Help - How wrong is this?

ines_a_crazy

Hi!

I'm going to be long, hope someone has the patience to read and help... I was told to be specific, so here goes.

I've started going to the gym about 2 monthes ago.
I've lost 4 kg, 3,5 cm around the waist and 3,5 cm around the hips. I feel better, but I'd like to loose some more weight.
The thing is, I have a problem: the days I eat more, are the days I don't go to the gym, because they fall off my routine. That is a big no, no... right?

Monday
Exercise - 45' cardio (running 4km and eliptica) + 45' of strenght (machines) + abdominal crunches
Food:
Breakfast - light yogurt, half of a dark bread with ligh cheese (one slice), coffee without sugar
Snack - the other half of the dark bread with light cheese
Lunch - soup, salad, grilled chicken or turkey, rice, coffee without sugar
Snack - cereal fitness bar
Dinner (after workout) - ball of alpen cereals, with no added sugar


Tuesday
Exercise - 50' BodyCombat + abdominal crunches + a couple of machines
Food - same as monday

Wednesday - I have family dinner, so don't go to the gym.
Food - some as monday and tuesday except dinner: grilled fish and some rice usually

Thursday
Exercise - 50' BodyCombat + abdominal crunches + a couple of machines
Food - same as monday and tuesday

Friday
Exercise - 90' of ballroom dancing (not much of a burner, I know, but I love it)
Food - same as the other days, except of dinner: kebab (just meet and vegetables, no bread)

Saturday
Exercise - 45' cardio (running 4km and eliptica) + 45' of strenght (machines) + abdominal crunches
I wake up at 11 am...
Food: Breakfast - light yogurt, cereal fitness bar, coffee without sugar
Lunch (after workout) - chicken kebab (just meet and vegetables, no bread)
Snack - cereal fitness bar
Dinner - (it varies, but usually not very healthy)

Sunday - No exercise. Wake up as late as I can. Eat what ever... usually cereals or a sandwish with tuna. Have a cereal bar in the afternoon and then go to dinner at my parents usually eating meet, salad and rice.

So... how wrong is this...? What can I do better?

Thanks!

Falcon

I need more information then this.

Age, height, weight how many cals do you consume in a day. Then I can help you better

Or open your diary.

KarenJanine

I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you asking if it's wrong to eat more on your rest days? It depends how much more - are you exceeding your calorie goals?

How many calories are you eating? It would help if you opened your diary.

ines_a_crazy

Hi Falcon! I just started logging yesterday... so not much info there.

I'm 32, I weight 71 kg, and I'm 163 cm.

I've just opened my diary so you can see the cals per day.

Thanks

KarenJanine

MFP is set up with a calorie deficit included in your goal (assuming you set it up with a goal to lose weight). This means you will lose weight even if you do not exercise.

When you workout, you are credited with extra calories (exercise requires fuel) so it is expected that you eat back at least some of those calories back.

Your baseline calories are 1700, so on rest days this is how much you should be eating.

On workout days your goal will be 1700 + exercise calories (yesterday MFP calculated this to be 2201 in total).

Falcon

Weigh your food, log as accurately as possible. What I'm seeing is your goal is 1700 and you're eating just above 1000 a day. You're under eating most days. You need to eat more if you want to get good results.

MFP automatically deducts your deficient so don't be afraid to eat your exercise calories back or come close to what MFP tells you to consume in a day.

Over eating on Sunday is going to benefit you because you don't eat enough during the week.

eat more. I have seen people eat over 1000 and begin the path to an anorectic. They start restricting more and more trying to see results, they don't get those results and they start restricting more and more until they're starving themselves to death.

Do yourself a favor and up those calories.

Susieq_1994

It's not wrong unless you're eating too little or too much. Log consistently for a few weeks and you'll know the answer to that.

All the best.

Falcon

Susieq_1994 wrote: »

It's not wrong unless you're eating too little or too much. Log consistently for a few weeks and you'll know the answer to that.

All the best.

I looked at her diary. She's not eating enough.

ines_a_crazy

Thanks for your replies.

When and what would you recomend to eat more?

I don't feel hungry. I actually feel great!

I am thinking about getting a food scale just to be more accurate at my logs... Maybe I'm not eating as little as that.

MalineVD

I shouldn't worry too much. You're not eating that much and also rather healthy.kg is a good weightloss for 2 months. It means 0,5 kg/week and that is a perfect way to lose weight ona slow steady way and more chance that it stays off

wootrition

Ines, you have lost 4kg in two months, correct? If so, that is great progress!

