Am I on the right track?

rachelguy

Over the past year or so I've been inconsistently trying to be healthy then hitting a wall, and relying on my usual quick, convenient and highly unhealthy diet.

I'm trying to get myself back on the wagon and stay on it!

I'm 151lbs, 5ft3 and am exercising 3-4 times per week, consisting of 40 min walk/run combo on treadmill, and doing a 30min kettleworx dvd. I calaculated my TDEE and am currently eating at -15%. I want to ensure I'm on the right track so I have a few questions;

1. If I'm working off my TDEE do I need to eat back my exercise calories?

2. If you look at my diary for the past 5 days, am I eating a "healthy" diet or is there clear issues with my plan?

Thanks for any response, just wanting to make sure I'm not going down the wrong track again!

scubasuenc

If you are using the TDEE method and eating at a percentage below your TDEE you do not eat back your exercise calories.

I am not into clean eating or any specific diet, but looking through your diary I noticed several things:

1) Are you weighing all of your solid foods? For example you have a medium 100g banana, did you really have a banana that weighed exactly 100g? Or a medium apple? My experience says the weights listed in MFP for an entire apple are about half the weight of the apples I find in the stores. Do not use measuring cups for solid food. The scale is much more accurate.

2) You do not seem to be worried about your macro nutrient goals at all. There are days you are way over on carbs or fat and under on protein. You really should focus on meeting your protein macro each day. If you don't eat enough protein you are more likely to lose muscle in addition to fat as you lose weight. Also unless you have a medical reason for tracking sugar, I recommend not tracking sugar (which is a sub category of carbohydrates) and track fiber instead. That will help you focus on getting sufficient fiber in your diet.

Good luck on your journey.

SunofaBeach14

If you are using the TDEE method and eating at a percentage below your TDEE you do not eat back your exercise calories.

I am not into clean eating or any specific diet, but looking through your diary I noticed several things:

1) Are you weighing all of your solid foods? For example you have a medium 100g banana, did you really have a banana that weighed exactly 100g? Or a medium apple? My experience says the weights listed in MFP for an entire apple are about half the weight of the apples I find in the stores. Do not use measuring cups for solid food. The scale is much more accurate.

2) You do not seem to be worried about your macro nutrient goals at all. There are days you are way over on carbs or fat and under on protein. You really should focus on meeting your protein macro each day. If you don't eat enough protein you are more likely to lose muscle in addition to fat as you lose weight. Also unless you have a medical reason for tracking sugar, I recommend not tracking sugar (which is a sub category of carbohydrates) and track fiber instead. That will help you focus on getting sufficient fiber in your diet.

Good luck on your journey.

^ Good stuff.

rachelguy

Ok great thanks

About my macros, so I should aim to meet my protein and fiber goals whilst keeping my carbs and fat under the daily macro?

Thanks so much for the help, I wasn't weighing my food but I will definitely be relying on the scales from now on! Thanks alot!

FoxyLifter

Ok great thanks

About my macros, so I should aim to meet my protein and fiber goals whilst keeping my carbs and fat under the daily macro?

Thanks so much for the help, I wasn't weighing my food but I will definitely be relying on the scales from now on! Thanks alot!

I would use fats, fibers and proteins as minimums. Fats are really good for you.