Weight Loss By Calorie Counting

[dfarmer2001]

I am a 23 year old male, I'm 6 feet tall, and I weigh approximately 310 pounds (lbs). I hold my weight well and no one would ever guess my weight, however, it doesn't change the fact that I am in the obese BMI range. I am desperately attempting to lose weight because I not only want to look better but I want to feel better as well, more specifically lightening my load will help me with my current feet issues. I've began to notice I have way too many problems with them hurting if I stand too long, and it makes it difficult for me to do my current job that requires me to stand for nearly the entirety of my 8 hour shifts.

I have tried a variety of different weight loss ideas over the years, and I've had some successes, but eventually these successes would slowly fade until I'm back at the beginning and am starting all over again. I've tried Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, Noom, personal dieting, etc. At one point I had lost right at 50 pounds, but eventually began gaining it all back due to dramatic life events.

My most recent attempt to lose weight has been with calorie counting. My first week I lost 7 pounds by simply counting my calories. However, I went on vacation the next week, and enjoyed a variety of buffets as this was a family vacation, and due to us not having these restaurants or even buffets were I live locally. Now that I am back home, I have struggled to try and start up the calorie counting again. My biggest problem is that I don't cook, I prefer convenience over anything. This has had me stuck on eating simple sandwiches such as chicken salad, egg salad, organic (no sugar) peanut butter and banana sandwiches, etc. Mostly chicken salad. However, now I'm at the point in which I'm getting burnt out and this is just becoming difficult and I'm falling back to my old ways again.

I could really use some help getting a plan formed with some meal ideas. Preferably those that I don't have to cook and is simple to make and take to work with me. Any ideas and pointers would be very beneficial. Thank you in advance.

[Grigid Moderator 4 stone]

Hi dfarmer2001, and welcome to Weight Loss support,

First of all, weight loss is a journey that has ups and downs, and sometimes it takes a while to figure out which approach is best for you.

People on this forum follow a variety of approaches, including calorie deficit. With calorie counting you do need to count, and sometimes it's surprising just how many calories there are in a sandwich for example.

You say you don't cook, but do you think you would stick to a plan for making your own salads (they really don't have to be just lettuce), or wraps for example, and taking them into work? sometimes preparing your own food keeps your mind on the fact that what you're doing is like a gift to yourself of becoming healthier.

We have a number of groups on this forum where you will get peer support, and see how others approach their weight loss, such as low carb, or intermittent fasting. I've added the link to all the groups for you to have a look at, you can just join in by replying to people, and I know you will be made very welcome.

Good luck with your journey, you know you can do it because you've managed it before

healthunlocked.com/weight-l...

[Frenchfields Restart Jan 2025]

Hi dfarmer, and welcome to this very supportive forum. The fact your here suggests that you really are ready to start tackling what you see as a weight problem. As grigid has said, all weightloss plans have there ups and downs, and there are positives and negatives in every type of diet. Perhaps a starting point for you might be to look at the ’I don’t cook’ thing. Does somebody else cook for you? Or have you never learned to cook? Or are you simply too tired to cook after 8 hours at work? There are lots of diet plans available online but unless you can embrace the idea that its worth the effort, that YOU are worth the effort, to spent some time preparing / cooking the food I think your diet will remain a bit tedious and repetitive. You did indicate that you had some success with weightwatchers, so perhaps you still have some of the foodplans from then -I think ww uses a points system which is essentially based on calories. I’m even going to suggest you go back to weightwatchers -for the support. It doesn’t matter to them if you’re not perfecct every week, or you take a holiday -they are used to it. But they should always be supportive. ( I confess I am a former weightwatcher who lost a lot of weight with them -it didn’t happen overnight and I definitely had ups and downs but I wouldn’t have done it without them).

I hope this comes across as encouragement and that you will join in with the other threads and also let us know how you’re getting on. You can do this, you just need to get yourself into the right headspace.

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone]

"I don't cook" doesn't have to be forever.

Truly, if you want a healthy lifestyle, then cooking is a valuable part of it. None of us is born being able to cook, it's something you learn.

One easy thing, and something you could take to work, is soup. You don't need any fancy gadgets, just a large pan, a chopping knife and a hob to cook on. Use ingredients you enjoy, give it a try.

Good luck 😊

[BridgeGirl Administrator 2 stone in reply to BridgeGirl]

Some ideas here healthunlocked.com/weight-l...

