Tired of all the "real dieters"

FlaxMilk

I didn't say yes...you MUST eat something "junky" ..I said you CAN. Big difference. How many of your friends have berated themselves over eating something "bad" because they think it's going to completely ruin their progress? Or someone who dives head first into a plate of cookies at a family get together because they've restricted them for so long and have finally snapped? If you've never seen it them stick around a little longer; I see it almost daily.

Haven't read all the way through but for some, leaving room for cookies every day or making room whenever there is a craving just means more unhealthy cravings that they have to fight. Some will still go crazy on a plate of cookies just because they are delicious. I "yo yo" the most when I am being casual with my nutrition.

I also yo yo because I'm not perfect, and at times I have greater priorities than others. I would love to be consistent.

And for the 1200 naysayers: Even the EMWL calculations put me around the 1200 calorie mark.

BikinimomE

For Flaxmilk, a repost

BTW - I was so bothered by this 1200 calorie custom setting that I sent an email to the site administration about it. I got an in-depth and speedy answer (within hours!). Here is the cut and paste from that email:

"As for your concern about your base calories, when you set up your profile, we ask you for your age, height, weight, gender, normal daily activity level and how much weight you would like to lose/gain per week. We then use all this information and calculate it against the scientific calculation to give you your daily recommended goals. We start with a low base that already has the deficit to lose weight, without any exercise. Once you perform exercise, your daily totals will then increase.

Your normal average daily burn is already taken into consideration when we set up your profile. However, this is based on an average number. If you would like a more specific total based around your particular days activity, may we suggest looking into our integration with "fitbit" (an activity tracker). You can find more information on this integration by going to our website at www.myfitnesspal.com and signing into the members log in area with your normal username and password. Once online just click on the "tools" tab and then "fitbit".

We also ask you for your weekly exercise goals. However, this information is just for an incentive for you to reach. We do not actually take into consideration any extra exercise you do outside your normal day, until you add them to your diary under the "cardiovascular" section.

We set your nutritional target in Net Calories which we define as:

Calories Consumed (Food) - Calories Burned (Exercise) = Net Calories

What that means is that if you exercise, you will be able to eat more for that day. For example, if your Net Calorie goal is 2000 calories, one way to meet that goal is to eat 2,500 calories of food, but then burn 500 calories through exercise. When your exercise calories increase, your other nutritional goals will also fluctuate to match.

Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them by eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising. To help avoid setting your body into starvation mode, we do not recommend for any member to consume under 1200 net calories.

Our program currently only calculates calories burned via our "cardiovascular" section. Estimating the calories burned from strength training is very difficult because it depends on a variety of factors: how much weight you lifted per repetition, how vigorously you performed that exercise, how much rest you took between sets, etc. Because of this, we do not automatically calculate how many calories you burned from strength training exercises.

However, if you like, you can try to search for the same or similar exercise in our "cardiovascular" database. If you can not find the exercise, you can do a general search for "Strength training" in the cardiovascular database, please be aware though that this is definitely a rough estimate and can be fairly inaccurate.

Or if you roughly know how many calories you are burning via a heart rate monitor, etc., then you can add the exercise in yourself. Just go to "cardiovascular" and then "create new exercise". This will be for your personal database and not the main database.

If you are following a guided plan from your doctor or nutritionist, we also allow an option for you to customize your own nutritional goals. You can set your own nutritional goals for calories, fat, carbs, and any other nutrient that we track. To customize your targets, log back in online. Once you've logged in, go to "My Home", then "Goals", then hit the "Change Goals" button at the bottom of the page. Choose the "Custom" option and you'll be taken to a page where you can set your own targets for all of the nutrients we track.

Once you've saved your changes, those same changes will appear in the app the next time the app syncs to the website - this should happen automatically with a valid internet connection.

Hope this helps. In the meantime, thanks so much for using the program. Please let us know if you have any additional feedback, problems or questions. We wish you all the success in reaching and maintaining all of your diet and fitness goals. "

I suppose that this is saying that they set this low number to get you to eat more and burn those calories off with exercise. A woman my height and weight requires about 21,000 - 2,200 calories to sustain life in a healthful manner. In order to lose a pound of bodyfat a week, this woman should create a calorie deficit of 500 - 600 calories per day which puts you at about 1600 calories per day. If you burn an additional 400 calories from exercise you will have a net caloric intake of 1200.

...I think. I find this confusing. Fitday.com explains and breaks it down in a manner that is a bit less confusing to me. But I enjoy MFP for a host of reasons... So while I do track my journal there too. I spend the bulk of my time here.

