Calorie Help Request
 

Okay, once again I may have gotten off track on how much I am taking in and I am not sure if it is hindering my weight loss goals or not so I am gonna list out what I eat 5 days a week then what I eat the other 2 and I would love some advice on if I need to add or subtract some calories.

First I should give my info I suppose
Height - 5'2"
Weight - 226 pounds, I started out at 330 pounds.

I have just started alternating exercise DVDs. I have 3 The Biggest Loser workout dvds which are 1 hour - 1.5 hours long, depending on which dvd I choose to do that day plus I also have Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred. Most of these DVDs do what I suppose is called "circuit training". Anywho, I do these 6-7 days per week.


Now on to my foods. I don't normally stray off my norm so my diet is pretty bland and boring mostly, which is the way I prefer it.

Breakfast -

1.5 cups cooked oats which according to the oats container is roughly 210 calories
I add 1/4 cup cooked apples into this, the apples are "par boiled" in water only. Just enough to soften them up.
I also have 1 hard boiled egg.

For a snack I will have an orange.

Lunch is salad with tuna or canned chunk turkey. My salad consists of 2-3 cups lettuce, the tuna or turkey, and sometimes cucumber and mushrooms but not usually. And I do add about 3 tbsp of Hidden Valley fat free ranch.

Snack is normally 10 multigrain saltines dipped in mustard (I am a mustard freak, hehe).

Supper is Progresso Light soup, usually chicken noodle or vegetable and rice. A whole can is 140 calories for the chicken and 120 calories for the vegetable.


The 2 days my bf is off work, I cook dinner and it is always either catfish fillet baked with rice and green beans or baked boneless skinless chicken breast with rice and green beans. And the rice is not a healthy type rice since it is Rice a roni, chicken flavored but in my own defense I don't add the butter to it :| but my bf loves the rice so I do cook it and I do eat some each time, normally about 1/2 cup for me.

I try to usually drink 4-6 glasses water and I do normally have 1-2 glasses unsweetened iced tea plus about 3 cups coffee over the course of the day.


So, please, help me out here. And please take it easy on me :D



Hugs
Michelle

The best advice I can offer is to hop on amazon.com or check out any inexpensive bookseller and get yourself a calorie/nutrition counter. That way you won't have to question how many calories you're consuming on a daily basis, you'll know because you can just look it up. If you're consuming somewhere between 1200 to 1500 calories per day and exercising, you should be losing weight. Have you discussed all this with your family doctor? He or she would probably have lots of good advice to offer.

There are a several great free calorie counters available online. the daily plate, sparkpeople and myfitnesspal. Do a search for those and it will give you the web addy.

I just joined myfitnesspal on the advice of my doctor. She is on it and has started counting calories and exercising and lost 20 lbs. I commented to her that she'd lost weight and she told me about the website. It not only allows you to enter in the foods you consumed but tracks your exercise too. And you can print it out and view reports.

As far as taking it easy on you I think you've done a great job. You have lost over a hundred lbs. Are you kidding... that's insane and so amazing. WTG! :carrot: If you like your diet that way, that's all that matters! You can't be successful at something that you don't want or like, even if that's foods you eat.

Thanks so much :D. I use FitDay normally to track what I take in, I am just wondering is it enough or too much or what? lol

Hadn't heard of fitday!

Does it show you how much you need in order to lose weight?

When I joined Myfitnesspal it asked me how much weight I wanted to lose a week, then it told me how many calories I needed to eat per day. It is actually pretty close to what my dietican recommended. It said for me 1483 and my dietican put me on a 1400 calorie diet. After logging in my food everyday I see I am averaging between 1200-1500 somedays. But overall it is 1400.

I had already had a My Fitness Pal account but forgot about it, I suppose. I just entered in what I will be eating over the course of today and it shows it is 975 calories :(. Ugh, it all gets so frustrating and confusing sometimes. I think it would be easier to just be fat but I really don't want to be anymore :(.

Also it says for me to lose 1.8 pounds per week, I need to eat 1200 calories a day.

Yeah, it looks like you really aren't getting enough calories. You could add an ounce of nuts, they are calorie dense and loaded with good fats and fiber. Almonds are my personal choice. Varying your vegetable intake is a good idea too. You're not getting all that many nutrients from the lettuce at lunch, and eating green beans twice a week isn't going to help much. It's important for whole nutrition to mix it up a little.

