Finally accepted I need the help of MFP!
sanredwine
Posts: 4 Member
I have to admit that I thought I knew everything there is to know about dieting! After all, I have dieted for years, tried pretty much every diet out there and only ever had the occasional success - in a nutshell, I have been overweight most of my adult life (54 now)!
Most recently, I was lured by the LCHF phenomenon and am convinced this does work but I honestly cannot stomach that amount of fat every day - as soon as the carbs come creeping back in (and they did) I was doomed to failure. Not to be deterred, I thought the only diet I have not tried is Slimming World, so signed up for that online believing there was some secret that I was missing out on - not so they just swap high fat for low fat - however, no portion control and you can eat as much pasta/couscous as you like (over simplified by me) - I don't think so!
So explanation and apology over - have reverted to the free mfp and have to say that I am embracing the concept of tracking my food and loved it yesterday when I went out for a 90 minute walk, tracked it and saw my calorie allowance go up - that is motivation! Although, husband took a picture of me on said walk - not a good look - shamed me in to doing another walk today in slightly more flattering attire!
Anyone who has any good tips to help me keep on the straight and narrow - please share - I am determined this time.
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Replies
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If you haven't already - buy a food scale weigh and measure everything.
Good luck on your journey
Here's some good reading for you with valuable information
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read0 -
My 2 cents, for what it is worth. If you want to be a lean 150 pounder, then you need to eat like a 150 pounder. Go find out what how much food it takes to eat for a 150 pounder and stick with it. Good Luck!!!!!!0
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My 2 cents, for what it is worth. If you want to be a lean 150 pounder, then you need to eat like a 150 pounder. Go find out what how much food it takes to eat for a 150 pounder and stick with it. Good Luck!!!!!!
That doesn't sound right to me at all.0 -
My 2 cents, for what it is worth. If you want to be a lean 150 pounder, then you need to eat like a 150 pounder. Go find out what how much food it takes to eat for a 150 pounder and stick with it. Good Luck!!!!!!
That doesn't sound right to me at all.
Because it's not. Ignore that advice OP and allow me to reiterate the need to read the following:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read0 -
I'm new too. I love the barcode scanner and the wealth of information in the community.
So far I'm going with Plan your meals, plan your exercise, and track everything.
Also, I'm attempting to blog my journey every day to keep me coming back.
Good luck!!!
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My 2 cents, for what it is worth. If you want to be a lean 150 pounder, then you need to eat like a 150 pounder. Go find out what how much food it takes to eat for a 150 pounder and stick with it. Good Luck!!!!!!
That doesn't sound right to me at all.
Because it's not. Ignore that advice OP and allow me to reiterate the need to read the following:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read
That sounds right to me. For some odd reason0 -
Been there and done that, in my 59 years I know I have tried every diet in existence and a few I just made up. Finally figured out that the only way is to eat less and move more. Fortunately, there is much support and encouragement here. Welcome and keep up the good work!!0
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READ THOSE LINKS! They've got you covered. And good luck! Congrats on having the courage to come back and to post your confessional.0
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If you can afford it, consulting a nutritionist is a great help. I found that after years of different diets, I had a really skewed idea of what 'normal' eating actually is. I am a long way from my goal and will be getting there slowly, but two weeks in I feel fitter and healthier, plus I am not hungry at all. MFP is helping me focus on the long term goal and not give in to the perfectly normal desire to eat chocolate (my particular kryptonite) or whatnot. Well done for examining your health and all the best, I think the best 'advice' I have ever seen out there is that old chestnut: consistency. Consistent exercise, consistent nutrition.0
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Join challenge groups on this website. Being a part of a regular discussion group helps keep you motivated and helps you stay connected with like-minded folks. I have lost 35 lbs through logging faithfully every day and staying at or below my calorie count, exercising most days, and participating in challenge groups to keep me coming back and checking in with others regularly. It increases your accountability tremendously.0
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Sweetie, the LCHF diet is the easiest diet I've ever managed. I see people telling you to get a food scale, etc. I have not weighed a single thing since I started this diet. I've been shedding about half a pound a day. I had a "flush" day a few days back and lost 2.2 pounds overnight.
Yes, It's hard to keep my hands off the carbs because that was 90% of what I was eating before; however, the longer I'm on this diet the less I crave them. It also helps that I treat myself once a day with a fruit of some sort.
