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jessrose_13
jessrose_13 Posts: 7
in Introduce Yourself
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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  • takemetothepub
    takemetothepub Posts: 18
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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 :)

    Nick
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
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    Can you open your food diary so we can take a look at what you are eating?
  • Rachlmale
    Rachlmale Posts: 640 Member
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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...
  • Rockybalboa612
    Rockybalboa612 Posts: 18
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    GOOD ADVICE FROM NICK AS HE SAYS STICK WITH IT CONSISTANCY IS TH E KEY :bigsmile:
  • takemetothepub
    takemetothepub Posts: 18
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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.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    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?
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    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.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
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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.

    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.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
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    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.
  • takemetothepub
    takemetothepub Posts: 18
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    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 ;)
  • jessrose_13
    jessrose_13 Posts: 7
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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.
  • jessrose_13
    jessrose_13 Posts: 7
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    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.
  • jessrose_13
    jessrose_13 Posts: 7
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    Takemetothepub... If i cut out potato, rice, pasta and bread... what do I eat? :-) thats my main meals each day.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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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?
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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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?
  • jessrose_13
    jessrose_13 Posts: 7
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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.


    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?
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    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.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Options
    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.
  • takemetothepub
    takemetothepub Posts: 18
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    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.

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