I am scared!!

Hello Fellow people that are losing weight!

 First of all I want to thank you in advance in trying to help me understand.  I am very overweight, 355 actually and I am 5'4" and 30 years old.  I have always been heavy, and I really need to lose a lot.  I want to lose a 100 pounds in a year, and when I acheive that goal, then I'll work to get it lower.

 Anyways, a month ago, I had weighed myself and I was 346 and I had lost two pounds.  I was trying to stay within 1400 calories and then I was told I need more.  Like 2000 something!  I am scared that I will keep gaining if I eat more!  I also want to start to walk more, and excerise. 

 I really need to shed some (a lot of pounds) and if you want to leave a post that is mean, please don't.  I know I'm huge, but I want to change that! 

 Thanks again in advance,

 

Hey there. Just try to compare what you are eating now to what you were eating before you modified anything. I'm guessing it must be a big change! You don't need such a drastic change to lose weight.

I'm not trying to put you down, but I highly doubt you got to 355 eating 2000 calories a day. That's not a lot of calories. Really! The more you weigh, the more calories it takes just to keep your body functioning. Muscle does burn more calories than fat, pound for pound, but if you are overweight then you have enough fat to make a significant difference in your caloric burn. I am 5'4" and 150, and I burn almost 2000 on a light day.

1400 calories is DEFINITELY too little for you. Hang in there and don't let the scale get you down! In fact, the most you even need to get on it is once every 2 weeks. =/

Thanks, I will try again and again.  I know the last month, I was not being as careful, but when I was eating 1400-1500, I felt hungery all the time.  This is sure something to get used to, that's for sure!  Thanks again!

read through the past posts....there are quite a few that have lost over 100 lbs.  You can do this..2 pounds a week...small goals!  We are proud of you for starting to get healthier!

I am 5"2' 194 lbs and I need about 1500  day to loose 1 lb a week.  So 1800-2000 is reasonable.  It is hard to get that around our minds.  We always thought that to loose weight we need to starve and suffer...NOPE!  I even eat a small piece of chocolate every day!  Who knew????

It takes planning and yes, we wee bit of obsession in the beginning.  When you can start walking it will really boost things too, but don't wait for that to start...you CAN loose some with just counting calories.  The cardio will boost things though and that helps in so many other health benefits.  Can't wait to go through this with you!!!!

cat-bird, everyone has to start somewhere. You sound really motivated and that is all you need! losing is a slow process. you just got some great advice from feanor and kae so I'm not going to give you more. I try to stay @ 1700 calories, I weight 189 (and dropping SLOWLY!) and I hike 4-5 miles/day.

keep at it. you are doing great!

I think the posts above have given some good advice. I'd just like to add that, for motivation, I've been reading the book 'Never Say Diet' by Chantel Hobbs. She went from 350 lbs to 150 in two years. That's an 100 lb loss a year! If you're looking for motivation, it's a good book (she gives solid, common sense advice on eating healthy and exercising. No gimmicks in this book).

I wish you the best! You can do it!

 

Hi Catbird!

At your current weight, you definitely need to eat more than 1400 calories.  If you continue to eat that amount, your body will not get the energy and nutrients it needs, and your metabolism will slow down to offset that.  And when your metabolism slows down, you will not lose weight. 

The heavier a person is, the more calories they need to eat to maintain their current weight.  So if your tools here at C-C tell you that you can eat 2000 calories and still lose, then they are correct (and I can verify that from my personal experience here.)

The secret is this: If you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight.  But you must do it in a healthy way, which means you should have a daily calorie deficit of no more than 1000 calories per day. 

So by all means, eat what C-C recommends, and as much as possible, make healthy food choices.  The weight WILL come off; I have lost 120 pounds and 18 clothing sizes in the two years I've been doing this.

Hi there and welcome!

i think you will LOVE this site.  The ppl here are so helpful and inspiring.  They really know how to show support to each other!!!! 

YOU CAN DO THIS!

Set small goals for yourself and when you reach one by one this will give you more and more motivation to stay focused!  If I can do it, you can too!  We are all here to walk this journey with you!

If you need any support feel free to message me :)
~H~

Hi..... you can do this just like ^^ said .....

by setting 10lbs at a time as goals.. seem more realistic... good luck and yes, eating 2000 cals is reasonable....you will loose... do your bmr and bmi and you will see

Good luck and this site is great !!

