Can someone please look at my food diary?

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  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    OP, I've had a similar experience. Lost about 90 pounds and then started having some real difficulty once I got to having 20 or so left to lose. My theory is that guesstimating, eyeballing, and measuring vs weighing has worked fine up to this point because I had plenty to lose and was still creating enough of a deficit even with a couple hundred calories off here and there. Now I have to be much more particular. I finally took the advice of many people on here, got myself a food scale and was really surprised at how much of a difference it makes!
  • sarahbrown1015
    sarahbrown1015 Posts: 92 Member
    I just looked at your food diary for the month of August. First I'm guessing that the creamer is to avoid dairy? Also I hate to say this as I don't like to bash other people's food choices but I would be bored to tears eating your meals. Your body needs variety, there's a lot of processed food here, one thing that I would suggest is to add sodium to your tracker for a couple of weeks I think you might be shocked at how high the number is. You really want a well balanced diet and what it looks like here is you get in a rut of eating chicken thighs and only know or like a few things to go with that. Mix things up have a really nice salad, take the chicken meat and toss it in with some chili, garlic, cumin and onion powders if you don't have to avoid dairy toss in some shredded cheese, add a little greek yogurt.
    Another suggestion is to switch to frozen veggies over canned, add some fruits and veggies into your snacks instead of prepackaged bars/cookies. You could also make up soups with your chicken thighs, add lots of veggies and use a whole grain on the side. Toss some beans into your diet as well a good batch of chicken tortilla soup with kidney beans and chickpeas would not only fill you up it's going to taste great.

    If pizza is your comfort food go ahead and have it. If you're concerned for the amount you'll eat then make your pizza at home, grab a whole grain crust, top with spaghetti sauce or diced tomatoes, cheese and your favorite toppings, again be sure to add some veggies. One of my favorite pizzas is made at home, I use a premade whole grain crust, alfredo sauce with added garlic, topped with baby spinach, mushrooms, diced tomatoes, red onions, bacon bits and feta cheese.

    Keeping yourself on track doesn't have to make things restricted you just need to make them sensible.



    I do get in food ruts! Sometimes I'm eating those bars frozen/snack things because I'm a hairdresser and there is no dedicated meal time. Often, I'm shoving something in my mouth and mixing hair color at the same time. And tell me how to make a frozen vegatable taste good and I'll do it! I have tried and my skills are lacking!! Thanks for the feed back!
  • sarahbrown1015
    sarahbrown1015 Posts: 92 Member
    So... I have lost 90 lbs in the last four years but I have been stuck at the same weight for a few months now. I eat at a deficit most days and try to eat pretty healthy most of the time. I work out with a trainer 2 days a week(lifting pretty heavy these days) and run a few miles 3 days a week. I am by no means perfect but generally even a splurge these days is thought out and planned and is never anything as extravagant as pizza. (my one true love) Obviously Something needs to be tweaked a little. MFP has me eating 1490 a day and I always eat my exercise calories back. Please don't respond if you are going to tell me to never eat another carb again or that I need to eat 1200 calories a day. Thank you in advance!


    PS I have not been measured in a couple of months so if I see changes there I will be satisfied temporarily but I would still like some input. 40 to go!

    I won't look at your diary because I don't feel it gives the whole picture. If you have been stuck at the same weight for a few months then that's a plateau. The good news is you are maintaining. The bad news is you aren't losing the weight you want to. There are a few things you can do to get you losing weight again. Recalculate you specs to lose 1 lb per week as you still have 30 lb to lose. Eat to that recommended goal. Even if you do no exercise you should see some loss. You can change your macros from the default 50/30/20 to 40/30/30 to reduce carbs slightly while raising protein slightly. Many women find they lose better at lower carbs. Change up your exercise routine by reducing cardio and increasing strength training. If you aren't aiming for 10,000 steps a day buy a pedometer or use an app to track your steps daily. This will increase your basic activity daily without it feeling like exercise. Add in an extra walk or bike ride if possible, ideally a 30 minute walk daily. Increase your activity any way you can. Make sure you are getting adequate sleep. Finally, relax knowing you are doing everything right so the weight will come off :flowerforyou:



    Thanks :)
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
    I have definitely been measuring food in cups. No wonder things are always listed in grams... I'll start today!

    BINGO! There ya go! Accuracy in calorie counting (and thus, creating the deficit) can only come from fixing the root of the issue--weigh it all (most all--measure your liquids in cups and spoons, of course). Using the food scale was my absolute, number one best thing ever to move me from, "Oh, noes! Why am I not losing on 1200-1300 calories a day" to, "Oh, my! This WORKS! And I can lose eating much more than I thought"

    Good luck to you!
  • daphnec1994
    daphnec1994 Posts: 71 Member
    Or it could be an indication that you are gaining muscle and losing fat.

    No.

    Care to elaborate on that? It is a very common occurrence.
    It's very difficult to gain muscle, and it only happens under certain conditions (either eating at a surplus and lifting relatively heavy weights within a certain rep range, or someone who is brand-new to lifting and has a high percentage of body fat). The OP isn't gaining muscle by accident.

    ^
    This
  • jmv7117
    jmv7117 Posts: 891 Member
    Hahaha! Yes the coffee creamer is an issue! I'm an addict for sure! It is all measured. All of my food is measured and weighed. Yes I use the recipe builder them measure those portions too. Yes I do some HIIT. Less now with my new trainer. Still tho we are talking calories in/out to lose yes?

    No. You have been doing the CICO yet haven't lost anything for months which means you are inadvertently maintaining. Yes you need a calorie deficit to lose weight but it is more complicated. Your hormones and how your body is using the calories you give it are affecting your weight loss. The recipe builder in MFP is lacking especially for tracking certain nutrients. If you want to be able to calculate better, use software dedicated to that purpose.

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