CICO not working, why?

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Replies

  • MomOnAMission76
    MomOnAMission76 Posts: 200 Member
    Something I just thought of and wanted to post here for insight...I've been measuring my proteins in cooked ounces. A 6 oz chicken breast would cook down to maybe 4 oz, so I've been entering 4 oz. Have I been doing this wrong all along?
  • RAinWA
    RAinWA Posts: 1,980 Member
    MomOnAMission76 wrote: »
    Something I just thought of and wanted to post here for insight...I've been measuring my proteins in cooked ounces. A 6 oz chicken breast would cook down to maybe 4 oz, so I've been entering 4 oz. Have I been doing this wrong all along?

    Are you choosing an entry for cooked chicken breast using the same cooking method you are using? If so, it's probably close enough. Although for better accuracy I weigh all my meat raw when possible.
  • MomOnAMission76
    MomOnAMission76 Posts: 200 Member
    RAinWA wrote: »
    MomOnAMission76 wrote: »
    Something I just thought of and wanted to post here for insight...I've been measuring my proteins in cooked ounces. A 6 oz chicken breast would cook down to maybe 4 oz, so I've been entering 4 oz. Have I been doing this wrong all along?

    Are you choosing an entry for cooked chicken breast using the same cooking method you are using? If so, it's probably close enough. Although for better accuracy I weigh all my meat raw when possible.

    No I am choosing the entry for the brand of chicken I use, which doesn't specify.
  • 23rochelle23
    23rochelle23 Posts: 269 Member
    edited September 2018
    MomOnAMission76 wrote: »
    RAinWA wrote: »
    MomOnAMission76 wrote: »
    Something I just thought of and wanted to post here for insight...I've been measuring my proteins in cooked ounces. A 6 oz chicken breast would cook down to maybe 4 oz, so I've been entering 4 oz. Have I been doing this wrong all along?

    Are you choosing an entry for cooked chicken breast using the same cooking method you are using? If so, it's probably close enough. Although for better accuracy I weigh all my meat raw when possible.

    No I am choosing the entry for the brand of chicken I use, which doesn't specify.

    It’s almost certainly for raw product if it’s not specified as your could cook it any number of ways and end up with different calories (deep frying v poaching v covering in breadcrumbs).

    To give you an idea on the unreliability of green ticks take a look at these amounts

    Then for instance an egg is 70cal, 10gm butter 70cal so two fried eggs in 10gm butter would be 210cal

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  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited September 2018
    MomOnAMission76 wrote: »
    Something I just thought of and wanted to post here for insight...I've been measuring my proteins in cooked ounces. A 6 oz chicken breast would cook down to maybe 4 oz, so I've been entering 4 oz. Have I been doing this wrong all along?

    If you prefer to weigh cooked, you need to find an entry that specifies cooked. The usda usually publishes info in cooked weight, like "chicken, white meat, roasted". You can look for entries like that. The info on packages is for raw or dry, unless it specifically states "as prepared" or something like that.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »
    MomOnAMission76 wrote: »
    cheryldumais wrote: »
    I feel your pain. I don't believe you mentioned your age or height? I'm 62 and 5'5" tall and maintain on about 1400 calories a day. Having said that I am sedentary other than my daily walking and have a sick thyroid (but I take meds for it). Since your doc can't find anything wrong I would try very hard to log abosolutely everything. I take 4 evening primrose a day which since it is oil counts towards my calories. Sometimes I think we miss simple things like that. A bite here and there when cooking can add up too. Good luck and don't give up.

    I will be 37 in a couple months and I'm 5'6". I have a desk job so that certainly doesn't help. I know exercise will help, but it's not going to be magic. I know giving up isn't an option, because if I stop tracking I will surely gain weight, I always do. After my youngest was born in 2016, our diet slid a bit just due to being busy, not sleeping much, and getting too much takeout. With identical diets and portions, I gained 30 lbs in two years and my husband, maybe 5. It's like, come on!

    Is no one concerned OP is 115 at 5'6 and trying to lose weight?!

    I think she wants to lose 115
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    MomOnAMission76 wrote: »
    Something I just thought of and wanted to post here for insight...I've been measuring my proteins in cooked ounces. A 6 oz chicken breast would cook down to maybe 4 oz, so I've been entering 4 oz. Have I been doing this wrong all along?

    If you prefer to weigh cooked, you need to find an entry that specifies cooked. The usda usually publishes info in cooked weight, like "chicken, white meat, roasted". You can look for entries like that. The info on packages is for raw or dry, unless it specifically states "as prepared" or something like that.

    Agreed.

    Additionally, your 4 oz cooked chicken will have more calories than 4 oz of raw chicken, therefor if you have been weighing it cooked and logging it as raw (I know it doesn't specify, but as said above, it is generally raw unless specified), then you have been under estimating that chicken by about 75 calories per 4 oz, depending on preparation method.
  • 23rochelle23
    23rochelle23 Posts: 269 Member
    It definitely says ‘looking to lose 115lb’
  • MomOnAMission76
    MomOnAMission76 Posts: 200 Member
    I need to lose 115, no need to worry.

