Understanding numbers

FireVixen_Fayth

So.. I been doing this now for more then 5 days, but for the last 5 I been logging my food and stuff. Can someone help me understand this information? So far every day I been well under my recommended calorie intake.

And yes I have been logging every little thing I eat, I know my numbers are low but I honestly have not been hungry that much and I think some of it my be attributed to other factors.
Here is my last 3 days results, for some reason I have not saved one of them. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g7lnhwddt5hmafb/AABTgV9O9lp0Oyurd7CVkvFra?dl=0

malibu927

It'll be easier for people to help if you open up your diary and give your stats.

FireVixen_Fayth

Should be able to view even without a dropbox.

Here is a screen shot of it, not sure how to make the diary "public" Public now.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/bigdaveberg

afatpersonwholikesfood

I noticed a lot of stuff says "homemade." Are these just entries you found in the database or are they entries you added to the database yourself and then used?

Also, are you weighing your food?

malibu927

Log everything. Weigh everything. Aim for 1500 calories MINIMUM, if not your goal. The longer you eat at such a low amount, the more health problems you can potentially incur.

Also, take a look at these threads for tips:
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods (for foods to add in when you can't reach your goal)

yarwell

bigdaveberg wrote: »

So.. I been doing this now for more then 5 days, but for the last 5 I been logging my food and stuff. Can someone help me understand this information? So far every day I been well under my recommended calorie intake.

What don't you understand ? You seem to miss a lot of meals, or not log them.

FireVixen_Fayth

It is entries in the database, that have been the closest match without the weight of the food going over. I am logging absolutely everything, this is how we normally eat here, albiet I used to eat more. And yeah I am weighing my food.

What I want to make sure I am understanding correctly is, if my intake is lower then my recommended intake, is that okay for loosing weight? I know by the charts, my intake is lot lower then the recommended but I honestly do not feel hungry.

I understand if people do not believe me, am used to it by now, but its the simple truth, I have cut back my intake a lot and feel completely fine about it. Only thing on me that hurts right now is my feet from walking in bad shoes.

barryplumber

If that's how you normally eat there one suggestion i have MOVE.

Timelordlady85

your diary for today only shows 210 calories and says you earned like 500 from exercise. did you not post the rest of your meals for the day yet? I'd aim for more calories with how much weight your aiming to lose. Also, what is your activity level set at and how much weight are you wanting to lose each week?

afatpersonwholikesfood

bigdaveberg wrote: »

It is entries in the database, that have been the closest match without the weight of the food going over. I am logging absolutely everything, this is how we normally eat here, albiet I used to eat more. And yeah I am weighing my food.

What I want to make sure I am understanding correctly is, if my intake is lower then my recommended intake, is that okay for loosing weight? I know by the charts, my intake is lot lower then the recommended but I honestly do not feel hungry.

I understand if people do not believe me, am used to it by now, but its the simple truth, I have cut back my intake a lot and feel completely fine about it. Only thing on me that hurts right now is my feet from walking in bad shoes.

Men shouldn't go below 1,500 calories per day. With the amount of extra weight on you, you can actually eat quite a bit more than that and lose. That's why MFP set your target at 3,100. Your body burns more than that each day. Losing too quickly means you lose muscle, feel tired, and can feel deprived.

As for using the homemade entries, you don't know how those people made those foods. The salad that you logged as homemade could have been logged as its individual ingredients instead. For example, you could have searched for "USDA carrot" and "USDA lettuce" and weighed and logged them. Check MFP database entries against the USDA Nutrient Database regularly as well.

FireVixen_Fayth

Timelordlady85 wrote: »

your diary for today only shows 210 calories and says you earned like 500 from exercise. did you not post the rest of your meals for the day yet? I'd aim for more calories with how much weight your aiming to lose. Also, what is your activity level set at and how much weight are you wanting to lose each week?

