Please critique my food diary

swaymyway · June 2011

It is viewable to all.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/swaymyway

I have been losing weight for around 3 and a half years now and I have been a member of MFP for around 2 months.
I have to admit I have always mainly concentrated on calories alone - when I started tracking my food here I thought 'Uh Oh, this is where I discover I eat far too many carbs, or salt, or fat etc' but actually it turns out, as far as my knowledge goes, my diet is pretty well balanced and I am getting about the right amounts of the right things.

However I have not lost any weight (well, I lose and gain the same 4lbs constantly - I range from 122 - 126, but have not seen a new number on the scale since Christmas time) in a long while now so obviously something needs tweaking. More protein? Less carbs? More healthy fats? Your suggestions are more than welcome.

My stats if it helps.

Lifestyle - Sedentary, I work from home on the computer so spend the bulk of my day sat down. When I am not working I try to be as active as possible. I don't log 'regular' daily activities such as walking to the shops and housework as exercise.
Weight loss per week - Set at 'Lose 0.5lb a week'
Weight - 123ish
BMI - 24ish
Height - 5 foot
Age - 30
Exercise - Currently 6 days a week for anything from 30mins to 3hours per day, generally around an hour a day, mainly cardio. Turbofire (which includes cardio, toneing, sculpting, core, ab work, yoga, strength etc etc), running, swimming, cycling.
Eat back exercise calories - I tried it for the first 5 weeks I was here but it didn't break my plateau and I hated it, am currently eating back SOME of my exercise calories.
Have a HRM - Yes
Meals - 2 small meals a day, 1 bigger meal a day and lots of healthy snacking. No food is 'out of bounds' to me as I don't believe it's necessary to completely deprive myself - so if I fancy a treat and can fit it into my daily calories I will do. Chocolate and crisps (potato chips) are my semi regular naughty snacks!
Water - I am not brilliant at logging it but get in my 8 glasses 95% of the time.

If you need to know any thing else please just ask.

I have tried most things suggested to break a plateau over the last several months and none have worked so am at the stage where I need to start retrying things or just accept my body is done losing weight (but with a BMI of 24 I find that hard to accept!).

Off the top of my head here's a list of things I have tried, I gave each one at least two weeks and as long as two months.

Eating back all exercise calories
Eating back no exercise calories
Eating back some exercise calories
Working out more eating more
Working out more eating the same
Working out more eating less
Working out less eating more
Working out less eating the same
Working out less eating less
Zig Zagging calories
Not counting calories at all
Low carb diet
Low fat diet
High protein diet
Eating zero processed foods
Couch to 5k
Turbofire
Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred
Zumba

I'm heading off on holiday to Lanzarote for a week in a few days time so won't be starting any thing new diet/exercise wise until I get back but I definitely need a new action plan

Losingitin2011 · June 2011

I have read that people who have a high calorie breakfast lose more weight than those who don't. Otherwise, maybe your body is trying to tell you that you're ok where you are? Those last few pounds are the absolute hardest to lose, or so I have been told >.>. Have you tried just putting yourself on maintenance calories and just going with it?

http://www.acefitness.org/fitfacts/fitfacts_display.aspx?itemid=2671

here is a link, it's not the specific one I was looking for, but same basic idea. Best of luck on your last little bit of weight, and congrats on all you've lost! You've done a great job!

dittiepe · June 2011

The first thing off the top of my head is to measure yourself. Are your clothes fitting differently? It looks as though you've tried just about everything to break the plateau, so maybe your body is changing over from a "fat metabolism" to a "muscle metabolism" ?

bethpeterson · June 2011

I also noticed that your "big meal" was dinner... Although socially that makes sense, at least to me, have you tried evenly balancing your calories between your meals? I read Prevention Magazine's 400 calorie fix, and it suggested that 400 calories was a sufficient amount to fuel your body, and recommended that if you had 1200 calories to spend throughout the day that you balance it evenly between your meals.

Something to try... Good luck!

dls06 · June 2011

A lot of the foods you are eating say there is not sodium? I find it hard to believe. Maybe read the package and compare it to the numbers that come up in your goals to see if they match. If they are wrong that could be the problem.
Other than that I would just keep doing what you have been doing. You have had great results and maybe your body just needs time to readjust.

livi_cowgirl · June 2011

Wow! I actually can't think of anything to help. Sounds like you really have tried everything. I had a 3 week plateau not long ago and so I decide to cut down the carbs and that seems to have helped a bit. Jeeze, sorry, wish I could think of something to help you.
You could try talking to your GP, check if there is a medical reason for you not loosing weight and it wouldn't hurt to talk to a nutritionist too. They will be able to give you good ideas and it's advice to be trusted. Good luck. x

Jade1964 · June 2011

I have found that I can not eat most of my calories for my dinner meal. That I have to actually have a small dinner and the weight comes off fairly easily. I would suggest spreading your meals out. Try eating lunch. I have also found when I don't eat enough during the day look out dinnertime and nighttime because I can't get enough to eat and it causes me to eat everything in sight and some things that aren't in sight ;o)

Try eating a bigger breakfast - adding more calories there, eating a healthy lunch and a smaller dinner.

