I have to lose weight per drs orders are the numbers given really work.

Rachel5

I have been told by the dr I need to lose weight and my fitness pal tells me to go to 1200 Cronometer says 1500. I also need some tips on the best way to lose weight other than not eating. Yes someone did suggest this. Thanks

Rachel

Susan_RD_101

Hello @Rachel5 ,

Did you doctor state a specific reason you need to lose weight (i.e. for surgery, IVF treatment, etc.)? If it was just for health and well-being, it's important to focus on your health habits (sleep, stress, food, activity), rather than numbers.

The easiest place to start is simply by choosing a weight-loss target in your Cronometer account. I'd suggest a target of losing 0.5 to 1 lb per week. Cronometer will automatically adjust your calorie target to reach this goal (you can find this under Settings>>Targets>>Weight Goal).

What's important to remember is that any deficit in calorie intake will result in weight loss. Where most people struggle is by setting unsustainable targets and not setting their environments up for success. Take inventory of your current dietary intake and start looking for ways that you can keep food volume high, but decrease calories (such as by adding more fruits, vegetables, and lean protein).

Best of luck!

Flattlander

I'm not a doctor or nutritionist. The best way to lose weight is to eat lots of vegetables and very little fat. Vegetables are low calorie so if you add lots of veggies to meals, you will be able to eat more food over all. Also fat is high calorie so if you eliminate oils you will be eating way less calories. There is lots of information online about "calorie density."

robartsd

As Susan suggests, it can be very difficult to restrict food intake enough to lose weight quickly without getting to the point where you will run out of willpower to continue the diet. To lose weight faster, I find that increasing activity level without increasing food intake is an easier than decreasing food intake. My strategy has been to set my caloric intake goal to about my sedentary calorie burn, then try to keep my activity level high.

TareyW

I lost a lot of weight by going low fat, veggie route. Before that it was Atkins, but that pushed up all my cholesterol numbers, hence low fat. And I agree that eating lean meats, more fish, lots of veggies, fat free yogurt etc. is a great way to go, esp if you have bad cholesterol numbers. But something weird happened when I did that. I lost weight, yes, but the diet was taking that fine layer of fat under the skin first, maybe because it was easier or something, and everywhere else last or not at all, so my skin got crepey, dry, almost crisp? My overall shape didn't really change. I lost inches everywhere but still in this weird shape. There are so many reasons why this is so, but if you do low cholesterol keto, and add a moderate amount of vegetable oils (like olive) you will lose weight well, and from target areas. Plus your skin will stay supple and retract with the weight loss. Regardless of age. I started reading Dr. Berg's book "The Healthy Keto Plan" which explains a lot of whys - he is a real genius about this stuff, he has done a lot of direct observation and studies. Getting deeply educated on the body is a good idea, if we want to make this the diet to end all diets. P.S "robartsd" is right about how to set levels to sedentary then work on being more active. I do that too, now using a step counter, which began at about 385 steps per day!!! (covid sloth) and now, just a week later, are about 2000 per day, aiming for 7500. That number is what scientists now discovered is just about as good as the 10,000 people have been touting for awhile. The fall-off efficacy point. So that is my daily goal and one day I will even get there! I also set my carbs to 25 and follow a keto approach. 6 lbs in the first 4 days and no issues of hunger.

AWB

Look into DrBeckyFitness.com. She even has her recipes on Cronometer. It is through her that I found this tracking site.

Ridge_Runner

Rachel5, I don't know what your stats (age/weight/height/sex) are, however 1200 is as a low calorie diet (as is 1500 calories) https://www.webmd.com/diet/low-calorie-diets#1. I for one cannot stay on anything this low for more than one or two weeks before I feel totally deprived and "reward" myself with feasts. I am finding that Cronometer keeps me from feeling that way and I'm losing. MUCH slower than I would like but none the less, sustainable and losing. I'm doing this for my long term health regardless. Join me on here and we'll keep each other motivated. Cronometer is making easier to analyze what I'm eating and see if I can make some better choices (like V8 instead of wine at night, mashed avocado on toast rather than margarine, and I actually NEED the yogurt and olives are a much better choice than the sunflower seeds (because believe it or not my sodium intake was too low without them) I also find that more activity (walking and housework are JUST FINE) helps.

Susan_RD_101

@Ridge_Runner

Thanks for sharing! It sounds like you are approaching your health habits from a much more balanced perspective.

Best of luck to you!