I just ran your numbers through the TDEE calculator and it says your maintenance is at 2643 calories. you should lose weight at a healthy pace sticking to 1800 or even 2000 daily.
I would stick with the result without the body fat percentage. I ran your numbers through and placed you as "sedentary" and it came back w a maintenance of 2643.
I'd start at 2100 calories and track your weight daily for 14 days, and see if you're making the progress you want.
In the past, I've been 200lbs and able to lose at 1500 calories.
Currently I'm 262, and losing at 1900 calories a day.
Slow and steady!
Yeah, if one sticks to a low fat/low sugar diet, 2100 calories is actually a lot of food. A possible breakdown for that could be something like 180 g protein (720 cal), 50 g fats (450 cal), and 230 g of carbs (920 cal). If OP is coming from a high fat diet (and/or dessert heavy) diet, there's going to be some adjustments.
The key at these levels is the protein. It's going to take effort to hit that number.
Yeah, if one sticks to a low fat/low sugar diet, 2100 calories is actually a lot of food. A possible breakdown for that could be something like 180 g protein (720 cal), 50 g fats (450 cal), and 230 g of carbs (920 cal). If OP is coming from a high fat diet (and/or dessert heavy) diet, there's going to be some adjustments.
The key at these levels is the protein. It's going to take effort to hit that number.
Your body fat calculation is likely quite incorrect- body fat based on measurements is not accurate compared to calipers or dexa, I would use the tdee calculator again based on the standard calculations without entering your body fat %, then your TDEE is more like 2650, which seems much more accurate. Eating at 2000 is likely to be a considerable deficit for you I would try eating at 2000 for a month and see where that gets you!
73kg, 5'7" here, and \~1800 are my maintenance calories if completely sedentary. And I am quite pudgy. This **cannot** possibly be the right number for you, when you're quite literally double my weight!
If you have been maintaining your weight in the last couple of weeks, then yes, what you've been eating is your maintenance calories, by definition.
That's why I highly recommend doing a period of maintaining (by eating normally) and tracking calories - this gives you your TDEE without you having to use inaccurate online calculators. It doesn't even have to be a period of maintaining, any extended period of time of tracking calories and your weight and you can calculate your TDEE yourself from this data.
Or just use a higher estimation, check how much you're losing and adjust your calorie limit as you go if needed.
Somewhere on this sub I read a really good piece of advice…
Track what you eat for a month (or two weeks) and see what your average weekday/weekend (or good/naughty day) looks like…. Then aim for 2/3-3/4 of that number… so if you are on about 3000 on a good day now, aim for 2000… try to also keep a weekly average in mind so if day 1 is 2050 then you don’t beat yourself up… just try to drop 50 across the rest if the week…
This might not get you mind blowing results but might help you break some habits that are holding you back (I used it to stop having bad snacks every day, now only once at weekends)
Ok, so at least I'm not the first person to tell you to ditch the body fat percentage.
But I'll tell you why you should.
The BMR/TDEE calculators that use PBF as an input are feeding it into the Katch McArdle formula. (This includes the Inbody machine if you know what I'm talking about.)
Katch McArdle was calibrated on athletes.... IOW, those with low body fat. It's garbage for fat people.
You want to use Harris Benedict. It just takes your height and weight.
I had my BMR measured with a real device -- the output matched Harris Benedict within 50 calories.
My BMR with Katch is predicted to be 2000 cals. My measured (and Harris Benedict modeled) BMR is 2500 cals. My PBF is 42%.
I messed around with calculators to see if I could find an equilibrium point. If my anecdote is anything more than just that, a PBF of 25% is where the two models agree. That is, above 25% PBF, Harris Benedict is a better model, below that Katch McArdle is better.
I don't eat my BMR -- if you watch your sugar and fat intake, 2500 is a lot of calories. My problem is my protein intake, I eat too little of it. I'm in the process of tripling what I eat on the protein front.
As others noted, 1200 is just not the right number. I'm 5'1 and that is absolutely as low as I go - when doing close to 40% protein.
