What is Reddit's opinion of
MyFitnessPal?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
100 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
What's up bro, I was in your shoes 20 months or so ago. 31 year old dude, 5'11", 320 with a couple kids. I went from 320 to 285 in 3 months just by cutting out fast food/shit processsed food/and sugar. Once I shed that weight, I was feeling good and decided to start strength training 4 days a week with 30 minutes of Incline Treadmill. At this point I started tracking my calories and macronutrients (carbs, fats, proteins) on myfitnesspal.com.
Diet is everything. I started at 2800 calories, at 285, with 200g protein, 100g carbs, 75g fat, from there iifym (if it fits your macros). Went from 285 to 255 in 3 months, started to low down on weight loss, cut calories back to 2600 at same macros and did 255-235 in another 3 months. Once again, weight loss slowed and I went to 2400 at same macros, iifym and got to 215 in another 3 months.
In terms of exercise, I did this. First 3 months, I used machines with some basic compound movements at low weights. So in terms of barbell movements I did bench and rows at 3x8-12. Once I started to not get DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) every workout and felt 'comfortable' with free weights I moved to basically Ice Cream Fitness, before I knew there was such a program. Basically a 5x5 with a few accesories thrown in, google it if you want. On top of the strength training I did 30 minuters of Incline Treadmill a workout. I did as much as I could handle and it was a mother fucker. On top of the diet, expending calories on Cardio is the other key to weight loss, at least of me.
In terms of lifts, in 20ish months of lifting, Bench 65->265, Squat 75->365, Deadlift 185->455, OHP 55->195. Doing this I went from 325 40+% BF to 215 (Weary on BF w/o pro measurements with loose skin) in a year with diet and killing myself at the gym.
Anyways man, If you want to know more just ask, and I can share my experience.
Cheeseburgers really aren't that awful for you and neither is ice cream. Both are 100% fine in moderation and can be worked in to fit a healthy diet. I had ice cream three days this week and hit my macros relatively well while staying well under my TDEE for the week. This day I almost hit the dreaded "STARVATION MODE"! /s
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/Fletch71011?date=2014-08-21
I got this!
I'm sure you've heard around here by now that weight loss is 80% diet. At 5'10 and 162, your BMR is just under 1600. If you're eating around there every day, 100% of your progress is going to come from exercise. That's simply not very efficient for weight loss, as you can tell.
I suggest dropping your daily caloric intake a bit. You can do that by cutting your portion sizes, but you'll probably find it easier and more satiating by eating very clean and simply cutting back on or replacing carbs. Be meticulous about counting calories and use something like myfitnesspal to help track things at least until you get your most frequent meals down to a science. I do a max of 1200 calories a day of mostly protein, healthy fats, salads, and veggies. I've also cut out all sodas and sugary beverages, I watch my salt intake, I drink TONS of water, and I take a daily multi and fish oil. I started at just over 160lbs (but I'm only 5'1" so that was "obese" for me eep!). My loss around that weight was 1-2lbs a week depending on how much exercise I did on top of the diet, though it's slowed now that I've dropped 30lbs.
You're already a healthy weight, so what you're aiming for is reducing your bodyfat%. Get yours checked and focus on that. Also, while cardio is fantastic for countless reasons, lifting/strength training is much better for loss than most people realize, so up that for faster progress. You may wanna try some HIIT as well. However, keep in mind that those last pounds of fat are the slowest to come off so be patient and don't get too frustrated.
You already look fantastic and you're on the right track. Keep it up and good luck!
NO! NO! Don't take it! Don't be beaten down. Focus on you. YOU alone. I know she is your mom and you can blame her (as I did) for crappy eating habits for so long until you need to take responsibility. Also, your mom is a person. So is her "friend". As much as she should be supporting you instead of breaking you down, she is human. It is possible she is jealous. And so is her friend. That's their problem, not yours.
TOOL TIME!
I don't know how much you weigh, your height, if you are exercising too much or not enough, etc., but here are some tools to aid you in your weight loss. Also remember: fried foods, soda, diet pills, and starving yourself are BAD. A caloric intake of over 1000 calories and a diet of lean meat, veggies, fruits, complex carbs, and healthy diary portions are GOOD.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ Calculate how much you should eat.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm Don't go under 18.5% JUST DON'T DO IT!
I sincerely hope this helps and best of luck on your journey because you. Are. Awesome!!!
Edit: Clarification and grammar.
Agreed. And I didn't even know until recently about the feature where you type in a recipe URL and it scans it and estimates the ingredients and calories. Amazing! I have no idea how this app is free.
Edit: The feature is at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/box. Enjoy!
Using this site on a daily basis:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com
Also, buy a food scale, some measuring cups, and measuring spoons.
It really comes down to discipline, just be diligent for 30 days, every single day measure and write down what you eat. Tweak your diet until your burning more calories than you take in. Don't try to second guess it, be disciplined about your diet. It will soon become habit and you'll see what foods were halting your progress.
My highest weight ever was 288, so I'm REAL FUCKIN' CLOSE to 100. But I'm not counting that.
You guys are more than welcome to add me on MyFitnessPal!
I decided to do some quick math to see how true this is.
Assorted Russell Stover chocolates average 220cal/3 pieces, so let's say 73 calories a piece (source). Sources vary on how many calories are burned during sex, but since this says "rigorous," let's say it's in the higher range of what I saw and call it 275cal/hour.
So, an hour of "rigorous" sex will burn the caloric equivalent of about 3.8 pieces.
Edit: I see elsewhere that 2 pieces is 1.1 oz. Valentines boxes come in a variety of sizes, with the largest I see being 42oz or around 38 pieces. If he bought her that box, he owes her around 10 hours of "rigorous" sex.
http://www.nutrition-charts.com/kfc-nutrition-facts-calorie-information/
Calories: 600 Protein: 54g Total Fat: 36g Total Carbs: 15g Sodium: 1620mg Cal From Fat: 330 Cholesterol: 170mg Sat Fat: 10g Tran Fat: 0g Fiber: 0g Sugars: 1g Weight Watcher: 16
My Fitness Pal has all of these numbers a little lower. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calorie-chart-nutrition-facts
Step 1. Either do your own research or work with a ~~nutritionist~~ registered dietitian to determine your caloric needs, and learn how to accurately count calories. Track your intake with something like http://www.myfitnesspal.com and be honest.
Step 2. Find a source of exercise that works for you. Anything is better than nothing. If all you do is work your way to walking around your neighborhood for 30-60 minutes a day, that's still a great start. Don't be scared of lifting weights, but learn how to do it safely. Swimming is another great option.
Step 3. Ignore the critics. A lot of people who are on the right path to losing weight will be met with negativity, either from strangers or from friends (especially the fat ones). Ignore them. If they aren't going to be supportive of you, they're not a real friend.
Step 4. Feed your inner shitlord. Stand up to fat logic in your daily life. Keep reading the posts on this sub, you will learn to hate fatlogic more than being fat itself.
During my cut earlier this year, I pretty much lived on the following:
- 4 Eggs for lunch
- Chicken, brown rice, cottage cheese or a vegetable for dinner
- Variety of spices/hot sauces to add to the above
- Cottage cheese/whey protein for snacks
- Example Day
Eating this Leangains style, I was always pretty full even though I was only eating 1,800 calories/day. Also, I didn't really worry about the macros too much, just made sure to hit at least 200g of protein/day. Ended up losing 45lbs over ~ 6months, and dropped from 21% bf to 10% bf.
edit: As it keeps getting asked, I used this website to track my calories, and create that log above.
