A life without soda, salt, alcohol, juice, red meats, etc.
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marinabreeze wrote: »Do you accurately track what you're eating (meaning weighing/measuring foods and then tracking them)? I ask because there is a huge difference between 1200 and 1600 calories, especially when you need a proper weekly deficit for weight loss over time. Eating healthy is important when it comes to nutrition, but eating at a deficit leads to weight loss.
Hi marinabreeze -- I measure my foods, but I do not weigh them. I noticed several people suggesting I weigh my foods, too. I think that's my problem. I'm not tracking accurately enough. I can eat all the health foods in the world, but if I'm going over on my calorie intake, I won't lose. Thanks!0 -
LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »I definitely know what a 4 oz. piece of chicken looks like lol
How?0 -
LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »I definitely know what a 4 oz. piece of chicken looks like lol
You definitely don't or you'd be losing weight.
Start logging your food consistently and honestly. Also, buy a food scale and weigh every single thing you eat.0 -
LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »I average about 1,200-1,600 calories a day.
No you don't.
You *think* you do, but your fundamental problem with not losing weight is that you actually don't.
If you did actually average in this range, we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?
I'd suggest you start there: what are you really consuming. Estimating doesn't count, and it's exactly why you don't really know how much, right?
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Cannot read whole post. It hurts. OP, just eat less of whatever you eat. You got this.0
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Actually...Whether I know what a 4 oz. piece of chicken looks like has nothing to do with whether or I lose weight. There's no direct correlation. Did I say that's all I ate during a meal? No.
Eyeing a 4 oz. piece of chicken isn't that difficult. Especially when the deli package states 4 oz. Other items are much more difficult to eye. Chicken is not one of them.
I love how some people have wonderful constructive criticism and kind words for motivation. I appreciate that.
Others think quick and punchy lines work in the same way.0 -
I read your title and thought wow, how miserable
You truly can eat every kind of food you want if you wish to
I'm going to be blunt, based on your clear medical results.
You are not a special little snowflake, you are simply fooling yourself and eating too much. No way are you eating under maintenance calories and maintains 176 at 5'1
Throw away every single piece of information you think you know about dieting
Weigh on a digital scale every single solid. Log it carefully, use non-starred MFP entries, check google calorie counts. Never use "homemade" entries. Build your own recipes. Log every single thing
Move more - get active, lift heavy things and put them down again
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LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »marinabreeze wrote: »Do you accurately track what you're eating (meaning weighing/measuring foods and then tracking them)? I ask because there is a huge difference between 1200 and 1600 calories, especially when you need a proper weekly deficit for weight loss over time. Eating healthy is important when it comes to nutrition, but eating at a deficit leads to weight loss.
Hi marinabreeze -- I measure my foods, but I do not weigh them. I noticed several people suggesting I weigh my foods, too. I think that's my problem. I'm not tracking accurately enough. I can eat all the health foods in the world, but if I'm going over on my calorie intake, I won't lose. Thanks!
You have answered your own question then.
Yes if you go consistently go over your calorie target, you will not lose weight regardless of what foods you are eating.
Yes you need to weigh foods- get a digital scale with a tare function. Very cheap at any chain store like Target or Woolworths etc
Weigh everything. Log everything every day and aim to be as close to your calorie target as possible.
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So I'm wondering, then, if the days I eat closer to 1,600, I don't have enough of a deficit to actually be on the path to losing weight.
I've always heard to eat healthy, and not to worry about counting. MFP has definitely helped me learn about nutrition and counting. But it sounds like I have a lot to learn, still!
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"Healthy food" does not equal "weight loss friendly food." Peanut butter has a ton of nutrients. It'll also turn you into a blimp if you eat too much of it. Log everything you eat. Whole-grain bread isn't any lower in calories in white bread. A cup of walnuts has 500 calories. A cup of avocado has 230 calories. You're championing that you don't eat red meat or dairy, but both are filling and high in protein. From a calorie standpoint, you're worse off eating nuts and grains (trail mix is higher in calories than M&Ms!) than eating some beef jerky and a glass of milk.
And salt has NOTHING to do with calories, aside from sodium affecting water retention.
Eating "healthy" =/= losing weight. If you want to do both, go for it! But I've steadily lost 40 pounds in the last 6 months with a diet that has regularly included all of the things that you avoid, often in fast food form! I don't say that to suggest that you should eat fast food, but rather to underscore the overarching point, here: weight loss is solely reliant upon eating fewer calories than you expend. The "quality" of those calories is certainly relevant to your overall health (heart, blood sugar, etc.), but from a weight loss perspective, there's NO difference between eating 1500 calories of broccoli and 1500 calories of pizza.