[Eternal_Flame]

Hi & welcome!

I also don't really cook, but there's things that can add variety to your meal plans. Don't be afraid to use canned foods that you just have to heat up (I use the microwave pretty much every day!). Also, did you know that instant noodles just need to soak in boiling water for a few minutes to be ready, no actual cooking! Yes, these things are not the healthiest, but they're better than takeaways in most cases and you can calculate your calories from the labels quite easily. I'm thinking if you get used to eating more variety of foods, you might feel encouraged to start learning to cook from fresh. Either way, you can definitely meet your weight loss goal with a bit of determination!

All the best

EF x

[Eryl Visitor in reply to Eternal_Flame]

Instant noodles are high in cars and won't do anything to help his weight

[Eternal_Flame in reply to Eryl]

I did state that the foods I mentioned weren't the healthiest, but weight loss will happen if an appropriate calorie goal is met, regardless of the types of food eaten.

[Eryl Visitor in reply to Eternal_Flame]

But restricting calories is starving yourself which is unsustainable in the long term. Carbs contain no essential nutrition , they are pure energy so you can cut them out without affecting your nutrition

[Eternal_Flame in reply to Eryl]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree 🙂

[Eryl Visitor]

Loosing weight is not so much about regulating calories but cutting out carbohydrates which push up blood sugar and trigger a release of insulin which is central to fat storage and the building block of bodily fat are made in your liver from excess gycogen which comes from the blood sugar. youtu.be/SKGkNfz0814?si=33j...(Not working as expected?)

[SheWolf84 1kg 2024 May]

Hi dfarmer2001, I'm a bit late to reply so I hope you've found something that's working.

Anyway, I thought I'd share what's working for me. I also struggled with different ways of losing weight but what's eventually stuck is calorie counting according to my basal metabolic rate, zig-zag cycling and identifying what time of I want to eat the most. First of all, previous times I tried to lose weight, I was eating way too few calories. I consulted a doctor and she told me this and enlightened me that I should be eating about 200 - 300 calories more than my basal metabolic rate calories. So previously, I was trying to limit myself to 1200 calories a day when in fact I should have been limiting myself to 1800cal. As you lose weight, your basal metabolic rate changes so you decrease your calories after every 10kg you lose or so.

This helped me a lot but I still struggled with sticking to my limit, so I decided to try zigzag calorie cycling - basically taking your weekly allowance and dividing it up into different calories per day. I always struggle on weekends because I want to eat more then, so I eat a lot of calories then, and then I taper down my calories until Wednesday, which is the day I eat the least, and then I gradually increase calories until Saturday, the day I'm allowed the most calories. This has worked very well for me because if I overeat one day, I just eat less another day. Mentally it's great because I know if I stick to my calories in the week, I'll be able to splurge on Saturday and have more of the things I want to eat.

I also identified that I tend to want to eat the most at night, so I eat less for breakfast and save my calories for dinner and nighttime snacks. This helps prevent me from overeating.

It's been slow because I've slipped up here and there due to life happening, but I've lost 15kg in total and am still consistently losing weight. I also don't have time to focus on cooking food in the week, so I make easy things (not always the healthiest) or buy food that fits in my calorie allowance.

I hope you find something that works well for you ☺️

[Frenchfields Restart Jan 2025 in reply to SheWolf84]

Thats really interesting, well done on your weightloss too. I think there was something called the wendy plan which worked in a similar way with different allowances for each day. Even on low carb, I have a higher carb allowance at the weekends. Good luck with continuing to lose.

[SheWolf84 1kg 2024 May in reply to Frenchfields]

Thank you 😊 it's taken a lot of trial and error to find something that works for me. Good luck to you too 😁

[focused1 Maintainer 13kg]

I feel you have had advice about the food issues . Only thing that resonates with me is don’t starve yourself, I started on advice to do a 1200 cal regime and it didn’t work as I was hungry and miserable . The 250 boost did the trick but I am a women almost a foot shorter than you but it is good advice that very low calorie diets aren’t sustainable both mentally and physically.Address your foot issues as after a lengthy process I was given foot inserts to raise my aches . I felt like a new person and this helped me walk more , boosted me as I felt better. Like you I stand a lot but can’t be still and my foot pain made me want to treat and eat . I reluctantly went to GP but it was the best thing I ever had done .