Understanding how this works...

HappyBride917

I'm relatively new to MFP and I'm coming from the world of weight watchers (very different!). I'm trying to understand how MFP works and I have some questions I'm hoping you all could help me answer.

I have a Fitbit and I have it connected to my account and the account is set at a negative calorie adjustment. I believe this is how it works, and I just wanted to be sure. I am already eating at a calorie deficit. Once my fitbit reaches a certain amount of steps or activity, I get more calories to eat because once I workout (or walk a lot) I'm at an even bigger calorie deficit. I can choose to eat those calories back, or not, general rule of thumb is to eat about half (since fitbit isn't always a perfect measure).

I'm also wondering about drinking. I do not drink often, but occasionally (maybe every other weekend) end up out with friends. I'm curious about drinking. On weight watchers drinks were a lot higher in points because of the way the alcohol is made and goes through your system. In MFP world a beer that is 120 calories is 120 calories. Have any of you drank and still lost at the rate you thought you would?

My last bit of curiousness is how everyone handles eating out. My fiance and I do not live together and we see each other on the weekends. Often that ends up in eating out. I try to only eat out once a week, if that, but I'm wondering how others eat out. Do you stick to your goals and have that one cheat meal a week? Or do you try to incorporate it into your calorie goals? On weight watchers we were given an extra 35 points per week to eat out or eat at special occasions. I'm trying to adjust to not having that.

Any other advice, tips, or tricks would be appreciated greatly! My wedding is in September and I'm trying to hit my goal (losing 35lbs) by then.
Thank you so much & added friendships are welcome!

sammyliftsandeats

You have it right! I drink a glass or two of wine 3x a week, feel free to have a look at my diary. I am losing at the rate I want (.5lb/week - not a lot to lose) and I fit in treats.

My one piece of advice is to use a food scale to measure all solid food and only use measuring cups/volume measurements for liquids. There are a lot of good posts at the top of this forum to help you on your journey. Welcome!

callsitlikeiseeit

i drink all the time. Bud and Jack and wine are my friends. 80 pounds down and they are still my friends.

a calorie is a calorie.

dont eat back all your calories.

CMNVA

I've never done WW so I probably won't be much help there, but I know plenty of people who have done it so I get the gist of the points.

The reason you get 35 extra points to bank for splurges with WW is because WW has already created the deficit for you with your daily points. You could decide you aren't a "splurger" and add those points to your days. You can do this with MFP also, if weekends are an issue for you. Figure out your daily deficit and take even more calories off for Monday through Friday. What you "bank" for those 5 days can be used on Saturday and Sunday.

As for eating out, there's really no great way to do it. My standbys happen to be Panera where I can get a pick 2 for about 530 calories. But that's not really dining out. Some of my "safest" meals have been a small filet mignon with steamed veggies.

Not sure why alcohol is treated differently in WW. There's nothing "magical" about alcohol that makes you gain weight faster than, say, grape juice. It's probably just their way of trying to really control it because people have a tendency to treat alcohol like potato chips--it's easy to have more than just one.

At MFP, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.

serindipte

HappyBride917 wrote: »

I'm relatively new to MFP and I'm coming from the world of weight watchers (very different!). I'm trying to understand how MFP works and I have some questions I'm hoping you all could help me answer.

Welcome to MFP! I've looked at WW and, to me, MFP is so much easier. I eat what I want, when I want, as long as it's within my calorie goals.

I have a Fitbit and I have it connected to my account and the account is set at a negative calorie adjustment. I believe this is how it works, and I just wanted to be sure. I am already eating at a calorie deficit. Once my fitbit reaches a certain amount of steps or activity, I get more calories to eat because once I workout (or walk a lot) I'm at an even bigger calorie deficit. I can choose to eat those calories back, or not, general rule of thumb is to eat about half (since fitbit isn't always a perfect measure).

Exactly. The negative number means you haven't yet reached the activity level you set MFP to. Once you reach that, you earn more calories and, correct, most only eat back about half on the chance of inaccuracies.

I'm also wondering about drinking. I do not drink often, but occasionally (maybe every other weekend) end up out with friends. I'm curious about drinking. On weight watchers drinks were a lot higher in points because of the way the alcohol is made and goes through your system. In MFP world a beer that is 120 calories is 120 calories. Have any of you drank and still lost at the rate you thought you would?

A calorie is a calorie. For weight loss, it doesn't matter if that calorie comes from baked chicken, a slice of cake or alcohol. There are many here who have lost while still enjoying drinks within their calorie goal.

My last bit of curiousness is how everyone handles eating out. My fiance and I do not live together and we see each other on the weekends. Often that ends up in eating out. I try to only eat out once a week, if that, but I'm wondering how others eat out. Do you stick to your goals and have that one cheat meal a week? Or do you try to incorporate it into your calorie goals? On weight watchers we were given an extra 35 points per week to eat out or eat at special occasions. I'm trying to adjust to not having that.

When I know I'm going to be eating out and indulging, I eat under a little bit each day before that. Basically, I 'bank' 100 calories or so and use those on the indulging day. I normally look at the weekly average rather than each day on its own. Some days I'm low, others I'm up, but as long as the average is near my goal, then I'm losing weight. There are times that I end up eating out more than usual and, on those weeks, I take a look at the menu ahead of time and plot out what I will order based on my calorie allotment. It's better than trying to decide on the spot as some of the "healthy" looking choices will be more than expected. I always get dressing/butter on the side, as well. Then I have better control over how many calories are in my salad or baked potato.

Any other advice, tips, or tricks would be appreciated greatly! My wedding is in September and I'm trying to hit my goal (losing 35lbs) by then.
Thank you so much & added friendships are welcome!

If you haven't already, get a food scale. It will be your best friend in making sure you are logging accurately. With only 35lbs to lose, it won't come off as quickly as someone who has more to lose, but it will come off. Watch the trend of weight loss rather than stressing over each day/week. Weight loss is not linear.

Hope this helps!

tahxirez

As far as eating back calories goes; MFP logged exercise and machine calorie burns are considered inflated (this is pretty likely.) I lost all my weight eating most of what Fitbit gave me in earnings and have been successfully maintaining doing the same. I would experiment, start eating 50-75% and if you're losing faster than expected eat a little more (of course this hinges on accurate logging.) I believe in fueling my body appropriately, i didn't just want to be skinny I wanted to be fit.

WinoGelato

You've pretty much got it, good job!

I use a FitBit and did so while losing (I'm currently maintaining) and I ate back all the calories as I found them accurate for me. Starting at half and then monitoring results is a good idea.

I also drank about a glass of wine each night while losing and 1-2 in maintenance. As you mentioned, here at MFP the calorie counts are what matter for keeping in your goal. I recommend finding a balance of foods to eat within that goal that provide nutrition (macro and micro nutrients), satiety (keeps you full on less calories), and enjoyment, whether that be a glass of wine or a serving of ice cream as you can fit it into your day.

With regards to restaurant meals, I didn't give those up either. I usually eat lunch out at a fast casual place like Qdoba or Panera once a week, maybe fast food on a busy weekend running errands with my kids, a family restaurant meal at a neighborhood pizza or Mexican place once every couple weeks, and a date night or girls night maybe once a month. I don't really call those "cheat meals" because I think that can have negative connotations and also, I'm not really cheating, it's part of my lifestyle. What I usually do when I know I'm going to have a more indulgent weekend is that I may bank 100-200 cals in the days leading up to it, so that I have 500-1000 extra cals for the meal. I also make sure to get in extra exercise that day if I can work it in.

Other important tips:
Set a reasonable rate of loss (for less than 50 lbs that would be no more than 1 lb/week)
Log as accurately as possible, ideally using a food scale.
Understand that weight loss isn't linear and that there will be natural fluctuations. Don't let those deter you.

Good luck!

crzycatlady1

Welcome! Weight loss is fairly straightforward -enter your info and MFP will calculate how many calories you need to eat, with your weight loss deficit already calculated in. Focus on hitting that calorie target, accurately logging your food and then being accurate with your portion sizes (an inexpensive food scale is a great help with this!). And that's about it

You can definitely eat out and drink alcohol- you'll just need to learn how to fit them into your calorie targets. Pre-planning your food for the day is a great way to do this. Think of your calories in terms of math-if for example you have 1500 calories for the day and are eating a 1,000 calorie dinner out, then you'll have 500 calories left for other foods that day. You'll learn that different foods have differing satiety levels, that some foods are calorie bombs and aren't really worth having on a regular basis and you'll find low calorie options for some things to make your calories go further. And after you experiment with different foods for a bit you'll find what works best for you to not only hit your calorie targets, but also keeps you feeling full and satisfied

WinoGelato

One other thing I wanted to mention OP, when I hear people describe their experiences with weight watchers or slimming world (which in full disclosure I only have experience losing weight with MFP so I'm a tad biased).... those other programs work well because they simplify weight loss into points and users tend to not have as much knowledge about the "values" of the foods they eat, they just add up the points which were assigned by someone else and voila, they lose weight.

MFP and other calorie counting sites put all the standard nutrition info for foods into the users hands so you learn more about how to build a balanced diet that helps you achieve your goals. Sure people come here and try just eating less of their standard diet, and that will work, but for many people they end up hungry and unsatisfied and work on finding those foods that fill them up, many learn about macronutrients and how to optimize those as well, many start learning more about micronutrients to ensure adequate nutrition overall.

Quick and easy points systems are great for some, but personally I like having all the info at my fingertips so I am more knowledgeable and on control. Just my two cents... and welcome!

Sharon_C

My husband and I eat out a lot and I've learned to do my research before hand. Usually you can find a restaurant's nutritional information by Googling it. I will choose my meal based on the calories and/or macros I have left for the day. It's been working for me. The only downside is when my husband suddenly changes the restaurant we're going to. Luckily there are only a few he likes so by now I pretty much know all of their menus well.