Haven't read all the way through but for some, leaving room for cookies every day or making room whenever there is a craving just means more unhealthy cravings that they have to fight. Some will still go crazy on a plate of cookies just because they are delicious. I "yo yo" the most when I am being casual with my nutrition.

I also yo yo because I'm not perfect, and at times I have greater priorities than others. I would love to be consistent.

And for the 1200 naysayers: Even the EMWL calculations put me around the 1200 calorie mark.

You have the solution to your yo-yo dieting already... Your health isn't always a priority. Because if it were, you would have ZERO ISSUE remaining "consistent". I am not being mean. I am trying to help you change the way you think, so that you can put yourself FIRST.

FlaxMilk

personally i think if your living your life in a way that requires calorie counting, its going to be very hard to sustain over a period of time. its great to get you started but not very sustainable. Does any other species have to consciously control their food intake?

I have to do it for them. Many of my pets over the years would eat themselves into oblivion if allowed. If I don't count calories, I overeat, because it doesn't take a lot of calories to give my body what it needs, but I like to eat as much as anyone else. If I want to be healthy, I have to pay attention, and I don't think that's a bad thing. Annoying maybe, but if you need to pay attention to anything, your own health isn't such a bad thing to have to pay attention to.

Need2bfit918

personally i think if your living your life in a way that requires calorie counting, its going to be very hard to sustain over a period of time. its great to get you started but not very sustainable. Does any other species have to consciously control their food intake?

I have to do it for them. Many of my pets over the years would eat themselves into oblivion if allowed. If I don't count calories, I overeat, because it doesn't take a lot of calories to give my body what it needs, but I like to eat as much as anyone else. If I want to be healthy, I have to pay attention, and I don't think that's a bad thing. Annoying maybe, but if you need to pay attention to anything, your own health isn't such a bad thing to have to pay attention to.

im actually referring to animals in their natural environment eating the foods nature intended for them. house pets like us consume a diet high in simple carbs.

FlaxMilk

You have the solution to your yo-yo dieting already... Your health isn't always a priority. Because if it were, you would have ZERO ISSUE remaining "consistent". I am not being mean. I am trying to help you change the way you think, so that you can put yourself FIRST.

Hi there, right now I am just working on "vanity" weight and that's why the calorie counting is not the top of my priority list. At times it is, but at times the other things take over. My BMR is under 1200 calories, and due to medical restrictions, I can't be too active at the moment, so 1200 really is a fine number for me.

(And I actually disagree. My priorities do not always line up with what I actually end up doing, because of my human fallibility. I would say it's more disordered to say that since I'm not perfect, my health must not be a priority. My health is always important to me, but there are days when not thinking and not preparing and temptations are more important.)

FlaxMilk

im actually referring to animals in their natural environment eating the foods nature intended for them. house pets like us consume a diet high in simple carbs.

You can't compare humans to animals in the wild because humans aren't eating only foods nature intended for them. Even cows milk wasn't intended for humans, much less the plentiful food available derived from cows milk. In a society where people can pull up to a drive through window and leave in 60 seconds with a cooked, wrapped, and "dressed" meal from various food sources, many people will have to pay attention and calorie count if they want to be healthy. The amount of energy it took to obtain that meal is dramatically less than it would have been had they really made it themselves. (Hunting, gathering, cleaning, cooking, carrying.)

And wild animals that live close to human populations do tend to overeat. You should see some of the obese squirrels around here, and it's not from eating "our" food. It's from raiding the bird feeder.

Need2bfit918

im actually referring to animals in their natural environment eating the foods nature intended for them. house pets like us consume a diet high in simple carbs.

You can't compare humans to animals in the wild because humans aren't eating only foods nature intended for them. Even cows milk wasn't intended for humans, much less the plentiful food available derived from cows milk. In a society where people can pull up to a drive through window and leave in 60 seconds with a cooked, wrapped, and "dressed" meal from various food sources, many people will have to pay attention and calorie count if they want to be healthy. The amount of energy it took to obtain that meal is dramatically less than it would have been had they really made it themselves. (Hunting, gathering, cleaning, cooking, carrying.)

And wild animals that live close to human populations do tend to overeat. You should see some of the obese squirrels around here, and it's not from eating "our" food. It's from raiding the bird feeder.

we can't eat exactly like someone in the wild. unless i want to move to some remote location in alaska, which i don't. but i have removed heavily processed foods, simple carbs, and fast food from my diet and i no longer find it necessary to count calories. I'm someone who has had a weight problem for many years.

