Can I get some constructive criticism please?
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IPOARM as others have suggested....it's worth the read and it's been working for me! Good luck!0
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There is a lot of good information in the posts prior to mine, but my one piece of advice for the sedentary job is to get a large workout ball to sit on instead of the chair. Helps with posture, core strength, balance, stiff back, etc. Made a world of difference for me because you are just plain moving more than you do in a chair.
Beyond that....you're doing great and best of luck on your journey.
Thanks for that great suggestion. I work at home all day at the computer so I think this will really help
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When I first started MFP I read on many boards to measure myself and concetrate on that and not the scale. I did notice the inches coming off before much came off the scale. Try this & it gives you another incentive instead of just weighing yourself.
Good luck!0 -
OP, I don't have criticism, because I think you are doing great with sticking to your plan, but rather a suggestions. It could be that your muscle gain equals your fat loss and you don't see difference on scale. How do you feel? Do you feel more fit?
I looked at your food diary and saw that you do not have meal for breakfast just coffee. It is very important to get a good amount of protein for breakfast because it will keep you feeling full for most of the day and will give your body energy. Some options would be
- egg(s) and slice(s) of quality wheat bread. Look in freezer section for all natural organic bread like Ezikiel Bread if your bakery does not have that option.
- greek yogurt and some granola cereal in it
- turkey bacon and egg
- fruit, yogurt smoothie with protein powder
Make breakfast your power meal because you will need & work off that energy during your day, and make your dinner light - grains like quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice, with veggies, fruit, lean meat or fish. You don't need bunch of calories at night to sleep on. I have seen some woman who I have friended here and are in really fantastic shape eat their calories during two meals and skip one - lunch or dinner depending on their schedule.
It is also a good rule to eat your dinner no later than 3 hours before bedtime.
Have you seen this documentary on weight loss? About an hour long and worth every minute.
http://documentaryheaven.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-losing-weight/
I work midnights and find it so difficult to eat as soon as I wake up. Sometimes I can. I will make a real effort to eat at least something within an hour of waking. Thank you for the great suggestions!
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I'm far from being an expert and am still doing quite a bit of reading/educating re: what to eat, how to eat, when to eat but after looking over your diary, I will make the following suggestions:
1. keep track of your food (instead of quick add 500 cals, put what you actually ate)
2. Instead of junk food (Taco Bell, etc.), try and eat wholesome food - more veggies, fruits, lean meats, etc...
3. Stay consistent - don't go over and under by hundreds of cals (every once in a while, its ok, but if it becomes a regular habit it doesn't help your body adjust)
4. WATER 0 try to make sure to hit that 8 glasses a day requirement (this is a weakness of mine too - trying... lol)
Hope this helps 0 -
I had a plateau that last for a whole year! It was only a number on the scale granted but its still discouraging. The biggest thing I did was changed everything I did. The food I ate and the workout I did... the times I did it. I have learned that my body get used to things I give i QUICKLY. IMO you have to throw your body curve balls. You do elliptical at the time? Time to try running or stairmaster. You eat yogurt all the time, time to try cottage cheese. May not be the solution... but just something I noticed help me!
Hope this helps!
This is GREAT advice FOTO. I feel your pain but you are doing great!!
And good for you with the heart rate monitor because the calorie counts for the activities on this site are WAY off.
One piece of advice someone told me when I was having an awful time working out and eating lowcal is try to do 1 day per week where you just eat salads and/or green smoothies and fruit. A good place for recipes and how to do it right is greensmoothie.com . It really made a difference for me. I would find I would finally break a plateau with that one. You don't have to be 100% but just LOAD UP on greens - baby spinach, spring mix, tomatoes, cukes etc. and fruits.
Keep up the great work and it will happen!0 -
Just some tips I learned along the way:
1. When I'm stuck, I have more success when I raise my calories as opposed to lower them. With that being said, I'm exercising about 6 days a week and I wasn't properly fueling my body so I would hit these super long plateaus on 1350 cals and not have any idea what the problem was. As soon as I bumped up my cals, I started losing again. In sum, eat more and exercise more.
2. Be ridiculously honest with your diary. Get into the habit of measuring everything and weighing everything on a food scale. Your SO will roll their eyes when you measure your dinner before you eat it, but ignore!!! It's worth it! You'd be surprised at how much you can midjudge the calories in something by "eyeballing" it.
3. Strength training yields much greater results (weight loss and reshaping your body) than ellipticalling to nowhere.
4. You already lost 5lbs this month. That is incredible! I have been losing weight for 8 months now, and when I average it out, I lost 3.3lbs per month. 6 of the total 27 lbs I lost was during my first week, so the average is even lower. You will get impatient. You will get on the scale and see a gain or no change and be like WTF I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT!!! You will w/ant to give up because "it's not working". Yes it is. If you're being honest with your food diary and working out, it's working. Give it time.
