Food Diary Help

qkidney

Hi there! I joined MFP on January 3rd, 2012 and I am hoping to lose a total of 35 lbs.

On January 1st, my starting weight was 195 lbs - currently I am 187.5 lbs.

From Jan 1- Jan 14 I lost 8.3 lbs, and since Jan 14th I have been back and forth between 188-186......

I am wondering if someone out there could have a look at my food diary and give me some pointers.. What I should change (if anything) to keep me on track to my goal.

Thanks everyone! Criticism welcome!

sbrouillet

At first glance over the past 4 days, it appears as though you haven't quite reached 1200 calories.. Do what you can do bring your calories up to 1200, maybe adding some more protein?
If you exercise try and eat back those calories as well, to have to much of a deficit does not work for some.

Keep on moving forward it will come.

Dethea

Are you actually skipping the meals and snacks you have blank? It's important to remember that you need to eat in order to lose weight... Make sure you eat your calories! Otherwise you'll starve yourself, and be more likely to binge.

TammyLynne71

need to up those calories. Add some fruit with the morning cereal. Add some meat with the crackers and cheese. water intake to.

engineman312

At first glance over the past 4 days, it appears as though you haven't quite reached 1200 calories.. Do what you can do bring your calories up to 1200, maybe adding some more protein?
If you exercise try and eat back those calories as well, to have to much of a deficit does not work for some.

Keep on moving forward it will come.

this as perfect of an answer that you will get.

also, your body will show a huge loss in the first few weeks, but will taper off. it can stay steady, but you need to EAT ALL THE CALORIES and excersise properly.

twinmama1987

EAT MORE! .. go for 1500 atleast!

pander101

Agreed, there's a reason that 1200 is the lowest recommended. Try and get to at least 1200 calories everyday. It will help get your metabolism going and stay going if you eat your snacks and meals. Your body will start holding onto everything if it feels it isn't getting enough.

kylee_marie

Hi! I noticed quite a few days where you skipped either breakfast or lunch and/or your snacks. I would try and divide up your allotted calories into 6 smaller meals. I find this keeps me fuller and it helps keep your metabolism up. If you are working with 1500 you could do something like this:
Breakfast: 400
Snack: 150
Lunch: 300
Snack: 150
Dinner: 400
Dessert: 100

Hope this helps

simplebeauty

I agree with the above...eat more calories (1200 min) and add in EXERCISE!! Even a walk for 10 mins can burn up to 40 cals!

When I eat I make sure I have a protein with each meal...and only eat whole grains...no processed. I try to limit my "starchy" carb or grains to one or two meals (eg. today I had oatmeal, so the rest of the day will be veggies, fruit, chicken, cottage cheese etc. and maybe rice with dinner...)

Find a great protein powder/meal replacement to have on hand so you aren't scrambling to find/make something if you happen to be short on time on any given day...

Eating right is only a small portion of losing weight...you need to workout your body so it can burn off fat and tone up the muscle.

qkidney

Are you actually skipping the meals and snacks you have blank? It's important to remember that you need to eat in order to lose weight... Make sure you eat your calories! Otherwise you'll starve yourself, and be more likely to binge.

No - not all of them... I had to rename my meals so that I could follow it easier (i did this recently) and then it messed up all of my previous entries.

cressievargo

I agree - also, try to spread your protein out over the day. This will help keep your blood sugar from spiking & Keep you full longer.
Use your calories wisely - more calories - but not processed junk.

I see a lot of fruit - which is good, but at the same time, fruit is very high in sugar...if you want to keep the fruit, try adding in something with it that ups the protein. Greek yogurt has a lot of protein in it and would taste great with fruit. Also cottage cheese - a lot of people like that with fruit.

Plus, plateaus are completely normal - just have to figure out how to switch it up. Sometimes its the food, sometimes it's varying your workout. You can get through this! You've done a great job so far!
Congrats!

montrealfitness

Hi!