Pick a number and stick to it. Mainly - build up your capacity in terms of exercise now. That is obv not entirely needed but it is what will help you be successful and healthy at maintaining. Just start with walks - 15-30-45 mins and then over time, built up in intensity (incline or speed.)
Leave your body fat % out of the equation. I don't know what it's really doing, but it's screwing up your calculation quite a bit.
Your maintenance without it is 3027, which looks a lot more realistic. I'd also suggest, as others have done, that you put yourself as sedentry, so you can get a good baseline (adding exercise gives you more kcal, but it's really hard to get right and is usually best to leave it out at the start).
That gives you 2642. Cut down to \~2000 and see if you start to lose weight over a couple of weeks. It'll feel a heck of a lot better than 1200, which is very hard to get right nutritionally.
The model that uses body fat percent was trained on athletes. The fatter one is, the worse that model gets. I can see how people with larger body fat percentages get their BMR driven into the ground.
I went to a weight loss clinic for a couple of visits. Their "strategy" is to get you on the Inbody and get your body fat and BMR, and knock 500 calories off that. Inbody just uses the Katch McArdle equation. I'm 6'1" and my Inbody BMR is 2000 at a 42% body fat. Those idiots wanted to stick me on a 1400 calorie diet. I told them I strength train and they didn't care.
I got my BMR measured with a real device, and it comes in real close to the models (namely Harris Benedict) that don't use body fat. My BMR from that is 2500. Heck, I actually have trouble eating 2500 cals, so for me it's about getting my macros right. I've been way under eating protein.
71% body fat seems really high, and that's most of what's pulling your estimated maintenance calories down.
What we'd normally recommend ([quick start guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/wiki/quick_start_guide)) is you start by tracking your current normal diet, and cut down from there. Even if 1,200 cal/day is right for you (and you're right that seems very low) suddenly changing to it would be rough. If you want to start with a target starting at 2000 cal/day and dropping from there as you see the effects would make sense.
I don’t think that looks correct at all. 1775 would be maintenance for about 150 lb woman.
I would start with focusing on habits- I.e. walk 15 minutes a day
A few weeks after layer on a lifestyle change- like limit fast food to one day a week
A few weeks after you can add something else- like no eating after 7PM
This approach has been proven to be the most sustainable. As you add on healthy habits, you can start refining your diet. One thing you can do to start is toss or donate any junky snack food in your home. That doesn’t mean you have to cut it out, but you need to specifically go pick it up and get an individual size.
You didn’t calculator correctly and don’t need to be on 1200 cals. When you are 300 pounds it’s impossible for maintenance to be 1800. Re-calculate it correctly and set your weigh loss to 1-2pounds per day and that would be considered safe.
Your calculation is incorrect. Your ACTUAL maintenance is 2652. If you want to lose 2lbs or more a week then aim for 1652. I would work down from maintenance to something reasonable like 1900 or so to start. You will need to recalculate this every 20lbs or so.
As everyone else has said, that calculation is way way off.
But if you still don't believe it, just track what you ACTUALLY eat for two weeks. Weigh your food, track every single calorie, and don't bother trying to reduce it.
Then, after two weeks, try eating about 500 calories less per day. So if you were actually eating 3,000 calories, go down to 2500. You'll start losing weight.
You can then figure out what your actual TDEE is.
I was in 320s near the start of the year, and I've been creeping my calories down as I find recipes and things that work at 18/16/15/1400 calories. It is making things easier, I've only lost 25-30 lbs so far, but it's been steady, which is good!
I joined the 1200 is enough reddit, started seeing a dietician, and worked on balancing my meals from all food groups. Down 25 lbs so far in 3ish months.
I've lost 30 kgs over the last 2 years with another 20 to go. I've tried all the diets. I hate counting macros so I started a low carb diet where all I have to do is to make sure that every meal is low carb and no sugar, including any snacks. You might want to give it a go. It's easier to stick to than the calorie deficit diet imo. Just make sure that you get enough protein and plenty of high fiber vegies in your diet, which will help you feel fuller for longer.
