Help please... Am I on the right track?

missbellarosa

Hi, just wondering if anyone could give me a little guidance? I got serious about doing this right about a month ago, I've made progress, lost a couple of kg and some cm but just wanting to check that I'm making the best choices.

My goal is to sustainably lose weight in a way that is easiest, not limiting myself too much but to try and make the majority of my food choices nutritionally dense and varied. Not sure if that makes sense lol.

I read some guides on here and calculated my BMR to be 1637, my TDEE to be 2752. I guess I'm confused about how many calories I should be aiming to eat. Do I eat back the exercise calories or not? I'm using a fitbit and aiming for 10,000 steps 6 days of the week, on days I'm less active it's usually an hour on the treadmill at a moderate pace and I've just started cycling too, 2 to 3 days a week for an hour or two each time.

Can you tell I'm confused? Any help would be fabulous! I've been losing this same bloody 20-30kg for a decade now and I'm more dedicated that I have ever been to not only be slimmer but happier, healthier and get back my vibrancy!

TIA!

avskk

Whether you eat exercise calories back depends on how you set up MFP at the beginning. Did you set it at an activity that reflects your workouts (lightly active, active, whatever) or did you set it to sedentary? If you set it to reflect your workouts, you don't eat any calories back because those calories are already included in your daily goal. If you set it to sedentary, you log your workout and eat back (some of) your exercise calories.

Is your weight loss proceeding at the rate you'd expect from your caloric intake? Does it roughly line up with what you told MFP your goal was (half a kg per week, one kg per week, etc.)? If so, you're well on track! If not, take a look at what you told MFP about your activity level and goals when you started and consider how that compares to your actual lifestyle. Make adjustments as needed.

Your diary looks great as far as food choices go, and your calorie goal looks to be in a healthy and safe range. I would like to ask whether you weigh your solid foods and measure your liquids -- most things I saw were measured by volume or by "slice," "block," and things like that. You say you're losing steadily, though, so that's more a question of building habits for later.

missbellarosa

avskk wrote: »

Whether you eat exercise calories back depends on how you set up MFP at the beginning. Did you set it at an activity that reflects your workouts (lightly active, active, whatever) or did you set it to sedentary? If you set it to reflect your workouts, you don't eat any calories back because those calories are already included in your daily goal. If you set it to sedentary, you log your workout and eat back (some of) your exercise calories.

Is your weight loss proceeding at the rate you'd expect from your caloric intake? Does it roughly line up with what you told MFP your goal was (half a kg per week, one kg per week, etc.)? If so, you're well on track! If not, take a look at what you told MFP about your activity level and goals when you started and consider how that compares to your actual lifestyle. Make adjustments as needed.

Your diary looks great as far as food choices go, and your calorie goal looks to be in a healthy and safe range. I would like to ask whether you weigh your solid foods and measure your liquids -- most things I saw were measured by volume or by "slice," "block," and things like that. You say you're losing steadily, though, so that's more a question of building habits for later.

I set it up as lightly active, but I think my exercises should be on top of that. I think I'm lightly active if I don't work out and I'm currently doing 30 minutes or more at least 5 days a week. So far I've been not really eating them back, using them for treats and things like dining out where I can't control as much and need the extra.

Honestly I did think that my actual weight would be going down faster. I bought new scales last week so they added a kg back on so my total loss so far is sitting at just under 2kg in a month. But I'm trying to focus more on other successes like clothes feeling looser, being able to walk faster for longer on the treadmill, not having to walk my bike up the hills and riding up instead.

Last time I had a really good crack at it i did lose a fair bit but that was eating 1200 calories a day and not eating back any exercise, it was pretty miserable and I didn't manage to stay on the wagon. I weigh everything on digital scales, even putting the margarine tub on the scales and weighing out exactly how much goes on a piece of toast. It helps that my partner weighs out what he's cooking with and tells me so I can log it all! If I have trouble finding the right entry by grams I google the calories and then find an entry that matches those calories.

missbellarosa

Jakep2323 wrote: »

Hi mate - With the calories go with the goal that mfp sets you and enter the amount you would like to lose each week. If you are losing cm and weight then sounds like you are doing well - congrats on that. I tend to eat around 50% of the cals back but that is really a choice for you. If you can avoid doing it then great but nothing wrong with eating into them a bit as staying under your calorie allowance is most important. Good luck mate

I am losing if you look at it over the month, I guess it would be nicer to see more progress on a day to day basis but I guess that will come!

missbellarosa

Also, if I do a workout on the treadmill I don't need to log that do I because the fitbit will know that it was a workout and not just more steps if that makes sense?

avskk

missbellarosa wrote: »

I set it up as lightly active, but I think my exercises should be on top of that. I think I'm lightly active if I don't work out and I'm currently doing 30 minutes or more at least 5 days a week. [...]

