Please excuse my ignorance but I'm in search of a little help please.
I am 52 and currently 13 stone at 5ft 6, currently trying to lose weight and get in shape and have been doing so for a while. I have lost 14lb in the last several months (previously 14 stone) buy stopping all alcohol and watching what I eat.
The issue I have is that I don't really know what I should be doing.
I'm struggling to meet my calorie intake and wondered as long as I was eating the right nutrients would it matter ?
I've been working on the theory that as an adult male I should have 2200 Kcal per day, build in a calorie deficit of 700 kcal to help weight loss takes me to 1500 kcal.
I am averaging about 1000 kcal on a good day and less on others but worried this is doing me more bad than good.
I tend to eat a bowl of fruit for breakfast, a few strawberries, raspberries and grapes with a crushed meringue which is about 125 kcal (myfitnesspal)
Lunch is usually a either a salad 160 kcal or a protein/slimfast shake 230kcal (myfitnesspal)
Evening meal varies but usually healthy meal around 400 - 500kcal of meat and veggies.
Sometimes the odd snack throughout the day approx. 200kcal
My fitness pal seems to report that my nutrients are at a good level but worried my calories are low.
I dont really understand the what calories I should be eating and what to do to increase them if I need to.
Any help would be gratefully accepted, thanks in advance.
Written by
New2loss
2024 June
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Hello New2loss, and welcome to Weight Loss Support,
First of all, well done on the progress you've already made, stopping alcohol was a good call as was watching your nutrient levels.
There are lots of different approaches to their weight loss journeys taken by the members here, calorie deficit like yourself is just one, but there are people who follow intermittent fasting, and low carb/healthy fat, or a combination.
The one thing in common whatever approach you take is that it needs to be a sustainable change, and not one that leaves you hungry, or depleted.
Have a look at the link below, which includes the Weigh In, and Daily Diary where you can see the different approaches and chat with people there. It's a very supportive forum, so please just go ahead and join in.
We are a peer support group, and no one should try and give you "expert" or "professional" advice, but that's what seems to work here, real people sharing their real experiences.
Best of luck and I hope to see you around on the forum.
Please shout out if you need any help with it, someone will be here.
If you take a looks at 'Springers Specials' healthunlocked.com/weight-l... and our current challenge healthunlocked.com/weight-l... you'll see pictures of some fabulous meals that our members have posted. It should give you an idea of whether your meals are comparable, or whether you need to make a few changes
Good luck, I hope we'll see you taking part around and about the forum
Hi and welcome. I would say if my fitness pal is showing your nutrients are okay and balanced then it probably doesn’t matter if you’re not hitting your target calories in the short term. You could ask yourself how you feel on what you are eating -Energy levels, gut related issues ( to put it politely). My observations on what you’ve said is that fruit and meringue is quite a big ’hit’ of sugar first thing in the morning, you might want to think about having a bit of oatmeal or some plain yogurt, perhaps on some days. I know nothing about slimfast shakes but someone else might come on who does. Secondly, you don’t mention fat or oil, I believe its recommended to have some ’healthy’ oil such as olive oil each day so perhaps check that out on line for how much is recommended. Thirdly, not sure whats in your salad but maybe add some nuts/seeds/ pulses. One thing to consider is how you plan to eat once you get to your desired goal weight, you might want to think about enjoying the occasional treat - its quite easy to think ’I’ve done it’ and then go back to what you were doing before you ’dieted’. Hope thats helpful, but it sounds like you’re doing okay.
You are under eating and the long term consequences of this will probably be weight gain. Your motabilism will ajust and reduce to accomodate eating less. I used to attned over eaters anonymous where they recommended eating a normal amount to lose weight. SO a normal amount for most female people is about 2,000 calories. If you stick to this and avoid overeating you will lose weight permanantly.
The cells of body will run on glucose (blood sugar) or ketones (made from fat) but because high bat storeslood sugar is dangerous (causing nerve damage etc.) the body will release insulin to signal to the body that it needs to use it or store it. The body's way of storing glucose is to convert it to glycogen which it stores in the muscles as convenient place to store fuel for muscles. When the glycogen stores are full the excess is turned into trigycerides which go to buid up body fat as a long term store of energy. Insulin levels wil not spike if you eat fat so the storage process is not triggered.