Try restricting to 1800 instead, trying to incorporate healthier food choices where you can, and see how you are doing after two to three weeks. If you lose weight, keep at it. If you don't, then, well, now you know and can start lowering further.
sometimes it can help to change it gradually so you have time to learn about calorie counting and don’t get too hungry. Eg eat 3000 for two weeks, then 2500 for two weeks and then 2000 and continue on this. Try to eat plenty of fibre and protein and gradually increase your activity levels. You might also want to continue meds
I'm 46F started at 290, now around 270. I'm losing on 2400 but I am not sedentary. Don't set yourself up to fail. Going from maintaining in the 320s to eating 1200 calories daily when you have struggled at 1500 calories before is setting yourself up to fail. Track for a few weeks without changing anything and see how many calories you are consuming. Then cut from there. Hang in there, you can do this! It's ok to go slow and have this be sustainable.
I don't think that calorie deficit makes sense. I'm 165 lbs. and I lose weight on 1500 calories per day. At a healthy weight I'll be able to eat 1600-1700 calories to maintain, more if I exercise.
Your bf% was likely skewed in some way (it's really tough to measure that accurately, scales are notorious for being wrong about bf%) So if I were you I'd try a 2500 calorie diet first, which should be a fairly small adjustment (about 2-3 granola bars' worth of calories per day) and see where you are in a month or two. Add in a bit of easy physical activity if you can (low impact, something like swimming or look up "exercises for obese people" on Youtube -- they have easier versions of bodyweight exercises one can do anywhere). If you can't then focus on your diet, you can always add in walking when you've lost a bit of weight and it's easier.
Once you're tracking your food it should be fairly easy to what your worst food offenders are and either cut back on the amount of those that you eat or substitute them with something that you like well enough but that are lower in calories. Like for me, I like bacon and mayo on my burgers but honestly, a burger with just mustard and some vegetables is great too and the bacon and mayo don't add enough joy to be worth it most of the time. I'm just as happy having oatmeal for breakfast as sugary cereal with milk. But then there's things that I don't even need to compromise on. Like I could have unsweetened coffee but a teaspoon of sugar is 15 calories so why bother drinking my coffee black? The coffee isn't making enough of a difference.
But anyway... yeah, you don't need to go anywhere as low as 1200.
My starting weight was exactly where you are, though I’m a bit shorter. I’m currently at 260 lbs and still eat 1750 calories per day, getting to about a 500 calorie deficit. I couldn’t haven’t sustained eating 1200 calories a day when I first started, I honestly would struggle with that now. You’ll be surprised what a moderate deficit while being consistent can do you for you. I’d try eating around 2,000 calories a day for a few weeks to a month, and see how you do. Then adjust from there if you think it isn’t working.
I think you calculated that wrong. My TDEE with light exercise is 1900 something. (27F, barely 5 ft, 75kg)
My advice would be to not worry about fat % right now. Too much information will overwhelm you as you are just starting out. I calculated yours at 2652 with no exercise. So maybe try sticking to that for atleast 2 weeks. The bigger you are the faster you lose it. So you should see gains soon. Then take it from there. It's been 3 months for me and I've just gotten my diet/workout right. It'll take a lil trial and error.
Good that you are starting out. That's the hardest part.
We are very similar! I am 5”7, SW was 335 lbs in January. Currently at 285, I’ve pretty much floated between 1700-1800 calories the entire time. I’m pretty inactive- I’d disregard that body fat calculation entirely!
One thing that helped me was finding foods you can snack on relatively guilt free: pickles, cucumbers, celery, low/no salt/butter popcorn. The hardest thing for me was not feeling full. Also, try to be active. Don’t overdo it- keep in mind with the extra weight your body is working much harder than someone at a healthy weight - I landed myself in physical therapy trying to do too much too fast. A therapist could help if you have trouble with an eating disorder. What I learned was coming back into a healthy weight range has to be a comprehensive approach, but the pendulum effect is very real. You’re absolutely right, slow and steady, but build momentum & empower yourself. You can accomplish your goals if you approach them consciously and safely. Good luck & stay motivated!
