Help

Options
kbhartson
kbhartson Posts: 12
in Introduce Yourself
Can someone(s) please look at my diet/exercise and tell me what I am doing wrong. I apologize I haven't logged in the weekends but I am pretty much the same as during the week in calories except that I do drink alcohol and I usually play tennis on the weekends. I am not losing anything and I think it's because I'm not eating enough just from reading other posts. At my size I would think I would be able to shed quickly the first few months and then slow down, but that isn't happening. Very frustrated. Thanks.
«1

Replies

  • blindedbyawesome
    blindedbyawesome Posts: 56 Member
    Options
    I cannot help because I cannot see your diary. Your diary is not open to viewers.
  • kbhartson
    kbhartson Posts: 12
    Options
    It shows as public
  • jjplato
    jjplato Posts: 155 Member
    Options
    Hey, I took a quick look at your diary, and here's what I suspect is happening -- you're under-counting calories eaten and over-estimating calories burned. For example, one day you said you rode a bike very fast (16-20 mph) for 45 minutes. Unless you're a competitive cyclist, I don't think that's realistic. That's basically riding flat-out, as fast as you can, for a full 45 minutes (I cycle a lot, and I don't think I could keep that pace up for 45 minutes). Yesterday, you have 900 calories logged for 60 minutes of tennis, which again, would probably be accurate if you were playing full-out, non-stop for the full 60 minutes. I don't know whether you did or not, but you've really got to be honest with yourself. 900 calories is a lot to burn in an hour. I only log 550 calories for an hour of taekwondo, and by the time I get done, I'm drenched in sweat. I find that, on some of the exercise stuff, the MFP calculators tend to be off on the high side.

    With the restaurant food, it's easy to under-estimate. For instance, you logged .5 cups of refried beans at a Mexican restaurant. Are you sure it was only a half cup? And only a half cup of rice -- are you sure? That's not very much, especially for a restaurant serving. The stuff you're eating at Panda Express is X calories for a 5.2 ounce serving, but is that the amount they gave you? Maybe it was 7 ounces. Did you weigh it?

    I'm just trying to give you some ideas. If you're not losing weight, it is NOT because you're not consuming enough calories. If that were true, POWs, concentration camp inmates, and people with anorexia would be fat. Eating a deficit of calories for a period of time will always result in weight loss -- to do otherwise would violate the laws of physics.

    Here's a suggestion: lay off the restaurant food for two weeks. Bring your lunch to work. Weigh *everything*. Be realistic about the exercise calories. If you're playing tennis like Serena Williams, then log the 900 calories. If you playing a more casual game, log two thirds of that.

    Good luck!
  • kbhartson
    kbhartson Posts: 12
    Options
    I use the calories burned that MFP provides...I'm not coming up with it myself; I didn't realize it wasn't accurate; that certainly would answer some questons. I ride my exercise bike at 16 to 17.5 mph not stop from 45 mins to 53 mins and track 13 miles during that time. As for the tennis; yes we play non stop for 60 minutes. Granted we are not professional players but we are soaked to our undies believe me. As for the food. We don't eat out, we cook at home 95% of the time and my measurements are exact because I dish my own food...I just pick from MFP food list. As for the portion sizes for lunches...I go by their portions; I don't have any way of measuring their portions and I eliminate the rice or gluten if you will as best I can.
  • kbhartson
    kbhartson Posts: 12
    Options
    Not sure if you are able to see my personal info and maybe it makes a difference...246 lbs at 5'6" in height.
  • jjplato
    jjplato Posts: 155 Member
    Options
    I'm just going to be straight with you, and I hope you take this as constructive -- I don't think you're logging this stuff diligently enough. For example, on 5/19, you logged 3.5 oz of balsamic vinaigrette, which just happens to be the default portion size for the vinaigrette you chose. Do you know how much dressing that is? That's seven tablespoons. Did you really put that much on your salad? And if you did, do you really think it was only 60 calories and five grams of fat? I know somebody entered it, and a few people confirmed it, but the other listings are more realistic at 90-120 calories for 2 tablespoons. I don't mean to harp on this one example, but combine that with the fact that you're not logging on weekends, you're guessing at portion sizes at lunch, and you may be optimistically logging calories burned, and I think you've got your answer. Again, good luck with your plan!
  • luckypony71
    luckypony71 Posts: 399 Member
    Options
    Can someone(s) please look at my diet/exercise and tell me what I am doing wrong. I apologize I haven't logged in the weekends but I am pretty much the same as during the week in calories except that I do drink alcohol and I usually play tennis on the weekends. I am not losing anything and I think it's because I'm not eating enough just from reading other posts. At my size I would think I would be able to shed quickly the first few months and then slow down, but that isn't happening. Very frustrated. Thanks.

