What's the trick?

lalliso7 · February 2015

I grew up surrounded by friends and family who have only ever counted WW points. I've tried WW and it's not really a good fit. I stumbled across MFP and love what I've seen so far. However, I struggle with counting calories b/c of my exposure to WW for so long.
Can anyone offer some feedback as to a breakdown of how many calories per meal etc should be allotted? Or any advice on counting calories in general? Thanks!

Blueseraphchaos · February 2015

If you read the posts about logging accurately and calorie counting that are at the top of this forum, they can help. (Sorry, don't have the links at the moment.)

But breakdown of calories per meal is really a personal preference. So is diary set-up. I changed mine from breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks to different time frames and then liquid calories.

It can take some trial and error. Try logging what you're eating for a bit without any goal in mind, see how many meals you typically eat, when you're hungry, etc. Then see what you can divvy that up into. Mine is usually, lately at least, a small breakfast or lunch (depending on when i eat it) and then huge dinner and quite a few calories for a meal right before i go to bed. But that's just me, and i also change it according to my work schedule, so sometimes i eat about 300 calories for breakfast, 300 for lunch, 400 for dinner, and around 300 right before bed.

I'm a nighttime eater more often than I'd prefer, lol. Good luck!

ana3067 · February 2015

No breakdown. Eat foods you enjoy, eat however much you want at each meal, just stick to your daily and more importantly weekly calorie needs. Log and eat back at least half of your exercise calories, set your goal to 1lb/week unless you are obese (2lb/week would be fine) or within 20lbs or less from your goal (0.5lb/week). Log accurately (weighing, ideally; use your own recipes; make sure you log thinsg in the appropriate nature, raw or cooked, that you measured it in; etc) and daily if you can, be close to your goals every day.

obscuremusicreference · February 2015

lalliso7 wrote: »

I grew up surrounded by friends and family who have only ever counted WW points. I've tried WW and it's not really a good fit. I stumbled across MFP and love what I've seen so far. However, I struggle with counting calories b/c of my exposure to WW for so long.
Can anyone offer some feedback as to a breakdown of how many calories per meal etc should be allotted? Or any advice on counting calories in general? Thanks!

The way that I do it is I plan dinner first (generally the most calories in my day), then eat lightly at lunch and allow for nighttime snacking. You might be a breakfast person or a grazer or something. I think you should think about how you ate before you started counting calories and slot them in accordingly.

segacs · February 2015

If you're used to the WW points system, it might take you a bit of time to adapt to calorie counting.

Spend the first week or two eating normally based on how you would've eaten before. But log everything. Yes, even fruits and veggies. (Nothing's "free" when you count calories.) Log as obsessively and accurately as you can -- use a food scale and log everything by weight -- and track what you eat.

I guarantee you it'll be informative. At that point, you can make adjustments based on how well you're doing on calories and macros.

chemlabdoc · February 2015

What I really like about the app is using my phone to enter everything. The scanner works well with anything that has a barcode. For homemade stuff I can make a recipe and divide into servings. There are also many recipes on the internet that you can just download.

Since I am not normally a snacker I will divide up the calories among three meals. Others may have snacks equal another meal. Of my 1660 calories I might have 400 for breakfast 400 for lunch and the rest for supper. Someone else might eat a smaller supper and have 400 of snacks.

Part of what makes the WW points hard to follow is the formula that determines them (protein/11 + carbs/9 + fat/4 -fiber/5). With MFP it is all about energy (calories).

If you want to look at what others eat, get some friends and check out their diaries (add me if you want). Each person has their own daily calorie goal and everyone that I have seen eats totally different foods. Set a goal start logging and see what happens.

Sued0nim · February 2015

The only trick I used to follow MFP was to throw away every single thing I thought I knew / had ever heard about losing weight and just count calories

The only rules being weigh and carefully log everything and move more

flamingblades · February 2015

I have been struggling with a certain pre-packaged meal "plan" which will remain nameless because I don't want to appear to be promoting the program or its products. That being said, the lunch and dinner entrees are tasty, and reflect an Italian flair (yummy), but contain about 25% of my sodium allowance in one entree. I am type 2 diabetic and I am doing great with the low glycemic choices, but for the sake of my kidneys and my arteries, I want to go low sodium as well. I have taken to using my home cooked products and try to avoid processed stuff, and I trust MFP's nutritional info for my calories, fat carbs, sugar and protein. It's amazing that 4 oz of fresh cooked shrimp is >1,000 mgs of sodium. That blew my shrimp salad idea right out of the water. Go with the whole foods, less use of processed foods and it will surprise you just how much you can put away and stay under 1200 calories. Good luck.

MysticRealm · February 2015

Split up your cals however you want.
I usually don't eat breakfast. Have 300 cals for lunch. After work I go ride my horse. When I get home I usually have a small snack (150 cals) before going to the gym (since I've only eaten 300 cals in the last 18-20 hours). I then have a supper of around 500-600 cal, then between 8-9pm I have nightsnacks, whatever will fit into my cals.
I focus on weekly calorie goal. I eat around 200 calories LESS than my 'daily calorie goal' (which is 1700, so I eat 1500) Monday to Thursday or Friday so that I have additional calories available to me on the weekend in case I want to go out or have something higher calorie than usual, while still staying in my weekly calorie goal.

You have to make sure you weigh all solids, and measure all liquids to ensure you are taking in the cals you think you are.

lalliso7 · February 2015

Some very valuable information and advice. Thanks everyone!

callsitlikeiseeit · February 2015

everyone here has given great advice. im not familiar with WW at all but from what ive heard, i wouldnt like it LOL.

log everything., dont try to lose weight at first, just LOG EVERYTHING. dont forget the oil or butter or spices you cook with. do that for a couple of weeks and get a feel for HOW and WHAT you eat. from there you can make the decision on how to set up your diary. I have 3 meals and 3 snacks. i dont always use all those categories, but for me, thats how i prefer it to be broken down. i dont have a certain number of calories to eat at each meal... .sometimes i eat a huge lunch and a smaller dinner, or vice versa. right now im on maintenance since im iced in and cant exercise, once i can safely get out ill lower it back down and earn back my calories through exercise.

get a good circle of friends who know what they are doing and watch and see how they do things to get a feel for what will work for you (ill send a request) .

RodaRose · February 2015

lalliso7 wrote: »

I grew up surrounded by friends and family who have only ever counted WW points. I've tried WW and it's not really a good fit. I stumbled across MFP and love what I've seen so far. However, I struggle with counting calories b/c of my exposure to WW for so long.
Can anyone offer some feedback as to a breakdown of how many calories per meal etc should be allotted? Or any advice on counting calories in general? Thanks!

Some advice:
Buy a kitchen scale -- for logging in the diary you will want to know the ounces /grams of everything.

flamingblades · February 2015

I have a Weight Watchers scale, but it's battery powered and digital, and I just don't trust it. I see my doc every 3 months, and I weigh in on her scale. It is maintained well and I trust it more.

wnlbutterfly · February 2015

Kitchen scale to weigh your food on is what RodaRose is mentioning not a scale to weigh yourself. I have a WW scale like you mention and it is finicky to say the least.

What's the trick?

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