Logging accuracy, consistency, and you're probably eating more than you think.

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Replies

  • serasaby wrote: »
    hello
    Can anyone please tell me how much is 35 grams of bagrreys white oats or any instant oats in cups? I dont have any weighing machne.... so plz help

    1/2 cup dry = 1 cup cooked = 150.
    thank u so much
  • bainsworth1a
    bainsworth1a Posts: 313 Member
    I agree with the importance of logging what we eat. I am much more successful this time around than I was before. I try to log everything as honestly as possible. If I go over my target for the day I don't beat myself up I just try to make better choices the next day. I am not as obsessed with the scale I as used to be but I still weigh myself every day. I only track my losses unless I go up more than 3 lbs. Then I mark it because it motivates me to be more careful. I can easily fluctuate 3 lbs on any given day due to some medications that I have to take.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
    Sidesteel,

    I just noticed this thread. Great advice given. Thank you.
  • dblanke01
    dblanke01 Posts: 35 Member
    Very helpful and motivational. I've been "on a diet" for about 15 years, and some of those years I was even really diligent about measuring...but not logging EVERYTHING, and certainly not weighing. I weighed my breakfast for the first time ever. Had I just logged what I thought was accurate, I would have been underestimating by about 300 calories. Wow.
  • JessieLMay
    JessieLMay Posts: 146 Member
    I usually over estimate how much I've eaten, just in case. But I have never used a food scale, and some days just skipped logging, and I was losing weight at a good rate. My biggest issue is just sticking to it. I lose 20lbs, get too happy and feeling good, and start back with my old habits, all involuntarily. This time, I know it happens, and I can stop sabotaging myself. But point is, is it is not always important to keep exact track of what you're eating, at least for me.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
    I usually over estimate how much I've eaten, just in case. But I have never used a food scale, and some days just skipped logging, and I was losing weight at a good rate. My biggest issue is just sticking to it. I lose 20lbs, get too happy and feeling good, and start back with my old habits, all involuntarily. This time, I know it happens, and I can stop sabotaging myself. But point is, is it is not always important to keep exact track of what you're eating, at least for me.

    But How do you know that properly keeping track isn't what could make you stick to it? Although, ultimately, you are right. This is "a" method of being successful. There are many
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
    I have been weighing especially when at home. MU am frustrated as I am stuck ina plataue for the last 7 months. Even adjusted calorues up and down. I have been doing a lot more excercise especially calisthenics like pullups pushups and squats as well as aerobics. I think I have lost fat and gained muscle yet the scale does not budge which is frustrating since I had lost 40 lb pretty well over the first 6 months. Any advice would be appreciated
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    I have been weighing especially when at home. MU am frustrated as I am stuck ina plataue for the last 7 months. Even adjusted calorues up and down. I have been doing a lot more excercise especially calisthenics like pullups pushups and squats as well as aerobics. I think I have lost fat and gained muscle yet the scale does not budge which is frustrating since I had lost 40 lb pretty well over the first 6 months. Any advice would be appreciated

    Aside from medical issues and normal body fluctuations (bowels, hormones, water retention from exercise, and high sodium) if you are not losing then you are eating too much food. Are you using a food scale or eating back your exercise calories?
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,400 Member
    I enjoyed and found this post to be very usefull---thank you. :)
  • libbydoodle11
    libbydoodle11 Posts: 1,351 Member
    Thanks for the post.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
    I do eat back excercise calories. Is that something u should not do? I've asked before on mfp yet people said to eat then back to be in appropriate calorie balance. I do weigh food when at home yet when out I have to eyeball. I try to overestimate as much as possible so I don't under estimate. What can I do to loose the extra pounds?
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    edited November 2014
    I do eat back excercise calories. Is that something u should not do? I've asked before on mfp yet people said to eat then back to be in appropriate calorie balance. I do weigh food when at home yet when out I have to eyeball. I try to overestimate as much as possible so I don't under estimate. What can I do to loose the extra pounds?

    The problem with eating back exercise calories is the accuracy of the exercise calculators is not particularly accurate. Most people recommend eating back only 50% of exercise calories to be on the safe side.

    ETA my strategy has always been if I seem to be plateauing then raise output and lower input until it moves. It's not always as easy as it seems on paper so you have to keep adjusting as you go.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    If people just spent some time reading the stickies and understanding what they were going to do and how it works, then its obvious what role logging plays and the variations in estimations. Unfortunately they rush in without understanding what they are really doing.
    I'd like to make an important point about this that typically gets missed in the forums when this is brought up. I don't believe that logging inaccuracies are necessarily a function of honesty. They CAN be, but what I mean by this is that you are not necessarily being accused of being dishonest or lacking integrity if it is pointed out to you that you're not actually eating 900 calories and not losing weight.