    I had the same problem, I wasn't loosing. Even gained 15 pounds last year. I bought a digital food scale in January. We cook everything at home. I log every thing I put in my mouth. I finally started dropping weight again.
    I only eat out once in a while. I bring it home and put it on the scale. I am not guesstimating anymore. I even weigh my slices of pizza. LOL

    Try it. You may look at my diary. Hubby is a bodybuilder currently trimming down for a show so I warn you my diet is pretty boring, but it works for me. You don't have to eat what I eat just giving you ideas.
  • jjplato
    jjplato Posts: 155 Member
    Options
    Hey, just one other thing. Consider laying off the alcohol entirely for a few weeks and see if it makes a difference. I like to drink, too, but when I'm losing weight I cut it out entirely and it works. Alcohol interferes with several important metabolic processes related to fat loss, it's empty calories, and it dehydrates you. A scientific study I read recently found that well-hydrated bodies burn fat far more efficiently than dehydrated bodies.

    http://www.builtlean.com/2012/11/26/alcohol-weight-loss/
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Options
    Are you not losing anything or are you not losing as much as you'd like?

    It's probably not that you are eating too little (although if you want try eating more for a couple of weeks and log it and see what happens), but the problem first is that you may not know precisely how much you are eating or burning. That's what's good to try to figure out.
    I use the calories burned that MFP provides...I'm not coming up with it myself; I didn't realize it wasn't accurate; that certainly would answer some questons. I ride my exercise bike at 16 to 17.5 mph not stop from 45 mins to 53 mins and track 13 miles during that time.

    Yeah, it's annoying, but MFP overestimates a bunch of things. Tennis is a good example, because it's really hard to estimate how many calories a particular game would burn. For biking, you are using an entry for outdoor cycling, and you just don't burn as much on a stationary bike IME (although I think even my cycling entries are too high and disregard a percentage of them usually). That said, some of the MFP entries even just for stationary biking are off. If you don't have a heart rate monitor you have to kind of treat them skeptically. Going by the counter in my gym for your stationary biking it's probably more like somewhere in the 300s.
    As for the food. We don't eat out, we cook at home 95% of the time and my measurements are exact because I dish my own food...I just pick from MFP food list.

    That should make it a lot easier, but the database can take a bit of figuring out at first. Are you creating recipes or measuring and logging each individual ingredient? It's a pain to get the hang of at first, but it becomes much easier.
    As for the portion sizes for lunches...I go by their portions; I don't have any way of measuring their portions and I eliminate the rice or gluten if you will as best I can.

    Yeah, I do this too at restaurants, but who knows.

    As suggested, you might want to try a couple of weeks logging really carefully and focusing on foods you have control over so that you know it's right and then see how your numbers look and what you've lost. Sometimes it takes some adjustment at first.

    Also, it's important to log the alcohol, because calories can add up fast.
  • kbhartson
    kbhartson Posts: 12
    Options
    Yeah, you can see when I did drink during the week that I logged everyone.

    I've gone on several sites and they calculate not just the time and speed of the exercise but my weight and they are close to MFP. As you know, when you are larger you do burn more calories than someone that is fit.

    We create our own recipes and some are on skinny kitchen which gives you your calorie count. I'm logging correctly...that I'm sure of. My bf even thinks I log a little over which I'm fine with...it's not so much that it would make a difference.

    It could be the exercise but like I said other sites are coming back with very close to the same and MFP does know my weight so maybe they calculate that and could be why its different for me then someone that is 130 lbs., who knows. I will just keep plugging away and certainly take this great advice. At least I haven't gained but 246 sucks...lol
  • kbhartson
    kbhartson Posts: 12
    Options
    The dressing was correct...I put it on a salad and mixed it all together. I also used some for the fish as a marinade. Trust me I'm very diligent with my logging and I will start doing the weekends again. It was just a pain to do it on my phone. Thanks for the advice; don't know about no drinking for two weeks though lol. I have already cut back to 1/3 of what I use to drink and then cut that by half. To be clear I drink Malibu with Diet Rite, its not like I'm drinking Vodka; and red wine sometimes but only about 10 ounces is all I can handle.
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
    Options
    I'm just going to be straight with you, and I hope you take this as constructive -- I don't think you're logging this stuff diligently enough. For example, on 5/19, you logged 3.5 oz of balsamic vinaigrette, which just happens to be the default portion size for the vinaigrette you chose. Do you know how much dressing that is? That's seven tablespoons. Did you really put that much on your salad? And if you did, do you really think it was only 60 calories and five grams of fat? I know somebody entered it, and a few people confirmed it, but the other listings are more realistic at 90-120 calories for 2 tablespoons. I don't mean to harp on this one example, but combine that with the fact that you're not logging on weekends, you're guessing at portion sizes at lunch, and you may be optimistically logging calories burned, and I think you've got your answer. Again, good luck with your plan!

