Please look at my diary...

joleenl

You've been logging for about 3 weeks.

You never log on Saturdays or Sundays.

You've gone way over your calorie goal a handful of days that you've logged.

Your exercise calorie logs are, IMO, wildly optimistic.


So you've had some good days. You've got the basics down, you just need to hammer down the details. Log every day, religiously. Everything that goes in your mouth goes into MFP. Be more realistic with your burns. Don't blow through your goals. Stick to them. This will work.

I agree with this^^.

I would cut back on the fast and processed food. You don't have to quit but you should cut back and maybe try to make better choices when eating out. Also, it's your husband that has limited time, correct? Why not make food at home and meet up with him to eat? You could make chillies and soups and portion them out for several meals. You could make lots of any kind of suppers portion it out, heat it before you meet up with him and eat it hot. or you can have cold meals like big salads, Egg or tuna sandwiches, You could have finger foods like fruit, nuts, or cut up veggies. You can buy or portion out yogurt, cottage cheese and regular cheese. All of these options would be healthier, easier to track calories, and more filling.

okeydoky

I have lost 30 lbs. Twice. So, first the good news. It sounds like the weight plateau/gain is because you are gaining muscle. This is a good thing.

I just took a quick look at today's food diary and it looks like you still have calories to spare. Eating out a lot will NOT help. It is very difficult to accurately gauge calories and the quality of the food just ain't gonna be there. : (

Anytime I know I will be away from home for any length of time I pack healthy snacks and a meal. (Today was an apple, 1 oz cashews (measured them myself!) and a a a smoked salmon/avocado wrap on 2/3 of a whole grain tortilla. Not the cheapest groceries but when you compare it to eating out you might be saving money.

My suggestion is to add cardio, perhaps decreasing the weight training. No muscle group really needs to be worked more than twice a week... you can also think of doing it thrice in ten days. (It is nice to do core 3x/week or 4-5x/10 days if you can swing it.)

So, if you keep up with, let's say a 5 workout/week (just to give you some wiggle room!) you could do Mon: Lowerbody and core workout, Tues:Cardio 45 min, Wed:Upper Body, Cardio 20 min, Thurs: Cardio 30 min & core, Friday OFF! (or yoga, rough housing with the kids (always fun!) Sat: Lower body & 20 min Cardio. Sun: Cardio & core.

Rinse and repeat. Also, make sure you drink (and track!) enough water. And never waste your allotted calories on caloric beverages, except perhaps the OCCASIONAL coffee or tea.

Ok, that's my two cents worth. Good luck! Trust me, if I can do it twice, you can do it once. (Twice is NOT nice.)

RobynMWilson

I'm fairly new to this as well but agree with buglvr12. You don't want to eat too few calories or your body will store what you are eating as fat. I too lost weight a year ago then hit a stand still and got frustrated. The thing I changed this time around is no longer buying the processed "diet" foods and am eating more produce, fish and chicken. Since I quit doing the 100 calorie packets, breads and grains the weight has started coming off again. Also, I have been drinking alot more water. Keep your head up, litle tweaks here and there will help you to figure out what works for your body.

^^^ you hit the nail on the head! No more 100 calorie packs, diet foods, etc etc! Love it!

TAsunder

I remember one guy recently. His HRM told him he burned like 1200 calories walking 3 miles. There's just no way. HRMs can't account for VO2 max or a dozen other modifiers. They're just not very good at estimating calories.

They are better than nothing, though. I would be surprised in the situation here if the HRM was the problem. It seems much more likely to be the food side of things to me.

GeoJenna223

I would say greatly reduce your carb intake as well as your sodium. If you can keep your carbs under 150g per day you may begin to see results. I also agree with the sentiments that not all foods are created equal. Eating 1700cals per day of lean protein, no refined carbs or added sugars will make you feel much better and allow you to lead a much healthier life than eating 1700 cals/day of restaurant food and McDonalds. Sure, you may lose weight because the calories are the same, but skinny fat is nothing something you want to be.

jonnythan

I remember one guy recently. His HRM told him he burned like 1200 calories walking 3 miles. There's just no way. HRMs can't account for VO2 max or a dozen other modifiers. They're just not very good at estimating calories.

They are better than nothing, though. I would be surprised in the situation here if the HRM was the problem. It seems much more likely to be the food side of things to me.

I don't think they are better than nothing, considering how many people I see who seem to be wildly overestimating calorie burns.

The HRM is clearly not the only problem. We've covered the others and hopefully she will take note: log every day, meet goal every day, etc.

And sticking to your calorie intake is not going to get you very far if your calorie target is hundreds of calories too high thanks to your HRM.

lavendergirll

I have to agree with a lot of people here. I applaud you for your success in losing the weight; however I know from personal experience that when I work out for over an hour every day; and then go in the house and have multiple glasses of wine....I pretty much wipe out anything I might have accomplished. You are going to have to get strong and say goodbye to chips, cakes, etc. You need to eat a breakfast with protein every day; you need to incorporate more protein in your lunch; however you really need to do research when eating out. If your husband has a half hour; prepare a picnic dinner (healthy) and meet him a few times a week. It is not your fault when the choices are not the best when eating out. I believe you have the "get up and go" but you are messing up your workouts by overeating. You can do this; you just need to make better choices and get rid of the chips!

s_wilson84

YOU CANNOT OUT EXERCISE A BAD DIET.

