I'm new! Any tips welcome pls

samrichards22
samrichards22 Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys! I actually joined this a while ago but I never committed myself to it. Really hoping this time will be different. I find I can count breakfast lunch and anything in between fairly easily but when it comes to tea time I struggle to determine how much calories in let's say mash (for my portion) or if it's a stew or something like that! I struggle to accurately calorie count, any suggestions on how u do it are welcomed! Also I'd love to hear from those of you you have stuck at mfp long term and your success with it for motivation. Thanks for reading

Replies

  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    Get a food scale
  • zira91
    zira91 Posts: 670 Member
    click on the link and read the thread :smile:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here/p1
  • Lrdoflamancha
    Lrdoflamancha Posts: 1,280 Member
    Weigh every single thing... Double check calorie counts, MFP data base is notoriusly bad. Do not measure anything in cups or when something says a medium. If possible scan the bar code. Do not trust exercise calories burned data base. If you eat back exercise calories only eat half of them. As much as possible eat single ingredient foods.
  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    Don't bring up that starvation theory, people hate that.
  • jlcrph
    jlcrph Posts: 41 Member
    Accurately weigh, measure and track - everything! If you go over your calories for a meal or day, quickly correct. Don't let it turn into a bad weekend, bad week, etc. learn how to quickly move on! Good luck
  • EddieP50
    EddieP50 Posts: 192 Member
    Hi and welcome back to MFP. I have been dieting since November and have lost 50 pounds. Was using another app and switched over to MFP about 3 1/2 months ago.
    For the first six months I just used calorie counting and lost 42 pounds. I have just started exercising in the past four weeks.

    1) Buy a digital food scale and weigh everything.

    2) When entering a food item to diary for the first time whether you scan the barcode or do a database search, check the nutrtion data against the data on the product label. Entries are sometimes incorrect because the manufacturer has made changes to their product and the nutrtion data has changed. Data could also be wrong because it was a user submitted entry and they made a keying error. Lately I prefer to create my own food entries here on the website under "My Foods" and leave them set to private. I am the only one that can make edits to that food entry then.

    3) Log everything you eat, even if it is mayo on a sandwich.

    4) For items such as stews that you mentioend, if it is home made you you use "Recipes" under the Food section to create a recipe and get the calorie count.

    5) If you exercise the best option is to get a chest strap heart rate monitor. They are the most accurate. I have the Polar H7 synced to the Polar Beat app on my phone. It calculates calories burned based on my user profile and heart rate. Exercise in the MFP database look to be averages for the intensity level you choose. For example "Walking 3 mph", The MFP database entry does not know if you where walking on level ground, changing elevations and walking uphill part of time, climbing stairs etc. Hills, stairs, etc. will raise your heart rate and calorie burn.

    6) Don't get discouraged and keep at it. I have my goal set at 2 pounds per week. Some weeks I have lost 2 lbs while others were .5 lbs and some where 3 or 4. Over all I am fairly close to the target I projected for this time period though.
  • samrichards22
    samrichards22 Posts: 16 Member
    Thank you so much for taking the time to share all that info with me, ☺️ much appreciated and very helpful so thanks

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