    How polite was that for still being critical!

    great job +1 for the maturity


    good example for me.
  • kbhartson
    kbhartson Posts: 12
    Options
    I have a scale that tracks you for years. In 733 days I have gain 10.6 lbs and those are when I quit smoking a year ago. It was up to 17.2 but I have lost some since. I'm pretty anal when it comes to watching everything. Thanks for the advice. I will take a look at your diary.

    Question; Is the pizza not listed correctly on the site? What does weighing it do? If its veggie pizza or supreme and they weigh the same how do you decide the calories? Just curious if I've been missing a step here. Thanks again.
  • natstar26
    natstar26 Posts: 130 Member
    Options
    Hey there :) I just took a look at your diary, I can see you eat out a lot; are you a very busy person? Eating out is possible but its recommended to do so as say once a week like a Friday ect I also see because you ate high calorie meals, you skipped meals and did excessive exercise. I understand how you would think this would burn it off but you body is going to hurt from this. In a sense I mean you are burning more then what your eating so your body will go into starvation mode, which sometimes means you will drop some weight but then you will plateau which aint healthy. Meal prep is the most vital thing anyone can do whether you are a mother to a big family or a single lady or gent who works/studies. Pick 2 days of week and chop up vegetables/fruits and salads, also cook stews, meats ect. Meat is good for 4 days max in fridge or you can freeze and reheat. So when you get home heat it in microwave for blah blah mins or stove top which ever. Food is ready in under 5 mins :) you just saved $15-20 each meal and you can buy some great things for yourself with that extra money :) hang in there :D
  • kbhartson
    kbhartson Posts: 12
    Options
    Thanks for your advice...I really need to stop logging using restaurants as examples. No I don't eat out much. Lunch time during the week, but my meals are pretty low in calories but we cook at home and from scratch 95% of the time. My bf begs me to go out to dinner once a week; he gets his way twice a month at best...lol I should figure a better way to log I think.
  • natstar26
    natstar26 Posts: 130 Member
    Options
    Thanks for your advice...I really need to stop logging using restaurants as examples. No I don't eat out much. Lunch time during the week, but my meals are pretty low in calories but we cook at home and from scratch 95% of the time. My bf begs me to go out to dinner once a week; he gets his way twice a month at best...lol I should figure a better way to log I think.
    Yes my husband does that a lot haha yer a few of the items ive had to double check on websites because when they got added on the were wayyy off lol Keep it up :)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Options
    I've gone on several sites and they calculate not just the time and speed of the exercise but my weight and they are close to MFP. As you know, when you are larger you do burn more calories than someone that is fit.

    Yeah, I know. I'm just warning you about a common issue with MFP. I started MFP when I was over 200 and I've got a long way to goal still, so I do know about burning more calories. It's better with some things than others, of course.
    We create our own recipes and some are on skinny kitchen which gives you your calorie count. I'm logging correctly...that I'm sure of. My bf even thinks I log a little over which I'm fine with...it's not so much that it would make a difference.

    I'm just not sure I understand what you are doing and I'd like to. If I'm getting it right, you are creating recipes elsewhere and then choosing similar entries based on calorie count? You can import the recipes into MFP or just create them here or--as I usually do, since I'm lazy and don't usually follow even my own recipes--just note down the ingredients and weights while cooking and then add them.

    What is it telling you you should lose (in your goals it should have an estimate for what you will lose per week) and what have you lost since starting?
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Options
    Another thought is if you want to try the TDEE method that takes the whole exercise logging need out of it.

    Go to one of the TDEE sites, like this one: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ (there are others, you can just search TDEE calculator and compare, but this has a variety of different methods). Put in your information. The one with body fat percentage is the best, especially for people who are overweight--it will usually give somewhat lower numbers, IME, when you are overweight.