First of all, I know how scary it is to start something new, so don't feel bad about it.  When I started this journey last June, I was close to 300 pounds and 5'7.  When I found CC, I had lost 10 pounds, but most of it was water weight, and I hadn't made very many changes.  I could barely walk around the block without pain and loss of breath.

Then, I came here.  I was told that I could eat, almost 2000 calories a day-WHAT? I CAN EAT?!?  But guess what, it works.  I am here as proof.  By counting calories, religiously trying to fit in some sort of exercise 5 days a week, and eating healthy, delicious foods, I am now down to 210 pounds.

You can do this, and all of us here collectively are here to help you learn how.  No one here will put you down for your weight-because we all have our own struggles.

I wish you the best of luck, and am here to help if you need it. :)

Welcome to CC. You have come to the right place thats for sure. There is a ton of information and its a great support system. I would be lost without this site. Together we will all reach our goals. You can do this! We will help you!

hey catbird

I'm fairly new at all this as well... I've been on here for about a month and a half now. But, I just thought I'd share some of my experience so far with you. I started at 300lbs (I'm 5'7") and decided I should eat around 1800 calories per day. Well... there have been times when I have been eating around 2400 calories per day, and you know what? I've lost MORE weight when I eat 2400 than I do when I eat 1600-1800... so I'm starting to believe that we really should eat more to lose more! I know it's kind of scary to increase your calories, but even 2400 calories per day is WAY less than what I was eating before.

We can do it!

I know 2000 prob sounds like a lot from what is always shoved down our throats....but I am 5' 7" and 185, and I need 1900-2000 as maintenance! (meaning not losing or gaining weight) and more for when I workout! I would maybe check on another site or two that has a place where you can enter your info and see what it says you should eat. I like this one:

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calc ulator.htm#

entering your info on this site has you at about 2782 for maintenance.....striving for 500-700 calorie deficit DOES put you at about 2000 a day to lose! You CAN eat! haha

So if I start to walk, I will need to eat more?  I have watched Biggest Loser and I kinda wondered how they can stand in front of the candy machine and eat!  I mean, I know it's not the best food, but I am learning, hopefully!  By the way, thanks for all the encouragement.  I will record what I eat and watch that I don't go over, but some days, it's easy to not go over! 

 I have also found out that if I do drink pop, (my favorite beverage is water), that if I don't drink diet, it's wasted calories.  Ok, maybe now I'm blabbling, but anyways, that is my question.   Thanks. 

for nearly 4 months all i did was walk 30 minutes a day in my journals you will read how I started at walking 5 minutes and then walk more each week.

by drinking water and walking and really counting my calories I learned what to eat and not eat and how to modify it.

Like now instead of using regular hellmans' mayonnaise I finally bought light mayonnaise.. after almost 5 months.... i get to use more ~ .... just small changes make a difference and the food recommendations are great to read and learn from.

On the days you exercise, you will need to consume more calories to create "a burn".  Simply put, calories in, calories out= weight loss.  It's hard to believe it's that simple, but it is.  When you add the calories, though, try to make them healthy ones.  A piece of string cheese, more fruit, more whole grains, etc.  Once in a while, I feel it's fine to have foods outside of this-for me, it's chips and salsa or a burger.  But balance is key.

The exercise does get easier.  One step at a time. One day at a time.  I now can say something I thought I would never say-I LOVE excercise.  I feel better and less stressed after I do it.  I know you can too! :)

Catbird,

Regarding your post above.  First, I am assuming that you have your activity level set to "Sedentary," meaning no exercise, and that that is what you are basing your number of calories off of.

If your activity level is set at Sedentary, then what you need to do is log your exercise in your Activity Log.  Then, take a look at the total number of calories you will burn for that day.  Let's say for example that that number will be 3000 calories burned, and that includes your exercise.

What you then need to do is to make sure that you are eating less than 3000 calories (in other words, eating less than you burn.)  Ideally, using this example, you want to eat anywhere between 2000 - 2500 calories, because that will create a calorie deficit of 500 - 1000 calories, which is considered the safe range for healthy weight loss.  So this is where your food log and your activity log become very useful tools; as you lose weight, you will need to eat less, and your logs are the best way to keep yourself on track so you don't overdo it (or underdo it!)

Keep this in mind: One pound of weight = 3500 calories.  If, over a period of time, you eat 3500 calories less than you burn, then you will lose one pound of body weight.  Eat 3500 more than you burn, and you gain a pound.  So, let's say you average a 500 calorie deficit each day for one week.  500 calories x 7 days = 3500 calories, which means you will lose a pound that week.  Increase the deficit to 1000 calories, and you will lose 2 pounds.