The fat was the absolute killer for me because I cannot stand fatty foods (other than my fish), so finding a way to get enough to meet my macros was a bear until a coworker told me he did shots of oil. I scrunched my nose up and said, "Ewww gross!!" However, I discovered a way to get my oils in without having to sit there and put a tbsp of oil in my mouth directly.....I add it to my breakfast shake.
The way I'm doing this diet is very different from how I see others doing it.
What I've been doing:
First off - don't go overboard on weighing my food. All that does is irritate me and makes me not want to even try - how can I weigh something when I'm out and about?
Secondly - don't skip breakfast. This was one of the hardest things for me to figure out. Managing to get it into my schedule - just....argh.
Thirdly - go here http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/ and set up my macros. You won't be able to transfer them directly to MFP because of the 5% increments MFP does. But, the combination I've been using that's been working for me (ymmv) is 55% fat,30% protein,15% carb.
Fourthly - religiously logging everything in MFP that I eat. This is actually easier than I expected, tho I sometimes have to get a little creative in getting the information in there. Don't stress. It does NOT have to be exact.
Fifthly - drink only water with the exception of two beverages a day. I have a cup of coffee in the morning and on my "cheat night", I allow myself one mixed drink (vodka and cranberry juice or jack and diet coke).
Sixthly - Use a full spectrum reagent strip to test - this helps you keep an eye on more than just your keto state. I found this to be invaluable. I keep my specific gravity low, my keto moderate to moderately high and make sure the rest stay neutral. It's a good way to make sure you are not skewing your health with your diet.
Last - do exactly what you are doing. Go for walks, go for a bike ride, get up and move every little bit (not even a lot - just move). Find some stairs and go up them. Park in a parking garage? Park on the top floor and use the stairs to go to the floor you need to be on. Going to the store? Park at the back of the lot and walk all the way in. Going to the corner store two blocks away? Walk there instead of drive. And the once a week (when starting out), do something that really pushes you. Walk for a mile, go dancing (this is my choice), go hiking, go canoeing...anything that really gets you to push yourself - and enjoy doing it.
Now - as to what/how I eat to get the macros "right"....
I have a protein shake in the morning. This make my LCHF pals shake their heads at me. But, it's a protein shake (chocolate and delicious, btw - the only one I've found that tastes so good) that I mix with a tbsp of oil (my coworker swears by coconut oil, but, I like flax/fish oil). I use that to swallow down my vitamins, and I make sure I'm taking enough potassium and magnesium.
Lunch is my actual meal of the day. I go out with the guys at work every day for lunch, and it's always interesting to try and figure out how to accomplish my goals here. However, they happen to like foods that make it not too difficult. Rudy's BBQ (baby back ribs and a half link of sausage....I don't love sausage; but, it's not bad and it helps get me the fat to protein ratio I need). Or - and this one's great - Gyro meat. We go out to Tino's - a Greek place - and, I order a 1/4 pound of gyro meat and their gyro salad. The leafy greans are fine in moderation. Honestly, I've found that if I just keep this simple rule in mind when I am choosing my foods, it works out: no root vegetables, no bread, no pasta, no sweets.
Once I have logged my lunch and breakfast in MFP, I know where I am for the day. Generally, I wind up with enough carb allowance left over to allow myself a cup of watermelon or pineapple or cantaloup or some such each day as a treat.
Then my dinner is another shake that I use to make up a) the calories I didn't get during the day and b) the fats I need. I've found I can get up to four tbsp of oil in my shake before it becomes noticeable. Hard to believe, I know - but, it's the truth. I love this stuff.
That's it. I don't put a whole lot of thought and time into figuring out the right portions, right weights, etc. I do, however, stop eating when I am comfortable, not when I am "full". That is something I have found a lot of people have difficulty identifying. Eat slowly and give your body time to tell you when it has what it needs. Anything more than that is waist (yup, I so punny).
I've also found that after about the fourth day - once I broke through the other side of keto-flu, I drink a ton of water and have very little craving for the sodas I used to chain drink. I'm also gaining in energy and feeling very encouraged when most mornings I step on the scale and see my weight has dropped by half a pound. I had one morning that I jumped by .4 pounds; but, by the next day that was evened out and had actually gone lower.
I guess all this to say - don't make it a job, don't make it a "diet". Make it a life change. Find friends to challenge you and who will give you a hard time when you slack off (yes, I'm serious - peer pressure is a great motivator). It's really helpful if they are the kind that will tell you about how they accomplished ABC that day/week and what they did to get there. Use some of us on MFP for that if you don't have anyone in your life with that kind of personality.