I get that you prefer to keep your meals the same, but that can sometimes slow weight loss as well. Mixing it up a little sometimes provides the jump start we need. Regardless, you should be eating at *least* 1200 calories a day. I'm 5'1" and around 175, and I try to keep it around 1400 so I have somewhere to go when I lose more weight. Since we're short we can probably go a little lower than 1200 eventually, but not by much.

With the amount of exercise you're doing, you need to eat more to fuel your body. I'd try going up to 1400-1500 calories, at your current weight. Your body probably thinks you're starving yourself (because you are) and is holding onto whatever fat stores it can.

Also, there's a LOT of salt in canned soups. Any chance of making your own big pot once a week? You can add some brown rice or whole grain noodles to up the calories and nutrition that way, and it would be better for you and taste a lot better.

Thanks for the suggestions. I reckon I would need to find some low calorie/low fat/low sodium/cheap and easy to make soup recipes :D

I'm not doing calorie counting so I can't advise you on that, but I think I remember from an earlier post of yours that, like me, you lost the first 100# relatively quickly?

I lost 98# in 6 months...but I've basically been stalled since then. (Actually I joined a gym 3 weeks ago and my weight jumped up about 20 lbs within a few days but since has been dropping a little bit each day, getting closer to my original lowest point.)

Two things you may want to consider ~ if, like me, you lost a lot quickly, it may be that your body, like mine, is just trying to catch up. I've plateau'd out since around Valentine's Day, but I'm still losing inches. Are you losing inches?

Second, are you lifting weights at all? Cardio DVDs are FABULOUS but real body changes occur when you combine cardio with weights. You can buy freeweights relatively inexpensively from Wal~Mart and Target and you can get a book like "Weightlifting for Dummies" to give you pointers on how best to use them.

Best of luck to you and WOW!!!! on your loss so far!!! Doesn't it feel great????

Thank you and congrats to you as well!!

In the dvds I am now using, they incorporate hand weight usage plus I do some work with the weight bench/free weights that my bf has though I don't know a lot to do with it so what I do is minimal at best.

Hi Chunkychic,

I have to commend your diet. I find a lot of people choose "junk health foods" and it seems that you are approaching it from a more unprocessed, whole foods perspective (just my opinion). As previous posters have suggested, you are not eating enough calories but it's easy to find a solution. To give you perspective, I maintain at 1800-1900.

Breakfast -
1.5 cups cooked oats
1/4 cup cooked apples
1 hard boiled egg.
*Add a healthy fat into this. A small serving of almonds would boost your calories as well as provide great fats and nutrition

For a snack: orange.
Remember balance. I also have an orange for my first snack, perhaps you can add more nuts (orange=carb) for protein and fats.

Lunch is salad with tuna or canned chunk turkey. My salad consists of 2-3 cups lettuce, the tuna or turkey, and sometimes cucumber and mushrooms but not usually. And I do add about 3 tbsp of Hidden Valley fat free ranch.
What sort of lettuce do you eat? I recommend switching to spinach if you are using iceberg lettuce. How much tuna or turkey? Aim for about 3-4oz. Do you like balsamic vinegar and olive oil? FF ranch dressing is often infused with tons of garbage chemicals. Baby steps though! This is a great lunch.

Snack is normally 10 multigrain saltines dipped in mustard (I am a mustard freak, hehe).
Great! Mustard is an excellent condiment. Have you tried adding a bit of ham to it? Added protein plus ham, mustard and multigrain saltines are excellent together.

Supper is Progresso Light soup, usually chicken noodle or vegetable and rice. A whole can is 140 calories for the chicken and 120 calories for the vegetable.
I recommend adding 3-4 oz chicken or even smoked salmon to your soup. The chicken is not a large enough amount for a protein.

You are awesome. Thanks for the suggestions. :D


Hugs
Michelle

I also feel like maybe you aren't eating enough calories. You're getting some very healthy foods, but I think you should add more lean protein or healthy fats (nuts, avocadoes, etc.) these both mean you could add just a little and get a lot of nutrients.

Just a fyi - I weigh 218 and loose 1.5-2 lbs/week sucessfully on 1600 calories daily. You could easily move your calorie count up to 1400 or 1500 and still continue loosing.

Thanks for the advice :D

Hugs
Michelle

Michelle, we are pretty close in height. I started at over 200 pounds and lost on 1200 calories a day, I maintain on about 1450. We short people do not require as many calories as taller people do. Depends on bone structure, too. I am small boned.
You have lost over 100 pounds, that is an amazing accomplishment. You must be doing something right.

Aww thank you so much :D And congrats!!

Hugs
Michelle