And you are not babbling!  You have made a very important realization about calorie content and being aware of what you put in your mouth.  Sodas are totally wasted calories.  Alcoholic beverages and even "healthy" things like fruit juice can also be very high cal.  For me personally, I would rather EAT my calories than drink them, so I pretty much stick with water!

You're doing great!  Keep at it!

Hi, I think I am starting to understand.  So if I burn like 3000 calories a day, I wanna take 2000 calories in?  Am I right?

 By the way, I blew today, but I am going to really watch today and start over tomorrow and do it right, hopefully!   Anyways, thanks!

Hey

I recently started here too, back in the beginning of March.

My Start weight was about 329lbs and Im now currently at 316. Im 5'9 and 27 years old.

My calorie intake is about 1700- 1900 per day .. and i havent done any exercise.

The only things i have changed, other than what i eat, is that i now take the stairs at school, and ill walk the long way to class( if its not too cold out). I know that if i exercise Ill lose more weight, and i plan on starting with an exercise program soon.

I cut out drinking Pop, only one diet pepsi a day now, when i used to drink 10-15 per day. And i now drink over 2liters of water a day, mostly with crystal lite or Ice tea mix. And i started eating breakfast, I introduced more veggies and fruits into my diet .. and im actually enjoying my new healthy diet. The food isnt a problem for me .. its the exercise.

Everyone will tell you something diffrent, figure out what works best for you.

Ive done some calculations here for you.

Your BMR is 2359.05 if you are a sedentary person like me ! meaning you have a desk job,and dont get much exercise, no gym etc. then you times this number by 1.2 This is called the Harris Benedict Equation. ( page linked at the bottom of my post. so you can reference it whenever)

2359.05 x 1.2 = 2830.86

( this is the number of calories you need to eat everyday inorder to stay at the weight you are right now)

Obviously we dont want to stay at that weight so we need to create a deficit, 1pound loss = 3500 calories, 2lbs loss = 7000cal

So inorder for you to lose 2 lbs per week you need to create a weekly deficit of 7000calories. or a deficit of 1000 calories a day. Any more than this is considered unhealthy keep in mind tho with an exercise routine and eating right, us bigger girls will probably lose more than this in the first few weeks.

This equations gives you about 1830 calories each day to work with.

 

My best friend is now my digital food scale that i bought for 30$. I had no idea that my portions were so out of wack ! I cant stress portion control enough. Like for example .. A PORTION of croutons .. is 7 or 8 croutons .... not 25 or 30, like i would use before.

I now weigh or measure everything, Cereal, bananas, Broccoli,PB, Pasta, onions EVERYTHING. I cant trust my self to just *eye* it ... cuz obviously i love to eat .. and i love to eat alot.

I know im not a Pro .. there are ppl on here who have lost lots of weight.. and im only starting, so we have some things in common.

When i seen my numbers .. I was scared too. Everyone here is supportive, but there is ALOT of wrong info around here .. and all over the internet.

Just take it one day at a time. oh and dont be afraid to have a day where you can have a free day with no counting ( in moderation ofcourse). It helps alot .. and on my last free day .. i think i was only about 300 cal over what i usually eat, I didnt want half as much junk that i used to eat.

If you want to chat, or mail whatever. add me to friends send me a line. Im on the PC alot !

I hope this helps you.

 

Korali

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ harris-benedict-equation/

 

Hi, I think I am starting to understand.  So if I burn like 3000 calories a day, I wanna take 2000 calories in?  Am I right?

You got it!  But if you burn 3000, then 2000 would be the MINIMUM you should eat, because you never want more than a 1000 calorie deficit.

So take whatever number C-C says you are burning (including your exercise,) and shoot for eating 500 - 1000 calories less than that.  :)

Hi there!

  I'm 5'4'', too and I started at around 280.  I've lost 15 pounds since the middle of January, so things are going pretty well.  I started off with a set calorie goal of 1700.  When I started exercising more,  I found that my burn meter fluctuated a lot, and that 1700 was often not enough to keep my calorie deficit under 1000.  Now, I just eat 1000 less than my burn, no matter what it is.  Some days that puts me at 1400, some days it's over 2000.  I plan my activities at the begging of the day and log them so I can plan my meals accordingly.  Every day is different for me, so it helps me to not have some set number I'm always shooting for.  Good luck!