After only 3 weeks, I've dropped an entire pound!!! Woo Hoo!!

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  • purelyprimitives
    purelyprimitives Posts: 58 Member
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    mkakids wrote: »
    Oh, and lifting weights can be found in the data base as Strength training, but calories estimates from strength training are very inaccurate because your heart rate is not elevated to the same level for the duration of the lifting session (you take breaks in between sets, etc..). The results will be a VERY rough estimate.

    Maybe you have a different activity calculator? :)
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  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    It would be my dream come true to lose a pound every 3 weeks, and eat 2000 calories a day.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Look

    I don't mean to be harsh here but

    Nobody takes the MFP activity database at face value ...most people half the calories before entering them ( just double click on the calories and manually overwrite them then enter) ...the regular advice is take 50-75% of them, personally I would never take more than about 50% ...they overestimate for the majority of people

    You then judge against your average weight loss over 6-8 weeks and adjust from there,maybe you can eat more probably not

    What you did I would reckon was 500-600 calories worth possibly

    Hard work and lifting does not equate to a high burn ...most people don't log calories for weight lifting at all to be fair.

    Also an HRM wouldn't measure that kind of activity so please don't take that advice

    But it's just my advice ...take it or don't

    Weigh all food ...no guessing or cups
    Half all calorie burns in the MFP database, or a gym machine

    Good luck

  • _The_Lone_Wolf_
    _The_Lone_Wolf_ Posts: 160 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »

    Also an HRM wouldn't measure that kind of activity so please don't take that advice

    I thought it was about 90 min of jogging but its about strenght training?
    Yeah strenght training a hrm doesnt work, there are hrm out there that actually can calculate for strenght training but they are mad expensive.

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    mkakids wrote: »
    Oh, and lifting weights can be found in the data base as Strength training, but calories estimates from strength training are very inaccurate because your heart rate is not elevated to the same level for the duration of the lifting session (you take breaks in between sets, etc..). The results will be a VERY rough estimate.

    Maybe you have a different activity calculator? :)
    r8aae51zq849.png

    The MFP database ....I would half that figure too tbh..weight lifting is not a calorie burner

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  • purelyprimitives
    purelyprimitives Posts: 58 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I quickly checked another site for the calories burned for different activities. If you extrapolate the weight out to my portly self at 233, this particular site estimates that these activities burn about 850 cals/hour. So for 90 minutes, that works out to 1275 calories burned. hoxifgrh3pba.png
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  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Well your body is telling you that's not true
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    You can argue the toss all you like whilst sitting there with the scale not moving OR you can implement some recommendations from those who have successfully lost weight on this site and see how that goes for a couple of weeks.

    I know which one I'd go with, even if it does bruise my special snowflake ego..............
  • inannani
    inannani Posts: 3 Member
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    Biggest eye opener from using MFP correctly (weighing everything) is realising that "portion size" recommended by packaging is much smaller than we are used to - the average dinner plate is large enough for 3-4 portions, even more if you're having seconds. A portion of breakfast cereal is meant to be a tiny bowl - if you fill up a normal soup bowl (as we do because that's what they do on tv shows), that's more like 3-4 portions.

    One great tip that stuck in my mind is this: your stomach is the size of your closed fist - your meals don't need to be much larger to fill you up (even though your mind may be saying "noooo, I'm staaaarving!").

    Replace potatoes/rice/bread with lower starch foods (more veg, for example - e.g. replace some of the potato in mash with carrots, or serve half the rice and make up the difference in things like peas and sweet corn). Starches are great if you exercise regularly (more than 4-5 times a week), for the rest of us they tend to be empty calories.

    Finally, watch your drinking intake - make sure to log hot drinks (e.g. coffee w. milk). They add up quickly.
  • purelyprimitives
    purelyprimitives Posts: 58 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Well your body is telling you that's not true

    I don't exercise like this every day but it will be interesting to see if it makes any impact.

    Going with the information that I do know, according to scooby and based on my personal information my TDEE is 2471 which is for simply maintaining my weight (which is what I am doing). As you can see in my food log I'm averaging 1200 cals/day. I'm being told that I'm just not being accurate weighing/measuring my food. The only thing I can conclude from this is that I am under-reporting 50% of the calories of every single thing that I eat. I'm seriously not trying to be argumentative but this doesn't seem like a likely explanation to me.

  • inannani
    inannani Posts: 3 Member
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    We have this show in the UK called Secret Eaters - I think it's great, because it pokes at this exact problem. Every time the couple says they eat less than their thin friends, they don't understand why they're putting it all on, and then when the detectives are put on them, they find themselves eating 3x their daily limit (with obvious results). A lot of the time they don't actually realise they are cheating themselves - they're just so used to not counting what goes in their mouth that they miss most of the cals going in.

    This is the official page for the show: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/secret-eaters
  • curiouschemist
    curiouschemist Posts: 23 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Regarding weighing the food, in most cases I use measuring cups to size the portions or use the portion information from the package. Sometimes weighing can be difficult. For instance, for supper tonight my wife is making a zucchini - chicken baked casserole with fresh string beans on the side from our garden. If I weigh the portion that I eat, how much is zucchini and how much is chicken.. :) Once everything is mixed up there is no real way to determine the exact calorie content so all I can do is estimate.