I have not ate anything else yet today, and I just got back from a 2.5 mile
walk.

afatpersonwholikesfood wrote: »

bigdaveberg wrote: »

It is entries in the database, that have been the closest match without the weight of the food going over. I am logging absolutely everything, this is how we normally eat here, albiet I used to eat more. And yeah I am weighing my food.

What I want to make sure I am understanding correctly is, if my intake is lower then my recommended intake, is that okay for loosing weight? I know by the charts, my intake is lot lower then the recommended but I honestly do not feel hungry.

I understand if people do not believe me, am used to it by now, but its the simple truth, I have cut back my intake a lot and feel completely fine about it. Only thing on me that hurts right now is my feet from walking in bad shoes.

Men shouldn't go below 1,500 calories per day. With the amount of extra weight on you, you can actually eat quite a bit more than that and lose. That's why MFP set your target at 3,100. Your body burns more than that each day. Losing too quickly means you lose muscle, feel tired, and can feel deprived.

As for using the homemade entries, you don't know how those people made those foods. The salad that you logged as homemade could have been logged as its individual ingredients instead. For example, you could have searched for "USDA carrot" and "USDA lettuce" and weighed and logged them. Check MFP database entries against the USDA Nutrient Database regularly as well.

Got it, will have to make sure I do it that way for now on.

Also like I said, I do not feel hungry/tired etc. The fries I had earlier, filed me up. Normally I would eat like the whole plate but less then half and I feel full and good. I plan on making me a "homemade" salad again here soon.

malibu927

bigdaveberg wrote: »

It is entries in the database, that have been the closest match without the weight of the food going over. I am logging absolutely everything, this is how we normally eat here, albiet I used to eat more. And yeah I am weighing my food.

What I want to make sure I am understanding correctly is, if my intake is lower then my recommended intake, is that okay for loosing weight? I know by the charts, my intake is lot lower then the recommended but I honestly do not feel hungry.

I understand if people do not believe me, am used to it by now, but its the simple truth, I have cut back my intake a lot and feel completely fine about it. Only thing on me that hurts right now is my feet from walking in bad shoes.

At the amount you're eating, it is not okay. You're putting your body at risk for muscle loss, hair loss, weakened organs, and other health issues that come from malnutrition. Read the links I provided earlier. Add in some of the calorie dense items listed in the final post. Just because you aren't hungry doesn't mean you don't need to fuel your body.

Liftng4Lis

You did NOT come to need to lose 205 pounds by not eating. Are you not logging?

FireVixen_Fayth

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

You did NOT come to need to lose 205 pounds by not eating. Are you not logging?

I am logging, but yet it seems like people are not understanding that. I do not feel hungry with how much I been eating, I feel perfectly fine. I also take a multivitamin daily as well. If you read my bio, you may understand more why I am trying to loose weight.

pstegman888

For logging convenience, especially if you tend to make the same dishes again & again ...Once you make a meal, salad or whatever, and log it in, you can click on the three dots on the lower right side and Save as a Meal to your My Meals database. Then you can log it as an entire meal another day, and just click & hold on ingedients to adjust or delete them. That way you don't have to re-enter the whole shootin' match each time.

FireVixen_Fayth

sunparakeet wrote: »

A 2.5 mile walk does not burn 500 calories. There are height/ weight tools online to estimate calories burned from walking and jogging. For example, I only burn 35 calories on a mile walk. Someone who is super morbidly obese MIGHT burn 80 or maybe even 100 calories a mile but even that is pushing it. You can't trust the estimated "calories burned" on MFP or on exercise equipment. You probably burned 150 calories or maybe 200 on that walk depending on how heavy you are. The same 2.5 mile walk would be a <100 calorie exercise for me because I'm pretty small.

