2 week of exercise 5 days/week & nothing happens!

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  • goron59
    goron59 Posts: 890 Member
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    A lot of noise here. Yes, counting is good because guessing is bad, but counting can go wrong too. Almost every entry in the MFP food DB is wrong on at least one metric, and Americans seem obsessed with the idea that a "portion size" is constant.

    Two weeks where everything is more or less the same is probably enough to tell if something is working or not, but it's hard to keep things more or less the same, but worth trying.

    Personally, I try to keep things constant for a week or two, then change ONE thing - it can be anything (speed of walking, type of milk in coffee, number of doughnuts) - that you think might help, then see how that goes for a week or two.

    It takes time, but you will learn what your body does and needs.

    You look fairly young, so I think you have plenty of time :)

    Good luck.
  • AhlaWahda
    AhlaWahda Posts: 189 Member
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    Thank you all! :-) I looked into the logging thing and found that there is some Swedish food to add! So today I decided to start logging everything which should be fairly easy since I don't vary my foods a lot. MFP wants me to aim for 1200 but many of you think that's too low so maybe I'll aim for that non-workout days and 1400-1500 on days I workout. What do you think of that?
    Also, what do you do when you go out to eat or is invited for dinner somewhere? You can't really ask how many calories they put in there. xD
  • AhlaWahda
    AhlaWahda Posts: 189 Member
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    Can someone just give advice here. My BMR is around 1,400 but MFP recommends 1,200. Am I really supposed to eat below my BMR?
  • flynnfinn
    flynnfinn Posts: 209 Member
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    MFP recommends 1200 because you've set your weight loss goals to 2lbs a week. if you only have 10lbs to lose, set your weight loss goals to 0.5lbs a week. slower is better.

    as far as going out to eat...you can always look up the menu online before you go (if it's a bigger restaurant with their info published on the internet). maybe choose what you're going to eat beforehand and google the calorie amounts. there's a wealth of information on the internet. you may be off on your calories for that one meal but that is better than guessing at everything all together by not logging in anything.

    for dinner parties with friends...well, you can do your best guesstimate and quick add your calories. not much you can do here.

    but the idea is for you to keep these to a minimum. once a week, once every two weeks? i don't know about you but i only go out to eat maybe once a month. i enjoy cooking for myself too much! plus weight loss is a lifestyle change for me and realistically, i need to learn how to make healthy meals for myself 99% of the time.
  • AhlaWahda
    AhlaWahda Posts: 189 Member
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    MFP recommends 1200 because you've set your weight loss goals to 2lbs a week. if you only have 10lbs to lose, set your weight loss goals to 0.5lbs a week. slower is better.

    as far as going out to eat...you can always look up the menu online before you go (if it's a bigger restaurant with their info published on the internet). maybe choose what you're going to eat beforehand and google the calorie amounts. there's a wealth of information on the internet. you may be off on your calories for that one meal but that is better than guessing at everything all together by not logging in anything.

    for dinner parties with friends...well, you can do your best guesstimate and quick add your calories. not much you can do here.

    but the idea is for you to keep these to a minimum. once a week, once every two weeks? i don't know about you but i only go out to eat maybe once a month. i enjoy cooking for myself too much! plus weight loss is a lifestyle change for me and realistically, i need to learn how to make healthy meals for myself 99% of the time.

    That's weird because when I set my goals I used the recommended guide with a projected weight loss of 1 lbs per week. It didn't seem too much to me. I do want to reach my goal before the summer.
    I think you're right and that's why I started logging everything here two days ago. :-) It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and I guess you get used to it pretty quickly.
    I think it's not gonna be a problem because I also rarely go out and eat. I wish I lived with a health freak who liked to cook because I'm really tired of cooking for myself and coming up with things to eat. It's hard!
    How accurate do you suppose the MFP goals are? I mean even if I log in everything I find it hard to believe I will be at a certain weight at a certain time like MFP say..
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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  • strickland8052
    strickland8052 Posts: 105 Member
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    Sounds like your problem is weighing yourself after breakfast with clothes on. My weight can increase 4 pounds just from eating a big meal and wearing clothes.

    Since you don't have a scale and can't weigh yourself consistently, I would say either get a scale (they are only like $10) or don't pay any attention to what the scale says. Instead focus on the way your clothes fit. Or maybe before and after pictures on your phone? Or maybe continue to use your parents scale but use it before you eat with the same outfit on each time (and no shoes!)

    And don't worry about the calorie counting police... if you have energy and feel good, then you are obviously eating enough calories. If you are sticking to whole grains, lean protein, veggies, and plenty of fruit and not going crazy with the portion sizes, then you are probably not going too far over your calorie limit.

    Of course your weight loss would probably be more effective if you tracked every single calorie and weighed every single food. Heck! You could go back to growing your own food and raising your own chickens and then you'd REALLY be healthy, but let's face it.. ain't no body got time for that. Do as much as you can possibly do, don't let food control your life, and you are bound for a healthy lifestyle. :)
  • rvicini
    rvicini Posts: 252 Member
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    "And don't worry about the calorie counting police... if you have energy and feel good, then you are obviously eating enough calories. If you are sticking to whole grains, lean protein, veggies, and plenty of fruit and not going crazy with the portion sizes, then you are probably not going too far over your calorie limit. "

    THERE IS NOT COUNTING POLICE! To count or not to count is a matter of a personal choice. In my case, and I am nearly 32-33 lbs lost in 5 effective months, counting cals have been very effective and has taught me how to eat right or picking a right diet.

    I am a counter all the way: I do exercise with a Polar HRM and have a little scale to weight portions. It's not always accurate, but it gives me a rough idea of what I am doing. And.. I weight everyday...

    Counting cals is never off fashion. some people around you feel uncomfortable and will be more once you start losing weight.

    Probably an extremist, lol, but it works very well for me, I take the guessing out of the process since you have a low number of cals to eat.

    I can only offer you my personal experience if that can be of use for you.
  • Hadabetter
    Hadabetter Posts: 942 Member
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    Here in Sweden it's not very popular to count calories as it's considered as old-fashioned and out of date, but I will try.
    I just don't have any previous experience of this which makes it hard. How do you count calories in food you don't cook yourself? Like when I eat dinner with my family..
    Ah, a Svenska!
    I'm not sure Lutifisk is in the database. :laugh:
  • AhlaWahda
    AhlaWahda Posts: 189 Member
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    Thank you for your advice people! I started logging my food here on MFP the same day I posted this topic and I have since then lost another pound and 2 cms, so I guess what I'm doing is working. :-) I also wanted to say that my guesstimate of my calorie intake being 1200-1400 was spot on! :-)
    Cheers/ Aaliyah
  • flynnfinn
    flynnfinn Posts: 209 Member
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    Thank you for your advice people! I started logging my food here on MFP the same day I posted this topic and I have since then lost another pound and 2 cms, so I guess what I'm doing is working. :-) I also wanted to say that my guesstimate of my calorie intake being 1200-1400 was spot on! :-)
    Cheers/ Aaliyah

    that is wonderful! good for you! and i'm sure you feel better truly knowing that you are really consuming 1200-1400 calories per your guesstimate.

    now you know. moving forward, if you experience a stall or any sort of setback, you can always go back to your food diary and see what could have caused that. that's the best thing about keeping a food diary!

    best of luck to you on your journey! i am on a very similar path as you. 5'6", 128lbs...trying to get down to 120. it's a tough battle and it is going to take lots of time but i'm in no rush.

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