FlaxMilk

we can't eat exactly like someone in the wild. unless i want to move to some remote location in alaska, which i don't. but i have removed heavily processed foods, simple carbs, and fast food from my diet and i no longer find it necessary to count calories. I'm someone who has had a weight problem for many years.

Yes, I agree, we can't. That's why a lot of us do need to count calories, because we aren't living and eating "naturally." Because I am short and not overweight, and definitely not a fitness wonder, I do need to pay attention to what I take in. Even with a very clean diet, it is easy for me to go over maintenance calories.

pinkraynedropjacki

You are going to hate me. It's dinner time here for me & I'm actually netting -44 cals at the moment. I've had take away for lunch & even some nice snacks.


AND I've worked out hard for over an hour.



Whoops. How do I do it every single day & still lose weight & look good while doing it

pinkraynedropjacki

Wait.... I get it now. ..... if I net 1201 cals a day then she will be my friend & EVERYONE will be happy? Ok ..... I'll have one more lolly on those days.

Martina_Who

AMEN SISTER! THANK YOU FOR SAYING EXACTLY WHAT I'M THINKING!

People on here seem to pride themselves on eating as few of calories as possible, while exercising 3 hours a day and somehow that makes them the real deal....How long is that going to be sustainable?! How long until you're yoyo dieting again?? I hate the word "diet"...I do not diet. I choose to live a healthy lifestyle, meaning that this is not temporary for me and I'm not going to make myself miserable for the rest of my life fighting hunger and cravings. FOOD = FUEL, not the enemy. It is completely possible to live healthy, generally eating healthy and taking care of your body while STILL enjoying the foods you love.

I hope these "real dieters" that you speak of realize that they are just setting themselves up for a lifetime battle against food....and a healthy, sustainable lifestyle does NOT have to be that way

Hear hear! Totally agree!

I can't fathom why people do this.
I have days that I go over and days that I go under but it balances out each week so I'm happy with that.

pinkraynedropjacki

I netted JUST over 500cals today after my workout. Oops. I had vege, meat, even some carbs. Hell I even had some fruit. I had a souvlaki as well.Wow. I must be doing something wrong to be so damn full & then do an hour long workout (yep danced my *kitten* off) and really not need to eat more than my body is telling me to eat.

See that's the thing, why would you want to eat more just because the calories tell you to do so? If you are full, or just not hungry then it's your body telling you that there is no need. Yet here are some people on here saying....stuff what your body says.... you got to eat this amount or you are not a good person.

Way to make ppl feel better for not needing to eat.

BikinimomE

You have the solution to your yo-yo dieting already... Your health isn't always a priority. Because if it were, you would have ZERO ISSUE remaining "consistent". I am not being mean. I am trying to help you change the way you think, so that you can put yourself FIRST.

Hi there, right now I am just working on "vanity" weight and that's why the calorie counting is not the top of my priority list. At times it is, but at times the other things take over. My BMR is under 1200 calories, and due to medical restrictions, I can't be too active at the moment, so 1200 really is a fine number for me.

(And I actually disagree. My priorities do not always line up with what I actually end up doing, because of my human fallibility. I would say it's more disordered to say that since I'm not perfect, my health must not be a priority. My health is always important to me, but there are days when not thinking and not preparing and temptations are more important.)

Fair enough, I suppose at this juncture it is just a matter of semantics. I understand having physical limitations and priorities that suck the life out of you as I had four children in five years and ran a business from our home with my exhusband. ALL of the household up-keep duties (including grocery shopping, etc), child-rearing (including all school-related and family-holiday related activities fell on my shoulders alone), and a pretty decent portion of running our business also was my responsibility. And yes, there were way too many days when everyone else was in line in front of me... FOR YEARS.

It's very tough to fit in a workout when you are being pulled 16 different directions. I used to get up with my youngest at 4AM to nurse her while I ate my own first meal of the day. Put her down and get to the gym by the time they opened 5AM. My ex would get up with the older three and feed them breakfast while I would be back in time for the baby's next nursing. I then would sleep for an hour or so (if the older three would allow it LOL) while the baby would sleep almost till her next nursing. Proper nutritional intake during these times in our lives is more important THAN EVER and yet, it seems that is when most folks (especially women) tend to ignore that component of their own maintenance most (myself included). This is why I try to help as many people as I can see, how really negative this behavior is. Just because it didn't kill us in the short run, that doesn't mean it won't rob us in the long run.

bcattoes

Sorry, but that made me LOL. You're not saying the same thing I am, I am saying the same thing you are. :laugh:

Everyone on here losing or maintaining weight has a restricted course of food, so all are on a diet.

