March 4
Replies
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Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? 48 minutes walking, 1 minute jumping jacks
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes
Pass days used - 1/3
Great topic @jamcnewman
I came into this with a negative view of tracking, but I've embraced it as part of my daily life.
My tracking tips:
-Frame it in a positive way. What does tracking give to you? For me, it gives me freedom to think about other things. I don't have to spend my day thinking about whether I can eat or not. Check the balance, work the plan. Emotion removed. I know if I leave myself to my own devices I'll make a choice for the wrong reasons. Now I can trust in the numbers, sit back, and relax. I am fiercely protective of keeping my food diary current for the mental freedom it gives me.
-Track, then eat. Not the other way around. Make choices based on the numbers you input.
-Be specific. Weigh every time you can. But don't let perfect be the enemy of the good. Trust in your ability to estimate when it's absolutely necessary, but don't sell yourself short. Round up. Know that if you're estimating often your room for error has gone way down.
-Validate MFP entries in any way you can. Check labels, look for online sources. Items scan incorrectly so often! Depending on the size of deficit you're taking, you may not have a lot of room to be off. Don't let bad data frustrate you.
-Consistency matters so much. Build your tracking muscle. Find ways to make it work for you. Enjoy the benefits of the data it gives you.6 -
Yes x3. So much shovelling. Such heavy snow. Eyes are too tired to read so I’ll catch up on the thread tomorrow!4
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Date: 03/04/22
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes 👍🏻
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day 👍🏻
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank?👍🏻
(Documenting consistency (if there is a P=instead of number its a Pass Day)
UAC: 1-2-3-4-5-8-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-31
March goals
1 Miracle Morning ~ S.A.V.E.R.S
2 Wake up EARLY for meditation
3 Yoga (4 times weekly)
4. Minimum sweets (work them in my calorie goal)
5. 30 day squat challenge 6. No late night snacking
7. Daily journal logging3 -
Y, Y, and Y. Went for an eight mile walk along the ocean. Despite eating out both brunch and dinner AND grabbing an ice cream, I just barely made it under calories. I really thought I might have to use a pass day, but glad all that walking gave me some extra calorie room.
I think that my aversion to tracking is that I spend so much time trying to find the best entry that I can for whatever food I’m eating. Doing that takes time. Tonight I decided that close enough was good enough and it did seem to make things easier.4 -
Track: yes
Calories: yes
Exercise: yes
Pass Days: zero
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Exercise-24 minutes
Tracking everything
Calories-within goal
3 passes remain3 -
Exercise: 22 mins yoga + 15 mins walk
Tracking: yes
Calories: no
Pass days used to date: 2
I am generally very fond of planning and record keeping so tracking is inherently appealing to me, but when I go off the rails with eating I tend to also fall off the tracking. I sometimes pre-track but usually not. I think one of the things that has been most helpful for me is to look at the weekly average for calorie intake rather than obsessing about each day , so even if I go over on occasion I don't count it as long as the average is under. It means that I don't get that "I've exceeded by 100 Cals, i may as well go all out" that leads me to binge 2000 calories worth of food in one sitting - or at least not as often.
Another thing I've found helpful that isn't directly about tracking but still worth mentioning is that I adjusted my daily calorie limit from the suggested 1200 to a more manageable (for me) 1450. Interestingly I've found that as long as I stick to this I lose the same amount of weight, at the same speed, as I did with 1200 🤷🏻♀️4 -
March 4
Another pass day in my learning month
Exercise: 15 minutes stretching, 30 minutes walk
Tracking: Pre-planned the day, adjusted the plan mid-day when I realized my dinner plan was not realistic and got on board with "takeout friday" with the rest of the family, and put in every extra bite I took. Estimates for the takeout food are pretty shaky
Calories: 619 over!
Weight: Up 2 pounds
I am tracking the weight for my own learning, to see how this is all working. I am guessing the large increase is mostly the sodium in the takeout food. Though my estimate may have been under, too - as I was eating my lentil soup I was thinking that there was probably more oil in it than any lentil soup ought to have.
In terms of hunger, I was hungry in the morning but then felt satisfied the rest of the day, and uncomfortably full after the takeout - I could have eaten less and been satisfied. My strategy is often to fill up with a bowl of soup but like I said I think that particular bowl of soup was maybe a mistake.
Today's tracking topic is very on-point for me.
I have made it a routine to pre-log the next day's food. It only takes 5 minutes usually. And it helps me so much - not having to face a full fridge when I am hungry is key to weight loss while working from home. And also I take things out to defrost or whatever, which helps too. That's been working well for me.
What has not been working well for me is then I either follow that plan or I don't, and take a pass day. Which has led to - on "not pass days" - having a few bites here and there - what is left on my kids' plates is the worst temptation for me, as well as what I see in the snack shelf when I get some tea - and not counting it because I don't want to take a pass day and because it's "too little to count." I've been realizing over the past few days how much I have been lying to myself in that regard. That if I have 4 nibbles that are "just" 50 calories, that adds up to 200 calories, for example! So for the past few days I have been tracking things like "1/8 of a piece of cinnamon bread" (crust from kid's plate) and 1/8 of a cup of cereal - it adds up.
The other problem is on "pass days" when I accept that I have gone over enough to have it not be within calories, I was still not tracking - so then I have no data from that.
The result is I don't really know how many calories I can eat to maintain my weight. Which is what I NEED to know!
So this month I am still pre-planning my days, but tracking EVERYTHING I eat, and accepting that often that will not be within my target calories. Then seeing what that does to my weight, and also to my feelings of hunger. Hoping that by the end of the month I can find the balance that works.2 -
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~🌱~ 3 / 4 /2022~~ Waving Hi ~~ 🙋🏼 ~~ BLESSings Everyone ~💖~
Exercise for at least 20 minutes .................................... ✅ ... 230+ min.
Stay within my calorie budget for the day ...................... ✅ ... I am
Keep track of everything I ate and drank ....................... ✅ .... I did
STEPS......... 28,640+.......... 200 = walking ......... 30 cleaning
Documenting My CONSISTANCY = For personal ACCOUNTABILITY & Celebration
(if there is a P=instead of number its a Pass Day)
1-2-3-4
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💖 Wishing EVERYONE all the BEST & Much Success In March 🏆 We Got This 🏆
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Yes for all three4
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Inspiring opener Julie, ty!! @jamcnewman
Went off the rails yesterday Mar 4 - hub bought ice cream drumsticks for a treat and for some reason I got it in my mind just to eat them up and get them out of temptation's way. Ofc this led to the whole day being out of control. Asked him nicely today (again!) to treat me with precut & washed veggies and fruit instead of junk. I swear sometimes the man likes to sabotage me. Self control is not my strong suit. Anyway back on track today: doing housework and feeling a sense of accomplishment by getting my world back under control. Planning to enjoy Sunday with some R&R quality time with the fam, and opening the windows for the balmy 62F weather that will be blowing in for the day to tease us with a taste of spring!
I may try this for the month also:
Week 1: ☘ 🍀 ☘ 🥵 5 6
6 -
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? yes
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? yes4 -
Friday March 4
✅✅✅
Big day for exercise! Trying out more types of exercise in my Apple Fitness+ and did Yoga, two different 10 minute dance workouts, two different mixed cardio workouts, and later in the day, a 40 minute walk in the snow before the sun set. Was exhausted and starting to feel quite sore by night. After a hot shower and some ifuprofen had the sleep of my life (posting this on Saturday).5 -
Oops missed reporting Friday
Yes
Yes
Yes4 -
Yes x3 xox4
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✔️✔️✔️
0/3 pass days used3 -
Date: 03/04/22
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes 👍🏻
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day 👍🏻
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank?👍🏻
(Documenting consistency (if there is a P=instead of number its a Pass Day)
UAC: 1-2-3-4-5-8-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-31
March goals
1 Miracle Morning ~ S.A.V.E.R.S
2 Wake up EARLY for meditation
3 Yoga (4 times weekly)
4. Minimum sweets (work them in my calorie goal)
5. 30 day squat challenge 6. No late night snacking
7. Daily journal logging2 -
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes and hour walk and hour in the pool
I’m pretty proud of the swimming because I got my first shingles vaccine yesterday and my arm was really sore but I worked through it instead of taking a pass and it wasn’t bad at all swimming laps!
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes
4 -
March 3 report: ❌🦁❌ (even if I had exercised, it would not have made enough difference)
Monthly report: (Documenting consistency (if there is a P instead of 🦁 its a Pass Day; if there is a ✈ I am overseas and [currently assuming] unable to report)
🦁-🦁-🦁-P-5-8-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-✈-✈-✈-✈-✈-✈-✈-✈-✈-✈-✈-✈-✈-✈3 -
3/4/2022
Exercise? Yes
Tracking? No
Calories? No.
I met Cary Elwes tonight. He's handsome, charming, sweet, and funny. I also watched "The Princess Bride" in a beautiful art deco theater that originally opened its doors in 1930. There's a sense of bonding when you watch a movie with a couple of hundred like-minded people. It was almost how I imagine a showing of "Rocky Horror" would be (minus the bread, raincoats, and newpapers... hahahah!) No, I've never been to an actual showing of "Rocky Horror," but I've heard stories. Anyways, people were saying the lines with the characters, applauding as favorites came on the screen for the first time, and just generally having a ball. My daughters were with me, and due to my oldest girl's memory issues, for her it was like seeing the movie for the first time.3 -
3/4
Exercise: 150 minutes
Tracking: yes
Calories: under
Pass days used: 03 -
Mar4
Exercise: no
Tracked all: Yes
Calories under: no
(all 3 pass days used)2 -
@seilidhe I used to live in a city that did Rocky Horror every Fri/Sat night. Evidently they still do a couple of times a month. I've been 3-4 times and it was fun even though I didn't get involved participating outside of yelling a few key lines but there were always a handful of people who were up near the stage who did.2
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@LazyBlondeChef
We have a theater here that does Rocky Horror once a month, with a shadow cast of locals acting out at the front of the theater under the screen. As I said, I've never been, but maybe one day.
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victorious55 wrote: »Great opener @jamcnewmanStayFITTer wrote: »That really resonated with me. I’m going to try and embrace that perspective.
It makes me think of balancing a checkbook. It’s something you must do to stay in control of your finances, why would tracking food/being mindful of your food intake at least be any different?
Thanks @StayFITTer, you hit the nail on the head!
Tracking was one of these things that resonated with me very much. Because I needed to track my expenses to stay in control of my finances. I need to have a spending plan to be in control so as not to go into debts.
When you are trying to pay off your debts, the first thing you need to know is how you are spending your money (tracking your expenses). After, you finish paying off your debts, you need a spending plan not to go back into debts.
I see a lot of similarities between the habits to keep your finances in control and the habits to take care of your health.
I pre-track daily. It allows me to adjust for things I like to eat for that day. I have been in maintenance for over 10yrs, pre-tracking gives me freedom. It is now a habit. I know when I am over spending/overeating and the consequences.
I built recipes and meals in MFP. I have a weekly dinner menu (inputs from my husband and children). This really helps the pre-tracking.
@Victorious55
Wow Congratulations on 10 YEARS! Very inspiring💕🎉❤️2 -
(Documenting consistency (if there is a P=instead of number its a Pass Day)
UAC: 🍀🍀🍀 🍀 5 6 7 8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-312 -
yesx32
https://youtu.be/g83v1m2P4_g