A year ago December, I went to that seminar. I went through the entire preparation -- psychologists, dieticians, nurses, educators, cardiologists. As I prepared, they told us to log our food in a log like MyFitnessPal and to walk 3x a week -- it would be expected after the operation and they wanted us to be prepared. That was July 9th -- and I lost a bunch of weight. My diabetes went away -- no more pills or shots. I canceled the surgery and I weigh over 80 lbs. less today -- coming up on 6 months.
My plan was and still is...
Logging: In MyFitnessPal - let the log and logging inspire your other changes. Try different things as you are still learning and always will be. Logging is the most important part -- if you're logging, you're aware and in better control.
Walking: 3 times a week for 30 minutes minimum. Do more as you're inspired -- maybe jogging, running, hiking, or just longer and more elaborate walks.
Support: For support, I'm going to TOPS and sharing with my friends/family but for you there's also OA and this group and your dad/friends/family.
Good luck!
M 51 5'11'' SW:298 CW:216 GW:213 Lost 80+ in 175 days on MyFitnessPal & Walking & TOPS
- Album: http://imgur.com/a/cPA6J
- Profile: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/funchords
Make sure you read the FAQ http://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/wiki/faq
You have come, more or less, to the right place for help.
First, try not to be too hard on yourself. Feeling like shit makes losing weight harder. Be proud of yourself for looking for help and wanting to change.
Second, lots of people have suggested great subreddits to peak at, but I don't think I've seen anyone mention MyFitnessPal yet. It will help you get a better idea of how many calories you need to be eating to lose x number of pounds a week and it's a great food journal. It comes as a free app for your phone too so you'll basically have no excuse to not log your calories no matter where you are.
Third, my own personal tip that helped me the most with losing weight, get ALL the snack food out of your house. Every last bit. Snacks take up so many of your daily calories. More than you probably realize. Get in the habit of eating regular meals when you're hungry, not snacking all day.
I really wish you good luck! Don't give this up and I promise you will get the results you want with time.
Yup!
Edit: You know what, screw it. This is r/dataisbeautiful. I'll unlock my food log for about a week then lock it back up again. You can see it HERE. The passcode is my username.
Please ignore my fugly face on both pics.
Training regiment is Wendler 5/3/1 with the following assistance split:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jidipzirrfnubxx/current%20assistance.pdf
Cutting macros started at 225 p/225 c/ 50f. One refeed at 225p/375c/70f Currently prepping myself and diet looks like this:
http://i.imgur.com/5fry2Ds.png
Cardio: Started at 2 weekend sessions of LISS 500 calories, currently on 1000 calories
Myfitnesspal food log: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/virgintebow?date=2014-01-01
Scroll right for other logs
I'm a 4th year aerospace engineering student, currently doing co-op for 16 months, so I thought I should compete :) Currently 24 weeks out of 2014 GNC Inside Fitness Championships, most likely light middleweight class (175 lb).
Left pic weight 220 lb, right pic weight 197.0 lb as of today morning.
I'm Natural so far. Probably won't be anymore if I don't win my natural pro card in the next 4 years. Let's get shredded :)
Edit: Strength wise. Dropped a ton of strength. My PR's before vs now:
Peak of dirty bulk (240 lb):
Bench: 365 * 1, Deadlift: 565 * 1, Squat: 405 * 1, Strict OHP: 225 * 4
Now:
Bench: 315 * 1, Deadlift: 495 * 1, Squat: 365 * 2, Strict OHP: 185 * 4
Probably just a mental thing, but I'm sure after my reverse diet I'll get most of my strength back again.
Biggest advice I can give you after struggling through is: Focus on the goddamn contraction. Get a recording of yourself yelling "STETCH.....SQUUEEEEEZE IT" and play it when performing every rep (not srs). I lost 0.5 an inch on my arms, and they're still 18 ish which isn't half bad, only because I dropped my bicep curl weight by like 20 lb and started slowing the movement down and pumping blood.
Ask me if you have any and all questions. Like I said, I'll post another pic when I'm done dieting for another 23 weeks, and I think I'll be quite lean then.
Oh and macros are what got me shredded. I ate literally whatever the hell I could fit in there.
Here is my food and exercise diary from yesterday, I eat pretty much the same thing everyday for simplicity :)
OP, please cite any research that backs up your description of "fear mode", aka starvation mode. It has been debunked and it's not fair for you to suggest it.
You may be interested in reading this from MY Fitness Pal: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/81391-starvation-mode-myths-and-science
TLDR: You won't stop losing fat until 5% body fat, until then you can stop worrying about starvation mode. Something may be stalling your progress but a caloric deficit almost certainly is not.
Wow, this is one of the most important and useful and even touching messages about loose skin that I've ever seen. Thanks for sharing OP and thanks for sharing John.
John's profile: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/profile/JohnDavidGlaude
Unless you have a serious medical condition of some kind, which you would probably know about, having a "fast" or "slow" metabolism is pretty much bunk.
I used to weigh 245 at 5' 10". I now am about 160 and pretty muscular. People will tell me, "Oh, I wish I had your metabolism!" No, you don't. You wish you were as serious as I am about being in shape.
Track everything you eat for a week. Everything that goes in your mouth, weigh it, and write it down. Juice/sports drinks. Alcohol. Handful of nuts. Three potato chips. Everything. Make sure you are getting the quantities/volume right.
Use myfitnesspal , it's pretty great. Then get back to us with that "2250-2500 calories a day and an hour of cardio" thing.
along with this excellent advice and encouragement, myfitnesspal.com (and this easy to read explanation and guide to figuring out how many calories you'll want to eat) is a great (free!) and easy to use calorie counter. I think it's awesome that you want to better yourself.
I'm basically eating what I was eating before, but using a calorie counter (MyFitnessPal) to track my calories and help guide the amount and choices.
Since using it, my portions are smaller. I have traded some things that were high in calories for something equally tasty but had fewer calories.
Check out my diary at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/funchords and you can see what I'm eating today versus what I was eating when I started in the 2nd week of July and hadn't made many changes yet.
One of the things I miss most about living in East Asia is the availability of actual sugarless bottled tea beverages like 18tea or Ayataka Green Tea. Every tea-type beverage here in the uk is usually sweetened to high heavens.
AFAIK everyone can be on it. I'll let someone else weigh in on that though.
Fruit is the tough part. Kids love fruit, but it's discouraged on keto. (I've been on the plan since October, and I let myself have raspberries and strawberries from time to time.)
Another thing you can do is visit My Fitness Pal and set up an account there. Log everything that goes into your mouth. It will keep you honest, and if you do decide to have a berry or two, you can see where it leaves you for the day.
The rest of the game is mental: Don't ever let yourself think that you CAN'T have this, and you CAN'T have that.
You're CHOOSING not to have it. You know that choosing not to have it will bring you great benefits, and the control is in your hands, not the food's.
> Eat. A. TON. At least 3.5K Calories a day.
This can't be emphasized enough. Something I've read a few times now that I think is important to remember for us skinny people: "There are no hard gainers, only undisciplined eaters."
Ask yourself, supposing you were looking to lose a few pounds, what would you do to make that happen? Well, you'd definitely watch what you eat. In fact, a lot of people succeed with programs like MyFitnessPal. Why? Because sometimes what you think is 100 Calories isn't.
If you're looking to gain weight, you should do the same. I recon that most "hard gainers" who think they're eating well above BMR aren't. Log everything you eat. See what it adds to. Not making the grade? Eat more.
Would you like me to hold you accountable? I will put 1 month reminders in my calendar and PM you to check up on your progress. I support your endeavor wholeheartedly.