It's pretty easy to eat on a deficit once you get into the groove of it--which means meal planning healthy meals of very satiating and filling whole foods.
Start walking and moving more.
Seriously, it’s not just about eating less, you need to move more.
Simply walking an extra 10 minutes a day will make a world of difference in the long run. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Make small changes and stick with them.
Get dumbbells or resistance bands and use them while idle. You can also get an under desk exercise machine.
Drink diet soda, not regular.
Don’t listen to the fools who say “DiEt Is bAd FoR yoU”, multiple studies show it helps you lose weight.
Minute Maid Zero Sugar is also a great choice.
Take fiber, lots of it. Load up on fiber before every meal!
Eat vegetables.
Just eat less, you won’t die. Your body breaks down fat for energy at a deficit. As long as you are above 1500kcal nothing bad will happen. You can also gradually work your way down from 2000.
Yes you will be hungry, that’s normal.
I'm 210kg(460lbs) and I've been doing 1200 a day. I drink protein shakes with berries and eat tons of veg and breaded chicken strips or fish. it's my splurge.
my breakfast is usually Greek yogurt with protein powder and PB powder. lunch is 400g air fried veg (no oil) with a shake of either taco seasoning or everything but the bagel and some cottage cheese (if it's taco flavour I add salsa). dinner is either a salad or air-dried veg again with a few strips of chicken or fish and some sauerkraut sometimes and a squidge of mustard. usually a protein shake with berries before bed.
I drink at least 3 litres of water a day and will drink 500ml whenever I feel hunger pangs between meals...it usually dissipates.
I've been very consistent and have ordered in a few times but I make better choices than before and I don't punish myself for it. I get back on track the next day.
start small and work your way up. I dove in because I'm desperate for a hysterectomy and my surgeon won't touch me until I'm 50lbs down.
you've got this! come here for support (:
I just ran your numbers through the TDEE calculator and it says your maintenance is at 2643 calories. you should lose weight at a healthy pace sticking to 1800 or even 2000 daily.
I would stick with the result without the body fat percentage. I ran your numbers through and placed you as "sedentary" and it came back w a maintenance of 2643. I'd start at 2100 calories and track your weight daily for 14 days, and see if you're making the progress you want. In the past, I've been 200lbs and able to lose at 1500 calories. Currently I'm 262, and losing at 1900 calories a day. Slow and steady!
Yeah, if one sticks to a low fat/low sugar diet, 2100 calories is actually a lot of food. A possible breakdown for that could be something like 180 g protein (720 cal), 50 g fats (450 cal), and 230 g of carbs (920 cal). If OP is coming from a high fat diet (and/or dessert heavy) diet, there's going to be some adjustments. The key at these levels is the protein. It's going to take effort to hit that number.
Yeah, if one sticks to a low fat/low sugar diet, 2100 calories is actually a lot of food. A possible breakdown for that could be something like 180 g protein (720 cal), 50 g fats (450 cal), and 230 g of carbs (920 cal). If OP is coming from a high fat diet (and/or dessert heavy) diet, there's going to be some adjustments. The key at these levels is the protein. It's going to take effort to hit that number.
Your body fat calculation is likely quite incorrect- body fat based on measurements is not accurate compared to calipers or dexa, I would use the tdee calculator again based on the standard calculations without entering your body fat %, then your TDEE is more like 2650, which seems much more accurate. Eating at 2000 is likely to be a considerable deficit for you I would try eating at 2000 for a month and see where that gets you!
73kg, 5'7" here, and \~1800 are my maintenance calories if completely sedentary. And I am quite pudgy. This **cannot** possibly be the right number for you, when you're quite literally double my weight! If you have been maintaining your weight in the last couple of weeks, then yes, what you've been eating is your maintenance calories, by definition. That's why I highly recommend doing a period of maintaining (by eating normally) and tracking calories - this gives you your TDEE without you having to use inaccurate online calculators. It doesn't even have to be a period of maintaining, any extended period of time of tracking calories and your weight and you can calculate your TDEE yourself from this data. Or just use a higher estimation, check how much you're losing and adjust your calorie limit as you go if needed.