Because the cells preferentially burn glucose it's impossible to burn off body fat while you're still eating sugar or starches so weight control is not so much about the amount of calories that you eat but the amount of sugar (including frit sugar) and starch (bread, cakes, biscuits and pasta) that you eat.
The most nutirent dense food that you can get is meat and fish so if your diet contains those and vegetables for the minerals and vitamins and forget about the amount of calories that you're eating you needn't worry about getting enough nutrition.
I agree with what has been stated that you may be undereating. There are lots of little ways to add a few calories to your diet without being unhealthy. My go to in the mornings was overnight oats. There are many different recipes for them so you can search for one which suits you best if you feel like you want to give it a go. I found it was very filling and the one I did came in at approximately 300 calories, though I have no idea of the nutrient levels because I only have the non-pay version of paypal, but it was healthy. There are some really good recipes on here you can try which I am sure will help you.
Oats are not healthy, you're better off with bacon, eggs, fish. or anything high protein. If you want to increase your calorie intake you can go for fattier cuts of meat, oily fish or put a knob of butter on your veg. youtu.be/bzXqoY7SKcw?si=pVd...
Thanks for the advice Eryl but unfortunately I don't have times in the morning to cook a meal (already get up early enough as it is when I'm at work and currently don't have the energy levels) also because of my dietry requirements, oats are one of the ways I obtain vibre along with veg and legumes as I can't have a lot of grains due to gluten intolerance and some other problems. I don't have a lot of oats because too much does give me bloating and I know some of the recipes call for crazy amounts of them. I think when I started I cut the amount by half and added seeds instead to help bulk it out.
I'm on a near keto diet that means that Idon't feel a great need for breakfast just a mid morning cuppa.however if you can't survive without a breakfast why not have an avocado which is high in calories but zero carbohydrate and supplement it with some cold smoked salmon or a hard boiled egg cooked the night before?
Thank you for the advice but I think I will stick with what I know works for me . I have also found there is lots of conflicting advice about whether or not oats are good for people. It's one of the few grains I can have, I have it in moderation and I am okay with it. Each to their own way of doing things, I am glad you have found the keto diet to work for you. Are you still losing weight on it or are you maintaining now?
I have a fairly manual job . Long hours and on the go . I have porridge most mornings . Its affordable . Made with water then I add full fat Greek yogurt and fruit . Most other cereal I have tried with/out oats were expensive and didn't fill me up . Yes there are discussions about oats but this stops me craving a snack and being hungry mid morning .I don't want to eat, bacon , eggs etc as I find this greasy and with no gall bladder now it sits inside me like a butter ball . Eating porridge keeps me full and sometimes don't get lunch till 1,30 . I feel this is a valuable food for me as snacks could become habit .I do old fashioned 3 meals a day . I calorie count as a guide as I am not scientist and use MFP free app to scan and look at my macros for hidden salt / sugar mainly .
You don't have to fry eggs, you can have them boiled or poached. Having no gall bladder is a special case as you need the bile that the gall bladder stores to digest large intakes of fats. Not all sources of protein come with large ammounts of fat.
No problem, the only other thing I would say is some of the recipes out there do call for high quantities of oats, so I think I cut the set amount by about a half so as not to cause bloating and etc
I listened to the video you sent about oats but the alternatives don't fill me . I have a 20 min walk then a demanding on my feet job so up at 6 , mad rush and sometimes nothing else apart from water until 13.30. Fatty eggs , bacon , avocado aren't great as I have no gall bladder . I have to eat to suit me and my lifestyle . Whatever I am doing is keeping me on track . My no alcohol and crisps just since end of May has easily shed almost 3kg - no effort together with plenty of 25k step walks . For me it is tweaks . I am 64 and take no medication with decent BP readings and cholesterol at 4.1 so I am happy.
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