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sillylady2012

I have just joined Myfitnesspal and Im stumped on how im supposed to use the calorie chart. i have never counted calories before and I dont own a kitchen scale. I do not have any idea what size portions i should be eating. I only walk a mile with my husband 5 times a day cause im limited on space to do any work-outs. I just went shopping before I decided i wanted to lose weight so im stuck with all this unhealthy food that i dont wanna go to waste. Any suggestions on how to go about this? Any information and feedback is really appreciated. Thank You!

SemmaFin

I love myfitnesspal because once you get the hang of it, weight loss becomes super easy! And a mile a day is a great way to exercise regularly.
So, I do recommend getting a food scale. I have a digital one that measure grams and ounces. You can get one on Amazon for about 12 dollars, or buy one at the store for 20. It seems like an unnecessary expense, however, it will pay for itself in the long run with the amount of money you save on health related expenses from being overweight (blood pressure medication, anti-inflammatory medication, pain medication.)
I learned some tips about portion sizing when I first started. A serving of cooked meat is about 3 ounces, which is about the size of a deck of cards. A serving of cooked pasta is half a cup, a little smaller than the size of your fist. As you can see, the portion sizes for these foods are pretty small even though they have the most calories per serving (apart from fast foods and sugary foods, like candy.) Thankfully, when you eat fruits and vegetables, you don't really need to worry about portion size, because these foods are lower in calories. A portion of steamed broccoli is a cup, but you could eat five portions without taking away too many calories from your daily goal. After awhile of using the food scale, you get a good eye for portion size and figuring out how much to eat of something becomes easier.
When I first started, I wasn't serious about losing weight. It took several tries and several fat bathing suit pictures for me to get serious about logging every single thing I ate. Even ketchup and salad dressing. Fortunately, my fitness pal has a barcode scanner, so if you put the app on your phone, you can scan the barcode on the food package, and the calories will show up (usually.) Keep a set of measuring cups, a tablespoon set, and food scale handy to know exactly how much of something you've eaten.
Other tips I've learned for success
1. Keep progress photos and weigh in regularly. (This can be once a week or once a month, whichever works for you.) The first week or two, you won't see any changes, even though your body will feel like there should be changes. Just hang in there and be diligent and thorough with the diary. After 30 days, if you've logged everything you've eaten and stayed within 100 calories of your goal every day, you will have lost weight, no matter what

2. Don't waste calories on alcohol. 1/4 cup of wine is 200 calories and a shot of tequila is 70. I never log what I eat when I'm drinking and it sets me back considerably. I do celebrate with wine every ten pounds I lose, which takes about 40-50 days.

3. Don't do cheat days. Eating one day a week or one day a month of whatever and how much ever of something you like will also set you back. I like this program because I can eat whatever I want. I just have to log it. So you can get fast food, just log it. It will take up a chunk of daily calories and not leave room for much else. But the other thing I like is if I go over my goal that day, I just find a way to exercise it off. Believe it or not, if you cook for forty minutes, that counts as cardio that you can log. So does cleaning and walking. When I over eat, I just find some productive chores to do that burn the calories off.

4. Clean out your fridge and pantry of sugary and salty stuff. After three days of logging, you will want to eat these things. It's best not to have them around

5. Stick with it. The only time I don't lose weight is when I don't finish my diary for the day, or if I finish it incorrectly by forgetting to log things, or by overestimating the portion size of something. Example. I love cashews. A serving of cashews is 100 g, about three tablespoons. But I would use heaping tablespoons. When I got my food scale, I saw what I thought to be 100 g was actually 175 g, an extra 100 calories that wasn't getting logged. Waiting is the hardest part, because this will take a long time. But the time will pass no matter what, so there's no reason not to take advantage of it. Looking at success stories and reading the forums also keeps me motivated. I think you will do great! I'm so happy that you've joined us on the app; Welcome in!

sanfly

Absolutely definitely get a food scale. Weigh and measure EVERYTHING. A huge portion of your weight loss will come down to your diet, not exercise (although exercise has great benefits for your overall health and keeping the weight off)

If you're not really sure on portions sizes, for the first week don't worry so much about restricting what you eat, just weigh and measure everything. You should start to get a feel for how much is too much.

Check out one of my favourite "Getting Started" advice posts. Good, solid, reasonable advice!

snowyjr1

How do I find and add friends

sillylady2012

I understand about cheat eating but unless I waste what i already have,I cant help it much. I plan to finish what I have and then buy what I really need.

Ready2Rock206

sillylady2012 wrote: »

I understand about cheat eating but unless I waste what i already have,I cant help it much. I plan to finish what I have and then buy what I really need.

You don't need special foods to lose weight. You can eat the foods you have - just be at a calorie deficit (eat the amount MFP told you). In fact, if you try and eat foods you don't enjoy because you think they are healthy and you should you're probably less likely to stick with it and be successful. Eat the foods you like at the amount given to you by MFP.

ShrinkingViolet1982

Isn't there a thread on here about some guy who still lost weight even eating fast food, he just minimized the portions?

DaintyWhisper

Well, what kind of foods did you just buy? You don't need to go too much out of your way to buy all these healthy foods. I eat "junk" food often, but I am sure to keep it within the calorie range this site gives me. Most likely, the food that you have now will be fine to get started. I would recommend purchasing a food scale, though. It's only a $20 investment and well worth it in the long run!

How many calories do you get a day? You can split those calories up any way you want. Your portion sizes are up to you. You just have to make sure you stay at your calorie limit. So, if you want to eat all of your calories in one meal, you can. (I'm guilty of this sometimes..) In basic terms, it usually doesn't matter what or when you eat, just stay under your calories. As you know, every package has a nutrition label on the back that lists the portion size and calories. That's where calorie counting starts. A scale is helpful, because it's much easier to weigh out your food instead of trying to fit it into a measuring cup and hoping it's accurate. Weighing in grams or ounces is always accurate and there's no guesswork involved. It takes a little getting used to at first, but you'll be fine!