> You treat me like I'm beautiful. I want to look the part.
Better than that, you'll feel the part... not just aesthetically, but the fact that you can move quicker, walk faster, jump higher, and just feel more comfortable in your body.
So, I'm willing to help you stick with it for at least 3 months. By then, you'll have changed your lifestyle to a self-sustaining point. I know I'm a random Internet stranger, but my life really has changed as a result of /r/loseit and /r/fitness (which I also highly recommend checking out). Having those two subreddits frontpaged was a big part of sustaining my commitment to being healthy.
So, I'm willing to pay it forward to another Redditor.
If not, I completely understand and urge you to stick with it, even when there are days that suck, days where you mysteriously gained two pounds, or days where you stress eat. You took a long time to gain that weight, it's going to take a long time to get it off, but it WILL come off.
EDIT: Check out http://www.myfitnesspal.com too. It is free and has helped me immeasurably.
One of the most infuriating things for me is that you can copy a meal to another day, but you can't move an entire meal. If I have something for dinner I want to be able to copy it to tomorrow and easily move it to lunch as it'll be what's in my lunch box... Moving one item at a time after copying sucks.
Also, for cutting/bulking, the app/site itself could estimate your TDEE based on your weight gained/lost contra the energy input. Quite coarse estimation, of course, but there's already an MFP export tool that does that. Why can't they make it native to MFP?
Up until July I was on roughly 750 - 1000 kcal deficit, depending on if I was hungry or not, and was doing strict keto. So, 120g protein ~100g fat and < 20g of carbs most recently. I cannot remember what they were when I started but since I weighed more it allowed me to eat more while still losing weight. In July I started reintroducing carbs into my diet and maintained a 40/40/20 split of p/f/c, or whatever allowed me to have 150g of protein. Also when I reintroduced the carbs, I started to reverse diet from such a sever calorie deficit to a more moderate one of 500 kcals.
I have a much more detailed write up from my BFTC completion entry right here.
EDIT: Actually I Just remembered that my MyFitnessPal diary is public so you can just look through that. I've used it to log everyday eating religiously so its pretty complete.
>Also I'm going on a diet of just eggs.
...what the fuck? Just limit your calories. That's how it works. Figure your daily caloric requirements, then just don't eat quite that many and try to do things like take walks, or go for a jog. You'll lose weight.
You are allowed 24% bodyfat as a newb to the Army. At MEPS they will probably pull the tape a little snug for you around the waist. If your measurements are accurate you'll likely be okay. Then from tape to ship the next morning it's game on at the MEPS hotel restaurant, eat whatever you want... fatty.
My turn to do the math! (Numbers not exact. It would depend on your pan)
- Bottom layer - 10 graham crackers - 650 Cal - 40g Sugar
- Marshmallows 1/2 bag - 450 cal - 76g Sugar
- Approx. 13 Kit Kats - 2,730 Cal -273g Sugar
- Marshmallows 1/2 bag - 450 cal -76g Sugar
- Peanut M&M's Approx 13 bags - 3120 cal -299g Sugar
- 10 graham crackers - 650 Cal - 40g Sugar
- Marshmallow Fluff - 720 Cal - 108g Sugar
- Approx. 13 Kit Kats - Cal - 273g sugar
Total calories: Approximately 11,500
Total grams of sugar: Approximately 1,175
All calorie/sugar counts from My Fitness Pal.
From WebMD:
> Diabetic coma typically occurs when blood sugar reaches 600 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter) or more.
I have no idea how to calculate what's in the lasagna to mg/dL. A little help?
Actually, 'anorexic' means 'without appetite' (not to be confused with anorexia nervosa/bulimia). Therefore, it's entirely possible that you, like me, are anorexic.
I've been trying for years to eat more, as I'm dangerously underweight due to constantly forgetting. The most useful things I've come up with:
- Have an alert/reminder system in place, maybe have emails scheduled to send to yourself (if you use gmail, I recommend Boomerang).
- Snack throughout the day, like a hobbit. If possible, keep lots of food at hand, so even getting up isn't a problem. Just also have a trash bin available for the wrappers, unless you want to feel like a pig.
- Find out your caloric daily goal and then track your intake. I recommend this site and their free iPhone app.
I was coming in eager to help but it appears this topic has nothing to do with domestic abuse...
JK! Check out this forum for some recipe ideas. Some genius desserts at least!
Brutus is 115 lbs of baby. This is an update to this picture, taken back in the summer!
Edit: you can add me on MFP here!
Weight loss is 80% diet. Your meal plan looks pretty carb heavy. My advice would be to up the protein, veggies, and salads and back way off the carbs. Avoid sodas/sugary beverages and drink tons of water. I also suggest calculating your BMR's and counting calories at least for a couple days so you can figure out where you two are and how much each of you need to cut back. Things like myfitnesspal can help track things. A daily caloric deficit of 500 is a loss of 1 lb a week. Any exercise on top of that is a bonus.
Cardio is fantastic for countless reasons, but for weight loss strength training is even better. Build more muscle and you will burn more calories just breathing in addition to geing "toned" instead of "skinnyfat". Also, cardio tends to make some people more hungry then they eat right back all the calories they just burned so be careful not to fall into that trap.
Good luck!
Subway!
Spicy Italian Meat Salad
- Double Meat
- Add Bacon
- Peppers
- Jalapeño
- Peperoncini
- Pickles
- Onion
- Chipotle Southwest Dressing
DELICIOUSNESS
Edit: Oh, and all the meat was heated up. NOM NOM NOM.
Hah, yeah, neither of those are true at all.
For instance, here is nutritional content for Chicken of the Woods mushroom, a very common and widespread, and tasty, North American mushroom.
14 grams of protein per serving. That's pretty darn good.
Losing weight is more about changing your diet than exercising. Of course, exercise helps, but you MUST get your diet in line. Go download My Fitness Pal and start tracking your calories.
If you don't like cardio (I hate it), go lift instead. Get the book "Starting Strength" and hit the weights 3 times a week. If you do that, while keeping your calories in line, you will lose weight with no trouble at all.
Hit up /r/fitness and /r/progresspics to get some good info and inspiration. Best of luck!!
Edit: fixed links
>I'm running for weight loss, trying to get rid of my belly.
80% of weight loss is diet, not exercise. I run 10Ks three times a week, and didn't lose any weight whatsoever until I began counting calories.
- Go to MyFitnessPal. Figure out what your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is.
- Record everything you eat. Eat at least 20% fewer calories per day than your BMR.
- ???
- Profit. ("Profit", in this case, being weight loss.)
You could eat celery or pure lard or ice cream for every meal; as long as your daily calorie intake is at least 20% smaller than your BMR, you are guaranteed to lose weight.
This is, of course, not to say that running 5K every day is a bad thing; not at all. The running just 1) improves your fitness and 2) gives you a slightly larger BMR to target, that's all.
MyFitnessPal is really good. I've been using it for months and haven't found any problems with it. They also have apps for iPhone and Android, with a Blackberry app in the making, that sync to your profile on the website. They also have a huge database of food items so you usually only have to search the name of the food and then add it.
>How the hell do I get them to stop fussing
Eat enough so that you're not passing out from malnutrition?
From your description it really doesn't sound like you're eating right, and that you family does have a reason to be concerned about your eating habits.
You can tell them that veganism isn't the cause of your current state, but you're going to have to show them that you can live healthily on a vegan diet, for them to believe you.
Maybe use something like myfitnesspal.com to track the nutrients in your food to ensure you're getting everything you need.
