The advice most people give is to just track the calories you normally eat, then subtract 500 a day. So, you can either keep eating what you're eating for a week and then do that, or perhaps start with one number and go down from there, depending on results.

I would say 1500-1600 would be a good amount to try. If you're starving after a few days, up it, if not, try that out for a few weeks and see how it goes.

One thing I noticed about your sample food - you seem to eat a lot of processed carbs. I'd cut out the pop tarts, chips, pasta, sugary stuff and tv dinners. A big part of calorie-counting is learning to eat healthy and cook healthy. It's a common downfall to say you don't have enough time/energy to make healthy food. I think just about anything would be a better breakfast than a poptart. If you're looking for portability, try a piece of fruit and a snack-sized piece of cheese (the 90-100 calorie kind).

For other low-carb or "healthy carb" ideas, there are the recipe forums for the Sonoma and South Beach diets right here on 3fc. I don't follow those diets but the recipes are a great source for anyone!

Ditch the poptart, oreos and chips. It costs no more for an apple than a bag of oreos...and the apple is more filling. So you may eat less for dinner. The poptart is just empty calories, also likely causing you to eat more at lunch and dinner. Same for the chips. Try veggies and dip, or crackers and hummus, lots of things that will fill you up more than chips. Try oatmeal in the morning. I guarantee you it's cheaper than poptarts. For dinner, try changing to whole wheat pasta when you have it. TV dinners are ok sparingly, as long as you're watching what's in them. You can get the baked fish or grilled chicken...or you can get the batter dipped fish or fried chicken. The latter two will only hinder you.

Hey there,

You could also substitute some better quality bar instead of the Poptarts. It might cost a little bit more, but you would get more nutrition. For example, Kashi brand bars are good. They come in a box of six, I think. You would definitely get more protein that way, which is a good thing. And there are many other types of breakfast bars. Just be sure you check the Nutrition Facts label to make sure they aren't really high in carbohydrates.

The TV dinners are probably not as good as having Lean Cuisine dinners. These are also more expensive, although sometimes there is a sale. I don't know what I'd do without these dinners. But often they lack enough vegetables, so I usually have a salad with them or some other vegetable, like baby carrots. (which are a great snack, btw)

The FitDay program has a section where you can set a weight goal and see how much you would be able to eat to reach that goal. But one warning--in my case FitDay says I can eat more calories to maintain than I really can. I've had to set my activity level to basically totally sedentary when not sleeping, and then I add any exercise I do each day to that. Anyway, then you'll have a calorie target. Smartbutt's amount is good to start, just to see how that goes.

almostheaven, you are a real winner at losing! Awesome!

Jay

Like I mentioned Im not on a 'strict' diet. I dont want to feel like im starving myself. A little snack bar about 4 inchs long and 1 inch wide isnt going to hold me over 5 hours till lunch time. A few carrots and dip isnt enough for me to have for lunch. I still want to be able to eat enough to hold me till the next time to eat a meal. This is something that you have to get use to over a long period of time.

You're missing the point. Many of us do not believe in "diets" because they really dont work. Those who are successful at weightloss do NOT starve themselves on a small bar and a couple of carrots. That is very 80's! You need to eat healthy filling foods with a lot of fiber and some good fats. In fact, I strongly feel that you'll slow your metabolism down and not lose that much (except a bunch of water, plus some of your muscle mass) if you don't eat enough. Obviously you arrived at your current weight because you've been eating more calories than you're burning so you're body stores the excess calories as fat. So you need to eat less calories and burn more calories through exercise; no need to go overboard and starve oneself though. You should count a normal day before you started your "diet" and then deduct a few hundred calories from there. START OUT SLOW to get used to less calories and to put the focus more on learning about calories in foods and what type of foods you should eat. In the meantime, you need to stop eating foods that dont fill you up and most importantly, which make you crave more food. In other words, you can have a croissant for breakfast (which is loaded with butter and must have hundreds of calories) and you can have a large bowl of cereal w/ nonfat milk and some fruit. You must admit that you'd be more full on the second choice than the croissant yet you've saved a bunch of calories. For your snack, instead of 3 cookies that add up to 200 calories, you eat a FF yogurt with a few walnuts. More filling than those cookies but add up to less or the same calories. Point is you still get the snack, just not cookies. Something healthy will keep you going longer than those cookies. You still should eat plenty, but substitute lower calories things whenever you eat (nonfat milk rather than whole milk, so you still drink that same milk but you just cut out a bunch of calories). You also need to get that heart pumping to burn calories and speed up your metabolism.

As an example, my thin sister just doesn't like fast food, she lives in the UK and we just met up in FL this past weekend; I kept offering to stop at fast food and she kept saying she doesnt like it, so we went to subway every day for lunch. Its no wonder she's "naturally" thin. And mind you, she hasn't exercised a day in her life.