Just my opinion. Everyone is different.

Jade

briabner · June 2011

Looking at your diary I dont think your sodium count is right. I saw that you had a relish and some spreads and I know for sure that relish has a pretty high sodium count in it because of the pickling process. I would start reading labels on the food you are eating to ensure that MFP is correct. By doing this you might find that you have way more sodium in your diet then what you think you are.

Also, I am 5 ft tall as well and on the BMI calculator on here it says that my goal weight should be between 94-128 pounds. You are currently weighing in the low 120's so maybe your body doesnt want to get any lower. Maybe you should just focus on toning and building lean muscle and not worry about the number on the scale. Start looking more at how clothes are fitting and how you are toning up might be the trick. You said that you mostly do cardio maybe try adding some strength training/weights to your routine too.

nseuell · June 2011

I noticed that while you seem to be doing lots of cardio, there is no strength training involved. If that's the case, you should add strength training in at least three times a week. While it may up the scale for a week or two (which IS depressing but WILL change), your body is building more muscle. Muscle burns more calories, and your clothes will also fit much better. Lifting weights will not only tone you, but keeps your heart rate up for longer after you have worked out, as opposed to cardio which burns more calories while you are doing it but less later on. Just a thought? Search the message boards on here for articles on women lifting heavy weights - you might be surprised! Good luck!

lindak71 · June 2011

I know one of Oprah's fitness guru Bob Green's first suggestions on a weight-loss journey is to cut out eating 3 hours before bedtime. A lot of people overeat at night, so if you close the kitchen you may prevent eating unwanted calories when your metabolism slows down. I don't know if this applies to you or not. It was my biggest problem when I was obese. I don't know who I was kidding- just because no one saw me eating didn't mean it didn't show up on my body or the scale! I think someone else suggested eating more calories at breakfast, less at lunch and even less at dinner. That goes along with the idea that our metabolism slows down. It might not be true, but most people's activity level declines at night (lounging watching tv comes to mind!). I hope this was helpful! Congratulations on your major achievement!

MZNIKKIBOO · June 2011

1st of all wanna say you've done an amazing job secondly-- i see ur breakfast has little protein...readin several articles i've come to the conclusion it is recommended our breakfast contains protein aids in weight loss.... helps control hunger & u'll automatically have smaller meals throughout the day. also do you eat a post workout meal? when starting this weight loss journey 4/25/11 i wasnt really sure what to do so read a ton of topics on internet ...starting in june i became really dedicated to this and put to use what i had learned... in just 3 weigh ins this mo i've lost 6.2 compared to the 6 lbs 1st 6 weeks and i've simply added in a good breakfast (oatmeal,yogurt with nuts whole grains added in sometimes even add in frozen fruits) and post workout meal is eggs cheese sometimes pb jelly toast (whole grain) or somedays even make it a bagel type sand with some turkey or ham and put eggs n cheese inside. im still new to this but seems to help with energy--getting my 4-5 small meals in through the day hopefully keeping my metabolism going at a better rate ;-) etc. i also recently picked up classes at the y that work more body parts and weights in hopes not to stall weight loss as i was doin mainly cardio machines same routine all month n super excited to weigh in this sunday.....i must say the cardio became simple but my 1st class body blast i was sore(in a good way working unused muscles) but keep it pushing and from what i've found on this strength training is recommended as well... im sure its harder to loose since u have alot less weight then i but thought id share ;-) keep up the good work!!

maemiller · June 2011

you only at breakfast and dinner and a snack? You should be eating 5 small meals a day (or every 3 hours) to keep your metabolism up. Noticed also dinner is your biggest meal and if your not exercising then those calories are gonna turn into fat no matter how many calories youre cutting back on, especially at night. Looks to me that your metabolism may be slowing down because of your meals and that it may be going into starvation mode and thus no weight loss

Mommyof3texans · June 2011

From what you said, we're talking roughly 3 more lbs you want to lose...definitely not much and the hardest for sure. First thing I'd ask is whether that number is really that important or is it that you want to be leaner? Then here's what I would advise:

1 - Forget setting the "lose .5 a month goal" and just set it manually somewhere between the 1250 you have and what your maintenance calories are. I don't think you're eating enough believe it or not. I'm only a few inches taller than you and I'm losing at 1300 calories.

2 - Ease up on all the cardio and fit in some strength training. By building some more lean muscle, you'll burn more fat and ultimately change your body shape.

3 - Forgot to look at your macro percentages but I'd shoot for a 40% protein, especially if you start adding in the strength training.

TriThreat · June 2011

I think you always need to keep in mind that MUSCLE weighs more than fat, so even if you aren't "losing weight" it doesn't mean you aren't "losing fat". As you build muscle from workouts, you burn the fat, and that is good for you! I would try measuring myself during your diet and not focusing as much on the SCALE. you might end up breaking even on your body weight, but be losing inches of fat and simply gaining muscle.

ar1356 · June 2011

Staying closer to 100g of carbs per day and tracking your sugar intake will help you. Seriously the carbs make a difference!

GraceEMyers · June 2011

Hi

You have done a brilliant job to loose the amount of weight that you have done!! The only think i would maybe suggest is altering your eating to 5 small equal meals a day as you seem to have 1 or two small meals, a big meal and lots of snacking.

By eating more first thing in the morning you are kick starting your metabolism, try eating a slow release cereal or maybe protein for breakfast as this will stave off hunger and you will be less likley to want to snack.

Have you thought about adding a protein suppliment into your diet? It is deffinitley something to research as adding small protein meals into your daily food allowance will keep your body constantly burning fuel and make you less likley to reach for those carby snacks.

Good luck with the rest of your weight loss jouney!

Grace.

Artemis726 · June 2011

It has really helped me to eat at least 5 times a day. My 'mini-meals' are usually around 200-300 calories, and always include something with a decent amount of protein. It's been a radical change (recovering non breakfast eater and carboholic here), and it's still hard not to have those big meals (and I'm NOT perfect- still working at it

), but it broke through an over 2 year plateau.

I also have a desk job at home, and I recently bumped my activity level up to lightly active from sedentary. I don't log every little thing as exercise, and my bodybugg was telling me I was burning 200-300 calories more a day just from my normal activities that MFP did. I think bumping those calories up helped to start seeing some progress. Also-I don't know what your deficit is every day, but mine has to be between 500-700. Any more is too much for me.

Great job on your progress so far!

swaymyway · June 2011

Thanks all, super helpful so far and hope to read more advise - the more the better.

Firstly I will double check that my sodium is being tracked correctly, I admit when logging foods I do tend to just look at the calories to see if they are right and don't pay much attention to the other things.

I see lots of people recommending a bigger breakfast - I will definitely give that a go as it's one thing I have not tried. Truth is I am not a big breakfast fan, in fact before starting on my weight loss journey I didn't eat it at all. I am not hungry when I first wake up and would even say the idea of food is 'gross', but I trained myself to have a little something (as you can see from my diary, around 100 cals, usually a crumpet or slice of toast with jam!) so am sure I can at least try having a bigger breakfast to see if it helps

Definitely need to ease off on the cardio and add in some strength training, I think I have 'secretly' known this for a while but have been putting it off as I love my cardio and getting a good burn!

To answer a few questions - before starting Turbofire about 7 weeks ago I took my measurements, I took them again at week 6 and hadn't lost any inches, I have also not lost any dress sizes or seen any other real differences in my body in the last several months so I don't think it's just the weight loss that has stalled, it seems to be every thing!

Finally a lot of people commented on how I spread out my meals and I am a bit confused as a few mentioned my 'big' meal being my dinner, but actually it's my tea that is my 'big' one - I am not sure if I am missing something or if it's just a cultural difference as I know us Brits and Americans use the word dinner to describe a different meal (Brit dinner - afternoon meal, often a sandwich etc. American dinner - evening meal). So I will just break down how I generally eat.

(clearly I don't live a 9 to 5 lifestyle and get up and go to bed later than most people, so don't pay attention to the times so much as the spacing etc

)

Breakfast 11am - 100 cals
Snack 2pm - 100 cals
Dinner 5.30pm - 300 - 400 cals
Snack 7pm - 50 cals
Snack 9.30pm - 200 cals
Tea 12am - 400 - 600 cals
Snack 1am - 100 cals (if I have any calories left for the day, if I don't I don't have a snack here)

I would actually love to be able to put the higher calorie meal in the middle of the day than at the end of it but it just doesn't fit in with our lifestyle, if I want to eat with my fiance at all then it has to be after he finishes work at 11.30pm - though I'd be willing to give it a try to see if it helps (I'm up for TRYING any thing) it wouldn't be maintainable sadly

Please critique my food diary

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