Do you cover your speedometer because you're afraid to know how fast you're going? No? Do you turn off the GPS because you're afraid to know where you are? No? Then log your food.
It's a log, not a judge. It's just what happened. It's neither good nor bad. We live in a world of food. We require food. Food is social. Food is celebratory. We have to navigate this world of food to reach our destination and the log helps us to know if we're on track or off track.
Friday night was Valentines dinner for me. I was 650 calories in the red. Big deal? No, because I planned it -- I was hundreds in the green all week. For the entire week, I'm 30 calories under (but even if I was 100 over, no big deal -- it's just what happened).
Log log log: https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/2vngg1/log_and_keep_logging_and_log_when_nothing_else/
M 51 5'11" SW:298 CW:202 GW:185 Lost 95+ lbs on MyFitnessPal and Walking. (Over 7 months logging... 220 day streak)
I was able to lose the weight by counting calories (~1700 daily) and exercising 3-4 times per week. My exercise routine was Simplefit which is all bodyweight exercises 20 minutes a day, every other day. I attribute most of my success to good diet & calorie counting. There is absolutely no way I could have done this with exercise alone.
Huge thanks to /r/progresspics, /r/loseit & MFP for inspiration, support system & the knowledge to get it done. Feel free to add me on My Fitness Pal
Fuck yeah! I joined. My name there is PurrlyGirl. I'm losing from 320lbs, I'm down almost 60lbs now and counting. Would love new friends. :D
Hey there!
Fellow musician here with the same goals!
- Read the FAQ
- Out of that, figure out your TDEE - http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
- Track everything you eat for a few days and look at what you're putting into your body. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/
- Figure out what you need to take in calorie wise for a 1-2lb per week deficit.
- Keep tracking!
- Figure out the exercise next but get yourself started with the diet.
Its NOT easy to do this. You will NOT see results overnight. I sometimes would get discouraged reading the success of people on here because I think subconsciously I wanted to be 100lbs down tomorrow and was disappointed with 1lb loss or no loss. A gain would cripple me and I'd just go back to eating pizza and burgers.
6 months ago I had enough and I spent hours in the market and online finding foods I liked that helped me reach my goals. I look at it as i'm fueling my body. Is this meal or snack going to put me closer to my goal or farther away? What's more important - eating that cookie or dropping weight? It took a long time for it to sink in - just take it slow and keep going! Calories, Protein, Carbs, Fat, Sugar. Sodium - learn what your body needs of each and where you should be every day.
As far as exercise goes - get a gym membership and go in to do some walking on the treadmill while you research what you want for you routine. It will allow you to get comfortable with the gym and see if you like that particular gym while you're getting some exercise.
TL:DR Fellow fat guy that was in a similar spot who is overcoming it.
Reddit has a MAJOR circlejerk going on for keto. I haven't found it necessary. I just count my calories, so it's all portion control with no restricted foods (though generally I eat pretty healthy -- 95% homecooked meals).
So far I've gone from 251lbs to 195lbs (I'm 5'9") and I use http://www.myfitnesspal.com to log my calories. That's all. Good luck!
I might get yelled at for this but losing weight isn't that hard. Not eating what you want all the time might be hard, not eating in response to emotions might be hard...but losing the actual weight isn't. Not in the beginning anyway.
Basically, put in your current height and weight (be accurate), age and activity level (to be safe, put sedentary). Set how much weight you want to lose (0.5 pounds, 1 pound, 2 pounds a week. I'd start off at 1 pound. See how many calories you need to eat to lose weight. Eat whatever you want but make sure it falls in those calories.
As you track more and more, you'll notice the weight doesn't come off as easy and you'll find that nutritious foods have less calories and keep you feeling fuller for longer.
The first week you may lose a few pounds due to water weight. It will even out after that. Try it, it's honestly not that hard. It requires planning and tracking and being honest.
Height 6f1 as of today 202lbs. Routine i follow an Upperbody/Lowerbody/Off Split atm.. I find my body really grows on alot of volume! Diet is very simple just following my macro intake making sure i'm getting plenty of fibre (around 40-50g a day) and timing my carb intake before/after my workouts and slowly taper towards fats towards the end of the day! MFP is http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/Lostitnao
I am a huge fan of MFP. You can find me over there! Link to my profile
I have learned to enjoy everything in moderation and I don't deny myself anything I really want. I just save my calories for it. :) For me, it's totally been calories in vs calories out and it's been working!
Exercise changes with the season for me. At first, I did nothing, then I started on an exercise bike, then I started swimming, then running (shoutout to /r/c25k!), now I kinda shake it up. I have been doing pilates and swimming lately, but I still like to keep things active! That's my favorite part of all of this so far, just getting to live life more fully.
Sorry it's not a great, detailed response. I just have been trying different things. I love C25K!
This is the opposite of your question, but I always assumed cottage cheese and greek yogurt were bulking foods (something like GOMAD) but then I checked they're nearly the perfect cutting food (high protein, low carb, low fat and satisfying). Can add flavored whey to the greek yogurt and it's a nice dessert (can also hide your psylium husk in there if you don't like that texture).
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1+cup+lowfat+cottage+cheese http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/chobani-greek-yogurt-0-plain-non-fat-32-oz-22921938
As for fattening foods, well when I first started looking up calories and realized how many calories were packed into almost any entree at any of the chain restaurants I used to eat at/get take home from (e.g. CPK, Yardhouse, etc). Even salads are often over 1k calories. Something like a Southwestern Cheeseburger and fries could be over my entire calorie limit for the day.
Okay, mission change. I can't tell if you're metric or imperial, so I'll try to write this both ways. Learn what 25g-30g (1 ounce), 100g (just under 4 oz.) looks like for meat, cheese, nuts, chips, crisps. Weigh the first time, estimate after that. Weigh again every once in a while to keep your eye accurate.
For example, 100g (just under 4 oz.) of meat is about the size of a deck of playing cards. 25g-30g (1 ounce) of nuts fits on the palm part of your hand. About 15 crisps (tortilla chips) in a 25g-30g (1 ounce) serving. 30 ml. (2 Tbsp) of butter is about a golf ball.
This is less accurate than weighing, but after 7 months of logging, I believe that it's good enough for weight loss.
I believe this: It's more important that you log 100% of the items you eat with 80% weight accuracy than it is that you log 80% of the items you eat with 100% accuracy.
Writing something down for everything you eat gives you the mental awareness. The mental awareness gives you positive control over your choices.
You inspired me to blog: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/funchords/view/logging-dilemma-when-weighing-your-food-is-weighing-on-you-728656
Lost 80+ lbs. and gained control of diabetes & lipids:
Started July 9th ... Logging my food (I use MyFitnessPal), walking 3x a week for 30 minutes minimum and log that in MapMyFitness, and Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) for support and education.
My control isn't perfect, but it's much better. And while losing 80+ is what people see, what people don't see is that my diabetes and lipids are in control with diet+exercise -- no more shots or pills. That's the real headline.
MyFitnessPal profile: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/funchords
Album: http://imgur.com/a/cPA6J
MapMyFitness profile: http://www.mapmyfitness.com/profile/56594522
I'm a skinny fucker but have gone on 'diets' to eat more healthfully, because I sometimes eat like shit. For me, the best thing has always been to not allow anything but 'good-for-you food' in the house, period. This makes it much easier to not tempt yourself with something terrible like a box of swiss rolls for breakfat. Then you make a deal with yourself to only eat out (or order in) once a week. The last, but very important, factor in all this is to only grocery shop when you have just eaten recently; it prevents those dumb hungries from getting the best of you and coming home with a bunch of shit you don't need any shouldn't be eating anyway.
