HELP NEEDED I posted in the welcome new member forum
04-16-2011, 07:28 AM
#1
FitDay Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 15
HELP NEEDED I posted in the welcome new member forum
Hello everyone,
I started Fitday and logged some of my foods and exercises.
I want to lose about 30 lbs maybe 35 lbs. What goal time should I give myself?
I am 54 yrs old, 5 ft 3 inches and weigh 172. The weight is not coming off. I run the treadmill 30 minutes a day and ride a bike (not stationary) about 3 times a week for 30 minutes.
I'm not quite sure if I am eating enough calories. I have entered my stats on many websites but they all come out different. I don't work, I am retired.
I have marked mostly seated with some movement for my lifestyle activity level.
Can someone help me figure the calories I need to eat to lose my weight? Any help would be appreciated,
Thank you so much
I posted this in the new fitday member forum, I'm sorry for the double posting.
I started Fitday and logged some of my foods and exercises.
I want to lose about 30 lbs maybe 35 lbs. What goal time should I give myself?
I am 54 yrs old, 5 ft 3 inches and weigh 172. The weight is not coming off. I run the treadmill 30 minutes a day and ride a bike (not stationary) about 3 times a week for 30 minutes.
I'm not quite sure if I am eating enough calories. I have entered my stats on many websites but they all come out different. I don't work, I am retired.
I have marked mostly seated with some movement for my lifestyle activity level.
Can someone help me figure the calories I need to eat to lose my weight? Any help would be appreciated,
Thank you so much
I posted this in the new fitday member forum, I'm sorry for the double posting.
04-16-2011, 07:46 AM
#2
FitDay Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 426
Hi, welcome to fitday.
lose from 1-2 pound a week would be a reasonable goal. so you can calculate and find out your time goal.
In the activities, log on 8 hours of sleep to get a more accurate calories burn.
From there you can make a deficit of cals each day.
If you want to lose 1 pound a week, make 500 cals deficit
If you want to lose 2 pounds a week, make 1000cals defitcit.
I hope this help. And good luck with your journey.
Mai
lose from 1-2 pound a week would be a reasonable goal. so you can calculate and find out your time goal.
In the activities, log on 8 hours of sleep to get a more accurate calories burn.
From there you can make a deficit of cals each day.
If you want to lose 1 pound a week, make 500 cals deficit
If you want to lose 2 pounds a week, make 1000cals defitcit.
I hope this help. And good luck with your journey.
Mai
04-16-2011, 07:57 AM
#3
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,225
I'm pretty sure someone might have answered your question on the new members forum. But here's my two cents:
The weight will come off at its own pace, but it will come off steadily as a reflection of how carefully you watch your calorie balance.
If I were you, to be sure of an accurate picture of that balance, underestimate at first: put yourself in fitday as a sedentary person, even though you say you exercise. I'm sure you do, but there are going to be times that you slack off, for whatever reason (injury, illness, lack of motivation, lack of free time, etc.). So start with 'sedentary' and don't consider activity except to put your activities in the fitday activity log. Even then, you should tend to underestimate the level of exertion, rather that guess and perhaps overestimate. This is all fairly conservative, derived from something my WW leader once said: 'Exercise as if you overeat. Eat as if you were not active at all.' It works!
Then, faithfully put in all the food you eat, including as many custom entries as you use purchase prepared foods (even canned beans, canned spinach, etc.) Go by what is on the nutrition label on the package and be accurate about how many servings you are actually eating. Count everything.
If you do both of the above, fitday will have given you a pretty good number for a BMR and you will have a good report of what you are eating, strictly dependent on your own level of accuracy - the more accurate, the better.
Every day that you eat and log your food, check the 'overview' at the end of the day. This not only gives you a pie chart to show how much fat, protein, and carbs you are eating (and alcohol if you drink that), but it will also give you a total calories and a bar chart that shows if the total calories are more or less than you expended.
My experience has been that by doing the above things, when I see that I am eating more than I'm using with activity, I will not lose weight that week (I weigh in once a week) or I may even gain a half-pound to a pound. Over time, that will add up! On the other hand, if I'm accurately putting in food and not trying to build a picture of how much I'm burning off (always kind of an individual thing, in my opinion), being sedentary is a good baseline for fitday to produce my output of calories. When I'm eating less than that, I'm going to see a weight loss on the scales.
How long will it take? How good are you at sticking to that kind of accounting? How patient are you when it comes to seeing weight loss. If two weeks go by and you haven't lost, I say you're ahead if you're maintaining the same weight. You haven't gained. That's when a lot of people lose heart and give up and go on an Atkins diet or a juice diet or any other diet that promises something fast. They do work! Will you regain? Hard to say. Probably.
You have to stay on the downturn, weight-wise, and you want to find what works for you. But fitday gives you all the tools you need! In terms of what you need to know for your health, fitday gives you tools to judge what you are doing there, too. I say, slow and steady wins the race.
