New here with some questions

tclupp

Hey guys I've just joined today and trying to get started. First I'm trying to track my food that I eat daily and hoping someone can help guide me

For example, I'm an electrician and my days during the week daily are as follows


Breakfast: 2 pieces of toast w/ peanut butter. Coffee with a little bit of milk and sugar.

Lunch: 2 x sandwhich with deli meat, cheese (real sliced) spinach tomato and mayo. I also have 1 single serving cup of yogurt. And sometimes 1 pudding cup.

I'm off work at 330 and I usually eat some grapes and an apple on the drive home.

Dinner is where I need to work on eating better. Anyways I'd like to see how I'm doing with those meals but not sure how I add so specific especially a sandwhich I make. I do want to eat better, lose weight and hopefully start working out consistently.

Thanks for any help or advice

TavistockToad

If the things you have listed fit into your calorie and macro goal they they're fine.

almostanangel21

I log my breakfast bit by bit; it's usually a slice of whole grain toast with peanut butter, either egg beaters with veggies or a cup of greek yogurt, and a cup of coffee. It was a pain at first, but MFP remembers what your 'usuals' are, and you can just check them off to add them. In fact, if you have the same thing every day, there's a way to just log the same meal for days at a time. As far as dinners go... what gives you trouble? Is it finding healthy foods you like, portion control, or both?

tclupp

Portion control is probably my worst problem.

For example when it comes to lunch time I easily eat 2 sandwiches. I put spinach and tomato on it but deli meat is awful for you and all the bread. But I work up an appetite at work so it's hard to keep the calories down and not starving.

By the time I get to dinner I'm fairly close to my daily max. I guess I need advice on meal planning to stay full but healthy. And for lunch needs to be reasonable for a construction environment. I don't have a kitchen to work with, but usually have a microwave.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

You need to log the exact brands you buy. So your breakfast would be 2 x slices of warburtons white 800g loaf
60g of meridian peanut butter
1 tea spoon nescafe coffee
40ml of asda semi skimmed milk
1 tea spoon of sugar

I just guessed brands and weights to give you an idea of how to log. You would do the same with your sandwich, list the exact brands etc, once you do it once they stay in your favourites.

TavistockToad

tclupp wrote: »

Portion control is probably my worst problem.

For example when it comes to lunch time I easily eat 2 sandwiches. I put spinach and tomato on it but deli meat is awful for you and all the bread. But I work up an appetite at work so it's hard to keep the calories down and not starving.

By the time I get to dinner I'm fairly close to my daily max. I guess I need advice on meal planning to stay full but healthy. And for lunch needs to be reasonable for a construction environment. I don't have a kitchen to work with, but usually have a microwave.

What's 'awful' about deli meat and bread?

almostanangel21

tclupp wrote: »

Portion control is probably my worst problem.

For example when it comes to lunch time I easily eat 2 sandwiches. I put spinach and tomato on it but deli meat is awful for you and all the bread. But I work up an appetite at work so it's hard to keep the calories down and not starving.

By the time I get to dinner I'm fairly close to my daily max. I guess I need advice on meal planning to stay full but healthy. And for lunch needs to be reasonable for a construction environment. I don't have a kitchen to work with, but usually have a microwave.

That sounds.... really familiar. You may want to swap out the pudding cup - most of the ones I see have next to no protein or fiber, so they're not going to stick with you. I make myself pre-bagged 'trail mix' out of almonds and reduced-sugar craisins - 5 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein, and it keeps me from getting hangry before my afternoon class. Also, if you're not feeling the deli meat, make extra when you roast meat for dinner and just use that for sandwiches. Are you using a food scale?

tclupp

I just figured the deli meat has so much sodium in it and all the bread (2 breakfast 4 at lunch) is a lot of carbs and calories

rwc51

Sounds like you're really making an effort to choose better food.
For your lunch sandwiches, you could reduce the amount of bread by making one triple decker or club sandwich. Use three slices of bread and adjust the filling amount or keep it the same.
I'm not a fan of deli meat. You could substitute rotisserie chicken, or bake some chicken breasts and slice them for your sandwiches. Keep up the good work.

almostanangel21

True, and true, although I'm never going to be a carbs-are-evil person. My bystander opinion is that you should start logging and see what your actual patterns are so that you have a better idea of what needs fixing. If you're consistently over your carb macro and under protein, swap out one of those pieces of toast for an egg, cut out a sandwich and replace it with more yogurt or some nuts, etc, and see how you feel. One step at a time so you don't get overwhelmed.

rwc51

Get a digital food scale. They're not expensive and will help you keep track of what you're eating with exact measurements.

tclupp

I do want to eat healthier, yet still enjoy what I'm eating. I'm not looking to become all about health and fitness I just want to be healthy and be in good shape. I don't want to go over board.

I think part of the problem is I don't really know what is good for you and at what amounts. So its hard to substitute when I don't know what needs to be taken out or reduced, and what to substitute for.

Plus is 2100 too low or is it about right? I'm 25 5'9" and 195 lbs. I'm on my feet all day usually moving, often up and down a ladder or walking around the job site etc. I play baseball 2 nights a week in the summer and we are trying to get guys back togethe for our touch football league in winter. I still do lay on the couch a lot when I'm home and snacking and eating out do plague me.

tclupp

I will look to start weighing food as well

vikinglander

rwc51 wrote: »

Get a digital food scale. They're not expensive and will help you keep track of what you're eating with exact measurements.