I also like to make a point of only eating half of whatever I order in / eat out. You get two meals out of it and can augment it when necessary with some of those 'good for you' items in the fridge/pantry.
If you've got a pantry full of good food and are still having trouble with portion control get yourself a cheap little kitchen scale and start weighing EVERYTHING you eat; log it too, if you're already measuring keeping a sheet of paper stuck to the fridge isnt hard. Staring at a scale that says you're about to eat 'X' number of ounces is a pretty powerful roadblock. Combine your weights and measures with MyFitnessPal and you'll know exactly how many calories you're eating a day.
That is weird. There are lots of pictures of fat people in the My Fitness Pal fitspo thread.
They are all in the before part of the image.
There's a great website (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/) that helps you count calories with a great database of food already in it. Simply put in what you eat for every meal. It helped me realize the caloric value of what I was eating and where I could stand to improve. Start with the calorie intake then add in exercise.
You can't outrun a bad diet. Unfortunately, your weight loss will be more dependent on your food decisions. My best recommendation is to join MyFitnessPal and enter your information there and begin logging your food.
That being said, don't stop track or exercising in general. It's extra calories burned, and gives you a bit of wiggle room to eat if you so please (I personally didn't eat back exercise calories while losing, but I had more to work with). Plus, it's fun and good for your overall health.
Sometimes if you're lucky, someone else will have already figured it up and added it the way you need it. Try searching for whatever you've eaten plus the words "no bun." Ex: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/zaxbys-grilled-house-salad-no-toast-or-fried-onions-23947448
WW never worked for me. Its funny because I would always quit for the same reasons as you...I hadn't logged, I felt I was wasting money and the cycle continued about 4 times. Then...I found MyFitnessPal (long after the many WW attempts and one health scare later). It's great because it is free and it makes you see what you are eating just like WW.
My challenge to you is to sign up on MyFitnessPal, add me as a friend (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/user/libelluler/status), and try and track just 1 meal a day for the next week. Doesn't matter what you eat, but track it.
Tracking my food and knowing what I was putting in my body every day changed my life. And at first all I did was track. It didn't matter how much or what, just tracking...making it a habit. THEN, I started being more conscious of WHAT was being tracked and eaten. It's your challenge whether you choose to accept it or not, but just try and track 1 meal a day.
Here's a quote that's always stuck with me: "A year from now you will wish you had started". I gave myself 1 year. 1 year to be selfish, put myself and my health first, be selfish in a positive way instead of a lazy way and I lost over 100lbs.
I use myfitnesspal and it is amazing for tracking, I havnt tried any others but I dont need to, MFP does everything I want. I can even scan some of the barcodes of my food with my phone mfp app and it tell you all the nutritional info etc.
Check out my food dairy on mfp if you want http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/thelowcarbrecipes?date=2011-11-16
I have never done P90x, I don't even really know what it entails, but if you're looking for weight loss advice I can help.
If you're overweight, the best thing you can do is figure out your TDEE, and start counting calories.
I lost 120lbs, and for the majority of that I was barely exercising. Exercising is amazing for your body, and mind, you'll sleep better, you'll feel healthy and have more energy, etc, definitely do it for fitness, but don't expect it to fix weight issues, because when it comes to weight-loss it is like 90% diet, 10% exercise.
Go to this site, enter your details honestly, and it'll give you your TDEE, that is Total Daily Energy Expenditure, essentially how many calories your body burns in a day. Your goal is to eat at a calorie deficit, -500 calories is a good place to start, that will net you around 1lb/week weight loss (or more, or loss, it depends on your body). You can see how that feels and alter it as required.
Next, you need to be counting calories, use MyFitnessPal, I only really used the iPhone app, but I think u can do it all on your PC as well.
The best feature of MyFitnessPal, in my opinion, is the bar-code scanner. It lets you scan bar-codes on practically any food item, and if it's in the data-base it will tell you the amount of calories in it. MyFitnessPal honestly felt like a godsend, and the calorie tracking was quite motivating. It's very easy to use.
Edit: If you're gonna downvote, at least explain why. Is there something wrong with my advice? or is it because it seems like unsolicited advice? OP expressed interest in the diets of several people in this thread who said they lost weight on P90x, so I figured it was warranted. Sorry if it caused offense.
Read the FAQ, it probably answers most of your questions.
Calories in - calories out = weight change (in its simplest form). If you take in less than you use, you will lose weight. In light of that:
- Calculate your TDEE here
- Subtract 500 - 1000 calories from that number (1 - 2 pounds a week weight loss)
- Use a site like http://www.myfitnesspal.com. Track EVERYTHING that goes into your mouth. Do not go above your calculated calorie limit
- Stick at it. Consistency is key. Take pictures of yourself every week or two so you can see yourself changing. If you are working out, track those number too
A workout plan that is normally recommended, has a lot of information on the internet, and has a proven track record, is Starting Strength (SS).
Cardio is fantastic, but weight loss is 80% diet. Figure out your BMR and start counting your calories. Things like myfitnesspal can help.
Dude I am going to agree with quite a few people here: You need to lose some weight bro. The problem is mostly where you carry it. You carry a lot of it in your neck and that is probably the thing that's working against you the most. I highly recommend these resource tools when you're trying to work out healthier eating habits: r/loseit and myfitnesspal. I lost 10 lbs over the course of about a month. I got lazy and while I'm hanging in there at 10 lbs lost, I've learned a lot about portions and getting healthy. Really. Give it two weeks and see how you feel. The community is great.
-Your acne. I think if you took better care of your skin you would look much better. Also stuff like soda and chocolate can make your skin more oily than it would otherwise be. Stick to soda (EDIT: WATER), limit your sweets, and do 30 mins of an activity that accelerates your heart rate every other day. Not only will you lose a bit of weight, but your skin will probably clear up significantly as well.
On the plus side, you have very nice eyes and a kind, sweet smile. Do I think you are a major hawt dude right now? Sorry man, but not so much. Do I think you look like a guy who could be really super hot? I definitely do. Hang in there and good luck in all the things. :)
I use myfitnesspal to track my macros. Make sure you set a custom goal for your targets (the default is not keto) - use the keto calculator for what to set.
Once you've done that, they have a huge database for nutrition facts of foods. Just find your food, select your serving size, and it will log your macros. They have mobile apps too.
For things like supermarket salads, you can either add each ingredient, or try to find something really similar in the database. It won't be exact, but it's close enough.
After a bit of logging, you'll be pretty familiar with what foods have how many grams, and you'll have a good idea of what will fit into your macros. > how much chicken, hard boiled eggs, and bacon, and pepperoni I can put on my salad?
Lots. Those are all keto foods.
I think you're missing the point here? While adding hormones can fuck with your body chemistry a bit, hormonal birth control isn't going to magically make you gain 40 pounds (like this MFP user claims). I'm not claiming that hormonal birth control can make you hungrier - it's a known fact that estrogen can increase your appetite. However, most medications list "weight gain" as a side effect instead of or in lieu of "increased appetite" or "changes in appetite." Women who gain weight because they're eating more often cling to the "weight gain" side effect as an excuse for why they're fatter. It's easier to scapegoat a medication for mysteriously adding fat to your body than it is to hold yourself accountable for eating more than you used to.
All of your anecdotal evidence supports this - you're talking about your friends experiencing an increased appetite, not gaining weight despite while at the same time claiming that they haven't changed their habits.
