Women Only.... only kidding - Hi All...

Marcus_E
Marcus_E Posts: 124
edited September 26 in Introduce Yourself
Had to add it in there, seen a few "Women Only" posts - the funny thing is, I bet most blokes will have a glance as well, just won't admit it - it's human nature... Anyway, enough of that.. I just wanted to say Hi and even after a few days, I am really glad I found this site..

I have joined MFP for a reason, as for the first time I seriously need to make a change in my life. I turned 38 a month ago and pretty much have managed to maintain my weight over the past 20 years.. It's been up and down in that period and has hung around the 17-18stone mark for that period. I've played rugby in the past, but no longer and I'm fairly active, but my eating habits are shocking.. So I thought tracking what I eat - will actually show me where I go wrong and I am amazed after only a few days as to what I eat.. It's frightening to see it written down and tracked..

To give a small insight. I lost my father 10 years ago when he was only 49years old. He was fit, played rugby, ex-army and generally in my eyes, was superman (aren't most Dads..), but one little thing went unchecked - cholesterol. He did also have a few other heart issues as well. I have mine checked every year now and even with my diet and weight (currently around 17.3stone / 110kgs) - my levels are fine, but I know that these can change anytime..

What i wanted to ask is, how long would most people recommend tracking their food for to get a proper overview before making changes? A week or two or a month? I think a week isn't long enough.. I want to really understand what I am eating and also when (ie keeping a small journal when I eat certain foods and what i was doing at the time)..

And also, how on earth do you change your eating habits? I stick with my 3 meals a day, I've tried the 5 or 6 and I just can't stick to it - so any advice / comments to best maintain a healthy balance would certainly be appreciated..

Thanks all and good luck to everyone else on the site.. What a great place..

Replies

  • AngelaPowPowPOW
    AngelaPowPowPOW Posts: 293
    I'm a woman! Whoohoo!
    Damn...I thought this was a "No Boys Allowed" Club or something from the topic. lol

    I don't track my meals in advance. I'm smart at breakfast...log it. Same with meals and snacks. If , by the end of the day, even after working out, I'm getting close to my "calorie count down", I watch my portions or snacks. OR.....take a jog and earn a few more calories.
    But welcome to MFP. Good luck!
  • Miss_Chievous_wechange
    Miss_Chievous_wechange Posts: 1,230 Member
    Welcome to MFP. I like your sense of humor. Best of luck to you.
  • HalfofHilary
    HalfofHilary Posts: 224
    Welcome to MFP!!! My best advice would be to get a ton of MFP friends. I love my MFP friends they are my support system. I don't know where I would be without them.
  • HeatherMarie1174
    HeatherMarie1174 Posts: 355
    Welcome!!! I wish I had some words of wisdom for you, however, I am fairly new to this whole changing your eating habits thing too. However, there is a ton of support on this site that will help you along the way!

    Your post cracked me up, by the way! :bigsmile:
  • missy1970eb
    missy1970eb Posts: 1,209 Member
    hi and welcome, took me about a month 2 work foods out:smile:
  • jennywrens
    jennywrens Posts: 208
    I started trying to eat better straight away, rather than seeing where I was going wrong - but if you want to have a look at your habits I'd give it a fortnight - maybe even a month if you're happy just maintaining (and not losing) weight for that long! Might be useful for you to see which situations cause you to vere off track!

    Good luck with it! Add some friends (me if you'd like - or others, whatever) because having other people supporting you is so so valuable!
  • liquidsunsine
    liquidsunsine Posts: 13
    Hi,
    Welcome to the site.
    First let me say I'm really glad you are keeping track of your cholesterol levels and other things that can show a problem. I will suggest you have your dr also check your Triglycerides and your C-Reactive Protein. Both of these can be critical in diagnosing an early problem of heart disease. I just had mine checked last month and I was not happy with them. Neither was my dr. I have 3 months to get things to normal or it's meds for me and I hate pills. Heart disease and diabetes runs on my mother's side of the family, so you are most definitely doing the right thing. But please, do ask your dr for those 2 blood test.

