Need help revamping my food diary

supersarah14 · June 2010

I'm sorry this is a little long...I feel kinda silly about the questions I'm asking. I feel like I should already know the answers to them. :embarassed: In reality...I'm probably making it more difficult than it actually is...

Ok, so. I am at weird point in my weight loss and I think I know why. I know that I'm eating out way to much (salt), I know that I'm probably not eating enough (definitely not enough veggies) and I also know that I'm probably not varying my workouts enough. I gained 3 lbs this week and I KNOW that I didn’t eat 10,500 extra calories than I normally do. LOL. So it has to be something else.

So I know how to fix the eating out issue and the workout issue but I'm not sure about the eating thing. I know it shouldn't be too hard to eat more, but I don't want to just eat more in general but I want to eat the right things at the right time. I don't know when to eat what it should be. Does that make sense? I'm training for a 10k so I'm trying to make sure I have enough energy to do my long runs after work but don't eat enough to give me cramps.

Problem #1: How do I lower my sugar intake but still eat enough fruit? It always seems like I’m eating way too much sugar and most of it is coming from fruit. Should I not worry about it?? Or should I be eating different fruit?? (I wish I liked bananas. :grumble: )

Problem #2: How do I incorporate more veggies into my lunch/dinner without eating a salad?? I hate salad. Yuck. Do you guys have any examples of some lunches that have a lot of veggies without just having a salad with grilled chicken??

Problem #3: Should I up my calorie intake? If so, how much? I’m supposed to eat 1200 a day but sometimes I burn 400 calories in a workout …it seems pointless to me to eat the calories that you burn off. I know it’s a mental thing, and I know that I need to eat more to stop my body from going into starvation mode, but I really have a hard time trying to convince myself that I need to eat more when I work out. I just seems backwards.

Problem #4: How often should I eat? Should I be eating 5 small meals a day?? What should they consist of?

I'm making my food diary public so you can see what I mean about my sugar and my salt. Please keep in mind that I know I haven't had enough to eat this morning...I have a tummy ache :sick:

shanerylee · June 2010

Im in a rut too and tired of salads. I would say just try and mix it up. I eat as many veggies and fruits as possible by doing stir frys and then wrap it up in a wheat flour tortilla. or grill veggies on the grill. You are welcome to check out my diary, its public, for so me ideas. I am so sick of chicken as well. As far as the sugar goes, I go over all the time, but I have been told that if its good sugar from fruits its okay, its the refined sugar that you shouldnt od on. you need to eat your excercise calories, I stopped eating them and didnt loose weight due to your body going into starvation mode. I eat whenever I am really hungry. I usually eat 4 meals a day, a protein shake on the way to work, then protein and fiber when I get to work, then lunch and dinner. I eat a lot of protein and try and leave out the carbs as much as I can. I hope this helps.

good luck to ya

writer190 · June 2010

1: From what I understand, sugar from fruit is okay. Try not to go way overboard with fruit (some people think it "doesn't count"), but it's definitely good to get your five servings a day. You're definitely not going overboard with sweets from what I can tell, so I think you're okay there.

2: I like roasted red pepper wraps (with some lettuce/spinach, but you can opt not to have that if you want). Mmm - I love roasted veggie sandwiches. Try spreading some hummus on it, too, if you want. Also, now that we're into summer, you can have corn on the cob as a veggie! Yum! You can put chopped veggies in an omelet (with half egg beaters if you want lower-cal). Actually, you can incorporate chopped veggies into many meals, including chili, stir-fries (with less oil than usual), stews. Oh, and I love sweet potatoes. Sorry- can you tell I get excited about veggies?

3: I know it seems backwards. But remember that MFP already calculates how many calories you need to lose weight. The 1200 number is not to maintain your weight; it's to lose. So exercising brings your net caloric intake down below 1200 which isn't good for your body or your weight loss plans. There are a bazillion threads on here advocating for eating exercise calories that you can look at.

4: In my opinion, you *should* eat what you like best. It's popular to eat 6 small meals a day, and I think this has been proven to help people lose weight. But if that doesn't work for you, and you end up snacking too much or something, then maybe you'd prefer 3 or 4 larger meals. I like the smaller meals, but it's your call.

00trayn · June 2010

1. I agree that sugar from fruits is OK. I love strawberries and bananas so I usually eat one or the other daily. Added sugar is bad, so you don't want to go over that but definitely get your fruits in daily.

2. I'm a fan of baby carrots with some low calorie dressing. Its a quick snack you can grab. I also second corn on the cob (you can make it in the microwave in 6 minutes! Just google it for easy instructions) and sweet potatoes (I just bake them in the oven). They're easy to add to your dinner for an extra serving for veggies or as a snack.