The TiTP submitter in this post says "I'm on hormonal birth control, so I have been gaining weight," even though she eats about as much as her family members who are losing weight. She's claiming that she's gaining weight because birth control is magical pills that defy physics, not because it can increase your appetite and make you want to overeat.
I've got a treadmill in front of my TV, so I can watch my favourite show/anime while I'm walking.
A big thing to keep in mind is that weight loss is 80% diet. If your diet isn't in check then you won't lose weight. Simple as that. To help with your diet start using MyFitnessPal. Try tracking what you eat over the course of a few days just to put things into perspective.
You can also join us over on /r/loseit for more tips and encouragement.
Lolwut?
Sashimi maybe, sushi not so much. It's more caloric than you'd think, so the price won't change substantially. Two California rolls have more calories than one Big Mac.
And <strong>ONE</strong> Gozdilla Roll has <strong>MORE</strong> calories than a Big Mac, so if we use Big Macs as a benchmark for this calorie based economy, you're looking at an INCREASE in price.
my fitness pal also has a ton of European foods in their database, at least for the UK. Absolutely get a scale. Most European foods give nutrition info by weight, as opposed to volume. It's more accurate(is the cup I measure the same as the cup you measure? usually not.), but not as easy to visualize if you're not used to it. Weigh everything!
I use a combination of Swole and MyFitnessPal. I find throwing together rough meal ideas on swole is easy and then documententing them on myfitnesspal.com with more reliable data is the best way to go.
I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for but I'm gonna do it anyways: /r/Loseit is a GREAT resource for this type of thing. Also start an account at MyFitnessPal and track your daily food intake.
Trust me when I say that this works. I gained over 35 lbs when I was out with a broken leg. Simple calorie counting and a bit of body exercise has led to 20 lbs dropped in 40 days (would've been more but those damn holidays got in the way). You don't have to look for massive loss/gains in order to be successful. Relying on someone else to motivate you is a crutch but that's seriously just my opinion and not a jab at you. :)
Good luck and get it done! Educating yourself about healthy choices is the first step.
I am very overweight on a vegetarian diet. A vegetarian diet can be an unhealthy and high-caloric diet. I would suggest a visit to /r/loseit, but more importantly: start tracking how much and what you ate, for example using the website and/or app myfitnesspal.
You might want to consider visiting your doctor for
- tests to find a possible contributing cause of being overweight - hormone problems such as a slow thyroid
- tests to look at possible deficiencies because of your diet - vitamin B12, folic acid (and these sometimes may contribute to your weight problem by giving you less energy to deal with your day and to exercise / cook meals etc)
- tests to look at possible consequences of your weight and diet - tests for diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol levels
PS. I'm working on it, too. Good luck!!!
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ - Sign up, its free and probably one of the most important tools you can use for tracking your calories. It's all good saying you're eating 6 meals a day etc, but are you eating above your TDEE?
For those of you who, like me, have no idea what a Quiktrip is, let alone the content of their slushies: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/quiktrip-qt-black-cherry-smoothie-2629275
so a 48 oz whatever this is has 6*170 = 1020 calories. And she's having three per day.
Good goal. I like it. I'm going to copy/paste what I posted in another thread here.
- Buy a scale. Weigh everything that goes into your mouth. I promise you you're overestimating portions.
- Buy measuring cups, and spoons for the same reason.
- Track your food religiously using something like MyFitnessPal. Add friends. Talk to them. Millions of people are in your shoes.
- Determine how much you should be eating with websites like If It Fits Your Macros. Follow it. Closely. Mind carbs and protein.
- Don't be discouraged if you have been eating double what you should be in calories. Shit happens. I used to eat a large-size McDonalds meals and 3 burgers and a box of donuts ALL AT ONCE. Now I'm between 1200-1500 calories a day, easy. Took me two years.
- Set. Small. Goals. I hate seeing goals on MFP like "Lose 160 pounds". It's so discouraging to see that number. When I was 260 pounds I set my 'ticker' goal as "Lose 10 lbs". Felt amazing when I did it.
- Things take time. Give yourself time. It didn't come on overnight, and it won't come off overnight. In fact, it takes a quarter of the time to gain 10 lbs as it does to lose it. You need to give it time. Don't quit because you're impatient.
- Measure yourself. You may see no pounds lost sometimes, but you'll realize your favourite shirt is looser. Re-measure. Sweet! You lost 2 inches.
- Take a starter picture. It sucks. It hurts your heart...but trust me, when you look back on it, you'll feel like a effing beast.
I think you have a lot of potential but you do need to lose some weight. People are quick to tell you to exercise but fixing your diet is going to do a lot more for you than exercising. (Ideally you should do both though.) I know of what I speak. I've lost 50 lbs in about a year and I'm down about 100 from 2007. (If you doubt me I can post pics lol) You should try using Myfitnesspal's website and/or their smartphone app, by the same name, to keep track of your caloric intake. If you're honest with yourself, you will lose weight this way. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions. I'd be happy to help. =D
Yeah, I use MyFitnessPal at the moment, you can see the food log here I think?. You'll see a lot of Taco Bell and KFC.. I ate them very regularly the whole time I was losing weight.
Here's the nutrition facts.
I think the average adult male is supposed to have something like no more than 40g of added sugar a day (around 30 for women). If you were to eat that whole bar, you'd be eating 225g. Kind of makes me want to vomit just thinking about it.
I was at 315lbs at my heaviest and at my last doctor's visit 2 months ago I was at 292lbs. What personally has been working for me is calorie counting. There's plenty of sites out there, but I personally use MyFitnessPal. After the first few days of counting my calories, it was a shock to see how much I was actually putting into myself. Keeping my calories in check and spreading my meals out more evenly throughout the day, I naturally ended up eating healthier, less processed foods. I've started cooking more and preparing at night my meals for the next day. I've found that not only am I losing weight (I'm at 269lbs now), I'm also saving money by not eating out all the time. And I used to use the excuse that it would take forever to make lunch and dinner for the next day, but in reality it only takes 10 minutes a night.
I also work out 4 times a week with Kettlebells, but the calorie counting definitely keeps me in check. If you want daily ideas of what to eat, I'd recommend signing up for free on SparkPeople.com. They've also got a calorie and exersie tracker, but they can suggest what meals to eat for the day to achieve your caloric intake for the day and what specific exercises you can do.
Eat raw or slightly cooked veggies. Few calories, fill up your stomach. Drink lots of water -- whenever you're hungry, before and during meals, all the time. When you can't stand it anymore, go for a walk, but away from food.
I have a rule that I can have a candy bar if I run to the store, 2 miles round trip, to get it. Burns about the right number of calories. Works for me because I'm so lazy that I never do it. Also, fruit can help with sweet cravings. I got fruit leather from amazon's subscribe and save so it's a lot cheaper than buying individual ones from the store. 45 calories and sweet as candy.
You could also do what someone else here did and put this up on your fridge :)
And I use MyFitnessPal to track calories. Keeps me honest.
For starters - as you probably already know, you should stop drinking soda. Start off easy and go for walks, maybe some light jogging if you are feeling up to it. I hated running because I sucked at it. I would quickly be in pain and after a few minutes I would be wiped. But everyday it gets a little easier, every day the pain will go away a little more and you'll be able to run longer. Eventually you'll be running pain free.
I was shy when I first started going to the gym, but I found out that nobody really cares what you are doing. Just pop some headphones in, ignore everybody else and do your own thing. Eventually you'll get used to it and you may even find yourself enjoying it. Also, try Myfitnesspal - It can be a good source for motivation and it's really important to track what you eat. :) Good luck!