Honestly I did think that my actual weight would be going down faster. I bought new scales last week so they added a kg back on so my total loss so far is sitting at just under 2kg in a month. [...]

I weigh everything on digital scales, even putting the margarine tub on the scales and weighing out exactly how much goes on a piece of toast. [...] If I have trouble finding the right entry by grams I google the calories and then find an entry that matches those calories.

First of all, great job on the logging. Sounds like you have a good handle on that.

Second of all, half an hour a day of exercise isn't enough to bump you into a new activity category unless you're an Olympian, pretty much. If you're lightly active in daily life and working out 30-60 minutes most days, I think you can safely stay at lightly active. This means your calorie goal is calculated correctly and you more than likely don't need to eat back exercise calories. If you start losing weight unhealthily fast, reevaluate.

And finally, your new scale didn't add weight back on you! You still lost what you lost. The new scale is just calibrated differently. If I were you -- and I'm not, so take this for what it's worth -- I'd reset my MFP "starting weight" to a kg higher so I could keep my total kg lost but be accurate on the new scale going forward. (Does this make sense? It's very early here.) It sounds to me like you've actually lost 3kg in a month. Does that match the goal you entered into MFP? Not your mental expectations, but the way you actually set up MFP? If so, you're doing great! (And, personally, I think 3kg in a month is great even if not. Way to go!)

missbellarosa

avskk wrote: »

missbellarosa wrote: »

I set it up as lightly active, but I think my exercises should be on top of that. I think I'm lightly active if I don't work out and I'm currently doing 30 minutes or more at least 5 days a week. [...]

Honestly I did think that my actual weight would be going down faster. I bought new scales last week so they added a kg back on so my total loss so far is sitting at just under 2kg in a month. [...]

I weigh everything on digital scales, even putting the margarine tub on the scales and weighing out exactly how much goes on a piece of toast. [...] If I have trouble finding the right entry by grams I google the calories and then find an entry that matches those calories.

First of all, great job on the logging. Sounds like you have a good handle on that.

Second of all, half an hour a day of exercise isn't enough to bump you into a new activity category unless you're an Olympian, pretty much. If you're lightly active in daily life and working out 30-60 minutes most days, I think you can safely stay at lightly active. This means your calorie goal is calculated correctly and you more than likely don't need to eat back exercise calories. If you start losing weight unhealthily fast, reevaluate.

And finally, your new scale didn't add weight back on you! You still lost what you lost. The new scale is just calibrated differently. If I were you -- and I'm not, so take this for what it's worth -- I'd reset my MFP "starting weight" to a kg higher so I could keep my total kg lost but be accurate on the new scale going forward. (Does this make sense? It's very early here.) It sounds to me like you've actually lost 3kg in a month. Does that match the goal you entered into MFP? Not your mental expectations, but the way you actually set up MFP? If so, you're doing great! (And, personally, I think 3kg in a month is great even if not. Way to go!)

Yes, that's what I meant, that the difference between the two scales is 1kg, not that I put that on lol. Taking that into account I've lost almost 2kg total. I did pick the 0.5kg a week, so tempted to choose the 1kg but I need this to be sustainable! I guess I thought that given I wasn't eating back a lot of the exercise calories that I would lose a bit quicker. I'm very happy with the progress, really just wanted to make sure I was actually doing it right, it can get a bit confusing!!! For most of the month I was logging my treadmill exercise in fitbit even though the steps were logged, I think that doubles it up so good thing I didn't eat back my exercise calories!!!

avskk

You are doing it right! In fact, you're losing more than you set MFP up to achieve -- averaging .75kg/wk instead of .5kg/wk. Perfectly aligned with your MFP settings and not eating back your exercise calories yet. Good job!

Tacklewasher

missbellarosa wrote: »

Also, if I do a workout on the treadmill I don't need to log that do I because the fitbit will know that it was a workout and not just more steps if that makes sense?

Assuming your fitbit is linked to MFP, then you are correct.

missbellarosa

avskk wrote: »

You are doing it right! In fact, you're losing more than you set MFP up to achieve -- averaging .75kg/wk instead of .5kg/wk. Perfectly aligned with your MFP settings and not eating back your exercise calories yet. Good job!

Thanks! I apprecite the response, thanks for taking the time.

missbellarosa

grmckenzie wrote: »

missbellarosa wrote: »

Also, if I do a workout on the treadmill I don't need to log that do I because the fitbit will know that it was a workout and not just more steps if that makes sense?

Assuming your fitbit is linked to MFP, then you are correct.

Yes, it is linked. Thanks!