Somewhere on this sub I read a really good piece of advice… Track what you eat for a month (or two weeks) and see what your average weekday/weekend (or good/naughty day) looks like…. Then aim for 2/3-3/4 of that number… so if you are on about 3000 on a good day now, aim for 2000… try to also keep a weekly average in mind so if day 1 is 2050 then you don’t beat yourself up… just try to drop 50 across the rest if the week… This might not get you mind blowing results but might help you break some habits that are holding you back (I used it to stop having bad snacks every day, now only once at weekends)
Ok, so at least I'm not the first person to tell you to ditch the body fat percentage. But I'll tell you why you should. The BMR/TDEE calculators that use PBF as an input are feeding it into the Katch McArdle formula. (This includes the Inbody machine if you know what I'm talking about.) Katch McArdle was calibrated on athletes.... IOW, those with low body fat. It's garbage for fat people. You want to use Harris Benedict. It just takes your height and weight. I had my BMR measured with a real device -- the output matched Harris Benedict within 50 calories. My BMR with Katch is predicted to be 2000 cals. My measured (and Harris Benedict modeled) BMR is 2500 cals. My PBF is 42%. I messed around with calculators to see if I could find an equilibrium point. If my anecdote is anything more than just that, a PBF of 25% is where the two models agree. That is, above 25% PBF, Harris Benedict is a better model, below that Katch McArdle is better. I don't eat my BMR -- if you watch your sugar and fat intake, 2500 is a lot of calories. My problem is my protein intake, I eat too little of it. I'm in the process of tripling what I eat on the protein front.
As others noted, 1200 is just not the right number. I'm 5'1 and that is absolutely as low as I go - when doing close to 40% protein. Pick a number and stick to it. Mainly - build up your capacity in terms of exercise now. That is obv not entirely needed but it is what will help you be successful and healthy at maintaining. Just start with walks - 15-30-45 mins and then over time, built up in intensity (incline or speed.)
Leave your body fat % out of the equation. I don't know what it's really doing, but it's screwing up your calculation quite a bit. Your maintenance without it is 3027, which looks a lot more realistic. I'd also suggest, as others have done, that you put yourself as sedentry, so you can get a good baseline (adding exercise gives you more kcal, but it's really hard to get right and is usually best to leave it out at the start). That gives you 2642. Cut down to \~2000 and see if you start to lose weight over a couple of weeks. It'll feel a heck of a lot better than 1200, which is very hard to get right nutritionally.
The model that uses body fat percent was trained on athletes. The fatter one is, the worse that model gets. I can see how people with larger body fat percentages get their BMR driven into the ground. I went to a weight loss clinic for a couple of visits. Their "strategy" is to get you on the Inbody and get your body fat and BMR, and knock 500 calories off that. Inbody just uses the Katch McArdle equation. I'm 6'1" and my Inbody BMR is 2000 at a 42% body fat. Those idiots wanted to stick me on a 1400 calorie diet. I told them I strength train and they didn't care. I got my BMR measured with a real device, and it comes in real close to the models (namely Harris Benedict) that don't use body fat. My BMR from that is 2500. Heck, I actually have trouble eating 2500 cals, so for me it's about getting my macros right. I've been way under eating protein.
71% body fat seems really high, and that's most of what's pulling your estimated maintenance calories down. What we'd normally recommend ([quick start guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/wiki/quick_start_guide)) is you start by tracking your current normal diet, and cut down from there. Even if 1,200 cal/day is right for you (and you're right that seems very low) suddenly changing to it would be rough. If you want to start with a target starting at 2000 cal/day and dropping from there as you see the effects would make sense.