Just keep reading the posts on this site, you WILL get the hang of properly losing weight and keeping it off, and you wont be starving in the process.

Hey Kamby,

Some thoughts:

1. No little snack bar will keep you going for 5 hours. Neither will 1 Poptart! ;) Most good plans have 3 meals and 2 snacks in between. One rule of thumb is to leave 2 hours between meals and snacks. Some people add a snack in the evening.

2. Who said anything about carrots and dip for lunch? What a bad idea.

3. The point isn't to starve. We need to eat good, nutritious food even while we are trying to lose weight.

4. It can be very frustrating to try to lose weight, and especially if you're feeling like you're trying and not seeing results. We all know what that's like! Hope you can keep with your plan.

Jay

I think she's confusing my mention of carrots and dip in place of chips. She should still have her sandwich...depending of course on what's on it. Bologna? No. Turkey or chicken would be better. Whole wheat instead of white bread is much better too. But have something better with it than chips. And have a healthier snack than oreos. I eat about 5 or 6 times a day. I don't keep oreos or chips in the house though. If I want something like chips, I much either pretzels or light popcorn. If I MUST have chips, I'll get a single serve bag of light chips rarely. I keep a bowl of fruit on my table instead of junk snacks in the house. If I'm hungry between meals, I'd rather grab and apple than oreos. I know it will stick with me longer.

I can see several problems right there. 1 pop tart is what... 220 calories? And HOW much sugar & carbs? And practically NO protein. If you're short for time & "not a morning person" as you've described, try a protein bar instead of a pop tart. Or an apple & couple slices of low-fat cheese. These are things you can take with you (on the run) & still be healthy.

Lunch is a sandwich & bag of chips. What kind of sandwich? What kind of bread? White? Wheat? Whole Grain? Do you use mayo? Mustard? Cheese? etc? A good sandwich is wheat or whole grain with turkey or chicken, low-fat cheese, lettuce & tomato. And I suggest you "bag" the bag of chips. Again, have a piece of fruit with/after the sandwich. MUCH better for you.

Dinner? Pasta.... white? Ditch it for whole wheat pasta. Chicken. Fried? Bake it instead. TV dinner... try Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers. Those are the best... but it's BEST to not go the frozen menu way more than 1-2x per week.

Yes, diets CAN be expensive. It's more expensive to eat healthy than to eat quick, easy junk. But in the long run, FOR YOUR HEALTH, it's less expensive. When you count knee replacements because of the fat affecting your joints, by-pass surgery because of those hardened arteries, insulin for your diabetes, etc. See what I mean.

And don't fret! - honey, it DOES take some planning, & it DOES kind of suck at first when you realize you will have to give up some of your favorite yum-yums. But keep in mind: A habit takes about 21 days to break. So if you can buck-up for 21 days, you CAN say no to sweets, chips, etc. The more healthy food you eat, the more your body will naturally crave it.

Good luck! - and stick around! - I promise you will get good advice & good shoulders to lean on here!

Kamby,

Please don't get discouraged. I can tell you are getting defensive from your last post. Nobody here is trying to starve you, and nobody here knows you better than you know yourself. However - the women here just might believe in you more than you believe in yourself. And that can be very helpful and supportive sometimes.

You took the first step toward your goal, and that's coming here and asking for suggestions. You already cut out a few bad things for you, but you have to take a deep breath and realize that it just isn't enough... the chips/oreos/pasta/etc is going to hold you back if eaten frequently.

Take baby steps if thats what will work. Find something healthy for breakfast and swap out that pop tart. Eat your sandwich and chips for lunch, but ditch the oreos. Eat your pasta at night but try whole wheat. Experiment with low-sugar and low-white-flour foods until you find things that you actually PREFER to swap out the bad stuff for.

Trust me, if someone told me I could only have a snack bar for breakfast and carrot sticks for lunch, I'd smack 'em upside the head. That isn't what this is going to be about.

:hug:

As you begin adding more NUTRIENT DENSE foods in your diet, in place of the foods that are just wasted calories (chips, cookies, candy, bars, sodas) you will find you are less hungry and have more staying power till the next meal. It's hard to switch everything overnight, but you can do a bit at a time (though cold turkey is a good way to get the crap out of your body.) And yes, you will mess up, have cravings and binge on junk. Just get back on track as soon as possible.

Also a lot of diet plans talk these days about adding in the good things. If you eat enough fruits and veggies, and whole grains and healthy oils, chances are you will take in less of the bad stuff. As you feel better as you diet is improving, then you will desire less of the unhealthy foods.

I'm still devouring the 2 Superfoods Rx books, they are chock full of good foods to eat and why.

You don't have to starve!
 