3. Definitely eat your exercise calories. It does seem counterproductive, but since you're burning 400 calories working out, it's really like your body is getting 800 calories instead of 1200. I'm at 1200 calories a day, but I burn anywhere from 300-600 calories a day working out. Especially if you're running, eat back at least half. Things like peanut butter and almonds are a good source of healthy calories. I like to put peanut butter on rice cakes or English muffins.

4. I've been sticking to 3 meals a day, with two small snacks between lunch and dinner and after dinner. I keep my meals around 400 calories (brekafast is usually 200-300) and my snacks are fairly healthy. It works for me, but whatever fits into your schedule best is my recommendation.

supersarah14 · June 2010

Thanks guys! I know, I really need to eat more. How come I just can't snap my fingers and lose the weight?? Haha! Stupid reality. :grumble:

aippolito1 · June 2010

The recommended daily intake of sugar per day is for added sugar. So any sugar from fruit is okay, so long as it's spread out and not all at once.

For lunch, I try to get in veggies onto my sandwich. This week it's just tomato but last week it was red onion and green pepper. Also, I've been eating Athenos Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and it's delicous. (Did I mention red peppers are a weight loss super food? BUY some up!!!)

If you're close to a whole pound just working out (as far as numbers), you should probably increase. OR, you said you're not eating exercise calories. You need to eat these. MFP has already figured out how much LESS you need to eat to lose weight. If you work off 400 calories, that's 400 less calories that you're eating. If you eat those 400 calories back, you still have the # MFP has figured out you need to lose whatever lb-age you're set at per week.

You should eat however you find is successful and happy for your body. What works for me is eating every 2-3 hours. I wake up, try to eat within an hour and a half (usually it's right at an hour and a half because I eat at work so I have to factor in getting ready time and driving time, then eat as soon as I get to work) as I've heard this is best for the body. Then I have a snack about 2 hours later, depending on how close lunchtime is...then lunch... 2 afternoon snacks, then I work out, eat dinner, and then I'm done eating for the day. On an early day (when I get off work early, can work out earlier, and eat dinner earlier) I may have a snack after dinner, so long as it fits in my calorie goal for the day.

I eat a lot. I burn close to 3,000 calories every week and am trying to increase that number. I went from 1200 and leaving 200-300 exercise calories consistently to 1400 base calories and trying to leave no less than 50-80 calories consistently. On 1200, I was on a plateau and retaining water for a month. Within about a week and a half on 1400, I'd dropped the water weight and even when I do get some water weight now... it's gone within a couple days)

Eating out can be very tricky. If you can't help eating out, add sodium to your diary (if it's not already there) and watch it like a hawk. Don't let it go above 2400mg and if it does, drink a TON more water. You should be drinking half your weight in ounces of water. Mine is about 80 oz. but I've found my magical number for losing is 120 oz. a day and this also keeps me from retaining if I do eat a little more sodium than I should. Hope this helps!

RushinBruisette · June 2010

Ok, well #1, I too was worried about always going over in sugar, fruits have natural sugar and even though I log everything I eat, I always add the sugars back from fruit. I wouldn't worry too much about those sugars, processed sugars is another story.

#2 I too, do not like salads very much, if I do eat them, I make my own with spinach leaves instead of lettece. I have found in the frozen veggie section, green giant steamables. They are about $1.50ea unless they run on a 10 for $10 sale. I really like the green beans and almonds, I often steam up some brown rice and put the rice on a bed of spinach leaves (fresh, not cooked) and the put the green beans and almonds on top of the rice, sometimes I add a very small amount of soy suace. It's not bad at all

I often eat the steamables 3-4x a week.

#3 I have my calorie intake set at 1520 and I usually stay between 1250-1400intake. I too see the eating burned calories as bassackwards (

) . Some people scold others for not eating them and others say they never do. Although if I burned a lot of calories at one time, I may pull out a spoonful of peanut butter or my stash of almonds. Some days, I really can't eat back my calories, I have tried and I just can't seem to do it. I guess it's best to listen to your body. If you are hungry then eat. I wouldn't force myself to eat an extra 800cal a day, most of the time I really am not hungry...but it's nice to know I have a little cushion if I do have a craving (which is NOT very often).

I hope this helps a little, please remember that I am not an expert on any of this and to each their own. Best wishes on your journey. XoxoxoX Bru

Alleghany · June 2010

Sounds like you've got some great advice from the others. Here's my 2 cents:

Problem #2: I add frozen spinach to EVERYTHING I cook (soup, pasta, etc.). I find that it picks up the flavor of anything I'm cooking so it's very easy to add to just about anything. I buy frozen spinach because I don't have to wash it and I don't have to worry about it going bad in my fridge incase I don't get to it in time.

Hope this helps! :flowerforyou:

Need help revamping my food diary

Replies

Categories