After a quick look, it's obvious that #1, you need to eat more. More vegetables, more meat, more protein, more fats. But, maybe a little less carbs...
Conscious eating is already the way to go though!

qkidney

I agree with the above...eat more calories (1200 min) and add in EXERCISE!! Even a walk for 10 mins can burn up to 40 cals!

When I eat I make sure I have a protein with each meal...and only eat whole grains...no processed. I try to limit my "starchy" carb or grains to one or two meals (eg. today I had oatmeal, so the rest of the day will be veggies, fruit, chicken, cottage cheese etc. and maybe rice with dinner...)

Find a great protein powder/meal replacement to have on hand so you aren't scrambling to find/make something if you happen to be short on time on any given day...

Eating right is only a small portion of losing weight...you need to workout your body so it can burn off fat and tone up the muscle.

qkidney

Oops!

I have been working out to some degree every day since joining - with the exception of this weekend as I have injured my ankle and an unable to put any pressure on it at all. (I hope this clears up soon!)

lilac67

I agree, your calories are running too low and your body is holding on to your weight.

yummummum

Your fat look slow. Don't be afraid to up it!! Protein and fat= awesome weight loss and keeps you full all day. Your cals look low.

I follow a low sugar and low carb diet and it works great for me.

ANewLucia

Hi there,

This is an email that I have now sent to quite a few of my MFPals...if you are not seeing a change, then sometimes you have to go against the grain of what with think is a "diet"...this isn't a "diet" it is a lifestyle change and we need to know what makes our bodies tick....anyway, after learnign quite a few things the hard way myself...I have been quite guilty of doing the "eat less and exercise more" with much frustration! Ok, so here is the email that I have sent, and again just keep an open mind and think about giving it a try...just to update, since my changes that you will see in a moment, I have lost a total of 3lbs of fat and have gained more muscle. I have lost 1inch of fat around my waistline and today marks my 5th week of my new eating habits....

Ok, I read your post and immediately said to myself...I bet if I check her diary her calorie count is low...guess what that is exactly what I found. I sent the email below to another young lady just this morning because she works out hard like yourself and wasn't loosing...and it gets even worse when you get closer to goal...right now your body is in starvation mode...it is holding on to the weight because the calories are too low. I ask that you give what I am suggesting 3 weeks and if it doesn't work after that, then ok, but just please give it a try....here is what I wrote her...I first sent her an email asking if she was loosing any weight after I saw she wasn't eating more than 1100 calories a day and she burns sometime upwards of 1200....

I was like oh man she can't be losing because you are not feeding your body enough fuel. Ok, so glad you asked...been exactly where you are and was frustrated to no end...I know you have GOT to remember me doing all the whining about not loosing or going up and down right...ok less is not more in this case...I couldn't loose at 1350 nor 1500...the scale halted. Then I read a few excerpts from "New Rules of Weight Lifting for women: Lift like a man, Look like a Goddess" and decided to give it a try.

Ok, just please give this a try, bump your calories to 1600 and change your ratios to 40% carb, 30% prot, 30% fat in your goal settings. Track on the goals list calories, carb, prot, fat, sodium, fiber....get your fiber to about 30 a day, and keep sodium under 2500.

For the training you do, YOU NEED A GOOD PROTEIN DRINK girl! An awesome one that is a little pricey but I am all into natural is Dr. Mercola's Pure Power Protein...another one that is cheaper and adequate is Jillian Michaels protein drink and it is in Walmart.
You drink that right after your workouts because your body is STARVED after, you can also use it for a snack. I drink one or two at least every single day. Oh man, I have to reorder, can't run out...

