My new diet

Hello everyone,

I am at 330 pounds right now I think and hopefully I am down some since I was last weighed, but I am on a new diet.  Basically I try to keep my calorie intake to about 2000 calories and honestly I try to do 1800 calories a day.  So I am counting calories and doing what I can to keep the calorie intake low only about 600 calories a meal three times a day.  I am all done eating today and I'll have to fight off my hunger pains in the evening but I can do it.  I won't starve to death I just got to quite eating somuch it has really been ridiculous getting this heavy, but Igot a problem and I got to fix it.

So how about you other guys and gals, how is your diet coming along? 

Sincerely,

Sam

My advice would be to pay attention to the burn meter and set a realistic calorie deficit, especially when you are first starting out.  1800 to 2000 calories sounds nice, but you might need even more to prevent your body from thinking food is a scarce resource and trying to hold on to fat.  A 1000 calorie deficit a day goal would equal 2 lbs a week, which is about the maximum you should be aiming for anyway.

Another thing I would advise is to eat a lot of vegetables and some fruits.  You can eat a lot of food with very few calories based on the choices you make.   For me, I do not do the traditional breakfast-lunch-dinner cycle.  Instead I eat a lot of vegetables and fruits in the morning and afternoon, then save a majority of the calories for my evening meal.  Even then I do not go all out -- about 600 calories comes from a large organic salad with lettuce, peppers, jalapeno pepper, tomato, a bit of cheese and bacon (maybe 150 cal worth), and about 200 cal of organic dressing.  As I am aiming right now for about 1900 cal a day, that still leaves about 700 calories for my main protein and cooked vegetables, and maybe a 100 calorie desert.

There's really no one right way to eat, however if during the evening you are struggling after eating the foods you've allotted yourself, you may try tweaking your calories so that you have some more at night.  It's nice to feel satisfied at the end of the day an not go to bed hungry. :)

Good luck and let us know how you are doing!

Congratulations on your new life.  I started at around 290 pounds and I was eating around 2300 calories a day back then.  I was losing weight steadily and I wasn't haven't much trouble with getting hungry.  I'm not suggesting you eat 2300 calories, I'm just saying you should figure out what a 500 calorie deficit is, and then develop a routine that works for you, based on that goal.

If your going to go any higher (and there is no reason you should), at least wait until you've got a routine established.  As your weight drops, you want to go back to edit your settings, look at the calorie section, push the "advice" button and recompute your daily calorie numbers to match your new weight.

Don't be afraid to try different ways of eating to figure out what works for you.  I never believed in the importance of protein, but after a couple months I tried adding some protein to my all carb breakfast and wow what a difference in how long it took before I got hungry again.

Also, don't be afraid to post questions and spend time searching the archives for things you're wondering about.  This site is full of ideas and information and people that want to help you.

How's my diet?  It's great.  I'm down 47 pounds and I'm eating healthy and getting lots of exercise.  I get compliments almost everyday.  You will too.

Best of Luck!