Feedback would be appreciated!

I'm not really one to evaluate another's diary. Just wanted to say hi as nobody has responded yet. They will though and there is a lot of good advice out there. Just be sure you want to hear it when you ask Glad you stopped lurking and posted This is a great start to help avoid those freshman 15!

I took a quick peek and it looks good to me, you're keeping all your macros under control and eating a balanced diet. My only suggestion is to lose the Coke but I'm sure you know that.

You're already making a huge step towards a healthier you just by being here and logging your food, it's a personal commitment and I know that you'll be able to achieve your goals in no time! Be patient and keep up the great work.

As a fellow vegetarian striving to become vegan, I'd like to add that you could be eating more vegetables & more calories on some days. Your diet is pretty carb-heavy with chips, popcorn, potatoes & grains, but you may not be getting all of your vitamins & nutrients. I would suggest at least a vegetarian multi-vitamin or eating Total cereal every morning instead of Cheerios. It's important once you start exercising to eat back at least half of those calories, and especially increase your protein. You never want to "net" less than 1200/day in order to get the proper nutrients and fuel your body needs. Going below this number can cause you to stall in your weight loss, plus if you are always hungry you won't be able to stick to it long term. If you have a smart phone download the MFP app. There is a pie chart that allows you to see how you day breaks up into carbs, fat & protein daily & weekly - it's a great tool. I know being vegan on a college campus can be a challenge, but my two oldest kids did it. Good luck to you!

Now just FYI, if your exerise level is high for that day, you were really pushing yourself....then 52% carb intake is fine....
Just bring up protein and lower fat.

I have been using mfp as a resource for quite some time (aka stalking all of y'alls posts...), but have just now started consistently logging my foods. I am 5' 3.5'' and weigh roughly 140 lbs, looking to lose roughly 15 lbs. I'm a first-year at a university, so I do quite a bit of walking throughout the day. As I settle into my new schedule I'd eventually like to incorporate three to four days of exercise per week. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to look over my food intake for the past few weeks (my first actual day of logging was 8/29) and give me some feedback/constructive criticism. Thank you so much!

P.S. I am fully aware of my Coke zero addiction...I sometimes forget to even enter it... Working on that Also, I drink a lot of water throughout the day, but I just don't log it. Also I'm vegan

I looked at some of your diary entries....some of the foods look good....
But lets take one day:
9/8/2013
1379 cal
179 gr carb == 716 cal == 52%
48 gr of fat == 31.5%
52 gr of protein == 208 cal == 15%

That is your break down on what you had, calorie wise....and then percentage the 3 macros played in your overall caloric intake for the day.

What stands out to me (and I think by eyeballing your other entries) the theme remains:
Most of your calories come from Fat and Carbs, you get VERY LITTLE from protein.

Your protein intake should remain high everyday, so AT LEAST 40% of your daily caloric intake.
For the other two, you can try doing carbs around 30% - 35%, and fats ....the remaining amt of your caloric balance.

I would have to look closer at other entries.....but that is what pop'd out at me at first.

Actually, if she is simply trying to lose weight and isn't doing an aggressive strength training program, she doesn't need 40% protein. Plus, that is almost impossible for a vegan unless she was living on protein supplements. Vegan proteins like legumes and nuts are high in fat and carbs, too. 30% protein should be just fine.

Actually, if she is simply trying to lose weight and isn't doing an aggressive strength training program, she doesn't need 40% protein. Plus, that is almost impossible for a vegan unless she was living on protein supplements. Vegan proteins like legumes and nuts are high in fat and carbs, too. 30% protein should be just fine.

Protein still needs to go up....it is way too low.

There are options to vegans.....I am sure.
Greek yogurt? Cottage Cheese? Eggs??
But since I am not one.....I will leave it to wiser people like you.

vegans don't eat any animal products - so no dairy or eggs.

That's why it's so tricky. Without protein powders, she'll never get her protein to 40 % simply because all her protein sources have a high % of fat and/or carbs. Unless she eats only soy beans...which is a problem in itself.

Vegan protein powders, in order of general awesomeness: pea, hemp, soy. There are premixed ones (Vega One, Sun Warrior) but they're super expensive and, oops, Vega One just had a recall for undisclosed milk products.

ANYWAY. I can and have done 30% protein from whole vegan foods, but it takes a lot of planning and I started feeling like eating was getting really oppressive and that's not healthy or sane. OP, I do agree with the other posters that more protein is a good idea, even if you're not working out - it's more filling and probably more conducive to weight loss due to how your body processes it. I make smoothies because they're easy and can be cheap if you buy the plain powders and mix in your own fruit/veg. (Or super-expensive if you rely on the vegan meal replacement ones, I don't know, maybe you have a pile of money you want to set on fire.)

The other advantage to a high-protein vegan diet is that you can pretty much eat all the fat you want; the stuff you'll be eating won't have any, so chugging coconut oil is perfectly acceptable. (Well, maybe not in public. You should probably keep that to the privacy of your own home.)

Then look into Met-Rx or Optimum Nutrition protein powders.
Whey during the day, could prolly even do isolate.....
And casein at night, if you think it is warranted.

whey and casein both come from milk