Fed up!

fevermaps

I am getting a bit disheartened with all of this. Let me elaborate. I am supposed to eat over 1,200 calories a day however if i eat over that it takes my carbs, sodium and sugar too high! If i don't eat enough i am hungry and I'm drinking my weight in water most of the time.

I am not huge (127lb) but i feel like i am constantly checking everything and not letting myself eat things i would have eaten before even if its not that bad for me! When i have posted things on this forum for help i am told to watch my sugar and my sodium but i honestly believe that i am not eating badly!

I also seem to be spending a considerable amount of extra money buying things so i can fit it into my healthy eating.

I feel life is too short to be so obsessed with calories unless it is seriously affecting your health.

Anyway i don't want to offend anyone, just merely ranting. Don't think MFP is for me anymore. I don't think it's good to be counting each and every calorie. Surely if you are eating healthy with lots of fruits and veg, you don't need to be so obsessed with calorie and macro counting?

kerryoneill22

If I was you i would not be to worried about all the other levels just make sure your calorie count is ok at the end of the day, personally I don't even weigh food, just because when you come off your diet and try to eat normally again the weight will go on a lot faster that you have lost.

I have found that the 30 Day Shred is helping a great deal, i did not notice anything on the scales for a while and was getting quite frustrated but with my clothes i was noticing the difference.

Now although i have only lost 4lb in weight my measurements are coming down also.

Keep at it and you will see that it will make a difference in the end, frustration is the name of the game.

Feel free to add me.

fevermaps

If I was you i would not be to worried about all the other levels just make sure your calorie count is ok at the end of the day, personally I don't even weigh food, just because when you come off your diet and try to eat normally again the weight will go on a lot faster that you have lost.

I have found that the 30 Day Shred is helping a great deal, i did not notice anything on the scales for a while and was getting quite frustrated but with my clothes i was noticing the difference.

Now although i have only lost 4lb in weight my measurements are coming down also.

Keep at it and you will see that it will make a difference in the end, frustration is the name of the game.

Feel free to add me.

Thanks for your comment. I am not too fussed about the scales just starting to feel like calorie counting is taking over my life! Will add you now.

Oxjo

I use MFP just as tool to check how much I eat in a day I dont calorie count. I am on the Harcombe Diet which does not count calories and works for me. As I said although I am on the Harcombe Diet I use MFP to keep a diary of what I eat and it keeps me focussed on a daily basis. According to MFP very often I will have eaten either too many calories or too little on Harcombe but so far since Oct I have lost 23lbs and it is not calorie counting.

melaniecheeks

As you've already said, 127 is unlikely to be overweight - what height are you? What are you hoping to achieve?

mockchoc

I haven't looked at your diary but there is no need to worry about your sugar levels if you feel you are eating healthy foods. If you are eating lots of processed crap well then yes might be good to watch it. Sodium really shouldn't be an issue unless you have high blood pressure etc.. or are experiencing water retention but you can just drink extra water and eat potassium rich foods to help with bloating.

If calorie counting is becoming annoying why don't you just eat what you know is right for a little while and see if you lose or not. I totally understand not wanting to be counting calories for ever. I think we should be able to learn during our calorie counting time how to eat right without it.

fevermaps

As you've already said, 127 is unlikely to be overweight - what height are you? What are you hoping to achieve?

I know i am not overweight. It's mainly to feel a bit more healthy as i have never eaten loads just used to eat a lot of take outs and pasta and i need to tone up a bit so i'm doing strength training. It's mainly toning i want to achieve and lose maybe 5 lb. I am in no rush to do it. I am just starting to feel like calorie counting is a bit too much as i'm worrying all the time about what i'm eating!

patentguru

Hi- You can eat whatever you want. I go over my so called limit once in a while. Don't let the calorie counting control you. Consider using it as a feedback mechanism. The only foods not on my list are those that actually make me sick, so very few not on it. For example, I have beer and chocolate many days during the week, and I eat out a lot. Yet, I am still losing about 1 pound of fat a week, and maintaining muscle.

I use the diary for the following feedback:

1. The obvious- calories eaten. It trains me to know when I have eaten about my limit in calories- i.e. when cutting about 1500 net calories, plus eat back on exercise so it usually about 2400, and about 2200-3000 when maintaining. However, I need the diary less for this now.

2. Muscle recovery and muscle loss/gain: If I am not recovering from workouts-i.e. too sore, or I am losing strength, muscle size- I look back to see what I ate to try and determine the cause. For me, usually too many high glycemic carbs too late in the day.

3. Energy level-

4. whatever.

Good luck.

I am getting a bit disheartened with all of this. Let me elaborate. I am supposed to eat over 1,200 calories a day however if i eat over that it takes my carbs, sodium and sugar too high! If i don't eat enough i am hungry and I'm drinking my weight in water most of the time.

I am not huge (127lb) but i feel like i am constantly checking everything and not letting myself eat things i would have eaten before even if its not that bad for me! When i have posted things on this forum for help i am told to watch my sugar and my sodium but i honestly believe that i am not eating badly!

I also seem to be spending a considerable amount of extra money buying things so i can fit it into my healthy eating.

I feel life is too short to be so obsessed with calories unless it is seriously affecting your health.

Anyway i don't want to offend anyone, just merely ranting. Don't think MFP is for me anymore. I don't think it's good to be counting each and every calorie. Surely if you are eating healthy with lots of fruits and veg, you don't need to be so obsessed with calorie and macro counting?

Qskim

I'm with mockhoc...I switched over to whole foods at the beginning and lost nearly 1/4 of what I have just by doing that...hadn't found this app then..started calorie counting on 1200 but had no friends and was quite relaxed about it..didn't sweat macros or even going over on that calorie level...sort of figured I had leeway anyway. Once I made friends to tell you the truth I was surprised at how OBSESSED they were by going in the red and macros..sweating on being over just a little here n there even though their day was predominately healthy (aside from those who do have issues with sodium etc) I'm now preparing for maintenance...feel I've learnt enough about portions, nutrition etc to simply focus on good whole foods and let that take care of the rest..it's not been easy though. Entirely experimental plus other factors interfering with my focus at the moment but I'm going to persist because I want to finish how I started. I do diary but I zero out the quantity..I also add into" my foods" some of them if I want to specify portions especially if I've eaten 10 lollies as opposed to 100 which wouldn't be a great day everyday! That way friends can still pull me up.

ETA..I also found out that I have an allergy...even though I still occasionally eat those foods and pay a price for it..it does make it easier for me most of the time to stick to healthier choices. I sort of naturally fell into 1200 by default but always happy to go over when hungry by sticking (hopefully) to protein and veg.

fevermaps

Thanks everyone! Has helped me a lot!