    Multiple people here have suggested that you purchase and use a food scale and enter all your homemade entries into the recipe builder. This WILL work. An estimate of one portion from the recipe builder will be far more accurate than what you eyeball and estimate yourself. I do this for casseroles and stir fry and anything that I make. One helping might be slightly higher in calories than another but it is not going to be significant enough to affect my loss.

    Measuring cups and spoons don't work for me. For example: 2 TBS of peanut butter is ~190 calories. When I weighed out 2 tablespoons from my measuring spoons it was easily double that. The extra 100 or 200 calories for each thing throughout the day will certainly add up and negate that deficit that you thought you had. Sometimes using a scale can be advantageous and allow you to eat more food, too. Things like watermelon or strawberries. No one cup of these things is ever going to be the same calorie count, but 100g of these things will always be the same amount of calories.

    I understand that it's time consuming and take a while to get used to but once you make it a habit and start seeing results you will wonder why you ever resisted. I had a friend who told me that using a food scale was a little too extreme for her and yet she wasn't losing weight. She finally purchased a food scale and measured out things like cereal and butter and started seeing results that week.

    You have gotten some great advice and you now have the tools to do this. If you use those tools and listen to the advice is your choice. You can continue to estimate things the way you have been or you can make a few small changes and know that your calories count is as accurate as humanly possible. This journey is hard. If it was easy everyone would be at their ideal weight. You can lose the weight in a healthy, sustainable way if you are really committed. I believe in you.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Carrying heavy boxes around, especially up and/or down stairs requires greater effort than standing (or sitting) in one place and lifting weights. Of course it does. Duh.

    But if you want to lose more weight, you're going to need to make some changes. Either start weighing all the food or drop your calorie total. Consider eating maybe half the exercise calories.

    If what you're doing isn't working, you have to do something else. Only you can decide what to tweak. You've received a lot of hints that might be helpful. Take them or don't, but something has to change if you want to change how much you lose.

    Or change nothing and stick with your one pound every three weeks. If you're good with that, then yay. :)
  • inannani
    inannani Posts: 3 Member
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    Before I started using MFP, an average bangers & mash meal would be 3 medium potatoes and 3-4 sausages each. Or on shopping day when we'd get a ready meal, I'd have a entire 150g bag of crisps as a "starter", while dinner was cooking. At the time I didn't think I was eating that much, but when I realised how much I was actually putting away it was a real face palm moment. :smile:
  • ShandaLeaS
    ShandaLeaS Posts: 136 Member
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    Start using the recipe builder...its super easy and WAY more accurate than the generic listings. I just made a recipe this morning, I had 7 ingredients in a cold dip. I scanned each item with my phone as I made the recipe and it literally added maybe 2 minutes more to the process than normal. BUT I now know what the exact calories are that I'll consume eating it.
  • purelyprimitives
    purelyprimitives Posts: 58 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    {snip}

    But if you want to lose more weight, you're going to need to make some changes. Either start weighing all the food or drop your calorie total. Consider eating maybe half the exercise calories.

    If what you're doing isn't working, you have to do something else. Only you can decide what to tweak. You've received a lot of hints that might be helpful. Take them or don't, but something has to change if you want to change how much you lose.

    Or change nothing and stick with your one pound every three weeks. If you're good with that, then yay. :)

    Actually that, 'one pound every three weeks' has disappeared :).
    But you are 100% correct. Something has to change. I'm going to continue to track my calories and try to reduce them on a weekly basis until I see some results. Thanks to everyone for their help!
  • purelyprimitives
    purelyprimitives Posts: 58 Member
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    Anyone need a good laugh? :)nelvgif7dg7l.png
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Well your body is telling you that's not true

    I don't exercise like this every day but it will be interesting to see if it makes any impact.

    Going with the information that I do know, according to scooby and based on my personal information my TDEE is 2471 which is for simply maintaining my weight (which is what I am doing). As you can see in my food log I'm averaging 1200 cals/day. I'm being told that I'm just not being accurate weighing/measuring my food. The only thing I can conclude from this is that I am under-reporting 50% of the calories of every single thing that I eat. I'm seriously not trying to be argumentative but this doesn't seem like a likely explanation to me.

    Watch this, from 18.15 ...you're not unusual ...miscalculating, under-estimating is the norm

    http://www.documentarytube.com/videos/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-losing-weight

    Try doing it properly ...weighing ...building your own recipes...double checking any MFP entry

    Good luck
  • SimoneBee12
    SimoneBee12 Posts: 268 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Well your body is telling you that's not true

    I don't exercise like this every day but it will be interesting to see if it makes any impact.

    Going with the information that I do know, according to scooby and based on my personal information my TDEE is 2471 which is for simply maintaining my weight (which is what I am doing). As you can see in my food log I'm averaging 1200 cals/day. I'm being told that I'm just not being accurate weighing/measuring my food. The only thing I can conclude from this is that I am under-reporting 50% of the calories of every single thing that I eat. I'm seriously not trying to be argumentative but this doesn't seem like a likely explanation to me.

    Watch this, from 18.15 ...you're not unusual ...miscalculating, under-estimating is the norm

    http://www.documentarytube.com/videos/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-losing-weight

    Try doing it properly ...weighing ...building your own recipes...double checking any MFP entry

    Good luck

    I was just about to link that video, Rabbit. So great.
  • purelyprimitives
    purelyprimitives Posts: 58 Member
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    Didn't realize the video was so long but will make an attempt to get through it over time. Its odd that it only got a 5.6 out of 10 review??