General Healthy Eating Q &A's for beginners

mcorso55

Hi all! I'm awaiting the arrival of my new food scale (thanks to the advice of those on MFP) and had some questions about weighing food and other general questions as I begin this journey like the rest of you!

Feel free to post your own questions and answer others to help everyone out!

I'll begin with some of my own:

1. I read that I should weigh my food raw (ex. Chicken Breast) , after I do that I believe I should log it as raw, but should I log in how it's cooked (grilled, pan seared, baked, etc.)? Doesn't the way it's cooked affect the calories as well? Further explanation on how to properly weigh and log foods would be great!

2. How often do you weigh yourselves? When?

3. How often do you have your cheat meals? Do you hold back or really GO BIG? What do you enjoy having for your cheat meals? Why do you think they're important/not important?

4. Coffee. I love coffee. I love my coffee a certain way though, which means I can't do just black coffee with sugar for the sake of being healthy. I'd rather not have it at all to be honest lol I don't mind logging the milk or cream and sugar I put in my coffee but is that considered a "cheat"?

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to some good conversation and information throughout the thread

SideSteel

mcorso55 wrote: »

Hi all! I'm awaiting the arrival of my new food scale (thanks to the advice of those on MFP) and had some questions about weighing food and other general questions as I begin this journey like the rest of you!

Feel free to post your own questions and answer others to help everyone out!

I'll begin with some of my own:

1. I read that I should weigh my food raw (ex. Chicken Breast) , after I do that I believe I should log it as raw, but should I log in how it's cooked (grilled, pan seared, baked, etc.)? Doesn't the way it's cooked affect the calories as well? Further explanation on how to properly weigh and log foods would be great!

2. How often do you weigh yourselves? When?

3. How often do you have your cheat meals? Do you hold back or really GO BIG? What do you enjoy having for your cheat meals? Why do you think they're important/not important?

4. Coffee. I love coffee. I love my coffee a certain way though, which means I can't do just black coffee with sugar for the sake of being healthy. I'd rather not have it at all to be honest lol I don't mind logging the milk or cream and sugar I put in my coffee but is that considered a "cheat"?

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to some good conversation and information throughout the thread

1. I would generally weigh raw. I've never actually looked at the differences in energy content based on cooking method but I wouldn't be surprised if it exists. If you are being consistent in your methods and logging any additional calories that go into the dish (such as if you cook it with oil) you'll be fine.

2. Daily under identical conditions. For my clients I suggest first thing in the AM after using the restroom. I then record 7 day average weight and compare week to week averages. This smooths out day to day water fluctuations. Exceptions are made for people who have an abnormal amount of anxiety over the number on the scale. Some clients don't weigh themselves at all.

3. I don't do cheat meals necessarily but I will have people take periodic maintenance breaks, and when special occasions arise like celebrations/etc there are days where they don't log and just eat what they want within reason. Primarily for long term adherence reasons. I'll also put some people on one day per week refeeds where they just eat at maintenance calories because it allows them to fit things into their diet that may be difficult depending on their deficit.

4. If it fits into your calories and macronutrients it's likely fine. Having said that, you should also be considering the risk/reward scenario. Just for example, I've seen people who fit a rather hefty amount of junk food into their diet and then they're hungry all the time because their food selection is poor, and then they have a harder time succeeding. You need to strike a balance such that most of the food you eat meets your nutrient needs AND blunts hunger.

abatonfan

mcorso55 wrote: »

Hi all! I'm awaiting the arrival of my new food scale (thanks to the advice of those on MFP) and had some questions about weighing food and other general questions as I begin this journey like the rest of you!

Feel free to post your own questions and answer others to help everyone out!

I'll begin with some of my own:

1. I read that I should weigh my food raw (ex. Chicken Breast) , after I do that I believe I should log it as raw, but should I log in how it's cooked (grilled, pan seared, baked, etc.)? Doesn't the way it's cooked affect the calories as well? Further explanation on how to properly weigh and log foods would be great!

2. How often do you weigh yourselves? When?

3. How often do you have your cheat meals? Do you hold back or really GO BIG? What do you enjoy having for your cheat meals? Why do you think they're important/not important?

4. Coffee. I love coffee. I love my coffee a certain way though, which means I can't do just black coffee with sugar for the sake of being healthy. I'd rather not have it at all to be honest lol I don't mind logging the milk or cream and sugar I put in my coffee but is that considered a "cheat"?

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to some good conversation and information throughout the thread

1. If I weigh raw, I find the MFP food entry that says the food is raw (like Chicken, breast meat only, raw). If I weigh it cooked, I'll find a MFP food entry that says the food is cooked (like Chicken, breast meat only, cooked, broiled). Generally, I assume the calories of a cooked chicken are the same baked/grilled/seared UNLESS I added additional stuff during the cooking process (like oil). If I add any stuff while cooking, it also gets logged.
2. It depends. I weigh about once every 2-4 days, but I only adjust my MFP weight whenever I see a loss from my lowest-recorded weight. I noticed that I tend to fluctuate up to 7 pounds based off water/hormones/sodium/food weight. It's recommended that you weigh naked in the morning before eating and after you have urinated and had a bowel movement (if possible).
3. I don't do cheat meals. I fit the food I want into my calorie and macro goals. I can't have potato chips, cookies, and ice cream all in one day anymore without being irritable and hungry, but I can have all three within the span of a week if I pre-log and adjust the rest of my day's food for it.
4. There is no such thing as cheating. Log the cream and sugar into your food diary -it really adds up if you have multiple cups of coffee. You may find later on that the cream and sugar aren't worth the calories and start drinking it black, or you may find out that it's completely worth the calories and will accommodate the rest of your day's meal plan to fit in the coffee with cream/sugar.