Slow metabolism? Or doing it wrong?

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  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
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    One week is not enough especially after battling WW. They've decided to focus on lean protein and saturated fat. They've totally forgotten about fiber. I'm not a big fan of any diet that narrows it's focus so greatly.

    When I started logging on MFP, I went a couple weeks just logging what I was eating. That way I'd know where to focus on what changes I might need to make. Plus I worked with a nutritionist to talk about what changes would be reasonable and wouldn't "blow me out of the game". I was having breakfast sandwiches most days for breakfast. Most of those were around 350+ calories, and not much real nutritional value - depending on the sandwich. Now I'll have Greek yogurt. I might add a protein/fiber bar, or maybe just have some pretzels.

    There are various small changes that can be made....if you like hamburgers, maybe you can forego the bun if you really want to have the fries. Actually - a baked potato would be even better than fries.

    The nutritionist basically said to focus on lean protein and the fats/carbs will take care of themselves. I have found that to be pretty true. I've even found that you can go over on calories (somewhat) eating this way and still do well at weigh-in's.

    But to do this, you really need to be a "food journal nazi", and learn as you go as to what foods are or aren't food journal friendly.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,442 Member
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    lizlamarca6843 wrote: »
    Wow, I didn't realize weighing instead of measuring was so important. Ok, duly noted, thanks!!!

    Absolutely! How would you measure things like nuts in a cup? There's a lot of pore space left between the nuts. And where exactly is the cup full to count for one cup? When one nut touches the marking, two nuts, all of them? This can give you large differences. Or use cups for something like grated cheese: do you stuff it in to get more cheese (and more calories) or make sure it sits in fluffily? Again, where does the cup actually end, and what is the definition of a cup according to the cheese producer? A cup according to a manufacturer might be very different than what you think a cup looks like. This all adds to uncertainly in your measurements.

    The same is true with spoons and for example cooking oil. With 9kcal per gram oil, just a tiny droplet more adds up, and sizes of spoons do differ.
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    It took me a few weeks for me to adjust from WW to MFP since I was eating more following calories (I was averaging 1,000 a day on WW). Just keep going, don't forget to weigh and log your fruits and veggies, and use that food scale for all solids.
  • ktekc
    ktekc Posts: 879 Member
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    https://youtu.be/bnnpUYmr0OM
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    Do you eat back your exercise calories? If so, how are you calculating that calorie burn?
  • ktekc
    ktekc Posts: 879 Member
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    Also https://youtu.be/vjKPIcI51lU .couldn't find it before.
  • DaniCanadian
    DaniCanadian Posts: 261 Member
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    Using a digital food scale got me passed my 'plateau'. Definitely use one for all solid foods and condiments.
  • Liz6843
    Liz6843 Posts: 29 Member
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    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    Do you eat back your exercise calories? If so, how are you calculating that calorie burn?

    I have a fitness tracker (Moov Now) which calculates approximately how many calories I burn a day. I eat back 1/3rd of them. I dunno, is that a reasonable strategy?
  • Liz6843
    Liz6843 Posts: 29 Member
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    lizlamarca6843 wrote: »
    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    Do you eat back your exercise calories? If so, how are you calculating that calorie burn?

    I have a fitness tracker (Moov Now) which calculates approximately how many calories I burn a day. I eat back 1/3rd of them. I dunno, is that a reasonable strategy?


    Sorry, I mean 1/3rd of the calories I eat that are OVER my baseline BMR (somewhere around ~1500).
  • Gena575
    Gena575 Posts: 224 Member
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    lizlamarca6843 wrote: »
    lizlamarca6843 wrote: »
    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    Do you eat back your exercise calories? If so, how are you calculating that calorie burn?

    I have a fitness tracker (Moov Now) which calculates approximately how many calories I burn a day. I eat back 1/3rd of them. I dunno, is that a reasonable strategy?


    Sorry, I mean 1/3rd of the calories I eat that are OVER my baseline BMR (somewhere around ~1500).

    What's does mfp give you as a daily allotment? That plus the built in deficit (500 calories/day per lb of loss you set) equals your maintenance calories or tdee. Most fitness trackers give you tdee. So if mfp gives you 1200 and the tracker says 2000and you're set to 1lb/week, you could eat back the 200 calorie difference.

    If the tracker syncs to mfp and is adding 900 calories to what mfp gives you, 50% of them is a good start point. Then reassess in a month based on how you're losing. Faster? Eat more of them. Slower? Eat fewer of them. On target? Great, keep doing as you have!
  • Liz6843
    Liz6843 Posts: 29 Member
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    Gena575 wrote: »

    What's does mfp give you as a daily allotment? That plus the built in deficit (500 calories/day per lb of loss you set) equals your maintenance calories or tdee. Most fitness trackers give you tdee. So if mfp gives you 1200 and the tracker says 2000and you're set to 1lb/week, you could eat back the 200 calorie difference.

    If the tracker syncs to mfp and is adding 900 calories to what mfp gives you, 50% of them is a good start point. Then reassess in a month based on how you're losing. Faster? Eat more of them. Slower? Eat fewer of them. On target? Great, keep doing as you have!

    Not sure what you mean but this is what my fitness tracker says, and I eat 1/3 of my "other calories"

    xb7m9c24yzi3.png
  • Gena575
    Gena575 Posts: 224 Member
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    lizlamarca6843 wrote: »
    Gena575 wrote: »

    What's does mfp give you as a daily allotment? That plus the built in deficit (500 calories/day per lb of loss you set) equals your maintenance calories or tdee. Most fitness trackers give you tdee. So if mfp gives you 1200 and the tracker says 2000and you're set to 1lb/week, you could eat back the 200 calorie difference.

    If the tracker syncs to mfp and is adding 900 calories to what mfp gives you, 50% of them is a good start point. Then reassess in a month based on how you're losing. Faster? Eat more of them. Slower? Eat fewer of them. On target? Great, keep doing as you have!

    Not sure what you mean but this is what my fitness tracker says, and I eat 1/3 of my "other calories"

    xb7m9c24yzi3.png

    Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure is the 2581 number. Give or take, as nothing is 100% accurate. So to lose a 2lbs a week 1500 is a decent goal to start with from that data, if that's a typical day. To lose 1lb a week, 2000 would be a decent goal. If you're satisfied with how you are eating at 1500 I'd stick with that for a few weeks to a month and average out your losses per week to see if you're losing at the rate expected generally.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    Weighing with cups and spoons is inherently inaccurate. Use a scale for greater accuracy

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