Year 1 I just did cardio and ate well. Year 2 I started lifting. I work out 6 days a week for around an hour and a half to 2 hours. Fridays off. Routine is PPLx2 (push pull legs), rest, repeat
If anyone cares about lift #s here are the 3 big ones:
Note: These are all 3 sets of 5. I don't test my 1 rep max.
Bench: 120-210 (225 1RM)
Deadlift: 115-360 (no straps)
Squat: body weight / 115 - 240
MFP (myfitnesspal) profile/diary:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/jperello13
Here's a link to my fitocracy profile. Has all of my stuff on it.
https://www.fitocracy.com/profile/skknt/?feed
Note that I work out in a home gym so some stuff I can't do.
EDIT: I'll try to respond to all of the comments I can as well. Feel free to ask any questions you have, as well as any criticisms!
That seems closer to maintenance calories than weight loss calories, especially for women with PCOS (who have a lower BMR than women without). You might want to consider dropping to, say, 1500 and seeing how that works out for you.
FWIW, I've lost almost 60lbs so far through calorie restriction. I aim for 1200/day and use http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ to track. No keto or low carb or any other restrictions.
It really depends, i get on these kicks where I cook a certain way for a month then I switch it up.
Typically Ill have some combo of bacon, eggs, sausage, ham, cheese and butter for breakfast. Lately tho Ive been putting an egg on an 8oz burger patty with bacon and cheese...
Lunch could be skipped if breakfast was big, i liked salads for lunch a lot. Mixed greens with lots of bacon bits, pepperoni, parm cheese and Caesar dressing. I sometimes grab wendy's baconators without the bun or leftovers from dinner.
Dinner... A perfect dinner would be a fat ribeye steak with a pad of butter and a side of creamed spinach or sautéed broccoli (with bacon added of course). I cant always afford that and I don't always have the calories left. I make a really good low carb chicken soup, unwitches(look for the pics), bacon cheeseburgers, all kinds of roasts(gravies can be made low carb). Pretty much anything in my gallery or thats low carb.
Today I ate a bacon cheeseburger for breakfast and am planning keto chicken soup for dinner, mixed nuts/avocodo/hummus for a snack.
food gallery http://imgur.com/a/Auc93
MFP food log http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/crackillsketo?date=2014-01-01
Reddit skews younger. Gives us "oldsters" (51!) a chance to pass down our "wisdom."
Almost 4 months, lost 65 lbs: MyFitnessPal and walking. It's actually not been hard for me, especially at first. Now it's a series of plateaus but if I stick with it, it'll eventually go. I'm committed to go the distance, regardless of the scale. (It has successfully controlled my diabetes and I have stopped insulin and meds. with normal blood sugars.)
M 51 5'11" SW: 298# CW: 233# GW: 208# Day 113, lost 65/90#
M 51 180cm SW: 135 kg CW: 106kg GW: 95kg Day 113, lost 29/40kg
On MyFitnessPal: funchords
I had no motivation when I started. MyFitnessPal was a homework assignment. But in 3 weeks, I had lost 20 pounds: from 298 to 278 -- it was crazy, and I wasn't starving or even hitting the goal all of the time, I was just logging the food and that started me in getting motivated. I'd hit the goal one day, and try to hit it the next day.
After 3 weeks, the class was over but I kept going... it's now day 108 of this 21 day homework assignment and I'm down 65 pounds!
Motivation is not required to download MyFitnessPal and start logging your food.
You'll do a diary of your food, it looks like this: (mine)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/funchords
Logging your food. This is the most important skill.
- When you log what you're eating before you eat it, you have a second chance to make a better decision.
- When you see what you're eating over time, you'll investigate alternatives and make changes
- When you get into practice, it takes less than 5 minutes per day
- When you log through your crises -- when you feel or are out of control, you're back in control as soon as your next meal and you don't feel so bad because you know where you are (the biggest part of fear is not knowing)
Logging provides the info, the control, and the "didn't quit" that will make your effort successful. You'll even do it after you've lost the weight, to help train you to maintain. So get really good at it. It's worth it.
Try it for 21 days, just like I did. The only strict rule is to log everything you eat. See how you do. Since you don't know how much you weigh, just enter it as 331 for now and you can fix it if you find a scale that works.
Get a calorie-counter app. A lot of people use My Fitness Pal but I personally prefer the About.com app. Both offer web and mobile apps. Log EVERYTHING you eat and drink, EVERYTHING. Don't worry about hitting specific goals right away, just try to get a rough idea of where you are. Once you have that look at how you can cut back to a healthy level of calories. You should see a doctor and/or a nutritionist for more information on what that is, but broadly speaking around 2000 calories a day is typically what a normal-sized woman should consume to maintain her weight. You should try to go 300-500 calories per day below that to lose weight at roughly one pound per week, depending on your size and exercise levels. Make sure you measure things out with a food scale and use portion control.
Most importantly, don't go from one extreme to the other. Make sure you try to find creative ways to feel full without eating high-calorie foods (hint: cut out sugar and as many simple carbs as you can). If you starve yourself, no matter what your intentions are, you will become frustrated and quit. You need to eat no trust fewer calories but make sure those calories come in the form of foods which you will find satiating.
So I don't know your situation exactly or anything, but I started my weight loss adventure about 13 months ago at 384 lbs. I was 198 lbs on Sunday morning. The 100% most important thing I did was join MyFitnessPal and start logging literally all of the food I ate. After I dropped down to about 313 lbs and trusted my knees a bit more, I started Couch to 5k and ran my first 5k only 5 weeks later, although run was a more generous term because I barely did under 43 minutes. I didn't really get back into professional wrestling at all until Royal Rumble time, and started listening to podcasts a week or two after WrestleMania -- that's when I heard about DDP Yoga and saw the video on his website, etc. Well, I may have "obtained" a copy of the DVDs on my computer and started trying them out. I was probably around 240 lbs at this point, so still pretty overweight, but definitely more manageable. I won't lie -- DDP Yoga tended to kick my ass a little bit for the first week or two. I never felt like I couldn't complete a session while doing it, but I was pouring with sweat and my heart rate was way up and it was awesome. I loved it so much that I used money from a weight loss competition to buy it. I had to learn when to do it (I did it once or twice before going on a 3 mile run and it sucked to run) but I really stuck to it for 6 weeks. I kinda fell of the wagon because of external reasons, but the last week I've been fitting a session or two in when I can. I went from my fingers barely grazing the carpet when trying to touch the ground to being able to put both palms of my hand flat on the ground. Plus a bunch of other cool flexibility and general well feeling. If you need any other support or questions or whatever, let me know.
Seems to happen to a lot of people
> It seems though that people are guessing what causes it. Low electrolytes, blood sugar, nobody seems to know. I know that I get cold after spending time on the elliptical if I leave on the shirt I exercised in. It is so soaked with sweat, it's as if someone turned the hose on me. Leaving the shirt on while my body begins the cool-down makes it feel like it has ice water on it. By getting it off as soon as possible, it does not feel like I'm in a cold shower. Obviously what is happening is that evaporation is lowering the temperature of the shirt so it feels cold against my skin. But if you have put on dry clothes after your walk, this would not explain your chills. My first thoughts are that it's just a normal thermal response to sweating. Beyond that it seems to be anyone's guess.
I'm down! A bunch of people from /r/Loseit are on myfitnesspal; we can start an /r/studentnurse group on MFP too, and keep tabs on each other. Shit, I'd be happy to start one if OP doesn't mind, and get our own little niche community going.
Solidarity, yo.
