How do you make your daily food work?

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jenlose50
jenlose50 Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi :)

I am new to MFP and I have been tracking daily for the last couple of weeks. But I am having trouble meeting all of my calories every day, I am "given" a goal of 1200 calories a day and I probably eat between 800-1000 of them. I am not hungary but I am craving sweets or salty things however I am trying to stay away from them. I always go over in one (or more) catagories but I wont meet the others....for example, I will have no sugar left for my day but go over in protein and still not meet my calories?? I find that if I want to not go over my sugar I have to stop eating and then I dont make my calories. I dont know if that makes sense. Which "goal" is the most important?? I want to lose weight so far I do not feel like I am, its maybe because I am not eating enough, I am very frustrated and I would appreciate any feedback!! And if you know of any foods that are low or no sugar I would appreciate you sharing them with me :) Even fruit has quite a bit of sugar.

Thanks!!!:smile:

Replies

  • jfauci
    jfauci Posts: 531 Member
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    I don't think one category is more important than the other. I go over in protein every day and try to stay under in carbs and sugar. You should open your diary if you want specific feedback on what you are taking in, but you have to make the calories that you take in count.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Your calorie goal is the most important. Work on meeting that one for a while, then you can fine tune the others.

    The sugar and protein defaults are quite low on MFP - eat fruit at all, and you'll be over.

    Low sugar foods - cheese, meats, nuts, crisps (chips), vegetables
  • ramonafrincu
    ramonafrincu Posts: 160 Member
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    Because you r new please read this, it will help you a lot! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912914-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013
  • Goldie2u2
    Goldie2u2 Posts: 40 Member
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    It's seems to always be this way in the beginning..your in the new romance stage..you've decided your gonna lose weight, you've been inspired by success stories...and your mind says "eat even less and you'll lose more faster". Problem is..its not a sustainable lifestyle. If you want to lose weight AND keep it off...you have to fuel your body to the bare minimum requirements. Perhaps you've switched over to "fat free' "low calorie" "diet food"..eat real food! You have to find a food plan that you can sustain long term!

    if you add in something like a spoonful of almond butter on celery-you'll get about 100 calories and good healthy oils. Switch back to 2% milk, use higher calorie cheese..there's lots of easy ways to rack up 200 calories!
  • bokodasu
    bokodasu Posts: 629 Member
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    The protein is a minimum, so over is fine. Good, probably, unless you're getting most of your calories from protein and then you can have issues.

    The sugar is completely stupid. Take it right off your tracker. If you're diabetic, you can keep it but do what your doctor says, not what MFP says. It's based on recommendations for "added" sugar but there's no way to tell that from sugars from fruit and vegetables, so if you're getting your recommended 5-a-day you'll be blowing your sugar counter up.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    The most important goal is calories. You need to eat enough to provide proper nutrition and to fuel your bodily functions and activity but not so much that you gain weight.

    Protein is important when dieting to prevent the loss of muscle along with fat. You should always meet your protein goal and if you are set to the default and don't have any medical issues that affect your kidneys or liver, exceeding it is fine.

    Fat is important for many bodily functions and the absorption of many vitamins. When trying to lose weight people often don't meet their calories because they cut fat too low. Fat does contain more than twice the calories of carbs and protein, but it's important for health and satiety. You should at least get close to your fat goal every day. Choose healthy fats from nuts, seeds, avocado, extra virgin olive oil.

    Carbs are your body's prefered energy source. Choose more carbs that also contain fiber such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains and less added sugar or overly processed gains like white bread and flour.
  • xiamjackie
    xiamjackie Posts: 611 Member
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    Check out other people's diaries for food ideas. I know mine is open to the public, so you can take a look at it. I aim for 1600 calories a day. You can't be afraid to eat! I see you are aiming for 1200 calories and if you aren't exercising at all, then I suppose that is an okay place to start. But you should definitely try to get to your daily minimum each day.


