Choose your calories wisely

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  • adegonia
    adegonia Posts: 51 Member
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    We accept your appology! I think a lot of people on here have probably been battling self image/weight problems longer than you have been alive. LOL Just keep in mind that you never know someone's background. Personally my dad thought it was ok to feed us chocolate cake for breakfast and fitness was never a thought. So 27 years into bad habits later it will take awhile to get to where I should be. I'm keeping my food diary public and maybe in 6 months you'll be able to see more progress! We all want to do good, some of us are just learning how!
  • lina1131
    lina1131 Posts: 2,246 Member
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    When I started this journey, my goal was to lose weight and keep it off. I have (for the most part) done that. I have changed my eating habits immensely as compared to 4-5 years ago. I've learned a lot about fat, protein, fiber, nutrients, sodium, sugar, etc along the way.

    I don't ever intend to eat "perfectly healthy"

    I like my ice cream, burgers and fries, pizza and barbeque ribs. I enjoy potato chips sometimes and candy too (chocolate, MMMmmmmmm) I know I will never weigh 120 pounds and be perfectly shaped with little body fat because I DO like these and indulge on them quite frequently- although, not in the quantities I used to pre-weight loss. I eat processed foods purchased from the grocery store and probably always will - sure, I read labels and there's some things I will never ever buy and eat again- but there's plenty out there that I still do.

    I know doritoes have no nutritional value and lots of fat, and the same for donuts... but they taste good and they make me happy. When I am happy, my body is happy because I am not miserably moping around feeling deprived and mad at the world because I "can't" or "shouldn't" eat the food that I just want to eat (regardless of whether or not it's good for me)

    I am not perfect, I do not eat perfect, I do not strive to be perfect nor do I strive to eat perfect. I do not think it's a good idea to give myself an unrealistic goal. In my world, yes... cutting out all junk and processed food is unrealistic. I don't want to, don't think I really need to. If you looked at my food diary (go ahead if you want- it's public) you'd probably be shocked at the amount of "crap" I eat. I know I could probably cut back a bit and lose faster - but it's hard for me! :wink:

    Anyway, I'd like to think of myself as a weight loss success, I lost 60 pounds in 7 months back in 2006. I gained a few back, but I am working on losing them again and am currently still down 56 pounds from that original high weight (see signature if you'd like) I must be doing SOMETHING right! I am only 7 pounds away from my desired weight, which isn't so bad IMO. I'm not really unhappy where I am now, but it's nice to have that extra cushion (you know, incase I go on vacation and REALLY pig out!) LOL

    Seriously - this is how I feel, and I can't be ALL wrong because my weight has stayed off and I've been eating all that unhealthy stuff the whole time. Everyone has different levels of what they want out of life - including their nutritional and exercise life. What works for you won't work for someone else... obviously, what works for me would never work for you!! :laugh:

    I do find it extremely rude to read through other people's food diaries and make judgments about them based on what they eat. People here are in many different steps of progress along the way and most people take baby steps as they learn. You have NO IDEA what they ate before to compare and think they are eating poorly now. The food diary is here for us to learn from. It tracks what we eat and shows us what we need improvement with and it's up to us to take that information and tweak and adjust our diets as needed until we get to where we want. It really p*sses me off when someone makes people feel that they should be ashamed of ANYTHING they eat, that they need to keep their diaries private for fear of negative feedback from others who think they are "helping" them. If they want help and ask for it, that's one thing.... otherwise, keep your opinions to yourself!

    People join MFP and sites like this mostly because they are overweight. Most people become overweight because they eat a lot and of the wrong foods. They don't just miraculously join a site and automatically start eating perfectly and exercising like a maniac overnight! We should be here to offer support, suggestions and advice, not to belittle and judge.

    My thought is that people should look through other's food diaries to see what the people are eating who HAVE lost lots of weight, maybe get some ideas for new meals or snacks that look good and healthy. Learn from them - not judge because of them.

    OK OK OK.... I'm getting off my soap box now.

    Sorry. :blushing:

    Best post in here! :heart:
  • mromnek
    mromnek Posts: 325
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    Also, saying people will either learn or fail is very black and white...none of us knows the path that each of us walks daily... the old saying that to walk a mile in your neighbors shoes, etc... well the same is true with what we choose to eat.

    I appreciate what you are saying here. Perhaps you misunderstood what I was saying. If someone is eating unhealthy (i.e. food pyramid is upside down, with lots of fat, salt, and cholesterol added in for good measure), but under the misconception that they are eating healthy, they will either realize how to improve their diet (one bit at a time), or they will not be successful in weight loss. But, if they want to be successful, they will ask why they are not successful, and will learn to change their diets. The statement is not hard hearted, or mean spirited. It is just a matter of learning. If you don't learn, you are going to quit.
    Also, statements such as "what you call exercise," is very demeaning and I am saddened to see such mean spirited statements on this website.