I spend more than you. Southern California. Ever since I starting watching my intake, I have been hovering around $800 a month on groceries, which did not including eating out. Now I am trying to get it to 600.
My diet is a bodybuilding diet. Right now 2600 calories a day. 190-210 g protein, 285-310g carb, 70-80g fat.
What drives the cost up for me is loving the feeling of fullness. I eat a metric ton of vegetables. At one point I was eating about 1.5 kg a day of cauliflower, which depending on the season was costing me $10 a day alone.
You can see everything i've eaten for the past year + here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/s2konstantine.
How I am reducing the cost: Costco. Switching from expensive veggies to cheaper ones. Buying from local produce shops. Switching from low fat (low cal) cheese to high fat cheese (more cals/dollar). Less vegetables. I try not to eat entire bags of spinach in one sitting sigh.
I started buying frozen veggies from costco. Not my favorite but it's helping. I stopped brewing my own coffee for the most part, use crappy folgers instant. I started eating more crappy carbs like cereal and bread. Both of which I dislike relying on. I do potatoes now, which is working.
Proof of my food problems for the haters: http://i.imgur.com/jrCjPTh.png
I was on a river rafting trip in August for a week, hence the dip.
Male, 31, USA/Louisiana, 5'9", 227.6lbs.
I have no plan of winning, since I've been the tortoise in this race so far, but I'll happily take part. :)
EDIT: Feel free to add me on MyFitnessPal! Always good to be able to see other people's food diaries (if you log what you eat) and get some inspiration for meals! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/big_onion
You document all of your food you ate (or better, are PLANNING to eat), and then it tells you what you have.
This site here: http://cavemanketo.com/configuring-mfp/ will help you configure how to make your goal numbers show up correctly. That site also links to this: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/124645 (and has a how-to on the site for getting it set up), which will give you a pie chart of your macros.
Ideally, you want your caloric ratio to be ~65/30/5% Fat to Protein to Carbs. If the amount by WEIGHT of both Fat and Protein are similar, you are going to more or less hit that ratio pretty good if you keep your carbs low.
I'm just starting as well (~2 weeks in), and yes, it is hard at first, but it gets easier. I'm rarely even hungry anymore, I just have that desire to much.
Good luck, Lauren!
As I posted to another thread a few minutes ago, it's simple math when you start out. Calories in v. Calories out. It's going to be a long journey, but it's worth it. Not easy but WORTH IT. Now.. The best way I've found to count calories is through a program called MyFitnessPal. Use it and track everything that you eat and stick to your calorie limit. Also, drink water. Lots of water. Tell sodas and fast food to fuck off (It sucks, yeah, but you save tons of money and lose fat fast.) Be sure to keep a log and photo journal of your progress for those days when you get discouraged so you can look at how far you've come instead of how far you have to go.
...And finally,
You should know from all the progress pictures and success stories on Reddit that it's very possible to lose the weight, no matter how deep you are in. Also, the fact that you are 16 gives you an unbelievable advantage compared to the adults trying to lose. You've got a teenagers metabolism, USE IT!
Have fun with it man, in time you will be happier, thinner and a walking success story. Now get the fuck out there and do it, you've got a beast inside you trying to rip it's way out, don't hold it back.
((Just went back through your original post and saw you needed help with starting workouts.. Start with light cardio and get your body used to an exercise regimen. Slowly increase the duration and up your efforts, it's very simple as long as you keep your heart rate in the correct zone.))
Friendly neighborhood hacker here: Try this link: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/reports/results/progress/1/365.json?report_name=Weight& you'll get the raw JSON data they use to draw the graphs
(no this is not illegal, you browser downloads it anyways to draw the plots)
I used kcal for three months. They were reliable and never missed a delivery. The food was fine, given the constraints of a low-calorie, low-carb diet.
I lost about 6kg in that time, which was in line with expectations. According to the body analysis machine, that loss was entirely fat, i.e. I retained (and even slightly increased) muscle mass, which was the intention.
In the end I stopped using it because I got fed up with being constrained to the food they provide. You just have to eat what you are given and that gets a bit tedious. It is also quite expensive.
It taught me important things about nutrition though and now I manage my diet myself using myfitnesspal.
Congrats on making the choice to making a healthy lifestyle change! Best wishes! Have you looked at any of the on-line calorie trackers like http://www.myfitnesspal.com/? They are really fantastic tools for developing good habits.
> I can visually put [muscle] on fairly quickly (within 2-3 weeks)
This is extremely likely to be a pump/water/perception. Muscle just doesn't grow in the timeframe.
But to answer your question, cut. In addition to accurately and rigorously tracking EVERYTHING that goes into your body with a tool like http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ - pick a program and stick with it. Eat at a caloric deficit and you will lose that fat, even if it takes a while.
And do cardio on your off days. You don't have to get in marathon shape (in fact, you shouldn't) but get on a bike for 20-30 mins and push yourself. Don't worry so much about the idea that being in a caloric deficit will kill your gains (it won't) because the combination of a clean diet, weightligting, and cardio is good for you, good for your gains, and good for your health. And as a relative novice, you can put on muscle while losing fat if you're consistent, diligent and patient.
You can bulk if you really want to get big and don't care so much about the belly fat in the immediate future, but if that's your concern, do a cut before bulking. If you still want to bulk, don't do it too aggressively as to minimize fat gains on your midsection. Something like 3-500 above your TDEE.
You sound like you have a pretty good handle on things. Calculate your TDEE and the goals you have (lose fat, or gain muscle). It sounds like you are wearing yourself out a little bit by not eating enough.
As far as your diet goes, no alcohol (or limited amounts), no "junk" food, and getting veggies is looking good. Whatever amount of veggies you are eating, eat more.
Here is a resource that has helped me a lot. The workout split has some good presets to work with. I personally think you would appreciate the lean massing the most. If you feel you are getting too much unwanted fat, just change to a weight lost preset. It keeps the grams of protein to 1gram per 1lb of bodyweight, which will be plenty of protein.
http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/
I also use this resource for tracking my nutrition. Customize your macro intake based on the above resource values for tracking ease.
One last thing, compound lifts on your lifting days. This will be most beneficial to you. (ie Squats, dead lifts, bench press, etc)
Hope this helps and good luck on your fitness journey going to the next level!!!
If it's a protein supplement you're looking for, I recommend True Nutrition's Vegan Protein Optimizer formula. I've been using it for about 8 months now. It's by far the cheapest I've found, particularly if you buy a large amount of it at once, because shipping doesn't increase very much with additional weight.
I use the Premium Chocolate flavor, and I think it's absolutely delicious. I've made some really delicious smoothies with it for breakfast, but most of the time I use it by itself with a almond milk/water.
That said, if you're gaining weight, you're eating more calories than you're using each day. Just adding a protein supplement to your diet is not going to help you meet your goal. If I were in your position, I would start carefully tracking my calories. There are many free tools available to help with this; My Fitness Pal is a popular favorite around here. My wife uses it on a regular basis, and has achieved great results with it.
Best of luck!
Thread here, thankfully people aren't being very helpful so far with a few lecturing on how dangerous 300lbs can be
I read this and could have totally written it myself! I'm 5'2", same weight, same goal and also love to bake!
I try to go to the gym at least 3 times a week and mainly do cardio and the weightlifting machines. I've found that having a workout buddy makes everything better since you're accountable to someone else. I've made plans to just meet friends at the gym even if we're not going to work out together just so that I get my lazy butt out of bed and onto that treadmill!
Try counting calories, myfitnesspal is a great way to! Although with homemade dishes, being exact gets kind of tricky... in any case best of luck! :)