    This is rubbish imo because on virtually every one of the I'm not losing weight threads it is emphasised its about the accuracy of their recording or measuring, which can be due to a variety of reasons. I havent seen people being called liars which is a red herring. I think forum answers are pretty good on this and phrased appropriately by the vast majority of posts ive seen.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
    Thank you. I will stop eating back excercise calories and see what happens. I actually starting eating excercise calories back originally because I plateaued and people said I did not eat enough and the body stopped loosing. Maybe the body readjusted now and if I reduce calories I will start to see the scale move. I did have to say that the waist has continued to get smaller even though the weight scale did not move. I have been under the assumption that I was gaining muscle. I do 3 x 10 pullups ,pushups , squats, dips ,ab wheel every other day and weight 210 lb. between days do do insanity assylum hybrid of asylum 1 and 2. It's like crossfit for those that don't know it. Burn between 400-1000 calories per workout depending on how hard I push myself. Had to lay off doing more exercise than that as the joints hurt and I'm 40 years old- so eco very time takes a little longer. Been at this sort of excercise for 11 months. Got pretty muscular. Used to bodybuild so there is some muscle memory. I am enjoying the workout yet really want to loose more weight. Original goal was 180 and I have been stuck at 210 for 6 months now. Originally was on 1350 cal. Then plataue then upped calories to 2100 yet stuck at that level. Do you think I can decrease to 180 as I do have a larger frame?
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    edited November 2014
    Thank you. I will stop eating back excercise calories and see what happens. I actually starting eating excercise calories back originally because I plateaued and people said I did not eat enough and the body stopped loosing. Maybe the body readjusted now and if I reduce calories I will start to see the scale move. I did have to say that the waist has continued to get smaller even though the weight scale did not move. I have been under the assumption that I was gaining muscle. I do 3 x 10 pullups ,pushups , squats, dips ,ab wheel every other day and weight 210 lb. between days do do insanity assylum hybrid of asylum 1 and 2. It's like crossfit for those that don't know it. Burn between 400-1000 calories per workout depending on how hard I push myself. Had to lay off doing more exercise than that as the joints hurt and I'm 40 years old- so eco very time takes a little longer. Been at this sort of excercise for 11 months. Got pretty muscular. Used to bodybuild so there is some muscle memory. I am enjoying the workout yet really want to loose more weight. Original goal was 180 and I have been stuck at 210 for 6 months now. Originally was on 1350 cal. Then plataue then upped calories to 2100 yet stuck at that level. Do you think I can decrease to 180 as I do have a larger frame?

    Your body doesn't stop losing because you eat "too few" calories and it's best not to get trapped into that magical thinking. As for gaining muscle it's possible, particularly if you are in a slight surplus without realizing it, but if you are standing still it's very unlikely that you are both losing fat and gaining muscle at the same rate but those who recomp can basically do this but it takes a long time. Finally, yes you can certainly get down to 180 even with a large frame but the questions should be how do you want to look. I basically look at a BF% rather than a stark weight number.

    I'm a little older than you so I understand the struggles at this age and rest assured that you can do it, but it just isn't going to be as easy as when you were bodybuilding in your prime. Best of luck!

    ETA not sure if 1350 is your caloric intake but if it is you should raise it considering you are a big guy and you are burning a lot of calories. This doesn't have to do with not losing weight but rather getting enough calories so that your body isn't overly stressed and start to pump out extra cortisone etc. There is such a thing as adaptive thermogenesis, which doesn't actually stop you from losing weight but will lower your BMR & RMR and makes it harder to lose weight and will have some long term consequences when you start to maintain.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
    Just getting frustrated and feeling like I'm spinning my wheels and not going anywhere. I will adjust down in calories. If I list myself sedentary 1850 is what mpf gives. I think that being on my feet and being at a standing desk 90 % of the day 4 days a week plus my 60-90 minutes of excercise puts me into light active 2100 calorie zone . On days when I'm not at standing desk maybe I should go with 1850 cal? Also u tend to overdo the exercise sometimes- how much does cortisol from that factor into weight loss. Not to mention cortisol from life stressors? Any advice would be appreciated.
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,375 Member
    serasaby wrote: »
    serasaby wrote: »
    hello
    Can anyone please tell me how much is 35 grams of bagrreys white oats or any instant oats in cups? I dont have any weighing machne.... so plz help

    1/2 cup dry = 1 cup cooked = 150.
    thank u so much

    A serving of regular oatmeal (I don't know what bagrreys is and can't find it in the database) is 40g, or a 1/2 cup, but it's not a level half cup. That puts you closer to 50g. This is why having a digital scale is important. You don't have to get a fancy expensive one.
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    edited November 2014
    Just getting frustrated and feeling like I'm spinning my wheels and not going anywhere. I will adjust down in calories. If I list myself sedentary 1850 is what mpf gives. I think that being on my feet and being at a standing desk 90 % of the day 4 days a week plus my 60-90 minutes of excercise puts me into light active 2100 calorie zone . On days when I'm not at standing desk maybe I should go with 1850 cal? Also u tend to overdo the exercise sometimes- how much does cortisol from that factor into weight loss. Not to mention cortisol from life stressors? Any advice would be appreciated.

    I mention corticosteroids due to their role in long term stress and their catabolic effects so if you are trying to gain muscle it's counter productive (they also have an affect on metabolism). However, the longer term issues of adaptive thermogenesis are that you will need fewer calories to maintain weight and this seems to be from a variety of interrelated issues. There have been many posts on here about them so you could do a quick search and get a lot more information including links to current research.

    The first thing I would do is just stop eating back all your exercise calories and use sedentary as your base calories. Give it a week and see if the scale starts to drift a bit and then reevaluate your exercise and eating habits. I know it's frustrating but if you concentrate on your fitness goals above your weight loss goals for the time being you might find it less frustrating. Whenever my weight stalls or goes up I increase my walking and just use it to clear my mind and enjoy the exercise.
  • matchsetgame
    matchsetgame Posts: 11 Member
    I've found 2 things that really help me log correctly, especially while BUSY!
    1) A kitchen scale and a piece of paper. Jot everything's weight down really quick and if there aren't bar codes or if you don't have time to record it, you'll know how much it was later.
    2) Make a big recipe of something and freeze it for lunches. It's a lot harder calories if you don't make the food and if you put the recipe in MFP you can pick it really quickly when you eat that food.
    I suggest doing this with smoothies, put in tupperware and freeze it. By the time you get to work it'll be a nice soft icy/frozen yogurt or wait a bit and sip throughout the day.