Can I get some input on my food diary?

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Trytogethealthy1
Trytogethealthy1 Posts: 12 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am so frustrated. I'm losing weight at such a slow rate compared to the past (a couple months ago). I weigh my food on a food scale & I wear a Polar HRM when I exercise to determine calories burned.

I'm struggling to stay motivated & fighting the urge to dive head first into a bag of Doritoes! But I'm not going to.....instead im going to approach this logically. So......can I get some feedback on my food diary particularly this last week?

I would appreciate any and all feedback & suggestions. Thanks!!

Replies

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,227 Member
    edited May 2015
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    What did you do to burn 348 extra calories from exercise today?


    Also have you considered lowering your maximum calories? Maybe try dropping it by 100 cal/day for the next 2-3 weeks.
  • Trytogethealthy1
    Trytogethealthy1 Posts: 12 Member
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    I did week 4 workout of the Couch to 5k program this morning. The calories burned are from my HRM so I'm hoping they are accurate.

    Maybe I do need to play around with my calories....about 1500 was where I had the best results in the past but maybe not anymore
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    Are you weighing all of the foods you enter as serves/tablespoons/cups etc?
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,227 Member
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    Always estimate low when it comes to calories burned. I used to estimate about 500 cal/hour cycling ... but have dropped that to about 400 cal/hour now or sometimes even slightly less.

    And yes, play with your calories. As you lose weight, you burn less just existing, so 1500 may not be working right now ... but 1400 might. :)

  • Trytogethealthy1
    Trytogethealthy1 Posts: 12 Member
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    Yes, I weigh all my foods. I'm trying to be as accurate as possible and teach myself what portions look like for those situations where I don't have a food scale available.
  • dredremeg
    dredremeg Posts: 202 Member
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    What has helped me was to cut back on the carbs.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Are you doing you worn research to ensure that you are choosing correct entries for the foods you weigh and enter into you log?

    Your exercise calories are overestimated. For weight training, you should only enter 1 calories so it's in your log. It's too difficult to measure those calories.

    Mowing the lawn is not exercise, that's in your activity level.

    Finally, you're doing 35 minutes of cardio and burning over 300 calories. I'm 53, 139 pounds, 5 ft 5, and I burn a little over 200 calories for 30 minutes of intense cardio and/or running. You're around the same age as me, so I'm going to say your exercise calories are overestimated. Have you properly calibrated your heart rate monitor.

    Finally, it looks like you don't have that much left to lose (a little over 10 pounds/). If that is true, you should only be losing a half pound a week.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    dredremeg wrote: »
    What has helped me was to cut back on the carbs.

    Carbs having nothing to do with losing actual fat. You shed water weight when you cut back on carbs, but it comes right back when you eat carbs again.
  • Trytogethealthy1
    Trytogethealthy1 Posts: 12 Member
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    So maybe I'm overestimating my exercise calories? I always wear my HRM when mowing & weight training (which is really a cross training class that includes weights). My heart rate gets right up there for those activities & I use the calories burned directly from the hrm. I do re-calibrate every 5 lbs.

    Given all that, it looks like I need to decrease my daily calories? Maybe try 100 or so less each day?

    Also, any suggestions or comments about what I'm eating?

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Trytogethealthy1 wrote: »
    So maybe I'm overestimating my exercise calories? I always wear my HRM when mowing & weight training (which is really a cross training class that includes weights). My heart rate gets right up there for those activities & I use the calories burned directly from the hrm. I do re-calibrate every 5 lbs.

    Given all that, it looks like I need to decrease my daily calories? Maybe try 100 or so less each day?

    Also, any suggestions or comments about what I'm eating?

    What you're eating has nothing to do with weight gain or weight loss, its' all about how much you're eating.

    Yes, eating less is the answer anytime you are not losing weight.

    That said, did you read my all my comments? Heart rate monitors are good ONLY for steady state cardio, and mowing the lawn and weight lifting are not steady state cardio.

    Also, are you ensuring you have correct food entries? You can weigh your food all you want, but if you don't choose the correct entries, you can easily underestimate calories in.

    Finally, your ticker says yo have lose weight and that you don't have much left to lose. It will come off slower now.

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