I want to do this properly....

Xkmaf2018X

Hi All

I'm today restarting my MFP journey but I want to do it properly and set my stats in a way that I feel will help me progress my weight loss and workout journey - of course I know the main important thing here is to stick to calorie goal!

Please can you help me with the below:

1. I currently have it set to lose 1lb a week which gives me a 1260 daily goal - is this OK?

2. I've been working out 4/5 times a week for the past few weeks (3x upper body and 2x lower body weight training and some swimming at the weekends but I do want to incorporate 1 or 2 interval cardio sessions in here too). I have a fitbit which logs around 10,000 - 12,000 steps per day. I have my activity level set to Sedentary as I do have a desk job so from approx 9.30am until 5.30pm I am sat down for the most the of day except for when I pop out for lunch or to run errands - should I have my activity level set to Sedentary or lightly active? (in case your wondering where I get most of my steps from its because I walk to and from work - 45mins going as I do school run and 30 mins coming home)

3. I haven't set a weekly workout goal on MFP - Do I need too?

4. I'm 5ft 3ins and weight 11st 9.5lb and I want to lose around 28lbs.

Thanks muchly

tinkerbellang83

Xkmaf2018X wrote: »

Hi All

I'm today restarting my MFP journey but I want to do it properly and set my stats in a way that I feel will help me progress my weight loss and workout journey - of course I know the main important thing here is to stick to calorie goal!

Please can you help me with the below:

1. I currently have it set to lose 1lb a week which gives me a 1260 daily goal - is this OK? 1lb per week is fine for the amount you have to lose, you will need to drop it down to about 0.5lbs as you get closer to goal though.

2. I've been working out 4/5 times a week for the past few weeks (3x upper body and 2x lower body weight training and some swimming at the weekends but I do want to incorporate 1 or 2 interval cardio sessions in here too). I have a fitbit which logs around 10,000 - 12,000 steps per day. I have my activity level set to Sedentary as I do have a desk job so from approx 9.30am until 5.30pm I am sat down for the most the of day except for when I pop out for lunch or to run errands - should I have my activity level set to Sedentary or lightly active? (in case your wondering where I get most of my steps from its because I walk to and from work - 45mins going as I do school run and 30 mins coming home) Your activity level is closer to Active, rather than Sedentary. Is your Fitbit synced to MFP? If you have are you eating any of the exercise calories burned?

3. I haven't set a weekly workout goal on MFP - Do I need too? No it's not necessary, it makes no difference to your calorie goal

4. I'm 5ft 3ins and weight 11st 9.5lb and I want to lose around 28lbs.

Thanks muchly

Xkmaf2018X

@tinkerbellang83 Thanks for responding.

My fitbit is synced to MFP and Mon - Fri I do stick to the 1260 and don't eat back my exercise calories, however, come the weekend this is where my issues lie hence why I want to do this properly this time round and not feel the need to over eat at the weekend. I also normally drank a bottle of wine on Friday and Saturday but I've reduced this to just Saturday so I've saved a lot of calories on a Friday night from not having the wine and then not overeating because I had wine!

Its taken a long time me to have a healthy relationship with food and I feel nows the time to really get my butt in gear because I can do this. I'm that person who does excellent tracking for 3 days, eats a biscuit, feels guilty and then messes up for the rest of week but this is improving massively which is good for me.

Adamtrue0

If you doing 4/5 exercises a week then I'd look at 1450 calories to lose 1ilb a week and just focus on what you are eating this month only and weigh yourself everyday and you'll find it fascinating how your body puts on weight overnight just by eating too much salt in foods. To lose 1ilb you need a calorie deficit of about 3500 calories so slow and steady will win the race. Hope this helps

tinkerbellang83

Xkmaf2018X wrote: »

@tinkerbellang83 Thanks for responding.

My fitbit is synced to MFP and Mon - Fri I do stick to the 1260 and don't eat back my exercise calories, however, come the weekend this is where my issues lie hence why I want to do this properly this time round and not feel the need to over eat at the weekend. I also normally drank a bottle of wine on Friday and Saturday but I've reduced this to just Saturday so I've saved a lot of calories on a Friday night from not having the wine and then not overeating because I had wine!

Its taken a long time me to have a healthy relationship with food and I feel nows the time to really get my butt in gear because I can do this. I'm that person who does excellent tracking for 3 days, eats a biscuit, feels guilty and then messes up for the rest of week but this is improving massively which is good for me.

I would personally set yourself to Active which will give you a higher base calorie allowance, that way you may not feel the need to "overeat" on a weekend. Although I wouldn't consider that overeating, just eating the calories you've earned extra during the week. Eating what you need to fuel your activity level may help to fit in more foods you enjoy during the week.

You shouldn't feel guilty about eating a biscuit, have you considered looking at your calories over the week?
There's a common statement that is mentioned on MFP a lot which you might think about - once you have fulfilled your nutritional requirements - protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, fibre, etc; you don't get extra points for eating more broccoli.

Xkmaf2018X

Thanks both for your replies. I've changed to Lightly Active and its increased my calorie goal to 1480 which does feel better already.