The weight will come off at its own pace, but it will come off steadily as a reflection of how carefully you watch your calorie balance.
If I were you, to be sure of an accurate picture of that balance, underestimate at first: put yourself in fitday as a sedentary person, even though you say you exercise. I'm sure you do, but there are going to be times that you slack off, for whatever reason (injury, illness, lack of motivation, lack of free time, etc.). So start with 'sedentary' and don't consider activity except to put your activities in the fitday activity log. Even then, you should tend to underestimate the level of exertion, rather that guess and perhaps overestimate. This is all fairly conservative, derived from something my WW leader once said: 'Exercise as if you overeat. Eat as if you were not active at all.' It works!
Then, faithfully put in all the food you eat, including as many custom entries as you use purchase prepared foods (even canned beans, canned spinach, etc.) Go by what is on the nutrition label on the package and be accurate about how many servings you are actually eating. Count everything.
If you do both of the above, fitday will have given you a pretty good number for a BMR and you will have a good report of what you are eating, strictly dependent on your own level of accuracy - the more accurate, the better.
Every day that you eat and log your food, check the 'overview' at the end of the day. This not only gives you a pie chart to show how much fat, protein, and carbs you are eating (and alcohol if you drink that), but it will also give you a total calories and a bar chart that shows if the total calories are more or less than you expended.
My experience has been that by doing the above things, when I see that I am eating more than I'm using with activity, I will not lose weight that week (I weigh in once a week) or I may even gain a half-pound to a pound. Over time, that will add up! On the other hand, if I'm accurately putting in food and not trying to build a picture of how much I'm burning off (always kind of an individual thing, in my opinion), being sedentary is a good baseline for fitday to produce my output of calories. When I'm eating less than that, I'm going to see a weight loss on the scales.
How long will it take? How good are you at sticking to that kind of accounting? How patient are you when it comes to seeing weight loss. If two weeks go by and you haven't lost, I say you're ahead if you're maintaining the same weight. You haven't gained. That's when a lot of people lose heart and give up and go on an Atkins diet or a juice diet or any other diet that promises something fast. They do work! Will you regain? Hard to say. Probably.
You have to stay on the downturn, weight-wise, and you want to find what works for you. But fitday gives you all the tools you need! In terms of what you need to know for your health, fitday gives you tools to judge what you are doing there, too. I say, slow and steady wins the race.
04-16-2011, 08:08 AM
#4
FitDay Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 15
I added in the 8 hours of sleep as suggested. I have also set my goal weight to meet for 9/31/2011.
When I go to my calorie balance it states the below:
Your Calorie Balance Equation
Calories You Burn - Calorie Restriction = Calorie You Can Eat
2,192
Calorie Restriction
590
Calorie You Can Eat
1,603
So does that mean I should be eating 1600 calories?
If you check out my foods entered you can see I can't even find foods to eat which will give me 1600 calories.
I am not gaining weight but not losing, with my stats I gave you and my foods I entered free to look at does anyone have any other suggestions on my calorie intake?
Hi Kathy, I will try and refigure as sedentary only as well.
Still confused, so sorry
When I go to my calorie balance it states the below:
Your Calorie Balance Equation
Calories You Burn - Calorie Restriction = Calorie You Can Eat
2,192
Calorie Restriction
590
Calorie You Can Eat
1,603
So does that mean I should be eating 1600 calories?
If you check out my foods entered you can see I can't even find foods to eat which will give me 1600 calories.
I am not gaining weight but not losing, with my stats I gave you and my foods I entered free to look at does anyone have any other suggestions on my calorie intake?
Hi Kathy, I will try and refigure as sedentary only as well.
Still confused, so sorry
04-16-2011, 08:44 AM
#6
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,085
Hi sky,
1043 isn't too terribly low, especially given your height - there are some members on here who routinely eat about 1,000 calories a day and feel very full and satisfied doing so. Sometimes it just takes a little of tinkering - and a lot of honesty too.
Do you enter EVERY morsel of food going into your mouth? Or are you just guesstimating? It helps to weigh food if you can, but ballparking can make you think you're eating a different amount than you really are. You can also try messing with your "macros" -- that is, the percentage of carbs, protein, and fat that you eat.
Sometimes switching up your diet - going low carb, or high protein, can really help - or just messing around with those numbers until something clicks. Sometimes bouncing your calories around helps - I do that, personally - eat 1500-1600 one day, and then 1100 the next, for example. Weight loss is a lot of "Try it, wait and see" and unfortunately any changes you make are going to take time to show up on the scale or the measuring tape!
Speaking of measuring tape -- have you tried measuring yourself? Sometimes the scale won't budge, but you are losing inches (and gaining muscle), and that can help to give you a little confidence! It's a marathon, not a sprint. If you're not gaining, you're doing something right!