Your internal competitive streak will start perking up and then it becomes something even your subconscious is driving. Once you have both of you (conscious and subconscious) on board, you're going to find a world of difference in the ease of sticking with the dietary lifestyle.....and, you're going to find you are missing those carbs less and less as you start seeing the weight drop off and start realizing - you can do this.
Anyway, sorry about writing an entire novel - and it's probably way more information than you cared to receive to your post...0 -
Sweetie, the LCHF diet is the easiest diet I've ever managed. I see people telling you to get a food scale, etc. I have not weighed a single thing since I started this diet. I've been shedding about half a pound a day. I had a "flush" day a few days back and lost 2.2 pounds overnight.
Sweetie, the LCHF diet is the easiest diet I've ever managed. I see people telling you to get a food scale, etc. I have not weighed a single thing since I started this diet. I've been shedding about half a pound a day. I had a "flush" day a few days back and lost 2.2 pounds overnight.
Yes, It's hard to keep my hands off the carbs because that was 90% of what I was eating before; however, the longer I'm on this diet the less I crave them. It also helps that I treat myself once a day with a fruit of some sort.
The fat was the absolute killer for me because I cannot stand fatty foods (other than my fish), so finding a way to get enough to meet my macros was a bear until a coworker told me he did shots of oil. I scrunched my nose up and said, "Ewww gross!!" However, I discovered a way to get my oils in without having to sit there and put a tbsp of oil in my mouth directly.....I add it to my breakfast shake.
The way I'm doing this diet is very different from how I see others doing it.
What I've been doing:
First off - don't go overboard on weighing my food. All that does is irritate me and makes me not want to even try - how can I weigh something when I'm out and about?
Secondly - don't skip breakfast. This was one of the hardest things for me to figure out. Managing to get it into my schedule - just....argh.
Thirdly - go here http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/ and set up my macros. You won't be able to transfer them directly to MFP because of the 5% increments MFP does. But, the combination I've been using that's been working for me (ymmv) is 55% fat,30% protein,15% carb.
Fourthly - religiously logging everything in MFP that I eat. This is actually easier than I expected, tho I sometimes have to get a little creative in getting the information in there. Don't stress. It does NOT have to be exact.
Fifthly - drink only water with the exception of two beverages a day. I have a cup of coffee in the morning and on my "cheat night", I allow myself one mixed drink (vodka and cranberry juice or jack and diet coke).
Sixthly - Use a full spectrum reagent strip to test - this helps you keep an eye on more than just your keto state. I found this to be invaluable. I keep my specific gravity low, my keto moderate to moderately high and make sure the rest stay neutral. It's a good way to make sure you are not skewing your health with your diet.
Last - do exactly what you are doing. Go for walks, go for a bike ride, get up and move every little bit (not even a lot - just move). Find some stairs and go up them. Park in a parking garage? Park on the top floor and use the stairs to go to the floor you need to be on. Going to the store? Park at the back of the lot and walk all the way in. Going to the corner store two blocks away? Walk there instead of drive. And the once a week (when starting out), do something that really pushes you. Walk for a mile, go dancing (this is my choice), go hiking, go canoeing...anything that really gets you to push yourself - and enjoy doing it.
Now - as to what/how I eat to get the macros "right"....
I have a protein shake in the morning. This make my LCHF pals shake their heads at me. But, it's a protein shake (chocolate and delicious, btw - the only one I've found that tastes so good) that I mix with a tbsp of oil (my coworker swears by coconut oil, but, I like flax/fish oil). I use that to swallow down my vitamins, and I make sure I'm taking enough potassium and magnesium.
Lunch is my actual meal of the day. I go out with the guys at work every day for lunch, and it's always interesting to try and figure out how to accomplish my goals here. However, they happen to like foods that make it not too difficult. Rudy's BBQ (baby back ribs and a half link of sausage....I don't love sausage; but, it's not bad and it helps get me the fat to protein ratio I need). Or - and this one's great - Gyro meat. We go out to Tino's - a Greek place - and, I order a 1/4 pound of gyro meat and their gyro salad. The leafy greans are fine in moderation. Honestly, I've found that if I just keep this simple rule in mind when I am choosing my foods, it works out: no root vegetables, no bread, no pasta, no sweets.