5. Last but not least, stick around MFP. I noticed along the way that when I forgot to log a day or two or didn't look at any of my friend's activities, it was tough to get back into it. My friends list seriously attributes to about 90% of my success with weight loss. They were there for me on bad days, on good days, and just whenever I needed to vent. I have support in my real life too, but there's something about the support of people that are going through the same thing you are that really carries you through.
I hope I helped a little. Basically the most important things are to be honest with your food diary and be patient. The rest falls into place. Good luck.
ETA: I forgot one more thing. Treat yourself once in a while. Remember what I said about this not being a race? A reason for that is because you need to be human every now and then and have a big ol' bowl of ice cream. If you can fit it into your calories for the day, awesome. If not, see if you can fit it into your weekly calorie goal, or do some extra exercise. If you have a really high calorie day, oh well! Move on. Don't give up from one bad day. You're only human.
^^ This. And find exercise you enjoy! I get so bored doing cardio so I switched to strength training. I love it and it is reshaping my body. Also, keep measurements as you progress, you can lose inches even when the scale doesn't move. Good luck!
[Edit for grammar!]0 -
OP, I don't have criticism, because I think you are doing great with sticking to your plan, but rather a suggestions. It could be that your muscle gain equals your fat loss and you don't see difference on scale. How do you feel? Do you feel more fit?
I looked at your food diary and saw that you do not have meal for breakfast just coffee. It is very important to get a good amount of protein for breakfast because it will keep you feeling full for most of the day and will give your body energy. Some options would be
- egg(s) and slice(s) of quality wheat bread. Look in freezer section for all natural organic bread like Ezikiel Bread if your bakery does not have that option.
- greek yogurt and some granola cereal in it
- turkey bacon and egg
- fruit, yogurt smoothie with protein powder
Make breakfast your power meal because you will need & work off that energy during your day, and make your dinner light - grains like quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice, with veggies, fruit, lean meat or fish. You don't need bunch of calories at night to sleep on. I have seen some woman who I have friended here and are in really fantastic shape eat their calories during two meals and skip one - lunch or dinner depending on their schedule.
It is also a good rule to eat your dinner no later than 3 hours before bedtime.
Have you seen this documentary on weight loss? About an hour long and worth every minute.
http://documentaryheaven.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-losing-weight/
I work midnights and find it so difficult to eat as soon as I wake up. Sometimes I can. I will make a real effort to eat at least something within an hour of waking. Thank you for the great suggestions!
While many are good suggestions, eating breakfast is not a requirement for weight loss, neither is eating most of your calories early. It has zero effect on weight loss when and how often you eat calories. The TEF (thermo effect of food) is equal. This goes for eating right before bed. The only thing that eating before bed can affect is on how well you sleep. So it affects some people, but not most people.0 -
Try keeping an accurate diary before asking for advice. You can not get accurate advice if you are not being honest with your diary.
I log everything. I weigh everything. I measure everything. I don't use the number of calories burned by the machine. I use my HRM. My diary is as accurate as it can possibly be.
I looked back at your diary. You are all over the place. I am very happy to hear that you had a loss. But your eating is all over the place, 1800 then 800, and Taco Bell?!?! If you want constructive criticism here it is... Make a life change. Eat in such a way that you can stick to it. I am not saying you cant have a 'cheat' day but every other day is a joke. All you are doing now is a yo-yo diet. You will burn out and gain all the weight back.0 -
Hey fotofreak,
First off, congrats on your loss so far! It's awesome that you're making progress and have been so detailed with your diary. I've been off the MFP wagon myself for a bit, but I'm just now hopping back on. So here are my initial thoughts after breezing through the last week of your diary..
POSITIVE
- The fact that you've kept your diary so well means you're on a really good path
- Also props for the attitude that these things take time.
NOT-SO-POSITIVE
- I noticed that you seem to eat a lot of calorie dense foods (the biggest offender was the Taco Bell Cina-twists) these types of foods are high in calories but break down super fast in your stomach and leave your hungrier than when you started. Examples of calorie sparse foods are veggies, beans, and the like.
- Lots of sugars added
- Your carbohydrate / sugar intake is a bit high
SUGGESTIONS
1) Consider completely revamping your breakfast - Start the day with a minimum of 30g of protein and you'll notice that it tides you over longer than cereal. If you change nothing else about your diet, this will improve your weight loss.
Right now it looks like your standard is coffee + creme and sugar combined with some sort of cereal. This used to be my go-to, but the combination of caffein + quick carbs leads to you often getting hungry within an hour after breakfast. Instead consider scrambled eggs (pref egg whites + 1 yolk) or if you're really on the run look at buying a low-carb whey protein powder.