1043 isn't too terribly low, especially given your height - there are some members on here who routinely eat about 1,000 calories a day and feel very full and satisfied doing so. Sometimes it just takes a little of tinkering - and a lot of honesty too.
Do you enter EVERY morsel of food going into your mouth? Or are you just guesstimating? It helps to weigh food if you can, but ballparking can make you think you're eating a different amount than you really are. You can also try messing with your "macros" -- that is, the percentage of carbs, protein, and fat that you eat.
Sometimes switching up your diet - going low carb, or high protein, can really help - or just messing around with those numbers until something clicks. Sometimes bouncing your calories around helps - I do that, personally - eat 1500-1600 one day, and then 1100 the next, for example. Weight loss is a lot of "Try it, wait and see" and unfortunately any changes you make are going to take time to show up on the scale or the measuring tape!
Speaking of measuring tape -- have you tried measuring yourself? Sometimes the scale won't budge, but you are losing inches (and gaining muscle), and that can help to give you a little confidence! It's a marathon, not a sprint. If you're not gaining, you're doing something right!
04-16-2011, 09:16 AM
#7
FitDay Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 15
Hi Terri,
Should I take the 8 hrs of sleep out of my activities as well?
I do put all food into fitday, and go from there, except the days that I haven't entered anything I was out of town.
Yes I notice my fat intake is high or at least I think it is.
I will take out the 8 hrs for sleeping from my activities and go from there. (right?)
I have not measured myself but I feel that I have slimmed down even tho the scale is mean to me Ha.
I just know that I am no longer eating out anymore like fast foods.
Thanks everyone for helping hope I can mix things around a bit and start losing. Congrats on all of your weight losses
Should I take the 8 hrs of sleep out of my activities as well?
I do put all food into fitday, and go from there, except the days that I haven't entered anything I was out of town.
Yes I notice my fat intake is high or at least I think it is.
I will take out the 8 hrs for sleeping from my activities and go from there. (right?)
I have not measured myself but I feel that I have slimmed down even tho the scale is mean to me Ha.
I just know that I am no longer eating out anymore like fast foods.
Thanks everyone for helping hope I can mix things around a bit and start losing. Congrats on all of your weight losses
04-16-2011, 10:37 AM
#8
FitDay Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 10
keep trying you'll get there
If you just leave your activity level at sedentary or sitting in a chair all day, it will give you a good baseline if you aren't very active. Sleeping and sitting in a chair probably uses about the same amount of calories. Subtract 500 from that number and theoretically you should lose 1 pound per week. Use that as a base and go from there. The more extra activity you do the more you should lose.
be blessed in your journey
be blessed in your journey
04-16-2011, 11:32 AM
#9
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 4,083
Chiming in...I do think that 1043 sounds kind of low. I'm 5'2" and none of the calculators I ever used gave me anything that low.
I get confused easily with FitDay's calculations and I had great success using this calculator instead:
Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs
You could also check on the calorie zig zag at the bottom of that calculator; you have some higher days, some lower ones, to keep your metabolism guessing. I had good success with that.
On the other hand, 1603 sounds a little on the high side to me.
My suggestion would be to do an online search for calculators (there are a ton of them) and take an average.
Stick with it. When you hit on what works, you'll know it!
I get confused easily with FitDay's calculations and I had great success using this calculator instead:
Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs
You could also check on the calorie zig zag at the bottom of that calculator; you have some higher days, some lower ones, to keep your metabolism guessing. I had good success with that.
On the other hand, 1603 sounds a little on the high side to me.
My suggestion would be to do an online search for calculators (there are a ton of them) and take an average.
Stick with it. When you hit on what works, you'll know it!
04-16-2011, 12:28 PM
#10
FitDay Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 426
Here is my other 2 cents.
I just recently understand that.
1. When I log 8 hours of sleep, it's take some of the cals away. Which make sense to me b/c I sleep, the least cals burn of all activities.
2. When I work out, it's raised up my cals, b/c I burn more.
So at the end of the day I look on both activites and foods log to find out my deficit.
So if I excercise a lot that day I can eat a little more.
1000- 1200 cals is too low for me (a female), I was hungry all the time But that just me. However, 1600 seems high if you want to lose weight.
I agreed with Cassie. You should search other website to get an estimate of how much you burn without work out. Fitday tend to give you a lot of cals to eat.
Keep trying,
Mai
I just recently understand that.
1. When I log 8 hours of sleep, it's take some of the cals away. Which make sense to me b/c I sleep, the least cals burn of all activities.
2. When I work out, it's raised up my cals, b/c I burn more.
So at the end of the day I look on both activites and foods log to find out my deficit.
So if I excercise a lot that day I can eat a little more.
1000- 1200 cals is too low for me (a female), I was hungry all the time But that just me. However, 1600 seems high if you want to lose weight.
I agreed with Cassie. You should search other website to get an estimate of how much you burn without work out. Fitday tend to give you a lot of cals to eat.
Keep trying,
Mai
