Been "working out" for about two months without any noticeable difference

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  • ben7072
    ben7072 Posts: 8 Member
    edited September 2015
    betuel75 wrote: »
    What does logging mean? Are you weighing your food? from looking at your diary i see a lot of "cups". Are you using a food scale to weigh and "log" your food? if not your probably eating more than you think you are.

    Hi--not weighing, but I am over-estimating. If something looks like a cup and a half, I will list two cups. But with the orange chicken, for example, I listed two cups because after it was cooked, I split it up into even portions and then just did the math. But the sesame chicken couldn't be right, now that I think about it--it was basically fried chicken with a thick sesame sauce, but the site lists an impossibly small amount of calories and sodium. So even though the portion was approximately correct, I don't think it's the same kind of chicken. I'm happy that you were able to see my diary--I was worried that it wasn't working!

    On another note, I was surprised this evening when I tried on some 2X shirts (I had unfortunately moved up to 3X about a year ago), and they suddenly fit again. So despite not actually losing any weight, I'm... losing inches? Not sure how that works, but I'll just keep at it and keep checking the scale periodically. Obviously, though, I have to ditch the Chinese/Japanese food lunches and start focusing on bringing lunch from home.

    Thank you all, by the way--the encouraging atmosphere in here is unexpected and appreciated.

  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    I just want to congratulate you on the changes you've made, and the exercise you're doing. Well done.

    One thing I'd like to ask is what condition is the scale you're weighing yourself on in? There's a possibility it's not accurate enough to show the changes.

    Good luck, and happy food logging & weighing!
  • yogacat13
    yogacat13 Posts: 124 Member
    edited September 2015
    555_FILK wrote: »
    yogacat13 wrote: »
    My (thin) husband was curious when I started MFP, so he loaded the app and started logging his food. He was shocked. He honestly had no idea about the calorie, fat or salt content of his food. It's very easy to eat more than you think you're eating, and weighing, measuring and logging your food, even for a brief period, can really be eye-opening (even to thin people!). Give it a try.

    How did he stay thin if he was over-eating??! :o

    He had gained a little bit of weight, maybe 10-15 pounds, but was still well within a healthy range. He was concerned because he had gone from a 33" trouser to a 34" (he's 6'1"). It's gone now, all he had to do was stop having a piece of cake at work in the afternoon and drink a bit less beer. He still has ice cream several times a week though.
  • 555_FILK
    555_FILK Posts: 86 Member
    yogacat13 wrote: »
    555_FILK wrote: »
    yogacat13 wrote: »
    My (thin) husband was curious when I started MFP, so he loaded the app and started logging his food. He was shocked. He honestly had no idea about the calorie, fat or salt content of his food. It's very easy to eat more than you think you're eating, and weighing, measuring and logging your food, even for a brief period, can really be eye-opening (even to thin people!). Give it a try.

    How did he stay thin if he was over-eating??! :o

    He had gained a little bit of weight, maybe 10-15 pounds, but was still well within a healthy range. He was concerned because he had gone from a 33" trouser to a 34" (he's 6'1"). It's gone now, all he had to do was stop having a piece of cake at work in the afternoon and drink a bit less beer. He still has ice cream several times a week though.

    OK gotcha. Thought maybe he had a secret that we'd all love to know. B)
  • Pandapotato
    Pandapotato Posts: 68 Member
    Ben, just wanted to add-- it looks like you eat out for lunch, by your diary and "bento box" comment. And here's the thing-- HOW something is prepared can have a HUGE impact on calorie count. One place can do stir fry veggies with a tiny spray of oil, and another can practically deep fry the stuff, or add in stuff like butter, etc, and that can create a swing of hundreds of calories. Similarly, one teriyaki sauce might be runny and have 30 cals a table spoon and another is like pure syrup and 90 calories. One house dressing on the salad could be light, another ridiculous. Etc, etc.

    Also FYI, I've successfully lost weight several times in the past, and I always found that the first week or two after adding in exercise, my weight plateaued momentarily. This was easy to see because there was a time weight watchers "introduced" exercise 3-5 weeks into the program rather than immediately. Sometimes your muscles can get sore/retain water. But then after a few weeks, my weight often dropped by 3-5 lbs practically overnight as I adjusted to my new routine.

    Sounds like you've made a lot of good changes and your future baby will have a healthier dad!
  • ben7072
    ben7072 Posts: 8 Member
    Thanks for the tip, pandapotato! Haha, yeah, the sauce was definitely closer to a syrup. I had a deli sandwich today for lunch, and I think I'm going to stick to that for a bit. :)
  • Verivus
    Verivus Posts: 16 Member
    Even sandwiches can be deceptively high calorie, but as long as you track everything accurately then you'll be fine.
  • ben7072
    ben7072 Posts: 8 Member
    Agreed! I listed a subway sandwich since it was the closest thing, but I went to a mom-and-pop deli. No mayo, no cheese, but it was still roast beef, lol. Certainly must have been highly caloric.
  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
    OP: It helps to mostly eat home prepared food, especially at the beginning. It's hard to reliably estimate the calories in restaurant food and the portions can be very large. Is there a reason you can't bring your own lunch to work?
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    edited September 2015
    ben7072 wrote: »
    Okay, started logging food two days ago. I was just curious, so I kept eating what I had been eating to see how it would all stack up.

    Looks like I'm coming in at just a few hundred calories under goal each day (so far, anyway--two days =/= two weeks). So if I am losing weight, it must just be happening really slowly. What really surprises me is the calorie loss it's claiming for my walk--a little over 400 calories for two miles? Is it busted, or am I losing such a high amount each time only because I'm as overweight as I am (290 at 5'10")? Also, do I need to be consistent about the time of day I weigh myself?

    I definitely get over 10k steps a day--a lot of that comes from the two-mile walk, but there's also plenty of steps taken throughout the day around the office, to the train station, and to lunch.

    If you are very accurate about time and pace, then MFP is accurate too. If you are not sure, then it is better to be careful and just assume it is 50% that, it is very easy to overestimate effort.
    Rgearding food, if you are new to this, it is very very easy to be off by several hundreds of calories if you are not using a food scale to figure out what a portion is supposed to be.
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