When you say have I considered looking at calories over the week -what do you mean?

xx

tinkerbellang83

Xkmaf2018X wrote: »

Thanks both for your replies. I've changed to Lightly Active and its increased my calorie goal to 1480 which does feel better already.

When you say have I considered looking at calories over the week -what do you mean?

xx

Rather than thinking of your calories as a daily goal, perhaps think of them as a weekly goal (you can view your weekly net calories in Nutrition in your Diary). Essentially it's like calories are money and your calorie goal is your bank account, it doesn't matter if you spend a little more one day and a little less another day as long as it balances at the end of the week. So if you like a glass of wine on a Friday, you save a couple of hundred calories during the week on a day when you might not be as hungry and plan them in for the Friday to allow for the Wine.

WinoGelato

Tinkerbell has you on a good path regarding setting the right activity level for your true activity (and I agree you are active not lightly active), being reasonable with your calorie goal, eating back the exercise cals, and considering a weekly view instead of daily.

When you log, will you be using a food scale for all your solid foods to ensure accuracy?

Xkmaf2018X

Yes I always weigh my food 👍🏻 Even a few slices of cucumber or my salad cream etc! I’m really good at logging and weighing when I’m focused! However I want to be focused everyday...not 3/4 days, eat a biscuit haha then feel guilty and I end up off track for the remainder of the week as I mentioned above ☹️ I am getting better at changing this thinking though and I’m working out which I havent really done or been consistent with since last October!

I feel like setting myself as active gives me to many calories?! It looks a lot! Can I just keep to lightly active and see how I get on?

Xkmaf2018X

Also how do you set it so its a weekly view as opposed to a daily view? X

Xkmaf2018X

Found it! Thanks

WinoGelato

Xkmaf2018X wrote: »

Yes I always weigh my food 👍🏻 Even a few slices of cucumber or my salad cream etc! I’m really good at logging and weighing when I’m focused! However I want to be focused everyday...not 3/4 days, eat a biscuit haha then feel guilty and I end up off track for the remainder of the week as I mentioned above ☹️ I am getting better at changing this thinking though and I’m working out which I havent really done or been consistent with since last October!

I feel like setting myself as active gives me to many calories?! It looks a lot! Can I just keep to lightly active and see how I get on?

Wel then you need to work on getting rid of the guilt and negativity around food. There’s nothing wrong with a biscuit, fast food, pizza, ice cream, etc in moderation and as part of an overall balanced diet. Many of us who have been successful here have incorporated all these foods into our plan and managed to lose weight, transition easily into maintenance, and lead healthy active lives.

csplatt

I set to sedentary (desk job) then ate back my exercise calories and it worked for me without me feeling overly hungry.

tinkerbellang83

I'd suggest trying to stop thinking of foods as good/bad there are no foods that are good or bad, just an overall diet that is good or bad.

Even foods that may be less nutritionally dense than other contain some nutrients.

Take your example of a biscuit (I am going to presume you mean biscuit like a cookie - UK as opposed to whatever American biscuits are (not cookies)). Let's say for instance a Chocolate Digestive:



83 calories in a biscuit, not going to break anyone's "bank balance"
Contributes towards Fat (helps absorb vitamins), Protein (helps to maintain muscle) & Fibre (helps digestion, absorption of vitamins and can be good for satiety) intake and contains Iron, Niacin (Vit B3) & Thiamin (Vit B1)

Dreamwa1ker

Your calorie goals sound similar to mine - I also work office job and use fitbit with heartrate to log about 10k steps per day (it makes sure I get up and take a walk on my breaks). My calories are similar at 1260 because sedentary work and wasn't walking at all when I started, but then fitbit adds extra calories. I have been eating back about half to 3/4 of my extra calories from my fitbit, and end up averaging eating more around 1450 per day. I have been losing on average 1lb/week (slowing down now as I'm getting closer to my goal though).

My tips from my experience so far:
1. Budget in things that you enjoy or you will not stick to it long term! I make sure I can have 1 glass of wine some nights (and I measured how an actual serving size of wine looks in my wine glasses), and try not to have extra food with it other than perhaps popcorn which is my go to evening low-calorie but filling snack. Planning in things you enjoy like a biscuit or wine can help you not feel guilt about them.
2. Eat back some of the exercise calories or you will go nuts (see #1). I only eat back about 1/2 to 3/4 simply to account for logging inaccuracy (e.g. from restaurants since you can't weigh your portions)/fitbit overestimation and have found that works well for me. Try it a couple weeks and you'll see how you may need to adjust your average up or down for you.
3. You might weigh everyday but look at the longer term weight trend. The Fitbit app is actually good for this - you can look at a long time period and view a trendline of your weight. This helps see how you are doing overall without all the fluctuations you see day to day.
4. Check your weekly calorie average deficit etc. I do have days that I eat close to maintenance so I can have a night out etc. So it can actually be ok if weekends are a bit worse. But I want to make sure that for the week entirely I'm averaging pretty well - this can help avoid feeling day-to-day guilt over one splurge that can throw you off the wagon, and view everything as more of a long term process instead of a day-by-day "success or failure".