Unsure how this works
jessrose_13
Posts: 7
Hi, I am new to this site, I have been doing my food diary for 5 days now and i am a bit confused. It states which calories are 'good' and 'bad' but i seem to be failing. I cant seem to get enough out of my food for the calories I am having, if this makes sense. Please can someone give me a bit of a helping hand to get started? I go to the gym 3 times a week and do 30 mins cardio and 20 mins weights each time. I only started last week. i am looking to lose 2 dress sizes by the summer. Any tips and advice please!!!!!!!
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Replies
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Keep with what you're doing at the gym.
Food:
Stay away from bread, pasta, rice, potato and anything high in fat or sugar.
For dinners:
Eat lean meat about the size of a chicken breast and veg about the size of two chicken breasts.
Work out what you want for breakfast and lunch and post it on here for people to comment on and give you a thumbs up or down or what to change.
Stick with it every day and you WILL loose the weight
Nick0 -
Can you open your food diary so we can take a look at what you are eating?0
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Food:
Stay away from bread, pasta, rice, potato.
Why? Unless she wants to do a low carb diet these are fine foods...0 -
GOOD ADVICE FROM NICK AS HE SAYS STICK WITH IT CONSISTANCY IS TH E KEY :bigsmile:0
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Why? Unless she wants to do a low carb diet these are fine foods...
If you want to loose weight trust me, stay away from them. The body will convert potato into usable sugars and fat quicker than it can convert actual sugar.
Cutting those simple carbs out your diet will increase your weight loss dramatically.0 -
There are no good calories and bad calories. There are foods that help you meet your goal, and foods that don't, but that's about it. Even cake helps me meet my goal, because I need it for my mental health. Now if I have too much cake and it crowds out food with a lot more nutrients, or it causes me not to get enough protein, then it's not helping me meet my goal anymore. Does that make sense? :P So don't stress about that.
As for getting the most out of your food, I personally focus on protein the most. MFP's recommendation is the minimum, it's good to go over.
Since you're only 5 days in you may not be ready to talk macros yet but when you are check out this post:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
It sounds like your calorie goal may be too low if you're having trouble feeling like you have gotten enough food. Another possibility is that you're eating stuff that doesn't have much bang for your buck, so to speak. So if you open your diary (go to settings and set it to public) we can give you better advice.
Also are you eating back your calories earned from exercise?0 -
There are no good calories and bad calories. There are foods that help you meet your goal, and foods that don't, but that's about it. Even cake helps me meet my goal, because I need it for my mental health. Now if I have too much cake and it crowds out food with a lot more nutrients, or it causes me not to get enough protein, then it's not helping me meet my goal anymore. Does that make sense? :P So don't stress about that.
As for getting the most out of your food, I personally focus on protein the most. MFP's recommendation is the minimum, it's good to go over.
Since you're only 5 days in you may not be ready to talk macros yet but when you are check out this post:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
It sounds like your calorie goal may be too low if you're having trouble feeling like you have gotten enough food. Another possibility is that you're eating stuff that doesn't have much bang for your buck, so to speak. So if you open your diary (go to settings and set it to public) we can give you better advice.
Also are you eating back your calories earned from exercise?
^^ This. Yes, eat a balanced diet, but there is no need to cut any foods out, just eat in moderation. Losing weight is hard enough without worrying about the diet myths.0 -
Why? Unless she wants to do a low carb diet these are fine foods...
If you want to loose weight trust me, stay away from them. The body will convert potato into usable sugars and fat quicker than it can convert actual sugar.
Cutting those simple carbs out your diet will increase your weight loss dramatically.
I'm below my goal weight and eat tons of carbs every day. Elimination of carbs may result in more rapid weight loss, but for most people removal of food groups is not a sustainable way of eating. Unless someone has a metabolic disorder, such as diabetes, there is no reason to remove any carbs.0 -
Actually, you get many of your micronutrients from carbohydrates. Breads and pastas are enriched and a good source of things like iron. Spinach, sweet potatoes, fruits, tomatoes are all carbs that are nutrient dense.
I somehow manage to get my micronutrients in on most days, and I eat ice cream almost every day. Lots of fats, too.
It isn't about what you eat necessarily, just the quantity and overall calorie intake versus burn.
Go slow and good luck with your progress.0 -
I'm below my goal weight and eat tons of carbs every day. Elimination of carbs may result in more rapid weight loss, but for most people removal of food groups is not a sustainable way of eating. Unless someone has a metabolic disorder, such as diabetes, there is no reason to remove any carbs.
The original poster wants to drop two dress sizes in three months (for the summer).
Cutting out simple carbs such as bread, rice & pasta will go a huge way for her to reach her goals in such a short time frame. I didn't say it was a way of life forever just to reach her goals and answer her initial question
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I have opened up my diary. this week has been pretty awful but i want to get back on track in the morning and put my all into it.
How do you look at other diaries? thank you everyone for your comments, given me a lot to think about.0 -
I have noticed a lot of the days, i am getting told i am not eating enough and that will cause weight gain. I am really having to force myself to drink more water and eat more food! i believe not eating enough has been my problem. Plus I quit smoking a year ago, not using this as an excuse but i think it didnt help my weight.0
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Takemetothepub... If i cut out potato, rice, pasta and bread... what do I eat? :-) thats my main meals each day.0
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Eat up to your calorie goal. Make sure you're logging accurately-- I see some generic entries. It's better to put in the exact brand you get if possible.
As for what to eat, for weight loss it's just calories. If you eat less than you burn you'll lose weight. But for optimizing your calories you want lots of lean protein, veggies, dairy, healthy fat sources like nuts/avocado, and some fruit. Bread/pasta/rice are staples for me but they are secondary to my protein goal.
1200 is not a lot of calories. It's not enough for many many people. So you do need to be eating at least that much. Do you know your BMR?0 -
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Also-- you are not getting enough protein. MFP's recommendation is the bare minimum and most days you're not getting close to it. Part of this seems to be inaccurate logging-- there's no way that chicken bake has no protein. I suspect the database entry is wrong.
Are you entering your own recipes? Don't use the ones in the database entered by other people. Example: "homemade sausage penne pasta" If you entered the recipe, great! If not, start doing that.
Are you using a food scale?0 -
Eat up to your calorie goal. Make sure you're logging accurately-- I see some generic entries. It's better to put in the exact brand you get if possible.
As for what to eat, for weight loss it's just calories. If you eat less than you burn you'll lose weight. But for optimizing your calories you want lots of lean protein, veggies, dairy, healthy fat sources like nuts/avocado, and some fruit. Bread/pasta/rice are staples for me but they are secondary to my protein goal.
I am still trying to find my way around the calorie lists to be honest when it comes to generic, i only put that when im in a muddle! Its hard for me to get any tough exercise in during the week due to long working hours so i try and go for a 20 minute walk at lunch and leave the gym for the weekends and maybe one night during the week. I have been told nuts is a good source, but are they not rich in fats? I eat a lot of oily fish, thats a plus right?0 -
Takemetothepub... If i cut out potato, rice, pasta and bread... what do I eat? :-) thats my main meals each day.
That's the problem.
It's great food if you do what Takemetothepub is suggesting. It's easy too. It just seems hard at first. Like he said, lean meat and veggies. Add a little fruit, some nuts for snack, a small handful, and you're golden.
A couple things, eating higher fat foods does not make you fat. I eat bacon and sausage everyday. My goal is 50% fat in my diet, and I still lose weight. The thing is, your body uses fat for energy. It's more efficient than processed carbs. You still get your carbs from the veggies you eat.
It's totally sustainable. Cut processed carbs. You don't need it and it's crap food, and it just makes people fat for no good reason because it's not filling and the benefit is very small for the quantity and density. More bang for your buck sitting down with a baked chicken breast and a pile of brocolli.
I do eat sweet potatoes. Yum. But, rice, pasta, bread...don't need it.
I'm always surprised at how emphatic the non-processed carbs people are about how it makes you fat, when there are so many of us out there eating pancakes, ice cream, white rice, bread, etc. and still having great success over the long term. This just isn't necessary.0 -
Eat up to your calorie goal. Make sure you're logging accurately-- I see some generic entries. It's better to put in the exact brand you get if possible.
As for what to eat, for weight loss it's just calories. If you eat less than you burn you'll lose weight. But for optimizing your calories you want lots of lean protein, veggies, dairy, healthy fat sources like nuts/avocado, and some fruit. Bread/pasta/rice are staples for me but they are secondary to my protein goal.
I am still trying to find my way around the calorie lists to be honest when it comes to generic, i only put that when im in a muddle! Its hard for me to get any tough exercise in during the week due to long working hours so i try and go for a 20 minute walk at lunch and leave the gym for the weekends and maybe one night during the week. I have been told nuts is a good source, but are they not rich in fats? I eat a lot of oily fish, thats a plus right?
Fats are fine. You want some fat, like I said above you should go for about .35 grams per pound of body weight.
It takes practice to get the logging down, but some of the database entries can be grossly inaccurate. It takes a long time in the beginning to enter your own recipes but it's worth it because calorie counts for some dishes can have a huge amount of variance. Example-- had shrimp gumbo at a friend's house the other night. The database has shrimp gumbo recipes listed from 100 calories per cup to 400 calories per cup. The occasional guess isn't bad, but if you have a lot of them it can add up fast.0 -
Takemetothepub... If i cut out potato, rice, pasta and bread... what do I eat? :-) thats my main meals each day.
Breakfasts;
Omelets
Scrambled egg
Hard boiled egg
Bacon (fat removed)
Mushrooms
Lunch;
Salads
Cooked chicken thighs (skin removed)
Ham rolled up with veg inside
chicken tikka
Dinner;
Steak & veg
Spaghetti bolognese with out the spaghetti and made with turkey mince (use twice the mince you normally would to take the place of the spaghetti)
Stir fry (only with veg + meat, no noodles)
Roast dinners (just no potato)
The list goes on and is easy to make good tasty meals that make you not think you're on a diet as such.0 -
Takemetothepub... If i cut out potato, rice, pasta and bread... what do I eat? :-) thats my main meals each day.
That's the problem.
It's great food if you do what Takemetothepub is suggesting. It's easy too. It just seems hard at first. Like he said, lean meat and veggies. Add a little fruit, some nuts for snack, a small handful, and you're golden.
A couple things, eating higher fat foods does not make you fat. I eat bacon and sausage everyday. My goal is 50% fat in my diet, and I still lose weight. The thing is, your body uses fat for energy. It's more efficient than processed carbs. You still get your carbs from the veggies you eat.
It's totally sustainable. Cut processed carbs. You don't need it and it's crap food, and it just makes people fat for no good reason because it's not filling and the benefit is very small for the quantity and density. More bang for your buck sitting down with a baked chicken breast and a pile of brocolli.
I do eat sweet potatoes. Yum. But, rice, pasta, bread...don't need it.
I'm always surprised at how emphatic the non-processed carbs people are about how it makes you fat, when there are so many of us out there eating pancakes, ice cream, white rice, bread, etc. and still having great success over the long term. This just isn't necessary.
This. OP you're new to this, so don't complicate it.
Hit your calorie goal. Get as many filling/nutritious foods in as you can, while still leaving room for enough treats that you don't lose your mind. Log accurately. Be patient.0 -
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I'm always surprised at how emphatic the non-processed carbs people are about how it makes you fat, when there are so many of us out there eating pancakes, ice cream, white rice, bread, etc. and still having great success over the long term. This just isn't necessary.
No one here has said they will make you fat once?
The question was wanting to lose a good amount of weight in a short time frame.
Removing simple carbs will help towards that.
Not saying they are the evil of all man kind or if you look at them you will balloon to the size of a whale.0 -
I'm no food expert, however I can say that the key to winning and getting your goal is just to be honest to start, you are only 5 days in so you have loads to learn
In all honesty everyone has a point of view that is relevant depending on circumstance \
My advice is to start slow and easy, carry on the excercise routine, drink lots of water, there is a belief that sometimes thirst causes your brain to think you are hungry and since I upped my fluid intake I have come to believe its relevant (for me of course)
Record your food and slowly you will build a picture of what is good and bad, there is no quick fix a crash diet usually results in long term weight gain. Set your goal and go for it I think you can realistically expect to drop 2 dress sizes in 3 months if you stick to the plan, and keep to it after.
good luck and be patient0 -
There are no good calories and bad calories. There are foods that help you meet your goal, and foods that don't, but that's about it. Even cake helps me meet my goal, because I need it for my mental health. Now if I have too much cake and it crowds out food with a lot more nutrients, or it causes me not to get enough protein, then it's not helping me meet my goal anymore. Does that make sense? :P So don't stress about that.
As for getting the most out of your food, I personally focus on protein the most. MFP's recommendation is the minimum, it's good to go over.
Since you're only 5 days in you may not be ready to talk macros yet but when you are check out this post:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
BUMP for later!
It sounds like your calorie goal may be too low if you're having trouble feeling like you have gotten enough food. Another possibility is that you're eating stuff that doesn't have much bang for your buck, so to speak. So if you open your diary (go to settings and set it to public) we can give you better advice.