Eat six small meals a day...take a look at my set up and it should help you (breakf, snack, lunch, pre workout/snack, dinner, post work/snack). I bumped my calories to 1800, but I didn't want to shock you to death telling you to eat that much...but try the 1600 and see if you start loosing...NOW ON WORKOUT DAYS...you MUST EAT A LITTLE MORE!!! I know I know I know, it sounds crazy, but you up your fruits, veggies and GOOD fats (olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, a little butter), get in some good dairy like greek yogurt, fat free milk, etc and stick with whole grain stuff...trust you will get in 1600 and NEVER feel hungry, so I STOPPED all the crazy snacking I was doing just weeks ago. So anyway on workout days, try to eat at least 200 more calories...that is when I drink 2 or 3 servings of my protein drink and throw in an extra meal for the most part...so I do right now 1800 on non workout days and around 2000-2150 on workout days. The first week I tried it I lost 4lbs BAM...I have now completed just about two weeks and this week my cycle is just about to start so I am holding water and I lifted heavy so I am showing the same weight. I am ok with that you know why, because I seeeeeeeee the difference in my body. I have LOST FAT GIRL!!!! I am sooo very excited.

If you are eating right, you shouldn't really ever be hungry! I have seen how eating this way, I don't have time to even think about junk food. I am full. Last night, that dinner meal it was hard getting that much down...I was just full, so I didn't bother trying to get my calories any higher.

Girl I know this is your ticket. With the new ratios, you will have more protein and fat daily, you will see your strength, energy and stamina go up up up!!!

I hope you are taking a good multivitamin too...Alive with iron is a great one, vitamin d 10000 iu daily, Krill oil....chia seeds excellent too.

Hope this helps. Give it a try...I am telling you, it will change everything for you!!! TRUST ME...this one time. Give it a two week trial period.

So that was the email I sent to another beloved MFPal and I am now asking you to do the same and give it a try. I have another good friend on the same meal plan and her body totally did a flush and she hasn't had her first weigh in but she already sees a difference. We want to believe that less calories means more weight loss, but our body is like an engine, it needs what it needs to run...you give it that, your body will let go of the weight.

I pray I haven't overstepped any boundaries, but, it can get so discouraging not to see the changes or losses that you know you are putting in the effort for.

eacatterton

I agree with many of the above posters. You should definitely be eating 1200 calories atleast + some if not all of your exercise calories. Your body is going to go into starvation mode. Also, I would definitely suggest more protein. You are doing excellent on your sodium though. That is where I struggle. Good luck.

bms34b

First of all, I agree with everyone. But I have several other things to say that aren't necessarily mentioned.

-Depending on your ankle, WALK. If your body can handle it, I super duper super duper can't stress enough how much walking has aided me in my weight loss, particularly in times of plateau. Go for somewhere between 45 and 60 minutes of a quick walk, and if you're anything like me, you'll see differences immediately.
-Water. If you're drinking enough, that's awesome. What helps me deal with inflammation in general is water with lime, cucumber, and ginger cut up and put into it. It tastes very refreshing and is great for your body. If there's an intestinal reason your body is hanging onto stuff, this will help let it know everything's okay.
-Green tea. I like to keep a pitcher of mint green tea with stevia in my fridge, and drink it whenever I don't want water. Hot tea is great too. It's true what they say, green tea is great for your bod!

Hope these help. I'm no expert, but these things have proven no fail for me.

vonnywaft

bear in mind your hormones too, we all have monthly fluctuations where the scales show no movement or even show a gain just because of water retention and time of the month stuff. It's early days and you need to just see what your body is up to and let it adjust to what you're doing gradually. you won't see a loss every week but stick with the programme and you'll get there.

qkidney

Thanks everyone! Much MUCH appreciated!

I am going to try upping my calories to about 1500 and see how that goes for now!

I often find it hard to eat the 1200 calories of "good" food - I can only imagine how 1500 is going to be! LOL

simplebeauty

What about using light weights...not only do you need cardio, but some strength training as well...I use the resistance bands so I don't need multiple weights around the house (for the kids to drop on their toes!)
That can be done sitting down..and you are still burning calories...