THIS! It's the only thing that works for me...

JeromeBarry1

tclupp wrote: »

Hey guys I've just joined today and trying to get started. First I'm trying to track my food that I eat daily and hoping someone can help guide me

For example, I'm an electrician and my days during the week daily are as follows


Breakfast: 2 pieces of toast w/ peanut butter. Coffee with a little bit of milk and sugar.

Lunch: 2 x sandwhich with deli meat, cheese (real sliced) spinach tomato and mayo. I also have 1 single serving cup of yogurt. And sometimes 1 pudding cup.

I'm off work at 330 and I usually eat some grapes and an apple on the drive home.

Dinner is where I need to work on eating better. Anyways I'd like to see how I'm doing with those meals but not sure how I add so specific especially a sandwhich I make. I do want to eat better, lose weight and hopefully start working out consistently.

Thanks for any help or advice

@tclupp This response is only to your second sentence.
The myfitnesspal Food button at the top of the page takes you to your Food Diary. On a new day, the diary is empty with some suggested meal names and, at the bottom, your macronutrient targets for Carbs, Fat, Protein, Sodium, and Sugar. You have the ability in the Settings button to redefine, rename, and rearrange these values. I haven't bothered to do so, but many people don't care about sodium so they delete it. Some people care so much about fiber that they include it in their macros. Your macros are 'big picture' things for the simplicity of talking about diet. Government recommends you get about half your calories from the macro of carbs, but how you get it from there is your choice. Bread, rice, potatoes, all are carbs along with many other things. Likewise for protein. Beans, beef, and even cabbage can satisfy a protein macro. Sodium is a component of table salt. Fat is what you think. Butter, avocados, cheese are a few things that supply the fat macro.

The myfitnesspal food database is massive and cumbersome, but with a little understanding you can be a master of manipulation in it. The database is user-editable, so you can edit entries if you have confidence that you know better. The USDA website is rock-solid accurate, and it is here https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods

Since you are just getting started, go slowly. That is, don't drop your calorie intake by 2/3 and start training for a marathon. Just start logging your food. You'll find it very easy to find and understand the foods you seek by searching on the USDA website.

The myfitnesspal Recipe Tool is powerful and really really frustrating, but again, knowledge is the master of it.
When you use the Recipe Tool, you MUST use the exact copy-paste description of food from the USDA database and you MUST remove the commas. If you fail to do this, you get very weird results. If you use the Recipe Tool properly, you get an accurate accounting of your calories and macros in your most complex dinner creations. If you have a recipe which you prepare often, and most of us do, you can name it and keep it. It will be in the system the next time you want it, and you can even come back later and edit it. The most experience users have hundreds of saved recipes.

Compare the myfitnesspal Recipe Tool to the Recipe Tool at nutritiondata.self.com, which is http://nutritiondata.self.com/mynd/myrecipes/ The database at self is not user-editable, is not frustrating, is rock-solid accurate, but darn it, has all those colorful adverts popping up all over the place.

Once you have your breakfast logged once, you can come back the next day and simply use the Quick Tools to "copy yesterday" for that meal. Easy as pie.

You'll need to acquire a digital kitchen scale. It should cost less than $20. The most certain way of losing weight is to have certainty of your calorie deficit. If you want accuracy in your knowledge, you must use a scale.

This is, overall, easy. You'll enjoy it.

saintshoc

The key is to weigh everything with the calorie tracker at the same time that way you are more likely to control the calories and not have too large a portion of anything.

almostanangel21

Again, one thing at a time. This can be overwhelming. Set your goals, weigh and log, and realize that you're going to need to learn and build good habits. One thing I will tell you: eating healthy does NOT mean eating horrible food or obsessing over every bite that goes into your mouth. 1/4 of your plate should be protein, 1/4 carbs, 1/2 fruits and veggies, and all of it should be things you like. I like to cook and cruise Pinterest and Eating Well for healthy recipes; if it's good, it goes into the rotation, if it doesn't, screw it, I'd rather eat veggie pizza for one night than choke down something that makes me want to gag. Fortunately, that doesn't happen more than maybe once a month.

positivepowers

almostanangel21 wrote: »

Again, one thing at a time. This can be overwhelming. Set your goals, weigh and log, and realize that you're going to need to learn and build good habits. One thing I will tell you: eating healthy does NOT mean eating horrible food or obsessing over every bite that goes into your mouth. 1/4 of your plate should be protein, 1/4 carbs, 1/2 fruits and veggies, and all of it should be things you like. I like to cook and cruise Pinterest and Eating Well for healthy recipes; if it's good, it goes into the rotation, if it doesn't, screw it, I'd rather eat veggie pizza for one night than choke down something that makes me want to gag. Fortunately, that doesn't happen more than maybe once a month.

Agreed. I tried to stick to a "clean eating" diet. I lost weight because the food was revolting and I couldn't choke it down, and began binging. Epic fail.

Btw, I have this very meme as a screen saver on my computer at work. Love that cat!

ETA: OP, the best thing you can do for yourself is stop reinventing the wheel. Stick with changes that you can live with. This has been advice given in the past by some MFP'ers who've lost (in some cases) massive amounts of weight and kept it off for years. They don't really agree with the details of the weight loss, but they all seem to agree that you should only make changes that you can sustain.

tclupp

All very helpful information. Thanks for the advice. I'll do my best to find something that works and that I can sustain.