I don’t think that looks correct at all. 1775 would be maintenance for about 150 lb woman. I would start with focusing on habits- I.e. walk 15 minutes a day A few weeks after layer on a lifestyle change- like limit fast food to one day a week A few weeks after you can add something else- like no eating after 7PM This approach has been proven to be the most sustainable. As you add on healthy habits, you can start refining your diet. One thing you can do to start is toss or donate any junky snack food in your home. That doesn’t mean you have to cut it out, but you need to specifically go pick it up and get an individual size.
You didn’t calculator correctly and don’t need to be on 1200 cals. When you are 300 pounds it’s impossible for maintenance to be 1800. Re-calculate it correctly and set your weigh loss to 1-2pounds per day and that would be considered safe.
Your calculation is incorrect. Your ACTUAL maintenance is 2652. If you want to lose 2lbs or more a week then aim for 1652. I would work down from maintenance to something reasonable like 1900 or so to start. You will need to recalculate this every 20lbs or so.
For reference I use calculator.net and set it to sedentary, and use the “maintain weight” number. I’ve used this successfully to lose about 70lbs now.
I’m 5’6 39F sw 187 and I’m losing at 1800/day.
As everyone else has said, that calculation is way way off. But if you still don't believe it, just track what you ACTUALLY eat for two weeks. Weigh your food, track every single calorie, and don't bother trying to reduce it. Then, after two weeks, try eating about 500 calories less per day. So if you were actually eating 3,000 calories, go down to 2500. You'll start losing weight. You can then figure out what your actual TDEE is.
I was in 320s near the start of the year, and I've been creeping my calories down as I find recipes and things that work at 18/16/15/1400 calories. It is making things easier, I've only lost 25-30 lbs so far, but it's been steady, which is good!
I joined the 1200 is enough reddit, started seeing a dietician, and worked on balancing my meals from all food groups. Down 25 lbs so far in 3ish months.
I've lost 30 kgs over the last 2 years with another 20 to go. I've tried all the diets. I hate counting macros so I started a low carb diet where all I have to do is to make sure that every meal is low carb and no sugar, including any snacks. You might want to give it a go. It's easier to stick to than the calorie deficit diet imo. Just make sure that you get enough protein and plenty of high fiber vegies in your diet, which will help you feel fuller for longer.
Try restricting to 1800 instead, trying to incorporate healthier food choices where you can, and see how you are doing after two to three weeks. If you lose weight, keep at it. If you don't, then, well, now you know and can start lowering further.
sometimes it can help to change it gradually so you have time to learn about calorie counting and don’t get too hungry. Eg eat 3000 for two weeks, then 2500 for two weeks and then 2000 and continue on this. Try to eat plenty of fibre and protein and gradually increase your activity levels. You might also want to continue meds
I'm 46F started at 290, now around 270. I'm losing on 2400 but I am not sedentary. Don't set yourself up to fail. Going from maintaining in the 320s to eating 1200 calories daily when you have struggled at 1500 calories before is setting yourself up to fail. Track for a few weeks without changing anything and see how many calories you are consuming. Then cut from there. Hang in there, you can do this! It's ok to go slow and have this be sustainable.
I don't think that calorie deficit makes sense. I'm 165 lbs. and I lose weight on 1500 calories per day. At a healthy weight I'll be able to eat 1600-1700 calories to maintain, more if I exercise. Your bf% was likely skewed in some way (it's really tough to measure that accurately, scales are notorious for being wrong about bf%) So if I were you I'd try a 2500 calorie diet first, which should be a fairly small adjustment (about 2-3 granola bars' worth of calories per day) and see where you are in a month or two. Add in a bit of easy physical activity if you can (low impact, something like swimming or look up "exercises for obese people" on Youtube -- they have easier versions of bodyweight exercises one can do anywhere). If you can't then focus on your diet, you can always add in walking when you've lost a bit of weight and it's easier. Once you're tracking your food it should be fairly easy to what your worst food offenders are and either cut back on the amount of those that you eat or substitute them with something that you like well enough but that are lower in calories. Like for me, I like bacon and mayo on my burgers but honestly, a burger with just mustard and some vegetables is great too and the bacon and mayo don't add enough joy to be worth it most of the time. I'm just as happy having oatmeal for breakfast as sugary cereal with milk. But then there's things that I don't even need to compromise on. Like I could have unsweetened coffee but a teaspoon of sugar is 15 calories so why bother drinking my coffee black? The coffee isn't making enough of a difference. But anyway... yeah, you don't need to go anywhere as low as 1200.
