Condiments, Serving Sizes and Exercise Estimate Problems

MinimalistShoeAddict

I see three problem areas causing many people (who believe they are being diligent and accurate with all of their logging) who think they are eating at a deficit, difficulty in losing weight.

Condiments:
Record everything! Cheese Mayonnaise, Ketchup, all add up and need to be recorded. Don't rely on the MFP database numbers unless you are sure the condiments you are choosing are accurately represented in the totals. Many restaurants (such as Subway) post calorie estimates that do not include mayonnaise, cheese, dressing, etc.

Serving Sizes:
I was at the gym yesterday and a supplement promoter was giving away free samples. Although he used the scoop that came with the protein powder, it was filled far past the top. I estimated it to be 1.5 servings. Many people either consistently record one scoop, teaspoon, tablespoon etc as 1 in this manner, leading to significantly underestimating caloric intake over time. If you are eating out instead of preparing your own food and cannot find an exact match in the databases, are you rounding up to the closest match you can find? Or are you rounding down to the item (that is similar) reporting the lowest calorie total?

Exercise:
Different people have different methods of accounting for this. If you are using the MFP presets, make sure you choose the correct setting (sedentary, lightly active, active, very active). Once you have chosen your level, do not double count your caloric burn by adding your normal daily activities. For example if you are a full time waiter/waitress and selected Active do not add an additional 8 hours of walking to your aerobic exercise log for your shift. Your recorded exercise (which you will eat back if using the guided MFP method) should be in addition to your normal daily activities.

Your heart rate monitor is a great tool. Learn what it can and cannot do accurately. It can be very accurate in measuring your caloric burn from continuous aerobic activity such as running. It is far less accurate in measuring your burn rate from strength training. Many people overestimate caloric burn in this area. Estimates can be helpful, but much depends on the type of strength exercise you are doing (compound vs. isolation, intensity, resting period between sets, etc). Personally when there is a doubt, I prefer to underestimate instead of overestimate.

This guidelines is meant for people who want to lose weight. That being said some people want to gain weight and sometimes have the opposite problem. In that case, think about whether or not you are having any of the above problems in reverse (underestimating instead of overestimating intake, or exercise). Good luck!

ToughMudderAddict

Well said.

RunnerInVT

I concur.

MinimalistShoeAddict

I see three problem areas causing many people (who believe they are being diligent and accurate with all of their logging) who think they are eating at a deficit, difficulty in losing weight.

Condiments:
Record everything! Cheese Mayonnaise, Ketchup, all add up and need to be recorded. Don't rely on the MFP database numbers unless you are sure the condiments you are choosing are accurately represented in the totals. Many restaurants (such as Subway) post calorie estimates that do not include mayonnaise, cheese, dressing, etc.

Serving Sizes:
I was at the gym yesterday and a supplement promoter was giving away free samples. Although he used the scoop that came with the protein powder, it was filled far past the top. I estimated it to be 1.5 servings. Many people either consistently record one scoop, teaspoon, tablespoon etc as 1 in this manner, leading to significantly underestimating caloric intake over time. If you are eating out instead of preparing your own food and cannot find an exact match in the databases, are you rounding up to the closest match you can find? Or are you rounding down to the item (that is similar) reporting the lowest calorie total?

Exercise:
Different people have different methods of accounting for this. If you are using the MFP presets, make sure you choose the correct setting (sedentary, lightly active, active, very active). Once you have chosen your level, do not double count your caloric burn by adding your normal daily activities. For example if you are a full time waiter/waitress and selected Active do not add an additional 8 hours of walking to your aerobic exercise log for your shift. Your recorded exercise (which you will eat back if using the guided MFP method) should be in addition to your normal daily activities.

Your heart rate monitor is a great tool. Learn what it can and cannot do accurately. It can be very accurate in measuring your caloric burn from continuous aerobic activity such as running. It is far less accurate in measuring your burn rate from strength training. Many people overestimate caloric burn in this area. Estimates can be helpful, but much depends on the type of strength exercise you are doing (compound vs. isolation, intensity, resting period between sets, etc). Personally when there is a doubt, I prefer to underestimate instead of overestimate.

This guidelines is meant for people who want to lose weight. That being said some people want to gain weight and sometimes have the opposite problem. In that case, think about whether or not you are having any of the above problems in reverse (underestimating instead of overestimating intake, or exercise). Good luck!

If you think choosing your own condiments is too time consuming, remember that you can save your meals when you are done! In the long run this will save you a lot of time when you repeat your favorite meals over and over again.

Here is a helpful video I found regarding serving sizes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCcrVtzYWrc

If you are using a HRM, make sure you are entering your gender, age, height and weight, (and update them over time) to ensure the most accurate results. If you have lost 50 pounds over the last year, congratulations! Now go back to your HRM settings and update your age/weight. Not doing so will lead to inaccurate calorie burning estimates going forward.

stubbysticks

I think exercise is probably the trickiest one to estimate for most people, because the average person starting out is relying on the exercise database. I tend not to trust anything that isn't attached to my body when I exercise, but even then...meh. I agree that when you're trying to lose weight, underestimating calorie burn is better than overestimating in most cases. I think the exception might be if your goal is 2 lb/week loss, because the 1000-calorie deficit per day is already built into the calorie target calculation, & deficits larger than that can yield unpredictable results if maintained for too long.

In my case I wear my HRM for cardio only, import it to Endomondo, make a manual entry for any strength training I did, then both populate to MFP automatically. I think the HRM way underestimates my cardio burn & Endomondo overestimates the lifting burn some, but it's not that big a deal. People who are super fussy about getting more accurate activity numbers might benefit from having a Bodymedia monitor or FitBit.

MinimalistShoeAddict

I think exercise is probably the trickiest one to estimate for most people, because the average person starting out is relying on the exercise database. I tend not to trust anything that isn't attached to my body when I exercise, but even then...meh. I agree that when you're trying to lose weight, underestimating calorie burn is better than overestimating in most cases. I think the exception might be if your goal is 2 lb/week loss, because the 1000-calorie deficit per day is already built into the calorie target calculation, & deficits larger than that can yield unpredictable results if maintained for too long.

In my case I wear my HRM for cardio only, import it to Endomondo, make a manual entry for any strength training I did, then both populate to MFP automatically. I think the HRM way underestimates my cardio burn & Endomondo overestimates the lifting burn some, but it's not that big a deal. People who are super fussy about getting more accurate activity numbers might benefit from having a Bodymedia monitor or FitBit.

I completely agree about exercise being the hardest to accurately measure! I have never tried FitBit or Bodymedia (but know that many people swear by it), but also have noticed that Endomondo and other exercise apps sometimes give vastly different numbers than my HRM.

I also agree with you about the need to be careful when targeting weight loss over 2 pounds a week. I think we all want to eventually settle at a healthy weight and avoid yo-yo dieting. 1000 calories a day is a huge deficit and is hard to maintain. I think it may be easier to stay at a target weight once achieved, if the deficit during the diet phase was smaller. More gradual changes seem easier to sustain for most people compared with huge drastic cuts.

stubbysticks

Yeah, since I expect my exercise burn to be underestimated, my goal is set to 1/2 lb loss per week on purpose so I have quite a bit of room to account for the inaccuracy. Plus I like food. :bigsmile: