Eating Schedule, Training and Calories

are you logging accurately and consistently using a food scale and correct entries?

I see days where you haven't logged much
Days not logged at all
I see entries that could be suspect ie start with generic
entries that are "homemade"...unless you made it those are probably not the best entries...for example homemade cin roll...@180 calories...mine have 340-500 calories each depending on the size of them.

For me personally I don't eat many things that I don't make so I have that to my advantage.

If it doesn't have a label such as a buffet of sorts (at work) I do guesstimate as best as possible but after being at this for 3 years I feel I am pretty good at it.

The issue I see can be the lack of total logging we can often forget things if they aren't logged.

Perhaps if you don't have internet access (I know the feeling as when I go to the cottage I don't) I prelog what I know I am going to eat and write it down to log it later if it's an additional item.

That way I can see where I am if I am not losing.

PhysicsOnIce wrote: »

I do constantly use a digital food scale for all the food I make at home and log the ingredients individually. If I have internet access, I try to log everything I eat, but sometimes that is not the case on weekends. I even separate my portions from my boyfriend's while cooking to make sure that I have the right portion for me and pack them up separately. I typically try to use the entries that are verified (i.e. the ones with the green check mark on them).

For things that I don't make myself, If it has a label, I scan it using the phone app. But how do you determine that for things that don't have labels (the cin roll is an example of this)? Do you just pick the highest calorie one and hope for the best?

Use your best judgement, when in doubt i always over estimate. For example, if i'm getting pizza from a local place i will always use the generic for greasy dominos or something. Atleast that way i'm covered.

For baked items i try and keep that in mind too. I know for example a cinnabon is 880 calories. Most muffins i've seen are between 4 and 600 calories, etc.

Luckily i tend to eat the same foods quite often and i know the calories for those, so it's not really an issue overall. i tend to keep these foods that i'm uncertain about to a minimum, and certainly i will choose something that is about right or a little more calorie wise to fix any discrepancy.

As mentioned, TDEE is the number of calories you burn in a day.

But consider, this is just an estimation and it's also not a static target. Consider TDEE to be a "range" in a way rather than a fixed point.

I think the best thing you can do for yourself is to get a reasonable estimate on caloric needs, get somewhere close to that target while tracking as accurately as you can, and then make adjustments to activity and food intake based on results.

So for example if you eat 1500 calories and in two weeks you lose .5lbs, and you would like to lose a bit faster, make a slight reduction to intake at that point and repeat the process.

Just consider that the math will never work out perfectly (far from it) and that you're dealing with estimations/ranges.

The most important thing you can do in my opinion is to observe what your results are and make adjustments based on those results. Following this will generally lead most people to a reasonable intake.

PhysicsOnIce wrote: »

That's exactly what I am trying to do right now. I've was able to loss 10 kgs, got down to 67 kg , got off the bandwagon for a while due to surgery and injury, and my weight stabilized at around 70-69 kgs, where I am now. The last couple of weeks, I got back on the bandwagon and I have been trying to track as much as possible and have notice no major changes, which to me suggests that despite thinking I've been at the deficit I have been eating at my maintenance level. So, I'm trying to figure out where I am going wrong.

I know that these numbers are estimates (at best), but I guess I should be seeing some at least fluctuations that indicate a downward trend, at least that's what I saw last time I was here.

OP: You have been back in track for a couple of weeks only, please manage your expectations. Wait until for complete 4 weeks before changing anything.
It is frustrating I know, I am an impatient person myself.
I think about it this way, How long did I take to acquire this amount of body weight ?. Losing it will not be any faster.
Good luck in your healthy journey

PhysicsOnIce wrote: »

capaul42 wrote: »

Might I ask why you're using bmr in your calculations?

Yeah I know the BMR is is our minimum expenditure, but that MFP doesn't have TDEE calculator (or at least I have not found it). I have been trying to stay consistent which means that using the BMR in the calculations would give me at least a minimum deficit. Correct? Using mytdee calculator (http://mytdee.com/#gender=female&yr=27&cm=163&kg=70.3&bfp=&goal=lose&goal_kg=63&lose_speed=recommended&formula=standard&units=imperial&exercise=sedentary)

I would have a TDEE of 1796 which means that my deficit would be
1796+984(2 hours skating)-1220(MFP suggested calories)-300(per skating fuel)- 500(post skating refueling)=760 , which would mean 5320 kcal in week which would be a little over 0.75 kg of weight loss per week. That might make the numbers better, but then I am doing something HORRIBLY wrong, because I am definitively not seeing that.

SezxyStef wrote: »

For me personally I don't eat many things that I don't make so I have that to my advantage.

If it doesn't have a label such as a buffet of sorts (at work) I do guesstimate as best as possible but after being at this for 3 years I feel I am pretty good at it.

Perhaps if you don't have internet access (I know the feeling as when I go to the cottage I don't) I prelog what I know I am going to eat and write it down to log it later if it's an additional item.

I try to eat as much as possible things I have made myself, but it can get a bit crazy in the weekends. I like the idea of caring a little book around for logging things, I do think that might make a difference.Specially for day that I am away from home completely and have no choice but to either eat out or at the rink. Lately it has been a bit crazy with coaching seminars and comps. I guess I have been underestimating thing severely.

The target MFP sets for you (based on the weight-loss rate you put in your profile) is its estimated BMR+NEAT (NEAT = Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis = the calories you burn in routine daily activities other than intentional exercise). MFP is designed to expect you to add & eat back your intentional exercise calories, too (though some people eat back only part of them, out of worry that MFP and other tools over-estimate exercise).

If you eat back your base MFP goal, and exercise, but don't eat back exercise calories, then that exercise is part of your deficit, on top of the deficit already built into your daily calorie goal.

So, to use MFP as designed: Set your MFP weight-loss goal (.5 pound/week or whatever), set your activity level without counting exercise. On days you don't exercise, eat at the goal calories MFP gives you. On days you do exercise, eat some/all of the exercise calories in addition to the goal calories. Do this for a month. See how much you lose/gain. Adjust your calories up/down by 100-200 per day id needed, and repeat until you hit the actual weight loss rate you want, making sure you get proper nutrition.

If you want to eat the same number of calories daily, either include exercise in your activity level, or set your MFP calorie goal manually to a TDEE you calculate elsewhere. Use the same trial-period then adjustment process.

I'm sure you understand at least some of this, maybe all of it, already, but that isn't clear to me, so that's why I'm saying it - not trying to be overbearing!

My feeling is that at 27 years old, and with as much exercise as you're getting, you should be able to eat at least 1500 unless you're super-petite, as long as your logging is meticulous. (At 5'5", 120 pounds, age 60, I would lose slowly on that, even eating back exercise).

And you don't look extremely overweight in your photo, so you do want to be losing slowly, to retain as much muscle as possible for your figure-skating!

Estimating food I didn't cook myself: I just use my eyeballed portion size, and one of the higher similar foods from the MFP database, when necessary.

Typically most people only tend to eat 50-75% of their exercise calories since the burns calculated are estimates and may not be accurate