Open Diary - Looking for Constructive Criticism/Advice

Catawampous
Catawampous Posts: 447 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All!

The very first day I logged was August 18th. I originally set MFP to lightly active then shortly after changed it downward to sedentary. I didn't feel I was reaching lightly active consistently. I use the Pacer app to count steps. I am sure it is not highly accurate so I take the exercise calories at about half of what it gives me. I also do resistance training with my Bowflex and sometimes a cardio video. MFP is set for me to loose 1 lb a week.

I am 54 years old
5'6" Tall
CW = 198 (Dr's office)
Target = 140, roughly. Basically I'll stop when I feel I'm at a healthy weight for me.

I am trying to learn this app and log everything religiously. I have a food scale and seem to be getting better at figuring out grams and such in the data base. A work in progress so to speak as I continue to learn and fiddle with the food items.

I stop in at my Dr's office tomorrow to pick up a prescription and will ask to be weighed to see if there is a change. I don't have a scale at home as I don't particularly like to focus on that weight number. I tend to be a bit obsessive and my goal is HEALTH. I don't want that number to sabotage that goal. I am not sweating the small stuff right now, if there is no change it is what it is, right? I'm just trying to get my stuff tight and making sure I'm doing this properly.

So far I'm feeling pretty good. Not hungry but I do notice that sometimes I don't always hit my calorie goal of 1380 + exercise so am concerned about that just a bit. I am not tired or sluggish and feel nourished. Sometimes I think I eat a crap ton of food compared to other peoples diaries!

If any of you kind folks would take a look and make sure I'm on track and doing this right I would be most appreciative. I have thick skin so if you see something, say it. I don't get internet upset ;)

Thank you all!

Replies

  • kchartinc
    kchartinc Posts: 21 Member
    Your past few days look pretty good to me! Personal preference, but the only thing I would change is to swap out a few of your carbs for some healthy fats (like avocado!). Protein looks good. Great job!
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
    We eat some of the same things... a little freaky..LOL

    I see that there are some things not weighed like the bagels, yogurt in container, rice cakes. There are servings in cups like Milk, oatmeal squares, and the peanut butter I saw was not weighed as it was in tablespoons.

    I think the diary looks fantastic with the exception of some additional things that could make your diary more accurate. Macros look good.

    The prepackaged things like bagels,yogurt etc. can be more or less than the serving you pull out of the bag or container. My yogurt cups have the tendency to be under for example the 5.3 ounces it says on the package. Def always weight peanut butter. Also if you want to get more specific, things like mustard and other condiments weigh these too instead of tsp.

    I was little short on time, but this is what I saw briefly :) .

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,269 Member
    Eating a bit over your calorie goal now and again won't ruin anything. As long as you're eating below maintenance calories most days (and not absurdly over other days to wipe out the cumulative calorie deficit), you'll lose weight. If you eat 100 extra calories every single day, it takes more than a month before you've given up even a pound of weight loss progress (3500 calories = roughly one pound).

    If you're undershooting your calories by a little now and again, that also should be a big deal. I would be healthier & safer to avoid eating substantially below goal very often, especially if your weight loss rate goal is aggressive (like 2 pounds/week). Also, if you see too rapid weight loss (more than about 1% of your body weight per week, after the first week or two), then raise your goal or eat back more of your exercise.

    The calculators, like the one built into MFP, can be a bit off for some people, so use your actual weight loss rate as a guide to what's healthy - at our age (I'm 60) it's tough/slow to regain lost muscle under the best of circumstances, so you want to lose the minimum of muscle while losing fat. Stay strong & healthy!

    +1 to the idea of weighing food! This is so important (IMO) that I'm going to rattle on a bit about it. Food scales are cheap (you can get a decent one for $15-20), and it's not only more accurate to use one when you can, it's quicker and easier besides. Here are some tips:
    • 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.
    No measuring spoons to scrape out, or wash, except when you need to measure liquids . . . and you can weigh some of them, too.
  • Catawampous
    Catawampous Posts: 447 Member
    @kchartinc - thank you! I agree I tend to be a bit carb heavy. Love avocados! I do eat them but lately they have been icky at the store I usually shop. I will practice with switching some things up. Thank you for taking the time to reply.

    @RoxieDawn - Thank you! I tend to get confused on the condiments and such whether they are suppose to be in grams or oz or mL depending on if they are more liquid like picante sauce or what. I will do some more digging on how to log those and be more mindful of it. Also you are right, I am tending to take the breads, yogurts, cereals and such at the value on the package. I will weigh those in the future. Thanks!