    Back to the chicken, I am not adding calories in cooking so all good there. I add garlic powder and pepper and bake on a sheet pan. But I will have to be sure I'm not underestimating the oz considering the whole raw vs cooked option.
  • 23rochelle23
    23rochelle23 Posts: 269 Member
    edited September 2018
    MomOnAMission76 wrote: »
    I need to lose 115, no need to worry.

    Back to the chicken, I am not adding calories in cooking so all good there. I add garlic powder and pepper and bake on a sheet pan. But I will have to be sure I'm not underestimating the oz considering the whole raw vs cooked option.

    Yeah measure raw and then cook - I tend to buy big packs, divide it and measure as I divvy it up into smaller freezer bags all of roughly the same weight to save time when cooking later on.

    Also as another thought I’ve discovered that the place I order from does ‘minimum’ weights rather than actual - so for instance the packs of steak I get are 2 steaks with recorded weight as min. 340gm - however each steak is closer to 200 than 160 previously I would just divide the 360 by 2). Which is about 70cal difference in one piece of meat.
  • BelleRequin
    BelleRequin Posts: 15 Member
    Have you really had your iron checked, and have you, not just your doctor/endocrinologist looked at it? (because low iron does affect thyroid). Being 'low' but in the normal range can still significantly affect your health, and ability to lose weight.
  • MomOnAMission76
    MomOnAMission76 Posts: 200 Member
    BelleRequin wrote: »
    Have you really had your iron checked, and have you, not just your doctor/endocrinologist looked at it? (because low iron does affect thyroid). Being 'low' but in the normal range can still significantly affect your health, and ability to lose weight.

    Yes, I was in fact on the lower side of the normal range. I asked her about this specifically and she said it was "fine"...I do take a multivitamin with iron, I suppose I could take an additional supplement to see if it makes an impact.
  • Zomoniac
    Zomoniac Posts: 1,169 Member
    To echo others, ditch the cups, and as someone else said, switch to metric. It's far more precise. 0.1 oz is around 3 grams, and if you're working with something calorie-dense like butter where there are over 7 calories per gram then you need that precision.

    Also, cups are a measure of volume (same with spoons), and solids shouldn't be measured by volume (I've never understood this, it seems to be a standard American thing to do it, but if you use the same cup and the same pasta and weigh out two cups then 99% of the time you'll have two different amounts because of how it tessellates). Anything that isn't a liquid (though with non-whole milk and water you can use 1g=1ml) should be done by weight.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    Tessellates! Awesome word, I am challenging myself to use it in a sentence this week. Or at least tell someone else about it :smiley:

    OP, I believe iron is a supplement you need to be careful with, as you can over-supplement. Just a heads up!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,053 Member
    MomOnAMission76 wrote: »
    Something I just thought of and wanted to post here for insight...I've been measuring my proteins in cooked ounces. A 6 oz chicken breast would cook down to maybe 4 oz, so I've been entering 4 oz. Have I been doing this wrong all along?

    Unfortunately, the "verified" green check marks are used for both user-created entries and system entries. To find system entries for whole foods, I get the syntax from the USDA database and plug that into MFP.

    For packaged foods, I verify the label against what I find in MFP.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,959 Member
    edited September 2018
    Do you eat out at all? If you do, assume all the portions you are served at 20% more calories than the website says (enter as 1.2 per item). I did some reading and it seems on average, eating out is 20% more (some more, some less, but taking it all in). And packaged items like yogurt and granola bars, do you weigh those? They are often 5 to 10% heavier than the package says (therefore, more calories).

    But honestly, I don't even know if that would make enough difference for you since you are allowing 300 calories (1600 to 1900) for wiggle room. So the most likely culprit is using the wrong database entries/measurements... Also keep consistent for at least 3 weeks before determining if something is or isn't working. Bodies don't lose weight linearly and some people experience the "whoosh" effect, where at a deficit, weight holds steady for a couple weeks and then "WHOOSH" they drop 5 lbs in a day. And repeat that pattern. So sometimes it just takes time figuring out how your body will react.
  • MomOnAMission76
    MomOnAMission76 Posts: 200 Member
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    Do you eat out at all? If you do, assume all the portions you are served at 20% more calories than the website says (enter as 1.2 per item). I did some reading and it seems on average, eating out is 20% more (some more, some less, but taking it all in). And packaged items like yogurt and granola bars, do you weigh those? They are often 5 to 10% heavier than the package says (therefore, more calories).

    But honestly, I don't even know if that would make enough difference for you since you are allowing 300 calories (1600 to 1900) for wiggle room. So the most likely culprit is using the wrong database entries/measurements... Also keep consistent for at least 3 weeks before determining if something is or isn't working. Bodies don't lose weight linearly and some people experience the "whoosh" effect, where at a deficit, weight holds steady for a couple weeks and then "WHOOSH" they drop 5 lbs in a day. And repeat that pattern. So sometimes it just takes time figuring out how your body will react.

    We don't eat out often, because I don't feel like I can justify the cheat just yet due to not losing very much. When we do, I will keep this in mind. I don't weight packaged foods, I tend to trust the packaging. This would probably only apply for my 0% fat yogurt and the occasional protein bar.

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