I did not input custom calorie loss, I used the tool here to do it, with my measurements. And when I put in how far I went in the time, it came out to that. all HERE FROM THE SITE. I did no extra, nothing.

afatpersonwholikesfood

sunparakeet wrote: »

A 2.5 mile walk does not burn 500 calories. There are height/ weight tools online to estimate calories burned from walking and jogging. For example, I only burn 35 calories on a mile walk. Someone who is super morbidly obese MIGHT burn 80 or maybe even 100 calories a mile but even that is pushing it. You can't trust the estimated "calories burned" on MFP or on exercise equipment. You probably burned 150 calories or maybe 200 on that walk depending on how heavy you are. The same 2.5 mile walk would be a <100 calorie exercise for me because I'm pretty small.

How long does it take you to walk a mile? Can you sing while doing so? Can you talk? Do you sweat?

I'm making assumptions here, but if OP is, say, 6' and 400 lbs, those 2.5 miles may have been an hour or more of moderate intensity activity for him.

OP, it is true that you should be wary of most activity calculators. They tend to overestimate calories burned.

Liftng4Lis

bigdaveberg wrote: »

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

You did NOT come to need to lose 205 pounds by not eating. Are you not logging?

I am logging, but yet it seems like people are not understanding that. I do not feel hungry with how much I been eating, I feel perfectly fine. I also take a multivitamin daily as well. If you read my bio, you may understand more why I am trying to loose weight.

Yes, yes, read that. The WHY is irrelevant. The HOW, is very important. Eating 69- 1000 calories a day is ridiculous and unhealthy. So you'll be thin but will have lost your hair and nails, in addition to have lost muscle mass. You DO realize your heart is a muscle right.

FireVixen_Fayth

Unfortunately yes that is correct. All my walks at least, in the very minimum an hour, weather permitting. And I have a preplaned route every single time, clocked it in a vehicle and google maps. I listen to music while walking, sing to myself, and of course sweat. I take 1 litre bottle of water with me and that is generally gone 3/4 of the way back home.

Yes I do realize my heart is a muscle, thats why I am walking so my cardiovascular system gets in check. What I do not get is the hostility coming from some people. If I need to record a day of exactly what I do then I while. My general day is, looking for jobs online and calling around, checking email for college information, checking email for UofM to find my acceptance into the gender program, eat lunch when I am hungry, which tends to be around 1300-1500. Go for a walk around 1800-1900, which takes an hour, get home, have supper and hang out with the family. And I eat a snack or something else around 2200-0000. I am normally up to 0300-0430 at times.
That is my average day right now.

afatpersonwholikesfood

bigdaveberg wrote: »

Unfortunately yes that is correct. All my walks at least, in the very minimum an hour, weather permitting. And I have a preplaned route every single time, clocked it in a vehicle and google maps. I listen to music while walking, sing to myself, and of course sweat. I take 1 litre bottle of water with me and that is generally gone 3/4 of the way back home.

It's not unfortunate; it's just what you're working with and reality at the moment. Things will get easier as the weight comes off. You deserve credit for walking for an hour.

macgurlnet

bigdaveberg wrote: »

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

You did NOT come to need to lose 205 pounds by not eating. Are you not logging?

I am logging, but yet it seems like people are not understanding that. I do not feel hungry with how much I been eating, I feel perfectly fine. I also take a multivitamin daily as well. If you read my bio, you may understand more why I am trying to loose weight.

The big problem with malnourishment is you may feel perfectly fine now and then in a few months you start noticing your hair falling out and a whole bunch of other issues.

Eat what MFP tells you to get to. Add in calorie dense stuff like nuts, nut butters, cook with oil, etc.

~Lyssa

dawarner883

I looked at your daily logs (which you can see even if you do not subscribe to drop box). I note that you seem to be skipping meals. I see no lunches, and you have a few breakfasts that are empty. One important aspect of weight management is the proper management of nutritional intake - you will be much better off if you eat a number of calorie-controlled meals throughout the day (including small healthy snacks between meals) to ensure that your caloric intake matches/contributes to your activity level. Loading up on a single meal like dinner (which is usually after most of your daily activity) is likely to result in more storage of energy than use.

