Maybe I've been doing it wrong...
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Granny sez: Sweetie, weigh your food. Measuring is doing it the hard way: Less accurate, more time consuming, more difficult. Think about these tips to save time & be more accurate, all at once (yay!):
- Assembling a salad in a bowl, a stew in a pan, sandwich on a plate? Put the bowl/pan/plate on the scale, zero, add an ingredient, note the weight, zero, add the next ingredient, note the weight . . . .
- Using something from a carton or jar, or cutting a slice from a hunk of cheese? Put the container or chunk on the scale, zero, take out portion, note the negative value (it's the amount you took out).
- Eating a whole apple, banana, unhulled strawberries, corn on the cob? Weigh the ready-to-eat food, eat the yummy parts, weigh the core/hulls/peel, subtract & note.
- I like to keep a few clean plastic yogurt-tub lids around to weigh small items, like a handful of nuts or chopped hardboiled eggs or something. Drop the lid on the scale, zero, add item, note weight, eat or use - just a quick rinse of the lid under the faucet & you're done.
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Maybe I need to be reeducated on how I need to eat healthily and what my daily calories should be. I want to lose 33 pounds by April. MFP gives me a goal of 1,200 calories per day to lose 1.5-pound per week...I'm listed as "not very active" because I work at a computer most of the day as a designer. I try my best to make up for that elsewhere, but exercise has always been my downfall. I can do cardio for a good amount of time, but I hate strength training. I want to lose weight but the scale just doesn't do much moving. It likes to flutter, even though I know that's on me.
List yourself as sedentary.
Then when you exercise, log it ... but underestimate the time and intensity a bit.
As for exercise, try to get out for walks in the morning, at lunch, after work. Climb stairs when you can. Get a bicycle and commute to work by bicycle. Consider other activity like ... canoeing, swimming, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking ...
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Random tip for weighing things like mayo or peanut butter. Set the open jar on your scale, hit tare/zero, scoop out your portion. The negative weight is your grams. Wayyyyyyyyy better than measuring it into a spoon/cup and scooping it out...no extra dishes to wash!
What a tip!! I'm actually excited to use this at breakfast this morning ...
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All of the above is such great information, really, once you start weighing *all* of your food you will likely see how you've been overestimating your portion sizes. I was shocked when I first started about how I was eating way more than a serving of pasta and peanutbutter spefically. Then there's the Lara bars... I love Lara bars, one serving size is listed as 48 grams, I put one on my digital scale a few months back, it weighed 52 grams... critical information for me since I'm eating 1200 calories a day myself. Good luck!0
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Thanks for all the advice - those tips for subtracting sounds much easier than dirtying a bunch of other utensils or bowls for measurement purposes. I'll definitely be doing this going forward. I wouldn't be surprised from hearing all of this if I have been overestimating, because that sounds like exactly what is happening. I will definitely keep you guys posted - thank you for helping me!
I'm fortunate to work at a place where I do have a sit/stand desk and try to make a point to stand during all of my meetings. We are a remote-based company from the start (with locations all across the world) so I have a lot of meetings online, if I make a point to stand during all of them it can easily be 2-3 hours of straight standing. We also have lunch provided but they are really great about providing details and nutrients for it. I always estimate it's over than what they're saying and round up though, just to be safe!2 -
Maybe I need to be reeducated on how I need to eat healthily and what my daily calories should be. I want to lose 33 pounds by April. MFP gives me a goal of 1,200 calories per day to lose 1.5-pound per week...I'm listed as "not very active" because I work at a computer most of the day as a designer. I try my best to make up for that elsewhere, but exercise has always been my downfall. I can do cardio for a good amount of time, but I hate strength training. I want to lose weight but the scale just doesn't do much moving. It likes to flutter, even though I know that's on me.
List yourself as sedentary.
Then when you exercise, log it ... but underestimate the time and intensity a bit.
As for exercise, try to get out for walks in the morning, at lunch, after work. Climb stairs when you can. Get a bicycle and commute to work by bicycle. Consider other activity like ... canoeing, swimming, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking ...
Just going to chime in here that there's no longer a "sedentary" option. I had thought about changing my activity level a few days ago, and noticed that sedentary has been replaced with "not very active".
So to anyone confused about choosing an activity level, I'm guessing those two are interchangeable.0 -
1200 calories is the default lowest because the app doesn't go lower than that on its own. Try to set your weight loss at maintenance and see what the app gives you. Being sedentary and with only 30 something lbs to lose, I doubt your sedentary maintenance is close to 2000 unless you are very tall. If it gives you less than 1950 for maintenance, it's more of MFP's fault that it made you believe it was possible to lose 1.5 lb on 1200 calories.
In addition to that, sedentary allowance is not for someone who is truly sedentary - it contains some assumed daily activity apart from exercise. If your current non-exercise activity level does not reach the assumed sedentary activity, your allowance could be smaller than expected and any exercise you add would actually cut into your sedentary allowance (that's why fitbit shows a negative adjustments sometimes for someone who is not very active even when set to sedentary).
A third issue might be that 600 days of logging low calorie might have induced some adaptive thermogenesis driving your maintenance even lower.
Your action plan to navigate this would be this:
1. Set a calorie level for yourself without any expectations and stick to it.
2. Weigh all of your foods as accurately as possible as often as possible and record them as soon as you eat them to avoid calorie amnesia and make sure to stay away from bogus entries and to weigh your food raw whenever possible. It's sad that we need to fact-check for MFP sometimes, but many entries are very inaccurate.
3. Record your weight daily if possible and look at the trend.
4. After a month or two, evaluate your weight loss to figure out your true maintenance and accept having to lose slower if that's what needed. For example, if after eating at 1200 net calories for 8 weeks you found that your weight trended down by 8 lb, this means that your true maintenance would be 1700 and to lose 1.5 like the app says you would need to eat 950 calories which is not recommended, so just accept the fact that your loss will be 1 lb per week or less if that's what it is.
Usually people can get away with being less strict, but if you find yourself stalling for a long while it's necessary to tighten up your logging, especially that as you approach your goal weight you have less room for error.0 -
Maybe I need to be reeducated on how I need to eat healthily and what my daily calories should be. I want to lose 33 pounds by April. MFP gives me a goal of 1,200 calories per day to lose 1.5-pound per week...I'm listed as "not very active" because I work at a computer most of the day as a designer. I try my best to make up for that elsewhere, but exercise has always been my downfall. I can do cardio for a good amount of time, but I hate strength training. I want to lose weight but the scale just doesn't do much moving. It likes to flutter, even though I know that's on me.
List yourself as sedentary.
Then when you exercise, log it ... but underestimate the time and intensity a bit.
As for exercise, try to get out for walks in the morning, at lunch, after work. Climb stairs when you can. Get a bicycle and commute to work by bicycle. Consider other activity like ... canoeing, swimming, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking ...
Just going to chime in here that there's no longer a "sedentary" option. I had thought about changing my activity level a few days ago, and noticed that sedentary has been replaced with "not very active".
So to anyone confused about choosing an activity level, I'm guessing those two are interchangeable.
That's odd, i just went and checked mine and it hasnt changed.
How would you describe your normal daily activities?
Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)
Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)
Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »Maybe I need to be reeducated on how I need to eat healthily and what my daily calories should be. I want to lose 33 pounds by April. MFP gives me a goal of 1,200 calories per day to lose 1.5-pound per week...I'm listed as "not very active" because I work at a computer most of the day as a designer. I try my best to make up for that elsewhere, but exercise has always been my downfall. I can do cardio for a good amount of time, but I hate strength training. I want to lose weight but the scale just doesn't do much moving. It likes to flutter, even though I know that's on me.
List yourself as sedentary.
Then when you exercise, log it ... but underestimate the time and intensity a bit.
As for exercise, try to get out for walks in the morning, at lunch, after work. Climb stairs when you can. Get a bicycle and commute to work by bicycle. Consider other activity like ... canoeing, swimming, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking ...
Just going to chime in here that there's no longer a "sedentary" option. I had thought about changing my activity level a few days ago, and noticed that sedentary has been replaced with "not very active".
So to anyone confused about choosing an activity level, I'm guessing those two are interchangeable.
That's odd, i just went and checked mine and it hasnt changed.
How would you describe your normal daily activities?
Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)
Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)
Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)
It's changed in the iOS app, at least. The website likely hasn't changed.
~Lyssa0 -
macgurlnet wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »Maybe I need to be reeducated on how I need to eat healthily and what my daily calories should be. I want to lose 33 pounds by April. MFP gives me a goal of 1,200 calories per day to lose 1.5-pound per week...I'm listed as "not very active" because I work at a computer most of the day as a designer. I try my best to make up for that elsewhere, but exercise has always been my downfall. I can do cardio for a good amount of time, but I hate strength training. I want to lose weight but the scale just doesn't do much moving. It likes to flutter, even though I know that's on me.
List yourself as sedentary.
Then when you exercise, log it ... but underestimate the time and intensity a bit.
As for exercise, try to get out for walks in the morning, at lunch, after work. Climb stairs when you can. Get a bicycle and commute to work by bicycle. Consider other activity like ... canoeing, swimming, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking ...
Just going to chime in here that there's no longer a "sedentary" option. I had thought about changing my activity level a few days ago, and noticed that sedentary has been replaced with "not very active".
So to anyone confused about choosing an activity level, I'm guessing those two are interchangeable.
That's odd, i just went and checked mine and it hasnt changed.
How would you describe your normal daily activities?
Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)
Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)
Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)
It's changed in the iOS app, at least. The website likely hasn't changed.
~Lyssa
I exclusively use the app, so that's probably the issue.0 -
macgurlnet wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »Maybe I need to be reeducated on how I need to eat healthily and what my daily calories should be. I want to lose 33 pounds by April. MFP gives me a goal of 1,200 calories per day to lose 1.5-pound per week...I'm listed as "not very active" because I work at a computer most of the day as a designer. I try my best to make up for that elsewhere, but exercise has always been my downfall. I can do cardio for a good amount of time, but I hate strength training. I want to lose weight but the scale just doesn't do much moving. It likes to flutter, even though I know that's on me.
List yourself as sedentary.
Then when you exercise, log it ... but underestimate the time and intensity a bit.
As for exercise, try to get out for walks in the morning, at lunch, after work. Climb stairs when you can. Get a bicycle and commute to work by bicycle. Consider other activity like ... canoeing, swimming, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking ...
Just going to chime in here that there's no longer a "sedentary" option. I had thought about changing my activity level a few days ago, and noticed that sedentary has been replaced with "not very active".
So to anyone confused about choosing an activity level, I'm guessing those two are interchangeable.
That's odd, i just went and checked mine and it hasnt changed.
How would you describe your normal daily activities?
Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)
Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)
Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)
It's changed in the iOS app, at least. The website likely hasn't changed.
~Lyssa
I exclusively use the app, so that's probably the issue.
So it is. Yes, it has changed on the app but is still the same on the website.
Sedentary V not very active, cant see the difference really...0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »macgurlnet wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »Maybe I need to be reeducated on how I need to eat healthily and what my daily calories should be. I want to lose 33 pounds by April. MFP gives me a goal of 1,200 calories per day to lose 1.5-pound per week...I'm listed as "not very active" because I work at a computer most of the day as a designer. I try my best to make up for that elsewhere, but exercise has always been my downfall. I can do cardio for a good amount of time, but I hate strength training. I want to lose weight but the scale just doesn't do much moving. It likes to flutter, even though I know that's on me.
List yourself as sedentary.
Then when you exercise, log it ... but underestimate the time and intensity a bit.
As for exercise, try to get out for walks in the morning, at lunch, after work. Climb stairs when you can. Get a bicycle and commute to work by bicycle. Consider other activity like ... canoeing, swimming, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking ...
Just going to chime in here that there's no longer a "sedentary" option. I had thought about changing my activity level a few days ago, and noticed that sedentary has been replaced with "not very active".
So to anyone confused about choosing an activity level, I'm guessing those two are interchangeable.
That's odd, i just went and checked mine and it hasnt changed.
How would you describe your normal daily activities?
Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)
Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)
Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)
It's changed in the iOS app, at least. The website likely hasn't changed.
~Lyssa
I exclusively use the app, so that's probably the issue.
So it is. Yes, it has changed on the app but is still the same on the website.
Sedentary V not very active, cant see the difference really...
I'd bet a lot of people don't really know what the word Sedentary means....
Alternatively, perhaps the change was so all categories use the word "active," for the sake of consistency?
~Lyssa0 -
I think you've done a great job so far. You have lost weight! Look at this on the bright side, everyday you watch what you eat and you've lost weight. You are a little stuck and you will get it moving again, just stick with it! All the advice I've read so far has been excellent, this forum is the greatest so take everything you hear and make it a rule in your life.
If you would consider my advice, I'd say you need to up your calories by 300 each day. Included with that is an increase in daily activity that equals that 300 calories. Someone already posted that you've been at 1200 calories for so long that you may have bottomed out your metabolism. You need to eat a little more, increase your activity and get your cells working again in the right direction. Weightloss comes from diet & exercise...exercise being the key here.
If something changes, change in response. Do the opposite of what you've been doing. If you feel sluggish for a day or two or can't find the time to exercise then don't. Just make sure you leave those extra 300 calories off your list for the day. All that being said, it's time to up your game and get active.0
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