Kamby, I bet you're sick and tired of all these people trying to tell you what to do. Please don't feel discouraged or give up. Many people feel quite strongly about their weight and diet issues (including me), so please don't take it personally if someone is trying to offer help a bit more passionately than you may be expecting to receive it. I don't blame you for feeling frustrated or even a bit defensive. Being fat has practically become a crime in the U.S. Plus, there's so much disinformation out there, it's hard to know what's truth and what's fiction. Further, what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

Most importantly, please don't feel you have to starve in order to lose weight! Many diets promote eating more food, as long as it's the right kind of food. Check out the boards on the Mediterranean diet, Southbeach, Atkins, Weight Watchers, etc. for more information. Personnally, I've never bought the argument that weight loss is simply about calories in vs. calories out. It's been my experience that reducing calories or increasing exercise alone will not result in permanent weight loss. I've tried it both ways, lost weight and then regained it all back plus more. Bottom line, you need to have the right combination of healthy eating plus exercise to lose and maintain weight loss. Glory87's weight loss story includes a very inspiring discusison of how eating more can actually help you lose weight. Here's a link to her story:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84601

Whatever you decide to do, please don't lose faith in yourself. You can do it!:carrot:

I think pretty much all the suggestions I would have kicked in have already been said.

So, I will say :wel3fc: and :bravo: on this journey you have started upon.

Hi Kamby! I just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth. Once you start eating healthier foods, you get filled up easier. I used to be hungry all the time - could go to McDonald and have a 1/4 pounder w/cheese, large fries and a soda. I would still be hungry! I went cold turkey a couple of weeks ago and starting eating oatmeal for breakfast (very filling) for starters. I eat snacks during the day as well. I mostly eat fruites/veggies/ brown rice and oatmeal, yougurt etc....basically got rid of everything with preservatives and flour. My weight loss actually stalled because I was not eating enough calories! I bought some nuts to try to boost that a bit. I have never been one to like fruits or veggies! However, I forced myself to eat them and now I like them - I do not crave any sweets! Tonight I fixed my family pancakes, eggs and bacon for dinner (we like to eat breakfast at supper once in awhile). I did not touch any of it. I had no desire to. I am shocked beyond belief because I have never ever had this kind of willpower. I switched to whole wheat pasta- I could not tell the difference and neither could my kids! I also cut out caffeine - tough at first - headaches for 2 days, but now I do not even miss it! You have to "retrain" you body and your brain. Good luck!

Loved what I heard just a couple days ago from the lady behind me at Bob Evans. She was having a conversation with her young kids about the meal. The kids had apparently been opting for Taco Bell. She said if they ate at Taco Bell, they'd be hungry again in 2 hours. The kids were in agreement and thought their meals were great.

Actually, the funny thing is...as long as I restrain my spending (don't buy macadamia nuts unless they're on sale, no need to spring for salmon every week, etc) I am actually spending about the same for the healthful food I buy now as I was for the junk food I used to eat.

I'm not a "strict" dieter either, Kamby. My housemate keeps wanting us to do X diet or Y book or whatever; I hate having a specific "plan" that I'm supposed to stay within the lines on. Instead, I pull the principles behind these plans and design my own. And yet I've lost 13 lbs so far, and I don't starve myself by any stretch of the imagination! My typical day consists of: Breakfast - 1 whole-wheat english muffin with a little bit of butter and organic raspberry preserves (one of my indulgences, money-wise), a bottle of water, and a glass of either orange juice or 1% milk; Lunch - brown rice, with stir-fried veggies (buy big bags of frozen mixed veggies and just heat them when you need them if you don't want to bother stir-frying them), homemade turkey chili, or soup over top of it, another bottle of water, and some almonds; Snack - a few slices of cheese and sometimes some beef jerky; Dinner - skinless chicken meat, usually just sauteed in garlic and shoyu, over whole-wheat pasta or more brown rice, or perhaps my grilled garlic-ginger-shoyu salmon with cooked carrots. I allow myself a few squares of dark chocolate after dinner and sometimes one square with my afternoon snack.

And even with that menu, I'm perpetually amazed at how little I'm eating, calorie-wise. I total it up in Fitday every now and again, about once a week, just to check up on myself, and there've been a lot of days where I'm barely breaking 1500 cals - without even realizing it!

But you know what? The people who said to take baby steps, they're right. And maybe you're not ready to give up the pop-tart (ickickick, I'm sorry, I just can't imagine eating those anymore, although I used to love them. They're pure refined sugar and artificial flavoring. Ew.), or the cookies, or your Sun Chips. That's fine; you go at your own pace.

But if you want to lose weight, I'd suggest that you really focus on WHAT you're eating, and not HOW MUCH of it you're eating, at first. Try to get yourself eating nourishing, natural, whole foods, and you'll find that they fill you up better and for longer and so you end up eating less without even trying.