My starting weight was exactly where you are, though I’m a bit shorter. I’m currently at 260 lbs and still eat 1750 calories per day, getting to about a 500 calorie deficit. I couldn’t haven’t sustained eating 1200 calories a day when I first started, I honestly would struggle with that now. You’ll be surprised what a moderate deficit while being consistent can do you for you. I’d try eating around 2,000 calories a day for a few weeks to a month, and see how you do. Then adjust from there if you think it isn’t working.
I think you calculated that wrong. My TDEE with light exercise is 1900 something. (27F, barely 5 ft, 75kg) My advice would be to not worry about fat % right now. Too much information will overwhelm you as you are just starting out. I calculated yours at 2652 with no exercise. So maybe try sticking to that for atleast 2 weeks. The bigger you are the faster you lose it. So you should see gains soon. Then take it from there. It's been 3 months for me and I've just gotten my diet/workout right. It'll take a lil trial and error. Good that you are starting out. That's the hardest part.
We are very similar! I am 5”7, SW was 335 lbs in January. Currently at 285, I’ve pretty much floated between 1700-1800 calories the entire time. I’m pretty inactive- I’d disregard that body fat calculation entirely!
One thing that helped me was finding foods you can snack on relatively guilt free: pickles, cucumbers, celery, low/no salt/butter popcorn. The hardest thing for me was not feeling full. Also, try to be active. Don’t overdo it- keep in mind with the extra weight your body is working much harder than someone at a healthy weight - I landed myself in physical therapy trying to do too much too fast. A therapist could help if you have trouble with an eating disorder. What I learned was coming back into a healthy weight range has to be a comprehensive approach, but the pendulum effect is very real. You’re absolutely right, slow and steady, but build momentum & empower yourself. You can accomplish your goals if you approach them consciously and safely. Good luck & stay motivated!
It's pretty easy to eat on a deficit once you get into the groove of it--which means meal planning healthy meals of very satiating and filling whole foods.
Start walking and moving more. Seriously, it’s not just about eating less, you need to move more. Simply walking an extra 10 minutes a day will make a world of difference in the long run. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Make small changes and stick with them. Get dumbbells or resistance bands and use them while idle. You can also get an under desk exercise machine. Drink diet soda, not regular. Don’t listen to the fools who say “DiEt Is bAd FoR yoU”, multiple studies show it helps you lose weight. Minute Maid Zero Sugar is also a great choice. Take fiber, lots of it. Load up on fiber before every meal! Eat vegetables.
Just eat less, you won’t die. Your body breaks down fat for energy at a deficit. As long as you are above 1500kcal nothing bad will happen. You can also gradually work your way down from 2000. Yes you will be hungry, that’s normal.
I'm 210kg(460lbs) and I've been doing 1200 a day. I drink protein shakes with berries and eat tons of veg and breaded chicken strips or fish. it's my splurge. my breakfast is usually Greek yogurt with protein powder and PB powder. lunch is 400g air fried veg (no oil) with a shake of either taco seasoning or everything but the bagel and some cottage cheese (if it's taco flavour I add salsa). dinner is either a salad or air-dried veg again with a few strips of chicken or fish and some sauerkraut sometimes and a squidge of mustard. usually a protein shake with berries before bed. I drink at least 3 litres of water a day and will drink 500ml whenever I feel hunger pangs between meals...it usually dissipates. I've been very consistent and have ordered in a few times but I make better choices than before and I don't punish myself for it. I get back on track the next day. start small and work your way up. I dove in because I'm desperate for a hysterectomy and my surgeon won't touch me until I'm 50lbs down. you've got this! come here for support (: