New here and wondering about guesstimating food???
Zesh211
Posts: 10 Member
Hi, I just want to lose a bit of fat by cutting junk from my diet. My BMI is around 23.0 I think. I already strength train 3 times a week and I am active by walking/jogging through the work week and playing with my 4 year old on weekends. (sledding, skating...)
I want to know if any one here is getting along just fine with guesstimating their calories and omitting junk food???
These are what my days look like:
Breakfast: Greek yogurt with berries (150cals)
AM: Fruit or fat free yogurt (40cals)
Lunch: Wholegrain sandwich with processed meat and cheddar cheese topped with spinach and mustard (350)
2 fruits (150)
Bag of carrots or celery (50)
PM: fruit or fat free yogurt (40)
Dinner: Wholegrain pizza homemade on Naan (400 cals approx) OR meat and salad with oil/vinegar OR homemade chili or soup. (meals are usually around 300-400cals)
Bed: Nothing or greek yogurt. (may slip in popcorn sometimes) (150cals or 250cals)
All my foods are measured on a scale too because I carb count for diabetes type 1 treatment. I have to take insulin shots for the amount of carbs I eat.
I want to know if any one here is getting along just fine with guesstimating their calories and omitting junk food???
These are what my days look like:
Breakfast: Greek yogurt with berries (150cals)
AM: Fruit or fat free yogurt (40cals)
Lunch: Wholegrain sandwich with processed meat and cheddar cheese topped with spinach and mustard (350)
2 fruits (150)
Bag of carrots or celery (50)
PM: fruit or fat free yogurt (40)
Dinner: Wholegrain pizza homemade on Naan (400 cals approx) OR meat and salad with oil/vinegar OR homemade chili or soup. (meals are usually around 300-400cals)
Bed: Nothing or greek yogurt. (may slip in popcorn sometimes) (150cals or 250cals)
All my foods are measured on a scale too because I carb count for diabetes type 1 treatment. I have to take insulin shots for the amount of carbs I eat.
0
Replies
-
Sorry I don't understand what you're wondering about
You're not guesstimating, you're weighing..what did I miss?0 -
I am. I haven't totally eliminated junk food, but I keep it to a minimum. I rarely log and when I do I usually eyeball portions. I've been losing just fine.0
-
Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.
That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.0 -
Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.
That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.
If you're going to do it, commit to a longer time period. I would go with 6-8 weeks and then gauge your progress. You won't learn anything in a week.
@queenliz99 - Do you have that video on weighing vs. eyeballing portion sized? I'm at work and can't post it, but I seem to recall you having put it up before.0 -
Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.
That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.
Ive done it. It's very stressful and we all know what stress can do lol. Having to manage diabetes is stressful enough for me. Im working on eliminating stress and well logging just can't be a part of my life anymore....0 -
tincanonastring wrote: »Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.
That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.
If you're going to do it, commit to a longer time period. I would go with 6-8 weeks and then gauge your progress. You won't learn anything in a week.
@queenliz99 - Do you have that video on weighing vs. eyeballing portion sized? I'm at work and can't post it, but I seem to recall you having put it up before.
Thanks but Im not eyeballing portion sizes. I actually do weigh everything and eat according to the label on the box or can or whatever. I even add up all the carbs when i make a pot of soup or chili to make sure I get my carb count right for insulin dose.(I write it down on a note pad for quick calculation in my head) If I use salad dressing - I weigh 15ml for it. If I eat an apple, I weigh it and calulate the carb content. The nice thing about this is I don't have to log anything! I just get my carb count and take insulin.0 -
I don't weigh or measure or log my food. You can do it and be successful. I do read labels and pay attention to portion sizes and I keep a word document of what I eat and when and how I'm feeling (very brief, but if I start to feel poorly then I can look back a few days or a week and see if I can pinpoint it). Give it a try. Keep track of what works and what doesn't. This is all very much trial and error for a while.0
-
tincanonastring wrote: »Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.
That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.
If you're going to do it, commit to a longer time period. I would go with 6-8 weeks and then gauge your progress. You won't learn anything in a week.
@queenliz99 - Do you have that video on weighing vs. eyeballing portion sized? I'm at work and can't post it, but I seem to recall you having put it up before.
Thanks but Im not eyeballing portion sizes. I actually do weigh everything and eat according to the label on the box or can or whatever. I even add up all the carbs when i make a pot of soup or chili to make sure I get my carb count right for insulin dose. If I use salad dressing - I weigh 15ml for it. If I eat an apple, I weigh it and calulate the carb content. The nice thing about this is I don't have to log anything! I just get my carb count and take insulin.
Well, you posted that you want to "cut a bit of fat." The only way to do that is with a calorie deficit. How does getting your carb count help achieve that deficit?0 -
When I first started losing weight, I was able to lose just by eating reasonable portion sizes of foods and eating fewer "junk food" type foods. At a certain point, I needed to tighten up my methods to continue losing and at that point I started counting calories.
Your estimates upthread are definitely iffy IMO.
Breakfast: Greek yogurt with berries (150cals) What kind of yogurt is this. Most greek yogurts I know of are 140+ calories for just one serving of yogurt, no berries added.
AM: Fruit or fat free yogurt (40cals) What fruit/yogurt? Again, most FF yogurts I know of are 70+ calories. Fruits easily surpass 40 cals. I ate two little clementines on Sunday and they totaled 54 calories.
Lunch: Wholegrain sandwich with processed meat and cheddar cheese topped with spinach and mustard (350) What kind of bread are you using? How much of it? A slice of Brownberry 12 grain, for example, is 110 calories. Two slices of that doesn't leave many calories for meat and cheese if you're still making it within 350 calories total.
2 fruits (150) Again, fruits add up quickly.
Bag of carrots or celery (50) Too big a calorie difference between carrots and celery to figure out if this is anywhere near accurate.
PM: fruit or fat free yogurt (40) Same as before--what yogurt/fruit?
Dinner: Wholegrain pizza homemade on Naan (400 cals approx) OR meat and salad with oil/vinegar OR homemade chili or soup. (meals are usually around 300-400cals)
Bed: Nothing or greek yogurt. (may slip in popcorn sometimes) (150cals or 250cals)0 -
tincanonastring wrote: »tincanonastring wrote: »Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.
That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.
If you're going to do it, commit to a longer time period. I would go with 6-8 weeks and then gauge your progress. You won't learn anything in a week.
@queenliz99 - Do you have that video on weighing vs. eyeballing portion sized? I'm at work and can't post it, but I seem to recall you having put it up before.
Thanks but Im not eyeballing portion sizes. I actually do weigh everything and eat according to the label on the box or can or whatever. I even add up all the carbs when i make a pot of soup or chili to make sure I get my carb count right for insulin dose. If I use salad dressing - I weigh 15ml for it. If I eat an apple, I weigh it and calulate the carb content. The nice thing about this is I don't have to log anything! I just get my carb count and take insulin.
Well, you posted that you want to "cut a bit of fat." The only way to do that is with a calorie deficit. How does getting your carb count help achieve that deficit?tincanonastring wrote: »tincanonastring wrote: »Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.
That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.
If you're going to do it, commit to a longer time period. I would go with 6-8 weeks and then gauge your progress. You won't learn anything in a week.
@queenliz99 - Do you have that video on weighing vs. eyeballing portion sized? I'm at work and can't post it, but I seem to recall you having put it up before.
Thanks but Im not eyeballing portion sizes. I actually do weigh everything and eat according to the label on the box or can or whatever. I even add up all the carbs when i make a pot of soup or chili to make sure I get my carb count right for insulin dose. If I use salad dressing - I weigh 15ml for it. If I eat an apple, I weigh it and calulate the carb content. The nice thing about this is I don't have to log anything! I just get my carb count and take insulin.
Well, you posted that you want to "cut a bit of fat." The only way to do that is with a calorie deficit. How does getting your carb count help achieve that deficit?
Well i figure with my portion control and exercise, how could I not be in a deficit? My TDEE is close to 2000cals0 -
When I first started losing weight, I was able to lose just by eating reasonable portion sizes of foods and eating fewer "junk food" type foods. At a certain point, I needed to tighten up my methods to continue losing and at that point I started counting calories.
Your estimates upthread are definitely iffy IMO.
Breakfast: Greek yogurt with berries (150cals) What kind of yogurt is this. Most greek yogurts I know of are 140+ calories for just one serving of yogurt, no berries added. Kirkland Greek Yogurt 175g is 100cals
AM: Fruit or fat free yogurt (40cals) What fruit/yogurt? Again, most FF yogurts I know of are 70+ calories. Great Value 7g carbs 40calories. Fruits easily surpass 40 cals. I ate two little clementines on Sunday and they totaled 54 calories.
Lunch: Wholegrain sandwich with processed meat and cheddar cheese topped with spinach and mustard (350) What kind of bread are you using?Dempsters Anient Grains 110 cals a peice. How much of it? A slice of Brownberry 12 grain, for example, is 110 calories. Two slices of that doesn't leave many calories for meat and cheese if you're still making it within 350 calories total. Cheese is 30gram serving at 80cals and meat usually only 60 calories for the ham or turkey breast
2 fruits (150) Again, fruits add up quickly. An apple is 80 cals and a pear about the same
Bag of carrots or celery (50) Too big a calorie difference between carrots and celery to figure out if this is anywhere near accurate.Carrot calories 41 cals and celery only 16 cals per 100grams
PM: fruit or fat free yogurt (40) Same as before--what yogurt/fruit?
Dinner: Wholegrain pizza homemade on Naan (400 cals approx) OR meat and salad with oil/vinegar OR homemade chili or soup. (meals are usually around 300-400cals)
Bed: Nothing or greek yogurt. (may slip in popcorn sometimes) (150cals or 250cals)
SORRY BUT MY ANSWERS DIDN'T SHOW UP CLEARLY WITHIN THIS POST. I BOLDED THEM BUT STILL. HARD TO READ. SORRY.
0 -
Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.
That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.
Ive done it. It's very stressful and we all know what stress can do lol. Having to manage diabetes is stressful enough for me. Im working on eliminating stress and well logging just can't be a part of my life anymore....
How is logging calories more stressful than weighing your food and counting carbs, which you're already doing? You must be looking up the carb counts somewhere and the carb counts are likely on the same page/package. I don't really care what you do but when I look at what you're doing, it reminds me of somebody running 395 meters of a 400 meter race and then wandering off and sitting in the bleachers rather than crossing the finish line.0 -
Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.
That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.
Ive done it. It's very stressful and we all know what stress can do lol. Having to manage diabetes is stressful enough for me. Im working on eliminating stress and well logging just can't be a part of my life anymore....
How is logging calories more stressful than weighing your food and counting carbs, which you're already doing? You must be looking up the carb counts somewhere and the carb counts are likely on the same page/package. I don't really care what you do but when I look at what you're doing, it reminds me of somebody running 395 meters of a 400 meter race and then wandering off and sitting in the bleachers rather than crossing the finish line.
Lol, oh dear no! That's not me. I find logging calories stressful because of the having to type in EVERY single food and making sure it's the right one. There are always many entries for the same food but you have to click in to see if its right and then if not, you have to continue searching. So annoying! ALSO if you are cooking a recipe, you can use the recipe builder but same thing - do you know how many times I have to look for the entry that matches the label on the can or box I used? Sometimes up to six times! Logging calories online takes up so much time and is very frusterating!
The way Im doing my carb counting:
Weigh a fruit, look up on nutrition data if needed. Most sizes of the fruits I buy are 15g carbs and if it's a sliced fruit like canteloupe or watermelon then I weigh 100grams and I have them memorized. 8g carbs for watermelon and 7g for canteloupe.
All boxes, cans and containers have all the info I need on the label - no need to look it up online or log it anywhere.
For green vegetables there's usually barely any carbs at all so I don't need to know about the 1-2 grams of carbs it has.
Meat, no carbs either. BUT I do chose lean cuts and I make sure to weigh it so that im only getting 100grams at a time.0 -
Guestimating food?... that's a no no..
Eliminating junk? Describe junk? No food is junk or dirty...lol it's just food.
I still eat yummy delicious chips, cookies, cakes and pies, sugary cereral, bread, pasta, pizza, beer, wine, and more... so that's a no no to restrict...
I'm Doomed to failure on the restriction!0 -
For example here is my supper:
100grams pork chops
15ml ketchup
125g brown rice
85g mixed frozen vegetables
NO GOING ONLINE - ALL WITH MY EYES AND BRAIN
Meat doesn't have carbs
Ketchup - read the label - 5g carbs
Rice - read label - 30g carbs
Veg - read the label - 10g carbs
Add them all up: 45grams carbs.
All added up in 2.5 seconds.
I actually won the race IMO!
I guess with calorie counting this same way it would really only take a few seconds too though BUT I would have to log it in or write it down somewhere to remember the totals. Remembering totals of carbs doesn't matter because I only need to know for insulin reasons at the time of that particular meal.0 -
Since you have strong objections to counting calories and logging your food, you can always try it your way and see if it gets you the results that it wants. Most people here are going to be advocates for calorie logging -- this is a calorie logging website and it's how many of us got our results.
"Junk food" is a term that doesn't have a really great definition, so asking if people lost weight by eliminating it is going to get a lot of different answers. If you lose weight by eliminating certain foods entirely from your diet, you'll need a plan for what you want to do with these foods if you manage to meet your goal. Will you avoid these foods for the rest of your life? Add them back in? If so, how will you manage that process to maintain your loss? While you're losing weight, how will you handle cravings or special occasions?
Guessing can be a really challenging method of weight loss because if you don't lose weight, you might be unsure what the problem is.0 -
Logging every crumb you put into your mouth takes a little work but it can also eye-opening. My "guestimations" were WAY off. And I have to keep going back to previous days because I miss little things like butter on my sweet potato or a dab of BBQ sauce. Unless you have something to base those guesses on they can be totally wrong. This site makes it easy to log everything. I love the code scanner on the mobile app to enter things I eat. Lots of people get along without logging everything but, for me, logging it all is the best way to go.
Cutting out "junk" is always good but you can still end up eating too many calories.
0 -
OP you don't have to defend what is stressful to you or why. Logging food is just one of many tools that may help with weight loss. Millions of people lose successfully without it. Do what what feels right to you.0
-
Why not try calculating total calories and logging for a few days to a week? Just to get a better handle on calories of the stuff you tend to eat. I found when I first started logging, that I was off on calories of various things - some I was over estimating and others I was under estimating.
That said, before I found MFP, I was losing by just cutting out "junk" food. But it was very slow, like I lost maybe 3 pounds in 5 months.
Ive done it. It's very stressful and we all know what stress can do lol. Having to manage diabetes is stressful enough for me. Im working on eliminating stress and well logging just can't be a part of my life anymore....
How is logging calories more stressful than weighing your food and counting carbs, which you're already doing? You must be looking up the carb counts somewhere and the carb counts are likely on the same page/package. I don't really care what you do but when I look at what you're doing, it reminds me of somebody running 395 meters of a 400 meter race and then wandering off and sitting in the bleachers rather than crossing the finish line.
Lol, oh dear no! That's not me. I find logging calories stressful because of the having to type in EVERY single food and making sure it's the right one. There are always many entries for the same food but you have to click in to see if its right and then if not, you have to continue searching. So annoying! ALSO if you are cooking a recipe, you can use the recipe builder but same thing - do you know how many times I have to look for the entry that matches the label on the can or box I used? Sometimes up to six times! Logging calories online takes up so much time and is very frusterating!
The way Im doing my carb counting:
Weigh a fruit, look up on nutrition data if needed. Most sizes of the fruits I buy are 15g carbs and if it's a sliced fruit like canteloupe or watermelon then I weigh 100grams and I have them memorized. 8g carbs for watermelon and 7g for canteloupe.
All boxes, cans and containers have all the info I need on the label - no need to look it up online or log it anywhere.
For green vegetables there's usually barely any carbs at all so I don't need to know about the 1-2 grams of carbs it has.
Meat, no carbs either. BUT I do chose lean cuts and I make sure to weigh it so that im only getting 100grams at a time.
Not to push you towards logging food but they changed the system and now, when you search for a food, you get a summary of the calories and serving size along with the product name or if it's generic. And, if you eat a lot of the same foods, it's really easy because those go in your list of recent food items and you can log it from there. I'm not sure about the app version but on the browser version, you just click on nutrition info, log it if it's what you want or move on to the next entry that looks good if it's not. You don't need to do more than one search.
Even if you don't pay attention to the calories, keeping your carb count would be super easy once you log the correct item. (But I'm more of a computer girl and find it easier to log than use pen and paper or commit to memory.)0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 897 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.2K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions