Using app

Purplestuff102

Hey everyone god bless. Do I just log food and walk for exercise my weight had pretty much stayed the same for a year when I was eating healthy and waking and strength training but was eating junk food a lot. I was always going over my calories though. The app seems simple enough. Should I be strength training like lifiting weights or focus on eating healthy and walk I have been near my calorie goals lately my diary is open. Or do I have a eating disorder like binge eating. This app got like a million reviews giving it like five stars

MargaretYakoda

Purplestuff102 wrote: »

Do I just log food and walk for exercise

Many people do just exactly that.
What do choose to do will depend on your personal circumstances.
How fit you are, what your goals are, etc.
Everyone is different.

Purplestuff102 wrote: »

my weight had pretty much stayed the same for a year when I was eating healthy and waking and strength training but was eating junk food a lot. I was always going over my calories though.

OK. I’m gonna be honest here.
Either you’re eating healthy, or you’re eating a lot of junk food and going over your calorie goal frequently.
It can’t be both.

Junk food is not the enemy. An occasional treat is fine. And going over your calorie count occasionally is also pretty normal.
But in order to lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit over time.
Eating a lot of junk food is not going to make that easier for you.

Purplestuff102 wrote: »

Should I be strength training like lifiting weights or focus on eating healthy and walk I have been near my calorie goals lately my diary is open.

That’s completely up to you.
What are your goals? What are your preferences?
Do you have easy access to a gym?
Do you have any particular physical limitations?
Only you can make such decisions.
And we can’t make recommendations about your diary choices without knowing your stats.

A sedentary 65 year old woman who weighs 180 pounds is going to have very different nutritional requirements from a 21 year old man who has an active job, as well as lifts weights and runs daily.

Purplestuff102 wrote: »

Or do I have an eating disorder like binge eating.

No one here is qualified to diagnose you with an eating disorder. You need to speak to a medical professional about this if you are concerned.

Purplestuff102 wrote: »

This app got like a million reviews giving it like five stars

Because it works.
As long as you eat properly (based on your own taste and needs)

Purplestuff102

Hey so what do u do what does your day look like do you strength train and exercise and eat healthy.

Do you use a food scale

I want to lose like 140 pounds so I don’t want to gain muscle mass. That’s where I got the whole log food and walk for me thing. I increased my water intake.

I’m just trying to predict what the future might look like if I stop strength training and just focus on logging food and walking and drinking water.

Thanks

MargaretYakoda

If you’re already doing strength training, and you enjoy it, I don’t see a reason to quit.
It is beneficial for most people’s health to exercise.

Myself, I am physically disabled, and over 60. My food diary and exercise routine is not likely to be a good fit for someone who is younger and doing strength training.

AnnPT77

I'll answer because the personal specifics are different from Margaret, which 100% doesn't imply criticism of Margaret. What she does is great. It's that we're different people.

Purplestuff102 wrote: »

Hey so what do u do what does your day look like do you strength train and exercise and eat healthy.

I strength train sometimes, but more often do forms forms of cardio that are more muscle-challenging. That's not an ideal choice. If I were smarter and more disciplined, I'd strength train routinely. I tell other people to strength train, because that's the best plan.

Most of the year, I do cardio 6 days most weeks for half an hour up to 2 hours. (Two hours sounds like a lot, but that's typically something like a casual and very enjoyable bike ride. On-water rowing is usually an hour to an hour and half, but there are water breaks and such. Indoor exercise - still biking and rowing - is more like half an hour to an hour.)

But you know what? I did all of that for a dozen years while class 1 obese, and stayed obese. Exercise burns some calories, but it's easy to eat that many extra calories (without even noticing, if not calorie counting).

When I got the food calories where they needed to be, I lost weight down to a healthy weight, and have been at a healthy weight for nearly 8 years since, still calorie counting most days.

I can't say whether I "eat healthy" without knowing what "eat healthy" means to you. I eat in a way I enjoy, and I think that's important, but individual. Personally, I eat probably 80%+ whole foods or lightly processed foods, and maybe up to 20% processed foods and treats, approximately. I don't eat fast food much, because I think it's yucky.

Calories are the biggest factor, and the only direct one, when it comes to fat loss.

Do you use a food scale

Yes. It's not only more accurate, it's quicker and easier than cups/spoons. Eyeballing isn't accurate enough for routine use, for me. Some people make it work.

I want to lose like 140 pounds so I don’t want to gain muscle mass. That’s where I got the whole log food and walk for me thing. I increased my water intake.

Keep strength training. No one gains muscle mass fast enough to outpace even a minimally observable fat loss rate on the bodyweight scale. Since muscle gain is even slower when in a calorie deficit for fat loss, you don't need to worry about gaining muscle mass.

The main reason to keep strength training while losing weight is to remind your body to keep the muscles you have. Overweight people tend to have more muscle mass than slim people of similar activity level. Since muscle is slow and difficult to gain, keeping what we have is extremely useful.

I’m just trying to predict what the future might look like if I stop strength training and just focus on logging food and walking and drinking water.

Thanks

If you focus on logging food and walking, and eat the right number of calories, you'll lose fat. Eat too few calories (lose too fast), you'll lose more lean mass (like muscle) alongside that fat loss, which is a bad idea.

The mere act of logging doesn't cause weight loss, of course. Getting the right number of calories causes weight loss, logging just helps you accomplish that.

Exercise is good for a body, but optional for weight loss. Even walking is optional (as long as you hit the right inactive calorie level), but I absolutely don't recommend the zero exercise route for health reasons. (People who literally can't move can lose weight, though.) I didn't significantly increase exercise while losing weight, though I was a bit more consistent with strength training during that phase.

Stop strength training, high odds you'll lose muscle mass. That's not a good idea. It will very slightly reduce your calorie burn at rest, but more importantly make it less easy, fun, and natural to move in daily life. Less daily life activity means lower all-day calorie burn, possibly much lower.

Water consumption is fairly irrelevant to weight loss unless it helps you manage appetite. Drink enough that your urine is pale yellow, not clear or dark, and that's sufficient for health and weight loss.

Best wishes!

MargaretYakoda

AnnPT77 wrote: »

I'll answer because the personal specifics are different from Margaret, which 100% doesn't imply criticism of Margaret. What she does is great. It's that we're different people.

No offense taken.
You actually highlighted perfectly why one person’s exercise routine and food diary is not always a good fit for someone else.

We are close in age, but you are able to be very physically active, whereas I am unable to do a lot of exercises and activities that others can do.

We are all different.
(Beyond the basic carbs in carbs out) what works for one person is not necessarily what will work for someone else.

Discussion and batting around ideas and advice is good. But in the end each person must learn what works for them.

Purplestuff102

Thank you I appreciate your insights and perspectives from your experiences. Thanks again.