Understanding numbers

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.

FireVixen_Fayth

Like I said, I will try to get more calorie dense food.

flatlndr

bigdaveberg wrote: »

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.

Your topic title is "understanding numbers". Looks like there are (at least) three "understanding" issues here.

1. you don't understand how MFP works
2. you don't understand the feedback people are trying to give you
3. you are misunderstanding their disagreement with you as attacks (I recognise quite of the few responders here, and they are definitely trying to help)

First, in order for the community to help you, you have to help them. Your logging needs to be more accurate.

• If your logging is accurate, then they are giving you valid feedback ... you are consuming too few calories for your size, regardless of whether or not you feeling hungry
• If your logging is inaccurate, then you are consuming more calories than you realise, and you'll likely be back here wondering why you are losing so little weight.

so ... get that accuracy up, and then they can guide you toward getting your weight down.

Listen to these folks ... you're just getting started, learning the ropes ... in contrast, they've been around for a long time, helping a lot of people.

snowflakesav

It can feel pretty easy to eat under 1200 calories a day in the early days of a diet. Your body happily is burning stored glycogen in the muscles and liver. I think it is ok for a few days but it isn't sustainable long term.

Meanwhile you can be making a plan that will work for you.

flatlndr

In my previous post about the importance of logging accurately, I should have included this link:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

WBB55

bigdaveberg wrote: »

Like I said, I will try to get more calorie dense food.

Peanut butter, butter, whole dairy, nuts, seeds, olive oil, beans, potatoes, rice, and eggs are some of the cheapest things I eat that are towards the dense end of calorie dense.

ColinsMommaOC

When I am not hungry and I am still short of 1200-1400 calories (my goal is 1600~) I grab a spoon and put my peanut butter jar on my food scale. Then I just eat peanut butter until the jar weighs enough grams less to meet my calorie goals. 1 spoon, maybe 2-3 if I am on the low end for the day. Maybe not the most nutritional solution, but then again I rarely eat below 1000 by the end of the day anyway.