Also, you need to do an actual calculation based on your activity level (x hours of light activity, x hours of sleep, x hours of strenuous exercise) to calculate your daily calorie expenditure, but I can tell you that 1600 is NOT your maintenance level. At 5'2 and 175 pounds, even if you were completely sedentary, your maintenance calories would be closer to 1800. If you're lightly active, closer to 2000. If you're moderately active, closer to 2400. You burn more than 1600 calories just by breathing. But here's the cincher: you're not eating 1600 calories, or you'd be losing weight. If you're not measuring and logging, you're underestimating. Log. Measure. Get a scale. You will be very surprised at how many actual calories you're putting in your body.0 -
I'm short too. And I used to think it was ALLLLLLLL about what I ate. I spent years being more and more careful about my diet, and all it got me was heavier and heavier.
The plain and simple fact is that it's all about how many calories you take in vs. how many calories you burn. It really doesn't matter what you eat, though of course, what you eat matters for nutrition and body composition, so by all means, keep eating well.
Start tracking your intake. Enter your stats and find out how much you need to eat to lose weight, and you'll probably find, like me, that just a few tweaks are all you need to get on the path to a slimmer you. For shorties like us, every bite matters. A few calories one way or the other can make a big difference.
ETA: I've read further. I cannot emphasize this enough. Accurate tracking is essential for us shorties. Weighing matters a lot. Get a food scale. Even changing from an analog food scale to a digital food scale changed my rate of weight loss for the better.0 -
There are so many thoughtful people on here.
I wonder if you are providing yourself with all the minerals and vitamins you need. Some of us need a different balance. Any food is only worth the sum of what it provides in the way of nutrition.
I have lived for 50 years doing the supposed "right thing" for myself, to realise my health issues including my bodies reluctance to loose weight actually comes down to not doing the right thing for me. Some foods, none animal, contain the toxin salicylate which facilitates weight gain and so much more. Other foods can be affected by the way they are cooked. Oil which is used at too high a temperature causes another toxin. Our bodies need fats to create our hormones and other essential fatty acids and so much more, meats of any variety will contribute a great deal. Even the disparaged milk provides more than calcium for cells as well as teeth and bones, iodine essential for hormones, natural antiseptic in your moist secretions, round your eyes, in you mouth and along your digestive tract and so much more. Salt the "devil" in all foods is essential for the internal and external balance if our cells and much more. It is true we are better off consuming fewer carbs but even these have their place.
Living at a calorie restriction makes achieving our essential nutrients so much harder especially when you are under average height. Even a well shaped, normal sized, shorter figure will look more "floored" as it is packed into a small package. The style of dress can work wonders when used to accentuate and lengthen what you have. Being the size we were when at school or college is not always the best size for us.
All the very best in your search for what is right for yourself.
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First, like other people say... Eat less. Make sure you're not underestimating what you eat.
Second, if you really think that you've been eating well but still gaining... go see a doctor to have some tests done.0 -
LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »I definitely know what a 4 oz. piece of chicken looks like lol
I am not saying this to insult you, so don't think I'm trying to imply you're not an intelligent or self aware person, or anything.
But chances are extremely good that you're not as accurate on your intake as you think you are. Please understand this is coming from someone who has been dieting off and on since she was TWELVE. I know that a serving of meat is supposed to be about the size of a deck of cards, I know that serving of pasta is half a cup which is about half the size of a tennis ball -- all that smack.
If you do not measure (and I mean use a scale rather than volume measurement) every damn gram that goes in your mouth, you cannot be sure of your intake.
The handful of raisins you eat because you're starving when you get home from work while you're prepping dinner... That counts and needs to be weighed. The creamer in your coffee counts. (IF you're like me and use half-n-half that does add up quick). The oil you use to sautee those very healthy veggies -- totally counts and needs to be accounted for in your diet.
If I am making this out to be a tedious, obsessive pain in the butt... Well, you're right. It totally is. But after doing that for a period of time, you WILL have a much greater and more accurate understanding of your caloric intake.
(I say this as someone who would have sworn on a stack of Bibles I had to exercise a million hours a week and eat less than 1,200 calories a day to lose weight. Not really true. I do work out about five hours a week, true enough, but I am losing a pound a week pretty steadily at an average of 1773 calories a day and I'm a short, middle-aged yo-yo dieter!)0 -
This sounds sad.
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Take a look at this, and especially the video about how measuring foods can be inaccurate compared to weighing:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
I agree that you think you're on track with calories, but you might be underestimating your intake (it's something we ALL do if we try to eyeball).0 -
Hi OP:
The best way to weigh and measure everything is to get a digital food scale. They aren't very expensive (I've see $19 for one at Walmart).
Also, don't trust the MFP database without double checking. There's a lot of good information in there, but there's also a lot of bad information.
I always weigh my food in grams. It makes counting calories so much easier. There are a lot of database entries that are "1 serving" but I have no idea how much their 1 serving actually weighs, so I keep moving on until I find an entry in grams or ounces, or I add the entry myself.0 -
Hi OP:
The best way to weigh and measure everything is to get a digital food scale. They aren't very expensive (I've see $19 for one at Walmart).