Once I have logged my lunch and breakfast in MFP, I know where I am for the day. Generally, I wind up with enough carb allowance left over to allow myself a cup of watermelon or pineapple or cantaloup or some such each day as a treat.
Then my dinner is another shake that I use to make up a) the calories I didn't get during the day and b) the fats I need. I've found I can get up to four tbsp of oil in my shake before it becomes noticeable. Hard to believe, I know - but, it's the truth. I love this stuff.
That's it. I don't put a whole lot of thought and time into figuring out the right portions, right weights, etc. I do, however, stop eating when I am comfortable, not when I am "full". That is something I have found a lot of people have difficulty identifying. Eat slowly and give your body time to tell you when it has what it needs. Anything more than that is waist (yup, I so punny).
I've also found that after about the fourth day - once I broke through the other side of keto-flu, I drink a ton of water and have very little craving for the sodas I used to chain drink. I'm also gaining in energy and feeling very encouraged when most mornings I step on the scale and see my weight has dropped by half a pound. I had one morning that I jumped by .4 pounds; but, by the next day that was evened out and had actually gone lower.
I guess all this to say - don't make it a job, don't make it a "diet". Make it a life change. Find friends to challenge you and who will give you a hard time when you slack off (yes, I'm serious - peer pressure is a great motivator). It's really helpful if they are the kind that will tell you about how they accomplished ABC that day/week and what they did to get there. Use some of us on MFP for that if you don't have anyone in your life with that kind of personality.
Your internal competitive streak will start perking up and then it becomes something even your subconscious is driving. Once you have both of you (conscious and subconscious) on board, you're going to find a world of difference in the ease of sticking with the dietary lifestyle.....and, you're going to find you are missing those carbs less and less as you start seeing the weight drop off and start realizing - you can do this.
Anyway, sorry about writing an entire novel - and it's probably way more information than you cared to receive to your post...
LCHF diets can work - but so can every diet.
I am super happy for you that you don't need a food scale. Not everyone can manage eating at a deficit without one. Good on you for that.
WTF is a flush day?
Firstly - I though you didn't weigh anything? how would you go overboard. We understand that you have a life and can't weigh everything, but it will help put serving sizes into perspective.
Secondly - meal timing does not matter. Breakfast everyone does it - it literally means to break fast. whether you do that at 6 am, 1 pm, or 6pm it does not matter.
Thirdly - Keto is not for everyone - can be very difficult and dangerous if you don't learn how to do it properly.
Fourthly - I mostly agree - but the more EXACT you are the better it is
Fifthly - You can drink anything you want - just count the calories - water and diet sodas are calorie free so have at it.
Sixthly - see my response to thirdly
Lastly - I agree with- Move more, we all should.
I also agree with your "life change"0 -
Wow, guys thanks for responding to my 'confession' - will take on board all your comments as I get my head around how best to use this site. I think that really understanding what I am eating and increasing activity level will tip the balance in my favour. I want to be leaner and healthier but I want to eat real food - I enjoy cooking and like to use the best produce I can afford and actively support local growers whenever possible. Yes, I can lose weight if i have a protein shake for breakfast, but I don't want to do that - I like to sit down and enjoy my food with my husband, friends and family - so a shake would not cut it for me when they are eating lovely healthy food!
Your comments and advice is appreciated.0 -
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post - that is really interesting how you approached the LCHF diet - it sounds like you have it cracked. I am not sure that I can adapt to that way of eating though - perhaps that is an excuse though - I think I am going to try to stick to what I am doing just now and then if that doesn't work for me, i will revisit your post and remotivate myself. Thanks again.0
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Wow, guys thanks for responding to my 'confession' - will take on board all your comments as I get my head around how best to use this site. I think that really understanding what I am eating and increasing activity level will tip the balance in my favour. I want to be leaner and healthier but I want to eat real food - I enjoy cooking and like to use the best produce I can afford and actively support local growers whenever possible. Yes, I can lose weight if i have a protein shake for breakfast, but I don't want to do that - I like to sit down and enjoy my food with my husband, friends and family - so a shake would not cut it for me when they are eating lovely healthy food!
Your comments and advice is appreciated.
I will suggest weight lifting. It will make a huge difference in retaining you muscle, and definition.
I wish someone got me into weight lifting earlier in my weight loss.
Use Protein and Fat as minimums, and fill the rest with carbs or whatever.0
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