Simple trick that took an embarrassingly long time for you to figure out...
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Nony_Mouse wrote: »ladyhusker39 wrote: »I decided to create this thread in the hopes of finding out that I'm not the only one who can be extremely slow to figure out very simple things. So what are some really simple things about weight management, health, fitness, etc that took you waaaaaay to long too figure out.
For me it's been that I can't exercise my way to my goal weight. I have to monitor what I eat.
But the particularly embarrassing one is that I spent months scooping out foods like cream cheese, peanut butter, oil, butter, etc into a container so I could weight it on my food scale. Eventually someone on here pointed out that I can simply weigh the container before and after I get what I want and subtract the difference to get the total amount I ate. Duh! Now it seems so obvious.
Even easier, put container on scale, tare, remove required amount. Negative reading is your grams
I started with an old scale that didn't read negative numbers - it would just display "E". Even though I now have a newer scale that does negatives, and I know how much easier it is, I still usually forget. Old habits, I guess.0 -
Simple mind game: it took me awhile to adopt the philosophy that as a general rule BECAUSE OF MY (ALLEGED) GOALS - that I think first, and the food or drink doesn't go in my mouth unless I think its going to make me healthier, stronger, smarter, slimmer and/or better looking (!).5
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Measuring portions? My experience is prolly just unique to me, and I've evolved over time, from cutting out soda and sugary stuff, to "mentally" controlling food quantity intake ("calories? What's calories?"), to eating cleaner, and then cleaner, and starting to use MFP and tracking calories, and then switching to low sodium.
In using MFP, I either use the container-listed values (duh), know how much I actually added or just visually estimate the amounts based on half cups etc. So my food data is "pretty good" but not scientifically rigorous. Same with the MFP exercise data. But the takeaway is - that MFP wt predictions do match my results, and my lax MFP data input and output are usefully accurate to me without being anal about it....
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Measuring portions? My experience is prolly just unique to me, and I've evolved over time, from cutting out soda and sugary stuff, to "mentally" controlling food quantity intake ("calories? What's calories?"), to eating cleaner, and then cleaner, and starting to use MFP and tracking calories, and then switching to low sodium.
In using MFP, I either use the container-listed values (duh), know how much I actually added or just visually estimate the amounts based on half cups etc. So my food data is "pretty good" but not scientifically rigorous. Same with the MFP exercise data. But the takeaway is - that MFP wt predictions do match my results, and my lax MFP data input and output are usefully accurate to me without being anal about it....
This type of dieting works great, until it doesn't. If it continues to work for you and you get to your goal weight this way, then good on you. I wish it worked this way for me, but I would overeat without the scale and being reasonably accurate.
But in the end, the best measuring stick is the weight or inches lost.8 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »This type of dieting works great, until it doesn't. If it continues to work for you and you get to your goal weight this way, then good on you. I wish it worked this way for me, but I would overeat without the scale and being reasonably accurate.
LOL, for a fuller picture I refer you to my post previous to that one....the philosophy about "not going in my mouth". Its all about my brain and will being in charge of my body - not my taste buds and stomach...
I will admit that my case is prolly easier than average, as my low-salt diet in conjunction with my active life and single status, means I don't often cook and have a _very_ limited menu/diet that I have refined and tuned to fit my criteria and goals.0 -
I like this post. I am not embarrassed about anything that I have learned. I did recently discover that forcing myself to drink as much water as possible did not make me lose any extra weight. Now I have my water on my desk like always and when I do not want anymore I stop drinking it. I also learned the hard way that exercise does not cancel out overeating.15
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The concept of banking calories to eat more on weekends15
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That a little bit of olive oil or butter makes veggies SO much better than trying to save 50 calories and eat then steamed (which makes me miserable)28
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That lots of light activity increases my TDEE greatly. I'm a small older woman with a mighty TDEE thanks to frequent strolls on my treadmill throughout the day.
I take weekend maintenance breaks from dieting and yesterday had the luxury of pounding down 2,300 calories of yumminess.
This is after starting out dieting at 210 pounds with about a 1600ish sedentary lifestyle TDEE.17 -
I wish I had known on previous attempts that mixing up my fitness suits me best. I get bored easy and variety keeps me enthusiastic about keeping active.
I also wish I had known that attainable goals suit me best. Instead of "lose 50 lbs" I do better with things like "run 1 mile without walking", "go to the gym 3 days a week for 3 months", "lose 15 lbs then reassess", "try every group fitness class at my gym".
And with more of a focus on my activity level and not on calories I don't even want crappy foods very often.13 -
bump2
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I missed this one the first time around.
It took me to forever to figure out that in the app I just needed to turn my phone sideways to see the macro breakdown for the foods in my diary, including a total by meal
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I missed this one the first time around.
It took me to forever to figure out that in the app I just needed to turn my phone sideways to see the macro breakdown for the foods in my diary, including a total by meal
Wait? What?!?
ETA: Holy smokes. Why did I not know that? That's awesome.10 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »I missed this one the first time around.
It took me to forever to figure out that in the app I just needed to turn my phone sideways to see the macro breakdown for the foods in my diary, including a total by meal
Wait? What?!?
ETA: Holy smokes. Why did I not know that? That's awesome.
I know, right!!? Game changer!2 -
I missed this one the first time around.
It took me to forever to figure out that in the app I just needed to turn my phone sideways to see the macro breakdown for the foods in my diary, including a total by meal
NO WAY!! I just tried this too, and it worked! But I thought I had tried it before and it didn't do anything. Has it changed recently? Either way, thank you!!3 -
Mine is that I've been on mfp off and on for 18 months, and I've just now gotten around to weighing my pots and pans and writing it down. Now the weights are all on hand for when I want to weigh the whole dish I've made, but forgot to weigh the empty pan first. Duh.
Also, I've recently begun weighing my wine in oz on my food scale. So much easier than pouring into a measuring cup, then pouring that into my glass. Or worse, forgetting to measure, so having to resort to pouring water into an identical glass to the same level as my wine, pour into a measuring cup, and determine rough oz. Now even if I forget to weigh first, I know the weight of my glass (or weigh an identical one--they're close enough), tare that glass, and then measure my glass of wine. Sounds complicated but it's not, and I'm a lot more accurate with my wine calories now! Added bonus--even hubby is willing to weigh it if he pours for me 15 -
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Tacklewasher wrote: »
Totally going to check this out tionight2 -
lightenup2016 wrote: »I missed this one the first time around.
It took me to forever to figure out that in the app I just needed to turn my phone sideways to see the macro breakdown for the foods in my diary, including a total by meal
NO WAY!! I just tried this too, and it worked! But I thought I had tried it before and it didn't do anything. Has it changed recently? Either way, thank you!!
It's been this way at least on the Android version for quite some time.
I'm fairly giddy that I was able to share something some of you I consider old pros didn't know!
And yes, @Tacklewasher that hug's from me
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@pinuplove *turns phone sideways* WHAAAAAT?! I just thought this was something the mobile version was missing! I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to know what my macros were for a particular meal and was left guessing off my total for the day (The only thing that pops up) This is awesome, thanks!
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