2) Ditch the Taco Bell for another fast mexican option - Don't get me wrong, I'm obsessed with mexican food, but Taco Bell is known for it's lack of good ingredients and it adds a bunch of hidden things that are not good for weight loss. Where possible, stop in to a Chipoltle or Salsaritas or any other fresher fast-mex chain that you like.
My lunch almost every day is a burrito bowl and if you make the right choices you can feel really full and lose weight quickly. A few suggestions...
- Avoid chips and tortillas like the plague (hence the bowl option) - the flour or corn mash is just extra calories that really grind down fat loss
- Avoid rice even more than the suggestion above.
- Double down on black beans whenever possible - these are slow-carbs that will really aid in feeling full without spiking blood sugar
3) Switch out all your raw sugar to a stevia or other artificial sweetener - This isn't perfect because your brain and pancreas still react like it's sugar, but it's much better than plain sugar.
At any rate, I hope this helps. Again, congrats on your work thus far!!
I've had a LOT of success following the suggestions in Tim Ferriss's 4-Hour Body and would highly recommend it to anyone if you're looking for extra guidance.
-Tyler
I really dislike taco bell..lol. But typically, when I eat out, it's because I've gotten called into work last minute and don't have time to pack my meal. In my area, the only thing open at 3 am is taco bell. I know it's not the best choice but it's better then chewing off one of my officers arms..lol. I have started freezing leftovers specifically for occasions like this so hopefully it will be better. Another thing I should have mentioned in my post is that hunger isn't an issue for me. That's kind of the problem. I went from eating 1 burger and fry meal a day to eating multiple times a day but I am never hungry. It's really difficult for me to eat when I'm not hungry. I had hoped, with eating more often and better foods, that my body would say, "oh, hey, this is how you are supposed to eat! I want more of that!! GROWL!!" But that really hasn't happened. Thank you for all the great suggestions! 0 -
A few suggestions -
** first, what a lot of other people have said - try to stay more consistent with your calories
** eat more fresh fruits and veggies
** add greek yogurt, cottage cheese/ cheeses, eggs, nuts, seeds
** I'm always skeptical at how accurate someone is logging when I see a lot of quick adds?
** more protein, how about some protein shakes?
** 1380 is most likely too low for you. You might want to bump it up a bit (1500 is always a nice place to start). Stay consistent with whatever number you decide to go with
** mix up your workouts0 -
I had the same problem when MFP dropped my calories. I found that by returning to my original calories set, I made more progress. The fluctuation you describe in your diet from day to day may also contribute to that. If you stick to the daily allotment of calories more closely, this may yield better results. Also, are you weighing your food? Weighing food is the only way to ensure you are entering the right amounts in. I found that before I got a food scale, I was estimating way off what I should have for a 'serving size' of things like chicken, sweet potatos, fruits, veggies, etc. Lastly, your body may be adapting to the same exercise regimen. Try switching it up with different exercises, weights, etc. Good luck.
I would love to do weights but I really don't know what or how to do them. I know that may sound silly but it's the truth. I will hook up with one of my fitness friends and make them baby step me through it. Thank you!
I don't do weights either for the same reason
I feel like I've just wasted my time whenever I even try!
If your friends in the know have good tips, feel free to send them over to me!0 -
Also, note the word CONSTRUCTIVE. Okay, been here a month, give or take a day. MFP originally had me set at 1400 cals per day then dropped to 1380 on day 15. I lost 5 pounds that first week. Yay! But since then, I have yet to lose an ounce. I'm not too stressed about it, simply because I didn't get fat overnight so I don't expect to wake up skinny. I am thinking I may need to change it up a little but not sure where to go. Either up with the cals or down. In all honesty, I have a difficult time eating the 1380 I am required. Most days, I do well but of course, if you look at my diary, you will see days that I am way over or way under. I don't believe I am in "starvation mode" because 1. I've only been at this a month. Pretty sure it takes a tad longer then that to be in real starvation mode. and 2. There is PLENTY of fat for my body to eat before it starves. lol. I work out when I can but at least 3 times a week. Sometimes more, less seldom less. I go for 30 to 60 minutes at a time. Usually elliptical and I work hard enough to where I think I am on the verge of a heart attack. (p.s. I HATE exercise but I know it's part of it.) I work midnight shift so sometimes it's difficult to get to the gym because of their ridiculous hours so I will work out at home.
I am 37 years old. Started at 189 lbs and am now 184. My job is completely sedentary as I am a dispatcher 40 hours a week. Any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Looking at your diary you are just having coffee for breakfast?
I don't see many fruits/veggies.. and I see a lot of bread.
Try and incorporate protein and fibre into each meal. It will help keep you fuller longer.
