bfast: bowl of cornflakes with 1 banana and 1 cup low fat milk

drinks: 1 cup of hot tea
1 cup of hot cocoa with water no milk!

lunch:
1 cup low fat milk
2 small dark bread slices
1/2 cup tuna
1 tb mayo
1 carrot chopped

should i eat anything else today? im thinking i got in around 1100 calories today...is that a lot or a little?

i am currently 5'4" 156 lbs and im trying to lose fat and get down to 120 (like my name says)...

tell me if this is good or bad.... thanks

Hi there

Well, you only have 2 meals so far for the day, so I would say you DO need to eat more!

I actually came up with 832 calories, which is NOT enough. Also, why only 1100 calories? Someone of your height and weight looking to lose needs somewhere closer to 1400 (and this is just a guess- I'm not figuring activity level). The lowest you really should go is 1200 and I think that's not even necessary for most people. I bet if you added some more veggies and nutrient rich foods in general you would still be able to lose

Why not add some grilled chicken in there for dinner with some steamed veggies and/rice and maybe a salad and some fruit? You can't forget about the nutrition part of losing weight

Oh, I also wanted to add that maybe you should check out Fitday or The Daily Plate website? You can enter your food and it gives you the totals so you can get a better grasp on what you are eating. I found it really helpful when I wasn't losing and couldn't figure out why- I could see how much I was eating of protein, carbs, sodium, calories... it really opened my eyes!

sage advice. hehe. It seems I can ONLY lose weight using the daily plate!

I would suggest trying to pack as much nutrition in each bite as possible.

Breakfast might include 1 egg + 2 egg whites scrambled with spinach, and a slice of whole grain bread
Lunch--I like the tuna, but I would add a huge salad with tomatoes, mushrooms, hardboiled egg, walnuts or avocado, and olive/vinegar dressing

Instead of cornflakes, try oatmeal with some fruit and walnuts.

I'm not a fan of milk, so I will admit I am biased, but I would suggest going for skim, or even better, having greek yogurt or cottage cheese for the dairy. Add a chopped pear or apple and drizzle with a bit of honey if you like.

Turn up the volume with fruits and veggies for lots of filling foods with great nutrition and negligible calories.

I agree with Junebug about tracking your calories. I might suggest you aim for 1400 calories for a couple of weeks and then tweak it based on your results. So many things can influence how we lose at a certain calorie level---muscle mass, history of dieting, age, gender, thyroid, etc. etc, but I would recommend trying to eat more than 1100 calories. Do you exercise?

hello!

first of all thanks for responding to my thread

i know 1100 isnt really enough i was thinking more so 1200 but i didnt wanna risk eating more and going over that... but i did eat something else. now tell me if i made a mistake:

i had a very small piece of chicken chopped into a handful of white/brown rice and some noodles & steamed veggies in a little bit of sweet n sour sauce.

how many calories do u think that was??

i will check out those two websites you gave me in your 2nd post, and thanks again for your insight...i just really wanna get to my goal weight this next time around. i got down to 139 but came back up to my current weight and stayed there for a while and now im ready to get serious again.

i also checked out your before and after and WOW!!!! you look amazing!!! congrats on the hard work and success.... you are definitely a new inspiration for me to really do this.

i dont know much about nutrition other than what i know is definitely bad or good for you. i know veggies and fruits are more healthy compared to candy / breads... but the nutritional values of each food or reading labels i havent really done that.

i will look for egg whites in the store next time i go there but i dont know if this country has those lol but i will definitely look out for them.

recently i have noticed that milk has a bad effect on me but i still have it from time to time..... i do rather prefer oatmeal (w/ water) instead but i am impatient with making it, even tho it only takes 5-10 minutes. but because it usually keeps me fuller than a bowl of cornflakes i will make the tiny sacrifice starting tomorrow morning.

i have tried skim milk before and i didnt like the taste of it. how is soy and rice milk? is the taste just as bad??? i looove yogurt tho!!! and cottage cheese not so much, again the taste and texture.

i will start with 1400 as you guys have suggested and see how that works out in the next 2 weeks and i will give an update!

as of rite now.. i do very minimal exercise... i do regular warm up exercises with dumbells and walk maybe 30 mins a day. i have spotted a local work out center in my town that i am willing to join so thats a next step for me... what kind of exercises do u suggest me doing to lose the most weight pref fat??

thanks for your response as well... i am going to track my calories every day now and hope for good results.

I'd say to up your calories by at least 200. 1100 calories is very little and you're at risk of slowing down your metabolism.

thanks for the advice.. im now going to eat more frequent but smaller/healthier meals.

i did a 'fill out test' online to see how many calories i should be eating to stay at my current weight and got 2,000 but minused 500 from it in order to lose weight and got 1500... but i have decided to do 1400 and incorporate exercise a lot more (joining a gym soon as my next paycheck comes in) along with drinking lots of water.

Hi 173to120 - egg whites can be done just by separating the yolk from the white and only using the white. My dog loves egg yolks...the husband doesn't mind an extra one here and there either. Just out of curiosity - what country are you in?

As for advice on working out - try the stickies in the weight training forum - tons of good info there.

I think 1400-1500 is a much better place to start - it gives you room to eat less later as you lose weight. You never want to go below 1200 on a consistent basis...too hard to get enough nutrients to fuel your body.

Hey 173-120....everyone is right. 1100 is super low. For the average woman, the body needs at least 1300 calories a day JUST to sustain itself, nevermind activities throughout the day. 1500 is a great place to start. If you find that you are shaky or weak at the end of the day then increase the calories OR re-evaluate your food intake to more nutritional valued foods!

Soy milk isn't bad, but it's one of those things you tend to either love or hate. I don't mind the taste, but I can't stand it by itself, only with cereal. Rice milk, most people prefer. Vanilla rice milk (I think the stuff I buy is called Rice Dream) reminds me of a melted vanilla frozen yoghurt, it's shockingly tasty, but something some people have to adjust to as well.

A lot of health food stores and the likes will sell mini versions, little to go packs, of both. I'd suggest picking up one of each and trying a few sips plain, and then perhaps with some cereal, or oatmeal (whatever you plan to use it with).

You mentioned the oatmeal taking 5-10 minutes - I have a great shortcut. I put a 1/2 cup rolled oats in a bowl, add water to cover, and microwave for two and a half minutes. That's it! Easy-peasy, and you can up the nutritional values with raisins, dried fruit, or even frozen berries. I've added almonds, or jam, or fruit butter...

I find you can do this with any amount. Just use 2x as much water than oatmeal. I like a shake of salt in it too. Then when it's cooked you can add all kinds of things to it: nuts, raisins, fruit, etc.