Diet Say it with me again friends. It's a good word.

Haha - well, if your'e disagreeing with me one minute and then saying the same as the thing you were disagreeing with, then it does seem like you are now saying what I was saying! I guess you forgot that initially you were saying you didn't see the difference between the two meanings, and you thought they were both the same!

I actually suspect we were both talking about different things - I was explaining that the word 'diet' has two meanings, because people were stating there was a right and a wrong meaning, which is not actually true. Both meanings are valid. But you seem to be focusing on just one of those meanings, with the idea that there is a right and a wrong emotional connotation to it - ie. whether it's a good or a bad word! Me, I have no emotional connotations attached to the word - I don't see it as good or bad. Just a word. But different people will see it either positively or negatively depending on the kind of diet they are on.

The word diet actually has more than 2 meanings and I don't recall saying it didn't, or that any of those meanings are valid. My point, which you seem to have totally missed with your pseudo-vocabulary lesson tangent, was that all those that say they are not on a diet while restricting calories, carbs, fat, or anything else to do with food are, in fact, on a diet. And it's a good thing that they are.

PercivalHackworth

Diet - from the Gk δίαιτα : prescribed way of life
Aye to the OP

bcattoes

I netted JUST over 500cals today after my workout. Oops. I had vege, meat, even some carbs. Hell I even had some fruit. I had a souvlaki as well.Wow. I must be doing something wrong to be so damn full & then do an hour long workout (yep danced my *kitten* off) and really not need to eat more than my body is telling me to eat.

See that's the thing, why would you want to eat more just because the calories tell you to do so? If you are full, or just not hungry then it's your body telling you that there is no need. Yet here are some people on here saying....stuff what your body says.... you got to eat this amount or you are not a good person.

Way to make ppl feel better for not needing to eat.

You make a valid point. I do think listening to your body when it says it is full is important. For one thing all the calculators telling you how much to eat (MFP, BMR, TDEE, etc) are just guessimates based on averages. And many of us are not average. But it is also important to pay attention to what you are eating. Just because we are full doesn't mean we have given our bodies all the nutrients it needs. For good health it's important to look at calories as well as nutrients (both macro and micro).

**I'm not suggesting you don't pay attention to nutrition, just making a point

LorinaLynn

I always used to "just listen to my body." I ate when I was hungry. Stopped when I was full. And for the most part, that worked pretty good, since I was never more than 10 pounds out of what a healthy weight is supposed to be for me, on both sides of the spectrum.

But at one point in my life, listening to my body got me down to an alarmingly thin 103 pounds, and at another time, listening to my body got me to a rather chunky 160 pounds.

My body just isn't really very smart. My body would be happiest if I ate nothing but cookies and donuts. My body can forget to eat, then wonder why I have such a headache come 5pm. My body can mindlessly munch on "just two fun sized candy bars" until the entire bag is gone.

Now that I've been logging my food for over a year and a half, with some breaks here and there, I can mostly make good choices. But I still don't completely trust my body's natural instincts when it comes to food. Following numbers works better for me.

lmroessler

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lmroessler

I wish some girl who wasn't 23 years old and only has 4 pounds to lose would not be so critical and judgmental of other people.

Do you think that she got that way "by accident" or "due to good genes"? She is ticked off (as I used to be 10 years ago until I got tired of banging my head against the wall for no good reason) because of all the people who are misinformed thinking that what they are doing is a good thing and those who are blatantly fibbing, whether it is the people who YOU KNOW aren't logging accurately due to lack of progress or those who live on 1200 calories a day, are otherwise healthy and who claim to be full.

It's frustrating to see people making the same mistakes and proliferating the same MISinformation over and over and over again.

I am saying that metabolism at 23 is way different than it is at 39 - where I am now - and yes, muscle mass certainly helps with metabolism - but hormones completely screw with what you have always done and known. I have never been overweight (other than when pregnant) and have always generally been able to maintain a sensible weight. I've always excercised and done strength training. But at my age, what I've always done isn't working and that means eating fewer calories than I used to. I assume the older I get, the more true this is going to become. So for a 23-year-old to tell me and anyone else that eating 1200 calories is not enough regardless of where those calories come from is very presumptuous. Even Lou Schuler in NROLFW says that older women should eat fewer calories than a younger woman with the same BMI. So taking a broad brush and saying "eating less than X calories" is ridiculous.

LoriBeMe

Spoken like a PRO!!! Love this!!!

I will remove friends who dont eat at least their BMR. 1200 is so terrible, for soooo many reasons... and you listed most of them!

AMEN!!! :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

My BMR is 1255! :laugh: