Am I not eating enough?
Replies
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I didn't realize that I need to be weiceoverturf wrote: »I opened up my food diary. . . .
Just my initial gut reaction is very simple:
1. You've stated a couple times (quite emphatically) that you weigh everything. Yet literally EVERYTHING in your diary yesterday is not weighed. It's all entered as "1 slice", "3 eggs", "1 scoop", "1 cup".
2. Also over the last 7 days, you only have 2 full days of logging.
You have no idea what you're actually eating (in terms of caloric intake)
Ididn't realize that I need to be weighing bread and eggs. . . . The nutritional facts match up to what myfitnesspal says. . . Now I'm even more lost
You also have a lot of fruit that is entered as "1 fruit."0 -
I didn't realize that I need to be weiceoverturf wrote: »I opened up my food diary. . . .
Just my initial gut reaction is very simple:
1. You've stated a couple times (quite emphatically) that you weigh everything. Yet literally EVERYTHING in your diary yesterday is not weighed. It's all entered as "1 slice", "3 eggs", "1 scoop", "1 cup".
2. Also over the last 7 days, you only have 2 full days of logging.
You have no idea what you're actually eating (in terms of caloric intake)
Ididn't realize that I need to be weighing bread and eggs. . . . The nutritional facts match up to what myfitnesspal says. . . Now I'm even more lost
Here's some examples for you.
68 grams of a tortilla is supposed to be about 170 calories. I have been making burritos for lunch every day for the last few weeks. Maybe one tortilla has weighed 68 grams, the rest are anywhere form 69 to 75 grams. That's quite a hike in calories, since tortillas are calorie dense.
Same thing with eggs: not all of them weight 70 grams. Believe me!
My Fitness Pal's database is not that great. Food with a check mark by them are supposed to be verified calories, but that just means that a certain amount of people say that's the calories in that food. The bottom line is that not even verified calories are often accurate. You need to do your own research and you need to weigh everything if you want accurate calorie counts.
Weigh your fruit, veggies, log accurately, include drinks and condiments, and strive for accuracy in your logging.
You need to log every single thing you eat too if you want to see how many calories you are eating.
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Learning to log properly takes a bit of time, sometimes. I found this thread enormously helpful: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide#latest.
To take just one example, you have listed a generic pork entry, 2.2 oz. First, that's tiny. Second, the "generic" entries are never good. For meat, you can either use what's on the package if it has information or the USDA options. They would look like "pork, [insert cut], raw" or instead of "raw" it would have the cooking method "cooked, dry heat, roasted." (Raw vs. cooked is NOT how you eat it, but how you weighed it.)
This is important because there's huge variance between cuts of meat and also whether you weigh it cooked or not, as meat shrinks up a lot when cooked. If 2.2 oz is a cooked weight and the entry is for raw (which is usually the case when it doesn't specify, even assuming accurate at all with a "generic" entry), then you have understated it.
You might not have in this case, but these are some considerations.
Now, personally, I didn't weigh everything when I started. I do now, in part because it's easier than messing with cups and tsp and I am someone who overthinks it when estimating. But I would have found the idea overwhelming at first. One thing is to get used to the entries and how to pick the good ones, and of course to log everything if you are not.0 -
acorsaut89 wrote: »acorsaut89 wrote: »I weigh 188 and I'm 5-2. . . Workout 4 times a week at the gym for 2 hours each day and do workouts at home on my 'off gym' days. How much should I be taking in a day to lose weight. . . About 1-2 pounds a week? I need to be back at 140.
Is 140 a healthy weight for you, or just what you feel you should be at? I feel like you're very focused on the scale and not so much on being healthy. If you're really only concerned about a number and not doing it for health/fitness/longevity of life reasons I feel like your success will not be as great or as long-term as it could be.
140 is what my doctor says i need to be at. I'm so focused on the scale because in order to have a healthy lifestyle, I need to be able to lose weight in a healthy way.
So basically I need to update my calorie intake amd keep doing the same workouts?
Well maybe . . . it's really hard to say what's the best for your body without knowing every single detail about you.
Anyways, bottom line is that I would take 140 lbs with a grain of salt. I'm a good 8" taller than you, but the point of this is that the scale isn't always the best to measure a healthy weight across the board. Some pro athletes are considered in the obese category when using the BMI scale. I am definitely not a doctor, but if you want to find the best path/route and destination for you, it may or may not be what a "doctor" told you to do . . . I did a lot of research and a lot of trial and error before I figured out what works best for me, and that probably isn't going to be what works best for any one else. The human body is a tricky, tricky thing.
If you want to have long term success though, I would reduce your calories gradually if you feel you have to count calories. For example, if you were consuming net 3,000/day previously (let's just say) then keep the work outs but only net 2,500 or 2,750 a day for a while and then when you're used to that make another cut. If you cut drastically at the beginning you will see a big change at first but then once the cut wears off, you can't keep cutting enough to keep the loss going. NOT saying starvation mode, before anyone misinterprets what I'm saying.
What worked for me (again, keep in mind it's for me and I'm not saying it's the end all be all of weight loss) is to stop counting calories and look at the content of what I'm eating. For example, my RD got me eating every 3 - 4 hours, which I wasn't doing when I first started. And she taught me how to structure my meals - not just saying here's a list of the only foods you can eat. She said snacks should be a protein and a carb, meals should have half veggies, quarter protein and quarter carbs. How I make those work is totally up to me, but when she taught me how to structure, and then taught me about the foods that fit into each category I found I was gaining more knowledge because I do not want to eat chicken and sweet potato for the rest of my life, and she taught me how to substitute foods. Gaining the knowledge of what I'm putting in my body has been very helpful for me, but I'm doing it for fitness and we probably have different goals.
So in the end, just my experience for what it's worth. The best thing you can do is research and figure out what works best with your lifestyle and the end goals you want to achieve.
At 5'2", 140 is a perfectly reasonable weight goal. At 5'4", I'm aiming for 125 and that isn't even the bottom of the healthy weight spread for my height.
And I respectfully disagree. If OP is struggling to eat up to 1200 calories, counting calories is the best thing she can do right now, to ensure she is getting enough calories and nutrition to be healthy and fuel her workouts.
Notice how I said it's what I found . . but just illustrating that there isn't a one size fits all way to do it.
Also, if that's a good goal weight then that's kool. My entire point was to figure out what is best for her and that may or may not come from a doctor or be a conventional thing. Everyone is different and that's ok.
Further, I do not believe that she is struggling to eat 1,200 calories because as others have pointed out she isn't super accurate with food weighing, she is more than likely eating more than that either knowingly or unknowingly.0 -
acorsaut89 wrote: »I weigh 188 and I'm 5-2. . . Workout 4 times a week at the gym for 2 hours each day and do workouts at home on my 'off gym' days. How much should I be taking in a day to lose weight. . . About 1-2 pounds a week? I need to be back at 140.
Is 140 a healthy weight for you, or just what you feel you should be at? I feel like you're very focused on the scale and not so much on being healthy. If you're really only concerned about a number and not doing it for health/fitness/longevity of life reasons I feel like your success will not be as great or as long-term as it could be.
At 5'2" it's still considered slightly overweight. I'm the same height and my initial goal is 136, to get me out of the overweight category. 140 at her height is not at all unrealistic.
That's totally kool . . . I am not her height/size so I can't say . . . I was more asking to see if she's figured out what works for her, or she was just like that sounds like a good number, let's be that number type of thing.0 -
Well about that, exercise regularly, measure each loss, observe needs.0
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On the subject of logging: What people are saying above about weighing is absolutely correct. However, it's not necessarily forever. As you go along, you will start to be come a lot better at estimating, and by the time you get to your goal, it'll be second nature. That's not to say you don't ever have to weigh again! But after 3 years, I've gotten good enough that an estimate is all I need. I do pull out the scale and weigh things from time to time to double check, but it's not as big a deal for me now. However, when you first start, it's ESSENTIAL to be as accurate as possible. Try weighing EVERYTHING for a week while eating like you normally would. See how it compares to what you thought it was. Believe me, you'll get a surprise!0
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On the subject of logging: What people are saying above about weighing is absolutely correct. However, it's not necessarily forever. As you go along, you will start to be come a lot better at estimating, and by the time you get to your goal, it'll be second nature. That's not to say you don't ever have to weigh again! But after 3 years, I've gotten good enough that an estimate is all I need. I do pull out the scale and weigh things from time to time to double check, but it's not as big a deal for me now. However, when you first start, it's ESSENTIAL to be as accurate as possible. Try weighing EVERYTHING for a week while eating like you normally would. See how it compares to what you thought it was. Believe me, you'll get a surprise!
Depends on the person. Quite a few people I've spoken to continue to log into maintenance. I've been in maintenance for years and continue to weigh and log. I always will. Many people tend to become complacent when they stop weighing and logging and it's not on their mind, and things slip here and there, and a few pounds are gained, and a few more... and the weight goes back on. For the majority of people, not sticking with it into maintenance is the main cause of regaining the weight.0 -
On the subject of logging: What people are saying above about weighing is absolutely correct. However, it's not necessarily forever. As you go along, you will start to be come a lot better at estimating, and by the time you get to your goal, it'll be second nature. That's not to say you don't ever have to weigh again! But after 3 years, I've gotten good enough that an estimate is all I need. I do pull out the scale and weigh things from time to time to double check, but it's not as big a deal for me now. However, when you first start, it's ESSENTIAL to be as accurate as possible. Try weighing EVERYTHING for a week while eating like you normally would. See how it compares to what you thought it was. Believe me, you'll get a surprise!
Depends on the person. Quite a few people I've spoken to continue to log into maintenance. I've been in maintenance for years and continue to weigh and log. I always will. Many people tend to become complacent when they stop weighing and logging and it's not on their mind, and things slip here and there, and a few pounds are gained, and a few more... and the weight goes back on. For the majority of people, not sticking with it into maintenance is the main cause of regaining the weight.
Sorry, I didn't mean I never log! I'll be logging the rest of my life to keep where I need to be I'm sure. My point is that rough estimation after you've been logging for several years is accurate enough for maintenance. My reason to keep logging is to make sure I'm around where I should be, and if I'm over one day, I'll be under other days. Because I'm only needing to lose a couple more pounds, I'm not stressing about being off target, if that makes any sense.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »I didn't realize that I need to be weiceoverturf wrote: »I opened up my food diary. . . .
Just my initial gut reaction is very simple:
1. You've stated a couple times (quite emphatically) that you weigh everything. Yet literally EVERYTHING in your diary yesterday is not weighed. It's all entered as "1 slice", "3 eggs", "1 scoop", "1 cup".
2. Also over the last 7 days, you only have 2 full days of logging.
You have no idea what you're actually eating (in terms of caloric intake)
Ididn't realize that I need to be weighing bread and eggs. . . . The nutritional facts match up to what myfitnesspal says. . . Now I'm even more lost
You also have a lot of fruit that is entered as "1 fruit."
So instead of entering fruit as 1, I need to weigh it and enter it that way?0 -
Just a quick reminder. I guess some people miss adding oil they put in their meal to their dairy.0
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janejellyroll wrote: »I didn't realize that I need to be weiceoverturf wrote: »I opened up my food diary. . . .
Just my initial gut reaction is very simple:
1. You've stated a couple times (quite emphatically) that you weigh everything. Yet literally EVERYTHING in your diary yesterday is not weighed. It's all entered as "1 slice", "3 eggs", "1 scoop", "1 cup".
2. Also over the last 7 days, you only have 2 full days of logging.
You have no idea what you're actually eating (in terms of caloric intake)
Ididn't realize that I need to be weighing bread and eggs. . . . The nutritional facts match up to what myfitnesspal says. . . Now I'm even more lost
You also have a lot of fruit that is entered as "1 fruit."
So instead of entering fruit as 1, I need to weigh it and enter it that way?
Yes. If the entry just says "1 medium fruit", what's a medium? One medium size to one person will be large or small to another. There are a few things you can just enter by serving size, but those are pre-packaged, pre-portioned things, like the 100 calorie packs of snack foods. If what you're eating doesn't have a consistent size and weight, it needs to be entered by weight, not how many.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »I didn't realize that I need to be weiceoverturf wrote: »I opened up my food diary. . . .
Just my initial gut reaction is very simple:
1. You've stated a couple times (quite emphatically) that you weigh everything. Yet literally EVERYTHING in your diary yesterday is not weighed. It's all entered as "1 slice", "3 eggs", "1 scoop", "1 cup".
2. Also over the last 7 days, you only have 2 full days of logging.
You have no idea what you're actually eating (in terms of caloric intake)
Ididn't realize that I need to be weighing bread and eggs. . . . The nutritional facts match up to what myfitnesspal says. . . Now I'm even more lost
You also have a lot of fruit that is entered as "1 fruit."
So instead of entering fruit as 1, I need to weigh it and enter it that way?
Yes. If the entry just says "1 medium fruit", what's a medium? One medium size to one person will be large or small to another. There are a few things you can just enter by serving size, but those are pre-packaged, pre-portioned things, like the 100 calorie packs of snack foods. If what you're eating doesn't have a consistent size and weight, it needs to be entered by weight, not how many.
Makes sense. . . . Thanks a ton!0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »I didn't realize that I need to be weiceoverturf wrote: »I opened up my food diary. . . .
Just my initial gut reaction is very simple:
1. You've stated a couple times (quite emphatically) that you weigh everything. Yet literally EVERYTHING in your diary yesterday is not weighed. It's all entered as "1 slice", "3 eggs", "1 scoop", "1 cup".
2. Also over the last 7 days, you only have 2 full days of logging.
You have no idea what you're actually eating (in terms of caloric intake)
Ididn't realize that I need to be weighing bread and eggs. . . . The nutritional facts match up to what myfitnesspal says. . . Now I'm even more lost
You also have a lot of fruit that is entered as "1 fruit."
So instead of entering fruit as 1, I need to weigh it and enter it that way?
Yes. If the entry just says "1 medium fruit", what's a medium? One medium size to one person will be large or small to another. There are a few things you can just enter by serving size, but those are pre-packaged, pre-portioned things, like the 100 calorie packs of snack foods. If what you're eating doesn't have a consistent size and weight, it needs to be entered by weight, not how many.
Makes sense. . . . Thanks a ton!
You're welcome. ^_^ Starting out can be confusing, hell, I still get confused on the science behind the calculations! One thing you can do to get into the habit is just weigh and log for a week without changing what you normally eat. It will shock you, but it gives you a baseline, and you can spot patterns that you can change. Like, you're always eating a large snack between lunch and dinner, so maybe split up lunch and dinner calories to add a small meal in that time frame, that kind of thing. Good luck!0 -
I've got another question but I'll leave that for a new discussion. . . . . I need to print this thread to make sure I read all of the advice that I can.
Thanks again everyone
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On the subject of logging: What people are saying above about weighing is absolutely correct. However, it's not necessarily forever. As you go along, you will start to be come a lot better at estimating, and by the time you get to your goal, it'll be second nature. That's not to say you don't ever have to weigh again! But after 3 years, I've gotten good enough that an estimate is all I need. I do pull out the scale and weigh things from time to time to double check, but it's not as big a deal for me now. However, when you first start, it's ESSENTIAL to be as accurate as possible. Try weighing EVERYTHING for a week while eating like you normally would. See how it compares to what you thought it was. Believe me, you'll get a surprise!
Depends on the person. Quite a few people I've spoken to continue to log into maintenance. I've been in maintenance for years and continue to weigh and log. I always will. Many people tend to become complacent when they stop weighing and logging and it's not on their mind, and things slip here and there, and a few pounds are gained, and a few more... and the weight goes back on. For the majority of people, not sticking with it into maintenance is the main cause of regaining the weight.
Sorry, I didn't mean I never log! I'll be logging the rest of my life to keep where I need to be I'm sure. My point is that rough estimation after you've been logging for several years is accurate enough for maintenance. My reason to keep logging is to make sure I'm around where I should be, and if I'm over one day, I'll be under other days. Because I'm only needing to lose a couple more pounds, I'm not stressing about being off target, if that makes any sense.
That makes sense.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
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