Also are you eating back your calories earned from exercise?0 -
This content has been removed.
-
Takemetothepub... If i cut out potato, rice, pasta and bread... what do I eat? :-) thats my main meals each day.
That's the problem.
It's great food if you do what Takemetothepub is suggesting. It's easy too. It just seems hard at first. Like he said, lean meat and veggies. Add a little fruit, some nuts for snack, a small handful, and you're golden.
A couple things, eating higher fat foods does not make you fat. I eat bacon and sausage everyday. My goal is 50% fat in my diet, and I still lose weight. The thing is, your body uses fat for energy. It's more efficient than processed carbs. You still get your carbs from the veggies you eat.
It's totally sustainable. Cut processed carbs. You don't need it and it's crap food, and it just makes people fat for no good reason because it's not filling and the benefit is very small for the quantity and density. More bang for your buck sitting down with a baked chicken breast and a pile of brocolli.
I do eat sweet potatoes. Yum. But, rice, pasta, bread...don't need it.
I'm always surprised at how emphatic the non-processed carbs people are about how it makes you fat, when there are so many of us out there eating pancakes, ice cream, white rice, bread, etc. and still having great success over the long term. This just isn't necessary.
I'm not emphatic. I just was stuck for literally years and couldn't lose. I was told that was my "natural body weight". I cut out processed carbs, and bam! So, yes, I'm a believer and I try to share that with others. If you can meet your goals with processed carbs in your diet, great.
BTW, I am now adding them back in selecvtively. Last night I had 4 chocolate chip cookies and red wine. I'm not hard core. But, I do believe that cutting them out has helped me achieve my goals. And, I do believe there is something to it. But, I can see how if you keep that stuff in your diet and still reach your goals, you can't understand what the big deal is. For me, it changed EVERYTHING.
Fair enough. My personal opinion is that the kind of attention to your diet that is required to pull off a low carb diet is what actually causes the improvement in most cases (special exceptions certainly apply for medical reasons). But that's just my opinion, and we all are certainly entitled to our personal approaches. I had great success, at one point for example, on a low fat diet but the existing science tells me it was unnecessary.
OP - I would suggest that you start here. There are people that require special diets but they are the exception, not the rule, so it's best to start with the simple approach first, before making things complicated. There are some great information sources out there such as Lyle McDonald and Alan Aragon but there is also the "Eat, Train, Progress" group here on MFP that puts all of that into very easily read form (as Angel mentioned above):
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read0 -
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Just one last thought. OP if you want to go low carb it can certainly help you drop water weight (which will come back immediately if you go back to eating carbs). However, unless you have some kind of intolerance or medical condition, it is not necessary for fat loss.
All that is required for weight loss is that you consume less calories than you burn. All the other recommendations are for maximizing your calories. Check out the link Sunsnstheart posted ^^ and good luck.0 -
I too am in the eat what you want camp, moderation and portion control has been my number one best thing to losing weight. Of course you learn you can trade off certain foods for more filling ones, like I used just eat butter to whatever I felt like, however I now reduce to about a 1/4 or less at a use and would rather have an apple for those found calories.
I eat potatoes often, but measure a 3-4 ounce potato it is small but still satisfying, instead of picking the biggest of the bunch weigh a smaller one and have that. Same with mashed potatoes, used to be I thought oh gee need to make a big ol pot of potatoes, so I'd just automatically peel and cut up 6-8 potatoes, and me and my husband (and small child) on a good night would eat them all, with butter, milk, ugh. I still make them but weigh out maybe 12-14 ounces, measure butter and milk, no more just keep adding milk and butter.
Same with rice and pasta. If you are wanting or planning these pre plan them BEFORE you get to that meal. Have a "cup" of pasta, don't make the pasta and fill your plate, that could be 2-3x as much as a serving. If I know I am making pasta I log that in my diary, log a serving or serving and a half, then you can plan other meals around that. Used to be if I made spaghetti I would also make bread, salad, giant pasta serving. Now, I have my pasta, sauce and a veggie, no bread or maybe a small salad with measured dressing. That change alone will save hundreds of calories, yet I get a satisfying pasta meal.
I really try and pre log big meals, or now I kind of now where my calories will end up for days, when it is hard is when I am extra hungry or busy or not motivated, pre planning helps a lot. I have not given up too much in the way of meal foods, just measure and weigh everything, and keep doing it, for me without weighing and eyeballing is when portions get bigger and bigger. That 3-4 ounce potato can get much bigger if I am just guessing and not weighing.0
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