Geez... quantity

HefferSprint

I made lunch yesterday for my family. On the table was..

avocado with lemon juice
heirloom tomato slices with mozzarella and Italian dressing
grilled chicken
pasta (high fiber) shells mixed with asparagus/broccoli/julienned carrots and pasta sauce, and it was mostly vegetables

I ate:

1/4 avocado
3 slices tomato
1/2 chicken breast
small bowl of pasta/veggies

MFP said I ate over 900 calories. Wound up eating Skinny Pop popcorn for dinner to so I wouldn't go over.

Guess I need to try harder. Eating "healthy" apparently doesn't naturally equate to low calories, that's for sure.

And I've been eating a piece of fruit every morning when I wake up to jump start my metabolism.

What is up with 1 piece of fruit almost maxing out my sugar allowance for the whole day? Does anybody who is losing weight eat fruit?

I've been cutting way back on flour, sugar, and am reducing the meat. Now fruit is a no no?

sexymuffintop

Ignore fruit sugars, they don't really matter.

If you are aiming for 12oo cals a day it's not surprising you would go over. It's a very low target.

melaniecheeks

I cant see your dairy so I cant see the quantity of what you ate recorded - that would help you to see which bits will be easier to fit into your goals than others.

But you're right, "healthy" and "low calorie" are not the same.

1/4 avocado - maybe 100 cals?
Tomateos - hardly any. Did you eat some mozarella?
1/2 chicken breast - depends on size, but again 100ish? Was there skin on?

I bet the biggest culprit was the pasta and the sauce - was that mayo based?

Alatariel75

I can't see how what you ate would be over 900 cals?? If you dont want to open your diary, could you copy/paste the days entry here? Really doesnt seem right... I ate not quite 1300 cals today and had eggs on toast, chicken soup, a large steak, potato bake and ice cream...

jacksonpt

oish...

ok, let's see...

1) You are correct - "healthy" doesn't = "low calorie"
2) You don't "jumpstart" your metabolism, so eat if you want to eat, don't if you don't want to (based on hunger, preference, cals, etc)... not some myth about increasing metabolism.
3) Is there a reason you are worried about/tracking sugar? IMO, it just overcomplicates things, especially for people still struggling to get a handle on the basics.

HefferSprint

To answer your questions, I joined here, plugged in my weight, my age, my goal and then I've just been trying to stay within the parameters set. My goal is to lose 10 lbs. a month.

Timea - Avocado, 0.13 Medium Avocado (150g) 21

Noodles & Company - Pasta Fresca With Grilled Chicken Breast, 1 Small Bowl 520

Chicken - Breast, meat only, cooked, roasted, 1 cup, chopped or diced 231

Tomatoes - Red, ripe, raw, year round average, 3 slice, medium (1/4" thick) 11

Mandara - Buffalo Milk Mozzerella Soft Cheese, 2 oz 160

Total: 943

Guess I did count the chicken twice. The "Noodles & Company" entry was the closest I found to what I was eating, but perhaps since I assume that's a restaurant (?) that it counts a little high?

Alatariel75

Did you make the dressing for the pasta yourself? Might be better going into the recipe builder and logging all the ingredients. You did count the chicken twice and the "small" bowl for 500+ cals is very high. I bet you didn't eat nearly as many calories as you think you did.

jacksonpt

10lbs per month is more than 2lbs per week. Your ticker shows you want to lose ~30lbs? For someone with fairly little to lose, 2+lbs per week is really aggressive. Most people will suggest you dial that back to 1lb per week.

Yes, in most cases restaurants foods will have higher calorie counts than homemade and they generally have some kind of high cal sauce/cream/dressing. If you are cooking at home, it's definitely worth the time to log each individual ingredient.

Mishinmite

I love fruit, so I stopped tracking sugar and added fiber instead. As long as I stay below my carbs, I'm happy. Watch out for salad dressings, sauces and stuff like that. The calories in those things can be ridiculous.

HefferSprint

Thank you for your advice. I think you're probably right and next time I will go log it in myself. I might have put that I wanted to lose 30 lbs. That's really a minimum to get back to where I was 2 years ago.

I'm 5'8", 200 lbs. I would like to get to 150, so 50 lbs. is probably more accurate. But if I hit 30, I'll be ecstatic. That's when it's noticeable on me and all my old clothes fit again.