Posted by Deneb on August 21, 2010, at 2:55:57
In reply to Re: My weight after a month!, posted by Deneb on August 18, 2010, at 12:49:20
I'm so happy! Tomorrow it will be 5 weeks since I started counting my calories and my average calorie intake is getting lower. My average intake in these 5 weeks is 1028 kcal/day right now. I really want it to be a nice even number, like 1000. This whole week I haven't eaten more than 1000 kcal a day.
OK, now I know that they say 1200 kcal is the healthy minimum, but you have to take into consideration the fact that I am only 4'11". I can definitely survive on less than 1000 kcal/day. Also, I am also doing this for life extension. Eating fewer calories with optimal nutrition will extend life. I'm sticking with this way of eating forever.
To anyone who has to lose weight, I HIGHLY recommend a quality food scale. I bought a high end food scale with a life time guarantee for about $100 and it was worth it. I can just plug it in and never worry about it breaking or batteries dying. I measure and weigh EVERYTHING, even lettuce. LOL It's good to get into the habit of weighing everything. Also sometimes measuring cups are not accurate. It's easily to scoop up more than 1 cup of something, but if you weigh it, there is no mistaking how much you are eating.
Record everything on FitDay. Whenever possible break food down into its basic ingredients. You get a more accurate nutrition profile that way. Also it is a good idea to take a multi-vitamin as it is hard to get all the necessary nutrients everyday.
Also, when you "fall off the wagon" and eat something you haven't measured or weighed, it's OK. Just estimate how much you ate. Try to overestimate because everyone underestimates how many calories they've eaten. Just make sure you count what you ate, even if it is just a guess. Having an occasional 2000 kcal day is OK! It's the average over time that matters. Just have some really low calorie days to make up for it.
Also, another tip, don't over exercise! It sounds counterintuitive right? I mean, exercise burns calories so why wouldn't more be better? Personally when I exercise a lot I get ravenous hunger! I can't resist eating more. I end up eating way more on the days I've exercised 3 hours. Unless you have really good self control and can tolerate intense cravings, I wouldn't exercise more than an hour and a half a day at the most. Right now I do less than that.
Oh and another really important tip, make sure you exceed your daily protein requirements! The last thing you want is for your body to start consuming its own muscles to provide sugar for the brain. To make sure your muscle loss is kept to a minimum, do weight training.
Also, limit carbohydrates! Try to focus only on eating lean protein, healthy fats and low carbohydrate vegetables. Dark green leafy vegetables are very nutritious. I find carbohydrates stimulate my appetite. When I eat very little carbohydrates in a day I find that I am not getting hungry even with eating 200 kcal in 6 hours.
Another important tip is to never go grocery shopping hungry. Make sure you have a big meal with lots of lean protein before you go shopping for food. When you are hungry, you will make worse decisions and buy things on impulse.
I can't wait to lose more weight! I hope I maintain at a fairly low weight. I'm so short that I bet being 80 pounds wouldn't look skeletal on me.
poster:Deneb
thread:955008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20100806/msgs/959301.html