    Also like other people said, protein is set very low on this website. I consume over 100g of protein a day.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Are you exercising? If you are, you should be eating those calories back as well. Most people who have issues meeting their calorie goals have cut out fat...eat the fat...fat is an essential nutrient and no, fat does not make you fat. Cook with a bit of olive oil...have an ounce of nuts (about 160 calories)...have some peanut butter...avocado, etc. Get your heart healthy fats.

    In RE to what is most important...right now it's your calorie goal. Once you get that sorted out, you can start looking at your macro nutrients and managing those if you like (you can customize and many do because MFP's defaults are very high carb and low protein). You don't really need to worry about sugar unless you have a medical condition...sugar is a micro-nutrient...once you get into macro management, just manage your carbs and sugar will take care of itself.

    Also, don't be afraid to eat...1,200 calories has a deficit of about 800-1000 calories from your maintenance level of calories. You didn't get to the point of needing to diet by eating 1,000 calories per day. Your maintenance is probably around 2,000 or so...so you were eating more than 2,000 calories per day at some point to put on the weight.
  • jenlose50
    jenlose50 Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you everyone!! I have been eating "good foods" I do not really look at low fat, low carb or anything like that. I eat my normal foods except that I switched to whole grains, tried to cut out pasta etc. I do normally workout, but I havent been lately & the 1200 is what MFP gave me when I signed up (I do not know how to change this?). How do I make my diary viewable to others? I would gladly do that so people could tell me where they might change something!
    So far today I have (and I fill mine out for the whole day in the morning so I can stick to it):

    BK:
    1 cup strawberries
    1 slice whole wheat toast
    4 slices of turkey bacon

    Lunch:
    2 slices of whole wheat toast
    2 oz of Publix turkey breast
    2 slices of tomato
    1 leaf of lettuce
    (I am making a sandwhich lol)

    Dinner:
    4 oz Mahi Mahi
    2 cups of Broccoli

    For drinks: water & unsweet tea (really missing my coke!!)

    What else could I add? I love grapes but I havent had them the last 2 days because the sugar is high, otherwise I would have those with lunch as well. Not sure what to snack on, I havent really been hungary inbetween meals & when I am I never know what to eat that doesnt put me "over" in a catagory.

    Thanks again for all the feedback!!!!
  • RunForChai
    RunForChai Posts: 238 Member
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    More protein, especially first thing in the morning helped me cut my cravings.
    I eat breakfast [low in carbs, high in protein] no matter if I'm hungry or not, it cuts those cravings.

    To me your diet looks too heavy in carbs.....but you should do what works for you. I try to limit my carbs about half of what MFP gives me.

    In terms of sugar, I eat an apple and a 1/4 cup of blueberries a day---I think those "sugars" have so many benefits that it is okay to go over my sugar allotment to each them. I limit all other sugars. Although many people say "sugar is sugar" I think they forget the incredible health benefits from some fruits--I wish MFP allowed us to register fruit separately from sugar-sugar [sodas, candy bars, you know].

    More water to flush that salt from your system.

    Good luck!
  • MonicaT1972
    MonicaT1972 Posts: 512
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    You really don't need to worry about sugar as it is a part of carbs. Focus more on making sure you are staying in your carb range.

    From what you posted you are getting the sugar from natural sources so again that is not a worry, if it was all from processed sources then you have a problem.

    To hit your calories with low density I recommend nuts. It's an easy 350 calories, packed with healthy fat which from what you posted you could use some of in your daily diet.

    Going over on protein is never an issue as you need protein to build muscle.

    I would say to stop the cravings you might actually want to modify your settings to lose less a week so your calories are higher. This way you can eat 5 smaller meals a day and feel satisfied for longer, this is huge in cutting down cravings.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    You actually seem to be pretty low on fats. Try adding an avocado to your sandwich, or a spoonful of peanut butter. Or go for real bacon instead of turkey bacon (which is just sacrilegious anyways).

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