For breakfast I have:
Strawberries or a banana
protein balls- peanut butter chocolate chip
Lunch- example- clean eating turkey spinach roll, fruit
dinner-homemade lasagna ( has veggies in it).0 -
A few suggestions -
** first, what a lot of other people have said - try to stay more consistent with your calories
** eat more fresh fruits and veggies
** add greek yogurt, cottage cheese/ cheeses, eggs, nuts, seeds
** I'm always skeptical at how accurate someone is logging when I see a lot of quick adds?
** more protein, how about some protein shakes?
** 1380 is most likely too low for you. You might want to bump it up a bit (1500 is always a nice place to start). Stay consistent with whatever number you decide to go with
** mix up your workouts
All my quick adds are either taken off the package directly or a repeat of something I had earlier that day. It's easier then searching or re-adding. I never guesstimate my calories because I know by doing that, I'm not fooling anyone by myself. When I search a food in MFP, I look at the multiple entries to find the most accurate one. For the most part, they are similar, only off by a calorie or two, but if I see one entry that is 100 cals and the next one is 175, I look online in other places to find a more accurate count. What workouts would you suggest? I find that when I jog, my knee goes out and I'm in terrible pain for about a day. That's about the only thing I believe I CAN'T do. I think I can learn how to do just about anything. Except swimming. I can't swim..lol0 -
Just wanted to say, I love your profile photo.
As to your question, I would agree with many of the other commenters that you should try for a little more consistency in your daily calories. That said, 5 pounds gone in a month is nothing to sneeze at.0 -
bump0
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For what it is worth, I often have plateaus or minor weight gains that last 1-3 weeks followed by a sudden pattern of losses up to 5 pounds in the course of a week. I can;t explain it but it happens repeatedly. Maybe your pattern will be the same. I just do what you do - keep at it, focus on better quality foods, and maintain patience.0
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Also, note the word CONSTRUCTIVE. Okay, been here a month, give or take a day. MFP originally had me set at 1400 cals per day then dropped to 1380 on day 15. I lost 5 pounds that first week. Yay! But since then, I have yet to lose an ounce. I'm not too stressed about it, simply because I didn't get fat overnight so I don't expect to wake up skinny. I am thinking I may need to change it up a little but not sure where to go. Either up with the cals or down. In all honesty, I have a difficult time eating the 1380 I am required. Most days, I do well but of course, if you look at my diary, you will see days that I am way over or way under. I don't believe I am in "starvation mode" because 1. I've only been at this a month. Pretty sure it takes a tad longer then that to be in real starvation mode. and 2. There is PLENTY of fat for my body to eat before it starves. lol. I work out when I can but at least 3 times a week. Sometimes more, less seldom less. I go for 30 to 60 minutes at a time. Usually elliptical and I work hard enough to where I think I am on the verge of a heart attack. (p.s. I HATE exercise but I know it's part of it.) I work midnight shift so sometimes it's difficult to get to the gym because of their ridiculous hours so I will work out at home.
I am 37 years old. Started at 189 lbs and am now 184. My job is completely sedentary as I am a dispatcher 40 hours a week. Any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Looking at your diary you are just having coffee for breakfast?
I don't see many fruits/veggies.. and I see a lot of bread.
Try and incorporate protein and fibre into each meal. It will help keep you fuller longer.
For breakfast I have:
Strawberries or a banana
protein balls- peanut butter chocolate chip
Lunch- example- clean eating turkey spinach roll, fruit
dinner-homemade lasagna ( has veggies in it).
My problem isn't getting/staying full. I seem to feel full all the time. I feel, for the most part, like I have to force feed myself..lol. What are these protein balls? It sounds like something I could eat with ease. I mean, who doesn't like chocolate and peanut butter? lol. I do my best to keep fresh fruits in the house but I have 2 teenage boys. I will go to the grocery, go to bed, wake up and almost all the fruits and veggies are gone..lol. I don't have the heart to yell at them for eating that instead of hamburgers and hotdogs. I will get more diligent on putting fruits and veggies in my diet. Thank you! 0 -
I think I've seen some really really good suggestions. My only counterpoint would be that I might disagree with those who say that it's imperative that you remain consistent with your calories from day to day. Yes, certainly for some people this works best, and it's definitely something to try. But, for many people, varying your calories from day to day is actually very helpful. Years ago when I did Weight Watchers, there was a plateau-busting approach that was extremely popular on the message boards called the "Wendie Program." It basically advocated spreading out your daily points allotments so that some days you're eating quite a bit and some days you're eating the bare minimum. Same concept as changing up your workouts - it seems to help some people to keep your body guessing a little. It was very very successful for a lot of people, and it also gives you a little bit of wiggle room for a small treat or to work in a meal out or a party or something here and there. I think that as long as for the whole week you're averaging a net that's where you want to be, you're probably ok to consume those calories (day over day) pretty much however fits your lifestyle. Of course, as with every single piece of weight-loss advice, YMMV, but it's something to keep in mind.0
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Thank you EVERYONE for all the great suggestions! This is why I really like this site!! Ya'll rock!! :happy:0
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