I watched my diet for 10 weeks at FXB and dropped a lot of BF. I continued with FXB changing nothing but my diet. I stopped watching what I ate and stopped feeding my body. Over a period of 8 months I slowly gained 30 pounds. On January 4th I told myself that something had to change. I gave up dairy, meats, animal products, and processed foods. Since January 4th I have lost 32 lbs and cut 7%BF.

TAsunder

I remember one guy recently. His HRM told him he burned like 1200 calories walking 3 miles. There's just no way. HRMs can't account for VO2 max or a dozen other modifiers. They're just not very good at estimating calories.

They are better than nothing, though. I would be surprised in the situation here if the HRM was the problem. It seems much more likely to be the food side of things to me.

I don't think they are better than nothing, considering how many people I see who seem to be wildly overestimating calorie burns.

The HRM is clearly not the only problem. We've covered the others and hopefully she will take note: log every day, meet goal every day, etc.

And sticking to your calorie intake is not going to get you very far if your calorie target is hundreds of calories too high thanks to your HRM.

MFP also overestimates calorie burns for many activities. What's your approach / the one you suggest in this case that doesn't involve an HRM at all?

LBNOakland

Seriously, quit the fast food.

Allow me to strongly disagree with this.

Quitting fast food is not even remotely necessary.

This.

I still have fast food, occasionally...just not 4-5 times a week like I used to. I eat pizza, ice cream, cookies, Costco muffins...but it's all about moderation and compensating for it with the rest of your diet.

You might want to take a look at my diary. I've had fast food, ice cream, donuts, or pizza pretty much every single day. On Tuesday I had McDonald's, Subway, and ice cream. Today I've got a donut, pizza, and Taco Bell.

The irish creme donut sounds yummy! If the profile pic is you, you don't look like you have a major weight problem. FOr someone like me with 70+ pounds to lose, fast food is a problem. It's like crack to me. Best to quit cold turkey!! LOL

Everyone has to do what is best for them. i was just suggesting that avoiding fast food would be best. PErhaps the suggestion should be to quit it for a month and see if there is a difference on the scale. It's all about choices! I am better off not going to McyD's than trying to go and order a salad. Quarter Pounder always comes out of my mouth despite my best intentions!! LOL

I used to be 210 lbs. I'm now 157.

That's awesome!!

GeoJenna223

Oh, and HRM without a chest strap are the ones that are less than accurate. If you get one with a strap and maintain the proper weight settings (changing them every 5 lbs) your accuracy should be within 5-10%. The HRM's with just a watch that measure your pulse are the ones that can be wildly inaccurate.

jonnythan

I remember one guy recently. His HRM told him he burned like 1200 calories walking 3 miles. There's just no way. HRMs can't account for VO2 max or a dozen other modifiers. They're just not very good at estimating calories.

They are better than nothing, though. I would be surprised in the situation here if the HRM was the problem. It seems much more likely to be the food side of things to me.

I don't think they are better than nothing, considering how many people I see who seem to be wildly overestimating calorie burns.

The HRM is clearly not the only problem. We've covered the others and hopefully she will take note: log every day, meet goal every day, etc.

And sticking to your calorie intake is not going to get you very far if your calorie target is hundreds of calories too high thanks to your HRM.

MFP also overestimates calorie burns for many activities. What's your approach / the one you suggest in this case that doesn't involve an HRM at all?

Yes, MFP's calculations are pretty bad too IMO. I actually suggest a Fitbit to people, but barring that you have to kinda go by feel. It's hard if you have no frame of reference though.

Before the Fitbit, I used the treadmill. I could run for 30 minutes and see how many calories the treadmill said I burned, and then gauge other activities based off that sort of energy expenditure. 10 calories per minute is about right for me at around 6 mph. I can gauge when playing tennis because I can sort of feel myself using about half that, averaged over time. Same with racquetball - around half that.

The Fitbit is surprisingly accurate, because it's measuring how your body actually moves and not your physiological response to energy consumption. That response varies wildly among different people.

TigressPat

umm.. you go over your calories almost every day, and your cals are pretty high to start with.

you eat fast food almost every day and no salads or even grilled chicken sandwiches, burgers and fries!!!

there was one day you ate nothing but mcdonalds, popeyes, and chocolate.

I'm sorry, Im not trying to be a ***** (maybe it just comes naturally?) but your diet is garbage.

overhaul12

Oh, and HRM without a chest strap are the ones that are less than accurate. If you get one with a strap and maintain the proper weight settings (changing them every 5 lbs) your accuracy should be within 5-10%. The HRM's with just a watch that measure your pulse are the ones that can be wildly inaccurate.