Recommendation: Consider planning a day's worth of meals - fruit, fibre, protein at breakfast; a protein, vegetable, and carb for lunch, and a healthy vegetable and low carb dinner (with a small amount of protein). Between the meals, try a healthy snack like dried figs or carrot sticks with humus in the morning and afternoon.

Reading your profile, I note that you are TG-MTF. I recommend that you consult your family physician on your personal health goals. Caloric intake should be monitored, and a recommendation would be to speak to a professional (doctor, nurse practitioner, or dietitian) for advice on your proper intake rate, which is determined by gender, age, current weight, and activity level. Confer with them as to the impact of exercise on caloric recommendation - so if it is 1700 cal, and you exercise for 300 cal, then the question is: should you intake 2000 cal or are you fine with 1700 cal.

Good luck, and keep recording and trying to meet a goal.

kk_inprogress

EAT MORE. You're not eating enough. Starving yourself is not going to help you lose in a healthy way AT ALL.

FireVixen_Fayth

I don't get how I am starving myself.. but anyways, some of the logs I have put in say supper, when its also been lunch meal but it was close enough to supper that I added it to that category. For background info, the living style here is, half of us are up to 0300-0500 due to running a place that requires someone up all the time. So.. my breakfast is usually around 1100-1300. Anyways, I will try to add more calorie dense food, but I have no income right now, so buying the better calorie dense food, is a rarity.

kk_inprogress

bigdaveberg wrote: »

I don't get how I am starving myself.. but anyways, some of the logs I have put in say supper, when its also been lunch meal but it was close enough to supper that I added it to that category. For background info, the living style here is, half of us are up to 0300-0500 due to running a place that requires someone up all the time. So.. my breakfast is usually around 1100-1300. Anyways, I will try to add more calorie dense food, but I have no income right now, so buying the better calorie dense food, is a rarity.

You're logging under 1000 calories a day- how is that NOT starving yourself?

brianpperkins

bigdaveberg wrote: »

I don't get how I am starving myself.. but anyways, some of the logs I have put in say supper, when its also been lunch meal but it was close enough to supper that I added it to that category. For background info, the living style here is, half of us are up to 0300-0500 due to running a place that requires someone up all the time. So.. my breakfast is usually around 1100-1300. Anyways, I will try to add more calorie dense food, but I have no income right now, so buying the better calorie dense food, is a rarity.

None of the past few days of your diary show breakfast. Your diary shows a starvation diet. That is why so many people are calling you out for it.

FireVixen_Fayth

I don't feel hungry at all at the end of the day? And some times I don't eat right when I wake up because I am not hungry, hence the no food in the breakfast section. Going to have a full physical with my doctor and talk to him/show him my log to get advice.

kk_inprogress

bigdaveberg wrote: »

I don't feel hungry at all at the end of the day? And some times I don't eat right when I wake up because I am not hungry, hence the no food in the breakfast section. Going to have a full physical with my doctor and talk to him/show him my log to get advice.

Your schedule may change the way you eat, but you have to be conscious about getting your nutrients in. Talking to your doc is a good idea, but keep in mind that lots of doctors don't have a clue about nutrition and it would be worth your time to get a referral to a nutritionist or dietician.

FireVixen_Fayth

I dunno, I am telling ya straight up I am not purposely starving myself, I just do not feel hungry at all. And I will see about getting into a dietitian then but I still want a full physical. I knew coming to the forums I would get slack, but I am not lying about anything I have said, about logging, nothing I have posted is a lie. But thanks so far for the advice.

brianpperkins

Feeling hungry is not what determines if one is starving themselves or not. Your logged intakes are far below the minimum guidelines for a male and even further below what you need for a two pound per week loss.

Alatariel75

Hunger is not a good guage of whether you are sufficiently fueling your body. If you physically don't want to eat more, you need to make what you ARE eating more calorie dense.