Also, don't trust the MFP database without double checking. There's a lot of good information in there, but there's also a lot of bad information.
I always weigh my food in grams. It makes counting calories so much easier. There are a lot of database entries that are "1 serving" but I have no idea how much their 1 serving actually weighs, so I keep moving on until I find an entry in grams or ounces, or I add the entry myself.
Thank you! I'm picking up this one I foud online at Wal-Mart. It's a Biggest Loser brand. Had a lot of great reviews. It'll at least get me started.
I appreciate everyone who had kind words and helpful advice!0 -
Take a look at this, and especially the video about how measuring foods can be inaccurate compared to weighing:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
I agree that you think you're on track with calories, but you might be underestimating your intake (it's something we ALL do if we try to eyeball).
Thank! Saw this and found it helpful!0 -
I have this one.
I checked it's accuracy against the calibrated weights at work normally used on an analytical scale. This one is in the acceptable range all the time for the standards a laboratory scale is held too.
http://www.amazon.com/Finesseur-Precision-Digital-Scale-Kitchen/dp/B00CQD4TNI/ref=sr_1_40?ie=UTF8&qid=1422801957&sr=8-40&keywords=digital+food+scale0 -
heres the thing eating healthy is great but it is really what you eat. my eating has changed so much in the last year and now what i call healthy now and what i thought healthy was then are two different things. currently i try to fit 6-8 cups of veggies in my diet daily if at all possible. ive changed my macros-something i havent seen much mention of. you can eat healthy but if you arent tracking macros your daily percentage of food could be actually carbs and fat. while that isnt a bad thing if your just starting out you may need more protein. also working out 6 days a week really makes a difference on your metabolism. im apart of an amazing fitness group who has taught me all of these things and more. if your interested send me a message and i can connect you with my fitness coach who can get you in the group. its all free and it has changed my life as well as it has so many others in our group! 0
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Absolutely weigh and measure everything. Eyeballing what you are eating and guessing at it is going to cause you problems and frustration. Calories do matter. What those calories are, not so much. That doesn't mean stop eating healthy, it just means you don't have to be so fanatical about it.0
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I saw many people post that it doesn't matter what you eat and that isn't true. I wouldn't suggest eating fast food or junk food regularly even if you keep to under your daily calorie goal. It's still important to eat healthy, just eat less calories and weigh your food. I even weigh food that is portioned out, (like eggs, bread, etc.) to get an accurate serving amount for my log. You have to burn more calories than what you consume to lose weight but eating healthy is just as important. This is a lifestyle not a quick fix.0
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LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »Especially when the deli package states 4 oz. Other items are much more difficult to eye. Chicken is not one of them. .
You stay away from salt, and frozen packaged foods but eat pre packaged deli meats? Not judging- just sounds incongruous.
I have nothing new to add- you're eating too much and not moving enough. You need to weight everything and log it. Every day. Every meal. If you don't know then make the best guess you can.
Good Luck! If you need friends feel free to add me.0 -
@kenmiller75 You will lose weight on a calorie deficit whether you eat "healthily" or not. One of the really awful misconceptions a lot of people have is that if they eat the "healthy" foods they will lose weight. Unless they're in a calorie deficit, that is simply not so.
What CAN happen is that people will switch from eating, say, a bunch of pizza and twinkies to eating a lot of, oh I don't know, salads or something, and they'll find they lose weight. But that's because they're more satisfied on fewer calories because it's darned hard to eat enough lettuce to match how many calories are in a pizza.
That is not to say that I think people should not have the french fry to broccoli ratio heavily weighted in favor of the green stuff. But in terms of actual weight loss, it makes very little difference.
Which brings up the excellent point that weight loss and health are simply not a 1:1 ratio, either!0 -
LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »I definitely know what a 4 oz. piece of chicken looks like lol
I thought I did before I started weighing my food. Turns out I was overestimating my chicken, and underestimating things like peanut butter and hummus. Eyeballing isn't the best way to go.0 -
Just think, if you eat only 50 extra calories a day than you burn off, you will gain over 5lbs a year consistently. So making sure your averages are less than what you burn on a weekly basis is the way to go.0
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there's a lot here about accurately counting calories -- and it's true.
but for me, personally, i need exercise. i joke around that i have no metabolism....but for me, i need exercise to lose weight. i have found that hiit training helps me. i would encourage you to go to the gym 5 days a week -- set up an appt with a trainer to put together an aerobic and weight routine that you can follow.0 -
LaurenFOB2301 wrote: »I definitely know what a 4 oz. piece of chicken looks like lol
Can you tell a 4 oz piece of chicken from a 5 oz piece? If not that's a 25% error rate - accuracy matters.0
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