^^^Agree completely.

jonnythan

Oh, and HRM without a chest strap are the ones that are less than accurate. If you get one with a strap and maintain the proper weight settings (changing them every 5 lbs) your accuracy should be within 5-10%. The HRM's with just a watch that measure your pulse are the ones that can be wildly inaccurate.

I don't agree with this at all. Using the heart rate as the basis for energy expenditure has to make huge assumptions about VO2 max, cardiovascular efficiency, baseline heart rate, etc. It's just not going to be very good.

TAsunder

I remember one guy recently. His HRM told him he burned like 1200 calories walking 3 miles. There's just no way. HRMs can't account for VO2 max or a dozen other modifiers. They're just not very good at estimating calories.

They are better than nothing, though. I would be surprised in the situation here if the HRM was the problem. It seems much more likely to be the food side of things to me.

I don't think they are better than nothing, considering how many people I see who seem to be wildly overestimating calorie burns.

The HRM is clearly not the only problem. We've covered the others and hopefully she will take note: log every day, meet goal every day, etc.

And sticking to your calorie intake is not going to get you very far if your calorie target is hundreds of calories too high thanks to your HRM.

MFP also overestimates calorie burns for many activities. What's your approach / the one you suggest in this case that doesn't involve an HRM at all?

Yes, MFP's calculations are pretty bad too IMO. I actually suggest a Fitbit to people, but barring that you have to kinda go by feel. It's hard if you have no frame of reference though.

Before the Fitbit, I used the treadmill. I could run for 30 minutes and see how many calories the treadmill said I burned, and then gauge other activities based off that sort of energy expenditure. 10 calories per minute is about right for me at around 6 mph. I can gauge when playing tennis because I can sort of feel myself using about half that, averaged over time. Same with racquetball - around half that.

The Fitbit is surprisingly accurate, because it's measuring how your body actually moves and not your physiological response to energy consumption. That response varies wildly among different people.

Ah, well I guess I am similar then. I use MFP's numbers but make sure that I'm choosing exercises that appear to burn an appropriate amount of calories. 10 per minute for intense, 3-5 per minute for moderate, etc.

For what it's worth, my fitbit is mostly useless for tracking actual exercise activities. It seems to over-estimate bicycling and exercise walking, under-estimate running, and seems to behave unpredictably for circuit training / boot camp activities. I haven't yet figured out a way to wear it during brazilian jiujitsu, but I bet that would be really interesting. However, it seems within the realm of reasonable for "non exercise" activities like walking around during the day.

neacail

It is difficult to make suggestions not knowing your BMR and TDEE. But, my guess is that you're consuming too many calories: based on your food log. I'd personally start with making better choices when eating out.

Make sure you log everything, every day: even on the day when you're not "supposed" to. If you're not logging everything it will be very difficult for you to figure out exactly what is going on.

Brenda4105

What about making dinner at home and taking it in to share with your husband? I work across the hall from our police dept. they have a big breakroom, a microwave, stove, tables......if you cooks some things ahead it makes it easy to pack up things that can be microwaved. Much healthier choices can be made, you might have more time to spend with hubby if you can meet him in the breakroom and have stuff heated up and maybe save you money in the long run.

Good luck.

LBNOakland

I remember one guy recently. His HRM told him he burned like 1200 calories walking 3 miles. There's just no way. HRMs can't account for VO2 max or a dozen other modifiers. They're just not very good at estimating calories.

They are better than nothing, though. I would be surprised in the situation here if the HRM was the problem. It seems much more likely to be the food side of things to me.

I don't think they are better than nothing, considering how many people I see who seem to be wildly overestimating calorie burns.

The HRM is clearly not the only problem. We've covered the others and hopefully she will take note: log every day, meet goal every day, etc.

And sticking to your calorie intake is not going to get you very far if your calorie target is hundreds of calories too high thanks to your HRM.

MFP also overestimates calorie burns for many activities. What's your approach / the one you suggest in this case that doesn't involve an HRM at all?

Yes, MFP's calculations are pretty bad too IMO. I actually suggest a Fitbit to people, but barring that you have to kinda go by feel. It's hard if you have no frame of reference though.

Before the Fitbit, I used the treadmill. I could run for 30 minutes and see how many calories the treadmill said I burned, and then gauge other activities based off that sort of energy expenditure. 10 calories per minute is about right for me at around 6 mph. I can gauge when playing tennis because I can sort of feel myself using about half that, averaged over time. Same with racquetball - around half that.

The Fitbit is surprisingly accurate, because it's measuring how your body actually moves and not your physiological response to energy consumption. That response varies wildly among different people.

I am actually considering a FitBit. I have an HRM watch. Totally useless! How does Fitbit do work for measuring lifting calories? Do you have to subscribe and pay a monthly fee? Is it worth it? if you decide not to keep the subscription (if there isn't one- ignore this), is it totally useless without it?

Thanks for posting before and after pics! Very inspiring but I am still staying away from McD!! :bigsmile:

jonnythan

No fee. It logs virtually nothing for lifting. I don't log lifting calories either though. It's very accurate for me for tennis, racquetball, treadmill, walking, etc.