    Again, you are right. There is no room for these statements on this website. Fortunately, I was expressing a thought, and not relating a post or conversation I had. As a matter of fact, the specific case I was thinking about has receive nothing but praise and support from me.

    Perhaps you should have read the rest of my short post, and understood where the post was going:
    You can patiently and politely give these people advice, but if they are not ready for it, they won't listen. If they are ready for it, they will actually come asking for the advice.
  • okremix
    okremix Posts: 38 Member
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    Haha...this is exactly why I keep my log private and it's sad because someone out there might just be able to learn something from me.
  • nolachick
    nolachick Posts: 3,278 Member
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    I agree with wolfena, these kinds of posts make ppl wanna set their diary to public when we can learn so much from each other.

    so sad.
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    I agree with you, ACarp that not all calories are created equal and it's more than just counting calories that will lose you weight, but, I do think an occasional splurge is okay. I'm not one of those people that have a cheat day because I honestly think it would be worse for me...but if I have extra calories, I will probably eat something not-so-healthy because I'm craving and if I don't, I'll end up eating something worse. Last night, I had extra calories 'cause I burned more than I estimated at the gym and ended up eating a frozen waffle with butter. I stayed within my calories but went over my fat just because of the butter.

    I've lost 16 lbs total...when I started counting calories - before joining MFP - I was merely counting to see how many I typically ate per day, per week and then I would refine it. I started off with about 1300 and I lost quickly. Then it went up to 1500 as I added new things & wasn't paying attention. I didn't gain but I didn't lose. I found this site & went back down to 1200 and have lost 1 lb. per week consistently, save for one week when I didn't lose. I'm not the most perfect eater. I don't eat my recommended servings of fruits & veggies but I'm working on that. I have my system for what I know works for my body...I can eat my daily MFP recommended amount of carbs and maybe go over on my fat every now and then and still lose weight.

    One thing I want to say regarding certain people feeling violated by ACarp snooping in their diaries...make it private, then. I have my diary public so I can help others & they can help me. I've benefited from having it public and I don't mind. If I'm doing something wrong or someone has a suggestion regarding my eating habits and wants to bring it up, go ahead! This is all trial-and-error...this is a community and if we can't say something to HELP someone else, then I don't know why I'm here.

    I, too, get frustrated, ACarp, when I see people eating crap or not eating what they should... but I just remember that that's them (and if I'm close enough to them, I might mention it) and this is me... and if they're losing weight and are healthier than they were before - even if they're not the healthiest decisions, they've made changes regardless - that I can applaud.
  • mommyhof3
    mommyhof3 Posts: 551 Member
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    I have to agree with most of the people on here. One thing I need to say is that we all came here for our own personal reasons. I give a huge CONGRATULATIONS and WELL DONE to everyone on here who has logged on to this site and logged your food you ate in the day. That is a huge step in our lives to actually look at what we ate. And then to write it down (or log it in this case) makes us accountable. Once again WELL DONE EVERYONE :flowerforyou:
  • SewRue
    SewRue Posts: 74 Member
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    I agree to keeping the diary public. It's not about being nosey. Besides it's not like you have anything to hide here of all places. Regarding choosing calories wisely, well that's obvious. But you should never deny yourself food that your truly truly want. I love chocolate, but I only allow myself so much. But if my weigh in was really is good, well I'll allow those extra calories. Also people should remember that you can always work off those extra calories. Go for a 30 minute walk. It will make you feel less gulity!
  • ACarp24
    ACarp24 Posts: 90
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    if we can't say something to HELP someone else, then I don't know why I'm here.

    thanks for this. I agree. This whole process is essentially about choices. What you chose to do with you're calories allotted is certainly not up to me. I think occasional splurges are definitely ok, as stated originally (a lot of you seemed to have skipped over reading that part or mis understood me) Some people feel that if they can't have their little piece of candy or bag of chips for the day they are "depriving" themselves. Personally, I would rather have more of something healthy than a little piece of something bad, and I don't think of it as being deprived, you know? I save my really guilty pleasures for cheat days. I guess the amount of weight I'm looking to lose has motivated me to be on a strict diet and stick to it without little cheats, but what works for me wouldn't work for a lot of other people.My aim was only to motivate people to start thinking about making little changes, and maybe giving up some of those things we know we shouldn't eat in favor of something more healthy. I said it in a little different way, and that way might have been taken as harsh, but it wasn't meant to be.

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