The problem with eating too little food on a regular basis is that often times, one will tend to mindlessly snack, overeat, or even have full-on binge eating episodes that will derail or stall fat loss. So eating enough each day is important in terms of being consistent and continuing to lose body fat.

Falcon

A food scale would be a good start.
Drink plenty of water, eat one or two fruits a day, lots of veggies. Make sure you meet your protein intake or your body will eat muscle mass. The more muscles you have the more calories you burn.

( I was eating around 1300 - 1400 a day, that was a mistake. I noticed my biceps weren't as hard as they used to be. That's how I know. Personal experience.)

KarenJanine

MFP sets your suggested protein, carbohydrate and fat intakes (the macros). Try and hit each of these as closely as possible. You may want to change your diary settings so that you also track your fibre intake.

Here are some suggested sources of each type of macro, just to give you some ideas:

High protein sources:
milk, Greek yoghurt, meat, fish, cottage cheese, edamame, tofu, eggs, lentils, chick peas.

Fat sources:
Avocado, coconut, nuts, butter, oils, full fat milk and cheese

Carbohydrate sources:
Rice, pasta, potatoes, bread

It can take a bit of practice to balanace macros and find out what works well together.
If you're not hungry but need to get more calories in, adding fats is the easiest way to increase intake without adding much more volume of food.

And yes, getting a food scale would be advisable so you can be more accurate with your logging.

Susieq_1994

Falcon wrote: »

Susieq_1994 wrote: »

It's not wrong unless you're eating too little or too much. Log consistently for a few weeks and you'll know the answer to that.

All the best.

I looked at her diary. She's not eating enough.

But as a new logger, I would bet that her logging is very inaccurate. For example, she has just mentioned not having a food scale, and yet her diary mentions several items that are supposedly weighed in grams, meaning that she's mostly just guessing at her food intake. Hence my not jumping onto the "eat more" wagon immediately.

However, as you mentioned, it's a definite possibility that she is eating too little, which is why I told her to log consistently (I forgot to say "as accurately as possible" and mention the food scale... Oops.) for a while. Then, if she's eating too little, she should increase.

And to you, OP: DEFINITELY get a food scale. Logging in grams is absolutely useless if you're just guessing at what you're logging. Even measuring cups (notoriously inaccurate) would be better than looking at a pile of food and going... "Hmm.. I think I'll log this as 100 grams today." If you're guessing, there's really no point.

Logging tips: Don't use generic food entries. If you cooked it, make a recipe using the recipe builder, and enter each ingredient manually, along with the amount of it that you used.

Use the entries without an asterisk ( * ) for raw foods, as they are the official MFP entries and have accurate data.

If you're eating a specific brand (Kelloggs corn flakes, for example), then search for Kelloggs, not just any old corn flakes entry. Different brands have different ingredient ratios and different nutrition information.

Eat to your calorie goal, not under it. You'll just make yourself sick that way. Eat back 50-75% of your exercise calories only, because MFP is notorious for overestimating calorie burns in exercise logs.

If you're having trouble meeting your calorie goal, there's nothing wrong with eating more calorie dense foods like oils, avocadoes, nut butters, and even chocolate or ice cream. Weight loss is all about calories, and eating treats sometimes isn't going to magically kill your weight loss. That said, you'll feel much more satisfied if you eat the bulk of your calories from veggies, fruit, and lean protein, because you get more food for less calories.

All the best!

Falcon

yeah okay you make a good point. But the possibility is still there though....

Do what susieq suggests, log as accurately as possible for the next two weeks.

Get a food scale, this helps big time.

Report back here on whether it worked or not.

ines_a_crazy

Ok... fiber intake - check. I've just changed my settings.

This is important because I do have toilet problems (I can't do it unless I'm home)

Food scale... I'll get on it. I have one but it is not digital, so pretty much useless when it comes to accuracy.

Susieq, I am trying to be accurate with the gr and the brands. But yeah... meet, fish and rice quantities are probably not right.

Water drinking: I used to drink a lot of tea (no sugar) during the day. I'll get back on doing that.

Karen: I was thinking about making a sashimi afternoon snack! That would make me very happy (love japanese) and would increase my protein intake. Would it make me look crazy from my co-workers point of view?

Falcon: will do. Not sure where the hell to get the scale. I'll see if this weekend I can find it.

Thanks again to ya all!