Am I on the right track?

SandyBess
SandyBess Posts: 16
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I am new to MFP and have been logging in everything religiously. I do boot camp 4 days per week and try to jog/power walk on my off days. I am 5'6" at 182 lbs and my goal is 135-140. Could anyone take a look at my info and let me know if there is something that I am doing wrong/right? Thanks!

Replies

  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    Logging religously is the key to success (well and actually sticking to your goal while you do it too). If you don't have one get a good scale and weigh your solids (pre cooking unless otherwise specified). It will be more accurate than measuring cups/spoons.

    How are you getting the calories you burn from exercise? Are you using MFP database or a HRM? MFP does tend to overetimate calories burned in exercise so most people relying on that choose to only eat back part of their burns.

    Your daily goal appears to be 2000-2100 pre exercise. That seems a bit high to me unless you are very active (make sure you selected your daily activity level without exercise included if you are logging that in each day) or want to lose pretty slow (thats a personal choice and totally fine if thats what you want to do). It also appears you are very far under your actual goal on a daily basis, even saw one day where you only logged 800someodd calorie intake. That is really low for anybody, especially someone working out daily.

    Feel free to correct me if I was wrong about anything and if you need any help setting goals we are here to help.
  • galprincess
    galprincess Posts: 683 Member
    I started and it is little steps small changes make big results

    Logging is great but need to weigh and measure portions , I was shocked at how small my 100g of chips I was logging it was actually nmore 400g so no matter how great you log if you don't weigh or measure then this could be why weight loss fails.
    I added exercise I do a programme incorporating weights and cardio and boxing on days off.
    Feel free to add me in 5ft5 and just got to 148lbs my next goal is 140lbs and motivation on here and tips is great
  • SandyBess
    SandyBess Posts: 16
    My pre exercise calories are supposed to be 1600 so I am not sure about that. I am going with MFP's exercise count as of right now, I ordered a HRM so I am just waiting for it to come. In terms of logging in 800 calories, I am not sure what that is about because there is no way that is right. Does MFP not always keep track of the calories correctly? Also, some days it seems hard to eat all of the calories that it wants me to eat after I have exercised.
  • SandyBess
    SandyBess Posts: 16
    Would you be able to look at my goals? I am so confused on how they break it down. It says 1600 calories but it also says over 2000??? Way confused.
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    I agree with a previous poster, your recording looks good, but your weighing needs to be more accurate. You need to use kitchen scales and a measuring beaker. Also, you make quite a few "generic" or "homemade" choices.
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    I see what you mean about the calorie goal. 2000 seems very high.
  • SandyBess
    SandyBess Posts: 16
    All of the homemade stuff is actually homemade. In terms of the generic, I will work on that one. With the kitchen scale, how do i measure things like hummus, etc.? What container do I use? This is all really new to me.
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    You weigh and record each of the hummus ingredients separately, and find the number of calories for the whole batch of hummus. Then, just record the fraction of the whole bowl that you actually ate.

    Does that answer your question?
  • SandyBess
    SandyBess Posts: 16
    Yes, that does help. I just ordered a kitchen scale that comes with a bowl for measuring. I am just feeling pretty bummed out right now at the thought that I have been doing this all wrong...
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    The way I see it, you can't take everything in from the first day. There's always something new to learn and something to tweak or improve.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    All of the homemade stuff is actually homemade. In terms of the generic, I will work on that one. With the kitchen scale, how do i measure things like hummus, etc.? What container do I use? This is all really new to me.

    If you are using pre-packaged, put the container on the scale and "tare" it so it reads 0. The remove until your scale shows a negative number that equals the serving size specified on the nutrition label. This works really well for peanut butter too. Just put the jar on the scale, hit "tare", spoon some out until the scale says -32g. You now have 32 grams of peanut butter which is the standard serving.
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    Quick question - do american schools teach cooking?
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Yes, that does help. I just ordered a kitchen scale that comes with a bowl for measuring. I am just feeling pretty bummed out right now at the thought that I have been doing this all wrong...

    No, you have NOT been doing this all wrong. You have been logging and paying attention to what and how much you eat. These are the perfect starting steps! Now it sounds like it is time to do some tweaking and improve your accuracy.
  • SandyBess
    SandyBess Posts: 16
    Oh thats great, thanks! I never thought of that.
  • rides4sanity
    rides4sanity Posts: 1,269 Member
    Quick question - do american schools teach cooking?

    Not really
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    Thanks Rides.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    Quick question - do american schools teach cooking?

    if you go to a cooking school yes
  • SandyBess
    SandyBess Posts: 16
    .
  • SandyBess
    SandyBess Posts: 16
    Yes, that does help. I just ordered a kitchen scale that comes with a bowl for measuring. I am just feeling pretty bummed out right now at the thought that I have been doing this all wrong...

    No, you have NOT been doing this all wrong. You have been logging and paying attention to what and how much you eat. These are the perfect starting steps! Now it sounds like it is time to do some tweaking and improve your accuracy.

    Thank you, I appreciate that. I have been really hard on myself about this the past couple of years I just want this to work.

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