    I would keep tracking with no time limit. I've been using since last month and I've been very surprised at what I've found. My meals are great. My snacking on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired. As for eating several times a day, they are only suppose to be small meals, but I don't do them well either. I have my 3 meals a day and I do still have a snack, but I've resorted to a lot bananas and Cara Cara's (a type of orange that is better than any other I've ever had). I'm going to keep tracking, even when I reach my goal.

    You can do this. Best wishes to you and again, welcome.
  • Marcus_E
    Marcus_E Posts: 124
    Hi,
    Welcome to the site.
    First let me say I'm really glad you are keeping track of your cholesterol levels and other things that can show a problem. I will suggest you have your dr also check your Triglycerides and your C-Reactive Protein. Both of these can be critical in diagnosing an early problem of heart disease. I just had mine checked last month and I was not happy with them. Neither was my dr. I have 3 months to get things to normal or it's meds for me and I hate pills. Heart disease and diabetes runs on my mother's side of the family, so you are most definitely doing the right thing. But please, do ask your dr for those 2 blood test.
    Thanks again for the advice.. I did forget to add that my annual check up includes all the above.. I'm over cautious, so I make sure that everything is checked, potassium levels, tri's, etc etc.. My doctor just orders the same test for me now that covers all - and to date (touch wood), I have always been on average/normal levels (no elevations or depressions) - pretty lucky I think considering I have traditionally had quite a poor diet, but I know that with age, it can sneak up - hence time for a change..

    Thanks again..
  • erisfreenici
    erisfreenici Posts: 277 Member
    Welcome! :) I have found that trying to change every bad eating habit at the same time just doesn't work for me. To start out with, I picked one thing and worked on it. To start with, I logged my food for 2 weeks without making any changes. Then, I looked at my logs and made a list of bad eating habits and what I could do to remedy them and am (still!) working at knocking them out one by one. I drink water instead of pop/soda adding in a glass or milk or 100% juice or iced tea sparingly. I eat breakfast every day even if it's just a Luna Bar (I keep a stash of them at work in case I forget to eat before work). I rarely went grocery shopping, so I never really had things on hand to cook. I love to cook, and I'm very good at it but who wants to go shopping after a full day at work? So, I made myself go to the grocery store once per week. I make a list of all of the dinners I'm making that week and buy ingredients for that. Also, I pick up food to eat for breakfast and to make healthy lunches on weekends. Now, I cook every night for dinner and have lots of healthy things to make. I still need to bring lunches in to work more often, but I'm still a work in progress.

    Each of these I did for a week or two before moving on to the next thing. I do fail sometimes and eat things I shouldn't, but I know that this is normal and can even be a part of a healthy diet. It's what you do 80% of the time that really counts, and you can get away with being semi-bad 20% of the time. Just be HONEST about how often you're letting yourself cheat and make sure to rein it in the next day.
  • mrphil86
    mrphil86 Posts: 2,382 Member
    Well I'ma guy but I'll post here anyways.

    Sounds like you are like me in which maintaining weight so not too much of a problem. I pretty much change up my diet daily to what I need. Like if I'm going to run I load up on the carbs more and if I lift I load up on protein more. Which requires a little planning but it's worth it. It not like there is a big difference between how much I eat. It's mostly at what time I eat them rather than how much I intake.

    If you need any advice, you can add me as a friend. (Anyone can on that) I won't hit on you I promise. =P
  • muncharoo
    muncharoo Posts: 15 Member
    when I started out I went straight into a deficit. I never tracked my food before I started. I'm very impatient but it worked for me :).


    As for the 3 meals a day, do what works best for you, I don't really do the 3 or 5 or 6 meals a day. I just eat whenever I need and check with the calories and eat foods based on that. I guess bottom line is you've gotta do what your body say and work with it otherwise it will backfire.

    Sorry for the rambling, I'm new at this lol good luck
  • carol2710
    carol2710 Posts: 13
    Hi, i am not really getting to grips with eating very healthily altho i have cut down on snacking and finding that i am exercising more. Suppose its a start. Good luck : )
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