    Using your numbers for the one without body fat I get BMR of 1770 (again, it's likely lower in reality), and then you plug in your activity numbers--for example if you exercise 5 times a week it gives you TDEE of 2586 using that methods (others allow for more precise inputs about activity).

    Then you deduct some percentage, say 20% (which would be a 1 lb/week loss, roughly) and would eat about 2086, but not eat back any exercise calories. If you try it for a couple of weeks and aren't losing, you are closer to maintenance and then lower it some until you find a good place.

    I don't like that method for myself because I'm still in the process of trying to push my TDEE up and also eating more is a good motivation for me to exercise more, and also because as a woman of 44 and only 5'3, even being overweight my TDEE is only around 2300 or so even during my best weeks, which means 20% is less than 1 lb/week, and I'm still able to lose close to 2 lb/week using the MFP method and eating back about half my exercise calories (and heavy enough that I think that's reasonable). However, lots of people here swear by it.
  • jjplato
    jjplato Posts: 155 Member
    Options
    I really need to stop logging using restaurants as examples.

    Definitely! I thought you were actually eating out. You can't just pick something similar -- especially if you're not losing weight and trying to diagnose. If I make something for dinner, I weigh all the ingredients and log them all individually. If I make it all the time, I create a recipe in MFP.

    As for the exercise bike, you really can't tell using a website because the resistance setting is variable. If you have the resistance on the lowest setting, you're going to burn far fewer calories than if it's on the highest. Really, the only way you'll be able to measure this with a reasonable degree of accuracy is with a heart rate monitor. Even if your bike machine has a calorie display, I wouldn't trust it necessarily. Those things can be way off.

    Just a few mistakes in logging can throw you off. If you really only burned 700 calories instead of 1,000, and you under-estimated food calories by as little as 100, you're off by 400 calories, and that's enough to turn a weight-loss day into a weight-gain day. You're drinking alcohol, and that's *really* easy to under-estimate, unless you weigh it -- believe me. A typical wine glass today is a lot bigger than the 5 oz standard. And liquor is very calorie-dense, so if you're off by as little as an ounce and a half for the evening, you're off by 100 calories.
  • jeanbattalia
    jeanbattalia Posts: 27 Member
    Options
    I wanted to comment and add that there are some very good comments here. I tend to be long-winded and so I will be as brief as possible:

    Pay attention to what jjplato is saying - there are also a lot of good posts from others.

    Alcohol - that will really jack up weight loss for a lot of people.

    Portioning is important to accuracy for amounts. I will add that you can't really get an accurate count at restaurants - I hate to say this, but even if they have nutritional info available, unless the cooks are actually measuring accurately in the kitchen, it's not accurate. I know you said that you didn't eat out often. It's still relevant for when you do.

    Although some will disagree, I would say get a heart rate monitor. I was super surprised at how much I was actually NOT burning when I was logging exercise before. Yes, generally, a heavier person will burn more. However, I would highly suggest this for accuracy. They are pretty inexpensive on Amazon. Then you'll know if you're actually burning 900 calories playing tennis -or whatever activity you're doing. I have a weight lifting dvd that I use at home and I am sweaty as heck after I do it. In one hour, can you believe that I only burn about 200 calories doing it? Granted, I am not your same weight, BUT the difference wouldn't be that much between us. Also, when I'm on an elliptical machine, I only burn about 500 an hour. This is based on heartrate and age and weight are entered into the monitor. Pretty crazy information - blew me away.

    Another thing that I figured out was that I was not intaking optimum calories. Sure, some will say that you can lose if you're taking in too few, BUT it didn't seem to be the case for me. I had my goals set at 1200. I did another calculation using the 21 Day Fix guide with Beachbody and for that program, it showed that I needed 1520 for optimum calorie intake. Sure enough, I bumped it up and started losing.

    The other thing is this: calories are calories. I will say that your insides depend on the quality of your food and I believe that the healthier you are because of balanced nutrients, the better your body will work to lose weight without feeling like crap. Sure, you can eat 1000 cals of junk or 1000 cals of healthy foods and in all actuality will lose weight with both, but you'll want to feel good, right? Not saying you're eating junk, but just tossing that out.

    Last, logging on weekends is the thing that saves me. The weekends can kill me when there is no accountability. So, I've committed to making those days especially important when counting.

    Jean

Categories