Help me figure out how many calories I should eat

amother

Mon, Nov 02 2020, 7:49 am

andrea levy wrote:

If you go low calorie, you’ll have to reduce and reduce the number of calories over time. Read the obesity code by Jason Fung.

Andrea, what do you think about my food plan?
I know you’ve been successful eating a LCHF way

Breakfast
Coffee with 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Lunch 11:00am
3 slices of cheese microwaved until crispy
1 haas avocado

Dinner 4:00pm
A huge salad with homemade garlic mayo dressing ( a lot I don’t really measure)
1 large chicken leg 1/4 (maybe 8oz )
Big plate of broccoli -1/2 the frozen bag with a drizzle of oil salt and pepper

6:00/6:30
Decaf with 1/2 cup almond milk

I must be doing something wrong because I’ve been doing this (I switch the dinner proteins and hot veg) for 3 weeks and I haven’t lost 1 oz

amother

Smokey

Mon, Nov 02 2020, 12:06 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I need to lose 50 lbs.
I went on 2 different calculators
According to the calculators
If I want to lose 2 lbs a week I would need to eat less than 800 calories
That’s not normal, healthy, nor possible for so long

Is 2 lbs a week too much to lose in a week
That’s 8 lbs a month
Any slower and I lose motivation

Help me figure out calories

Female
52
5’0
180lbs
130lbs goal weight

I eat pretty healthy and mostly low carb, but I think my portion sizes are just too big.

I want to put together a meal plan with exact portions

If u want a great diet that’ll keep u full and u won’t have any cravings or hunger, cut out all starches and stick to only proteins, healthy fats (olive oil, avocado, etc) and non starchy veggies. It worked miracles for me, the weight is falling off (I’ve lost over 50 lbs BH) and I’m not hungry and u won’t have to count calories! It’s the only diet where I didn’t feel deprived, hungry or craving sweets and junk food. Good,luck

Chana Miriam S

Mon, Nov 02 2020, 10:43 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I’m not a fan of almond milk. Other than that, I’d ask you if you are satiated by this food plan. I think that it’s not bad. I also think that low carb eating has benefits other than weight loss. Are you feeling them?

You’re welcome to pm me and I’ll send you the PDF. I think that it’s important to do something sustainable. I think to me this seems sustainable. I might try heavy cream instead of almond milk. I’d try intermittently fasting too. You’re actually almost there.

Also, I don’t count calories. I can’t advise you on that. Anyone can lose weight by lowering calories but keeping that weight off when your metabolism is slowing down the lower the calories go is brutal and sets you up for failure.

Watch the Fung videos. MAKE the time.

amother

Tue, Nov 03 2020, 7:54 am

andrea levy wrote:

Thanks for your help
I’ve watched some videos
I’ve also watched Dr. Berry and other LCHF Drs.
I keep finding that it is possible to go over board with your calories.
Perhaps that’s why I’m not having success
That and “carb creep”, from the veggies.
Also, some are saying that too much protein can turn to sugar. So maybe it’s too much protein, but this is the portion size that is satisfying, that I can go a long time without eating or cravings.
As far as IF I go from 6ish to about 8-8:30
At 8:30 I’ll have my coffee but I won’t eat anything until around 11
I don’t like the taste of heavy cream. The almond milk has 1g carb per 1 cup. That’s 1/2g in the am. Heavy cream also has carbs. Every TBSP is 1/2g carb.

Chana Miriam S

Tue, Nov 03 2020, 8:18 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Gluconeogenesis is driven by need, not what you eat.

Whats happening on this? Are you stable? Are you feeling good? Carb creep can happen from veg. Remember that meat is not just protein, it’s fat too.

amother

Tue, Nov 03 2020, 8:56 am

andrea levy wrote:

I’m just not losing weight
Started 1 month ago
And lost ZERO

I’ll give you an example of carb creep
You let me know if this is too many carbs
Last night I made meatloaf
To the meat I added
1 green pepper 1 red pepper 1 onion 1 plum tomato, 4 cloves of garlic.
I blended that in the food processor
I used 1 cup of that mix and added it to the ground beef. Then I added 1/4 cup ground flax.

On the top I smeared it with a home made mix of
1/2 cup tomato sauce
Spices
2 truvia packets

The meatloaf has 6-8 big servings.

I didn’t end up eating so I have for tonight
Meatloaf + cauliflower mash+ greens for salad is that too many veg.

Chana Miriam S

Tue, Nov 03 2020, 9:47 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

You might not like what im going to say, but I’m going to say it because I believe it. I don’t think that this counts as carb creep. Yes, it’s lower in carbs than breadcrumbs and ketchup and also if it’s still in loaf form then I’m pretty sure you didn’t go overboard. I also think that it’s really important that your weight held. Not everything is about calories when you have more to lose. And not everything is about weight.

For example, I spontaneously sometimes gain 7-12 pounds gor no reason. Technically I am in menopause so it should not be my cycle. It might be water retention in extra skin. I’m not sure what triggers it. I only know that the number in the scale does not show my body composition, only my gravitational mass. It happened this week when I got to my lowest weight ever and it’s coming off. It’ll probably take two weeks, then I’ll hit a new low. So it’s not a direct line fir me, and it literally has nothing to do with the amount of food I eat.

This morning was my 1 year checkup for the pre diabetes study I’m in. I’ve lost twenty pounds since they last weighed me a year ago. But I’ve also been lower since then. I believe it has to do with set points, but truthfully no one is really sure.

BUT, my weight loss being maintained for 3+ Is what’s important. Doing this and then maintaining it. Get stable and then tweak til it’s right for you. I’ve been very protective of my calories and do t count them. I don’t measure, I don’t do macros. I eat fat, protein and some low carb veg. I eat when I’m hungry unless I’m intentionally fasting.

What stands out to me is that you do use sweetener which can drive appetite. Jason Fung’s idea of fasting and feasting isn’t far off of what you are doing. Possibly if you are in a more compressed time frame, it might help.

Make a list of what’s improved since you started that isn’t weight. Here’s some of the things that improved for me:

Reflux drastically reduced, off meds which are needed only rarely
Energy levels ( if you’re not feeling this, add salt!)
Blood sugar normalized ( that was over time)
Headaches resolved. Used to have migraines daily)
Off almost ever medication I was taking except allergy oils when needed and sleeping pills die to life long insomnia
No more swollen feet ( 3 weeks after I started my new shoes were too big)
Other swelling in my body reduced ( my right arm used to be significantly bigger than my left from swelling)
My arthritic pain is gone. I still have pain from hip spurs but I have to walk 7-8 km to get there so to speak which I regularly do)
I haven’t been sick with more than a sniffle in over three years

I have to run because I’m going to give blood which I could not do before all this because of all the drugs....

amother

Tue, Nov 03 2020, 10:35 am

andrea levy wrote:

Great
Thanks for the input
I’m concerned about not losing weight because I don’t expect this right in the beginning
If I was doing it for a while and I’ve plateaued that’s one thing, but I’m at the start.
This is why originally I was saying it must be too much calories.
I do know that menapause could be a culprit
This is so hard

Chana Miriam S

Tue, Nov 03 2020, 12:22 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

This is why I’m
Saying pay attention to what’s getting better. Maybe stop weighing yourself. If I can walk 12 km AND climb 500 stairs up and down in one hour of exercise plus feel great after, does it really matter if I am at goal? If I am not eating like a maniac and am happy with how I feel and even look, does it matter if I’m at goal? ENJOY THE JOURNEY! Tweak as you go. Insulin resistance doesn’t get better with calorie reduction, it gets better with the kind of eating you’re doing. Let your body heal. Stuck with it and maybe stop with the sweetener which can give an insulin response. Try your coffee black. Experiment.

First Lady

Tue, Nov 03 2020, 5:54 pm

andrea levy wrote:

Brilliant post!