you said? I'm not sure the difference by starting higher vs starting at the lowest. I would think that would mean I wouldn't need to go lower if I'm at the lowest.

Also, I saw that I gained about 2-3 pounds since I've started the diet. Is this normal? I did change my eating habits from eating anything I wanted to a healthy limited calorie amount. I've also been drinking WAY more water than I used to (64 oz a day). I used to drink like 3 sodas a day and have dropped all drinks except water.

Thanks for the help!!

[lin43]

Originally Posted by adachan

Also, I saw that I gained about 2-3 pounds since I've started the diet. Is this normal?

I'm far from an expert, so maybe someone else with more knowledge will chime in. However, are you weighing and measuring your food? If you aren't, there's a good chance that you're underestimating your calories. I mainly weigh my food (because it's more convenient & accurate), and I was shocked when I first started because I realized that even when I was weighing, I was underestimating the calories in some foods (that's because it's very easy to have rounded tablespoons and mounded cups).

[adachan]

I don't weigh my food technically. I do use measurements for most food such as cups and ounces ect. Although for meat I just round. I eat very lean meat such as skinless chicken breast and extra lean ground turkey. Even though I don't weigh them, they only weigh about 30 calories to the ounce. I'm pretty good at math to know my fractions at least . I'm on a 1200 calorie diet so even small fractions shouldn't make that much of a difference compared to what I was eating before my diet :/.