Which Strategy for Changing my MFP CICO Settings Would You Recommend?

MelWick524

Mr_Knight wrote: »

MelWick524 wrote: »

\My chef husband made mashed potatoes, dished them out for me, about 1 cup's worth, I ate half.

That's almost certainly where things are going wrong - people are astoundingly bad at getting "about" estimates correct.

I'm just looking for meaningful answers.

And you're getting them. It's not about your 2000 quick add, it's about the inaccuracies in most of your other entries. Right now, you don't actually know how much you're eating, so changing goals is pretty pointless.

If this innocuous and polite discussion is enough to get you all cussy and defensive, perhaps MFP is not the best tool for you.

Good luck!

:drinker:

I'm losing weight though. I've lost 13lbs since the end of January. I should NEVER have even said the word "plateau." Maybe I should just not change anything. lol. The mind of someone with a history of eating disorders is not the same as other brains, and the frustration and obsession of these exercise calories is just getting me down. I think MFP IS the right tool for me...I'm having success for the first time in years.

debrag12

MelWick524 wrote: »

I think everyone is missing my question. Crap. OK. Here's my question, absent of all of the personal details I gave:

For someone who exercises daily but has a desk job and is looking to lose 2lbs/week, do you personally think it is better (meaning, easier, more accurate, less stressful) to:

a) enter your activity level as sedentary, log workouts (as accurately as possible), and eat back some exercise calories?

or

b) just set your activity level as "lightly active" and then don't worry about calculating exercise calories and just eat the calories MFP gives you for being a lightly active person w/ a goal of losing 2lbs/week?

Sorry if my question was confusing or seemed like I'm new to MFP or the forums.

why not use the TDEE-20% method?

MelWick524

PeachyPlum wrote: »

MelWick524 wrote: »

Mr_Knight wrote: »

MelWick524 wrote: »

Mr_Knight wrote: »

My suggestion would be to improve the logging before worrying about changing your calorie goals. Most of your entries are serving size or volume based, rather than weighed - that is a very common way of under-estimating intake.

Most entries that are serving size are because I manually create recipes and then log them as 1 serving (I weigh all ingredients of everything I make). lol

"Homemade mashed potatoes 1/2 cup" is not a meaningful logging entry.

A 2000 calorie quick add is not a meaningful logging entry.

You're looking for an answer in the wrong place...your body doesn't care whether you get to your 1500 calorie average by picking 1500 as a goal and not logging exercise, or picking 1200 as a goal and logging exercise. What it does care about is how much you're feeding it, and right now, your logging isn't good enough to answer that question.

Good luck!

:drinker:

OK, you got me on the 2,000 one. As you'll see, that's the only time I've EVER done that. Funeral...pigged out. No excuses, but I definitely didn't bring my scale to the funeral reception thing. Come on, how does one weigh EVERY single thing they eat? My chef husband made mashed potatoes, dished them out for me, about 1 cup's worth, I ate half. If he saw me get up from the table and take the potatoes off the plate and put them on the scale, he would flip the hell out. We all lead different lives. I'm doing the best I can, and weighing 90% of my food. I'm just looking for meaningful answers. I'm not perfect. I F*** up.

I'm kind of nervous for you if your husband would flip the hell out if you weighed your potatoes. That's not a normal reaction.

Is it possible for you to say "Hey babe, I love your cooking so much, but in order for me to keep on top of my fitness goals, I need to know how much of it I'm eating. Would you mind if I weighed my portions, just so I know?"

Also, do you know what was in the mashed potatoes? Was it straight potatoes, mashed up (doubtful), or does he add something to make them creamy? If so, is it butter, sour cream, yogurt, milk? How much?

These are things that are causing inaccuracies in your logging. I get that it can't be helped, especially if your husband is volatile, but if you can improve your logging accuracy, you'll be better able to adjust.

he's not volatile. he's just...dealt with my bulimia/EDNOS/binge-disorders since we met at age 15, and he's done with hearing about my eating "issues." He thinks by me weighing my food and counting everything I eat, I'm going right back down that E.D. road...

PeachyCarol

OP, the other important thing to remember is that stalls do happen. It sounds like you've been at this for about three months now?

It might just be that you've hit your first stall. There's nothing unusual about that. To reassure you, that was just about the timing of when I hit a stall that lasted about three and a half weeks too. I didn't do anything different during that time, just kept on doing what I was doing and eventually the scale started moving again.

MelWick524

mamapeach910 wrote: »

OP, the other important thing to remember is that stalls do happen. It sounds like you've been at this for about three months now?

It might just be that you've hit your first stall. There's nothing unusual about that. To reassure you, that was just about the timing of when I hit a stall that lasted about three and a half weeks too. I didn't do anything different during that time, just kept on doing what I was doing and eventually the scale started moving again.

Thank you