    @AnnPT - Thank you so much for that helpful post. Some of your ideas to weigh things I can adopt easily and frankly, never thought of. I definitely want to do this the healthy way and keep myself strong. It's a lifelong commitment I know I have to do!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,421 Member
    edited September 2016
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    We eat some of the same things... a little freaky..LOL

    I see that there are some things not weighed like the bagels, yogurt in container, rice cakes. There are servings in cups like Milk, oatmeal squares, and the peanut butter I saw was not weighed as it was in tablespoons.

    I think the diary looks fantastic with the exception of some additional things that could make your diary more accurate. Macros look good.

    The prepackaged things like bagels,yogurt etc. can be more or less than the serving you pull out of the bag or container. My yogurt cups have the tendency to be under for example the 5.3 ounces it says on the package. Def always weight peanut butter. Also if you want to get more specific, things like mustard and other condiments weigh these too instead of tsp.

    I was little short on time, but this is what I saw briefly :) .

    I've never weighed bread, bagels, or full containers of yogurt. I do weigh partial portions of yogurt (I buy big batches at a time.) Also, things like mustard don't even have significant calories, so I don't bother. Heck, I've never weighed lettuce. Salsa - I can eat a half cup for 50 calories. Not a biggie. I've always used liquid measuring for milk. Do you really weigh your milk??

    I lost my weight without doing this ::shrug::

    I can see it with things that have calorie-heavy numbers, like peanut butter, where if you make a tiny mistake you can be "over" by 50 cals.

    I just think sometimes we get a bit too obsessive about weighing things. It's a couple calories.
  • geneticsteacher
    geneticsteacher Posts: 623 Member
    You and I eat a lot of the same things! (I like the sandwich thins more than the bagel thins, but both are good.) Don't be afraid to get as close as possible +/- to your calorie goal - you are 300+ under for the last few days. MFP has been very accurate for me and I tried to be +/- 50 calories every day when I was losing (started at 172, maintaining at 139).

    I would also try to add a little fat - when you cook you can use olive oil, peanut butter once in a while, avocados, nuts. You might want to switch out the sugar for fiber in your diary settings. I am a little older than you and find that fiber is essential.
  • llbrixon
    llbrixon Posts: 964 Member
    I am 62yrs. I am 5'6" I picked 155-160 as a goal. Iam so glad I did because I am able to eat a lot of the foods I love. Maintaining since July. My calorie allowance is 1600 a day. Lots of days I am only averaging 1200-1400 calories a day. I am satisfied and I do not crave high calorie foods.

    My food log is open. Add me as a friend if you would like. It took me 9 months to lose 42 pounds. I found losing weight at my age to be slower compared to 10 years ago. Anyway...just some information to think about.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
    cmriverside wrote: »
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    We eat some of the same things... a little freaky..LOL

    I see that there are some things not weighed like the bagels, yogurt in container, rice cakes. There are servings in cups like Milk, oatmeal squares, and the peanut butter I saw was not weighed as it was in tablespoons.

    I think the diary looks fantastic with the exception of some additional things that could make your diary more accurate. Macros look good.

    The prepackaged things like bagels,yogurt etc. can be more or less than the serving you pull out of the bag or container. My yogurt cups have the tendency to be under for example the 5.3 ounces it says on the package. Def always weight peanut butter. Also if you want to get more specific, things like mustard and other condiments weigh these too instead of tsp.

    I was little short on time, but this is what I saw briefly :) .

    I've never weighed bread, bagels, or full containers of yogurt. I do weigh partial portions of yogurt (I buy big batches at a time.) Also, things like mustard don't even have significant calories, so I don't bother. Heck, I've never weighed lettuce. Salsa - I can eat a half cup for 50 calories. Not a biggie. I've always used liquid measuring for milk. Do you really weigh your milk??

    I lost my weight without doing this ::shrug::

    I can see it with things that have calorie-heavy numbers, like peanut butter, where if you make a tiny mistake you can be "over" by 50 cals.

    I just think sometimes we get a bit too obsessive about weighing things. It's a couple calories.

    Only added information to OP.. I did not say she had too. if getting the diary more precice and accurate. At around XXXX calories a day, all of it is important and when I starting weighing bread and bagels and yes yogurt cups I was being jipped or I was underestimating calories that were important.

    And yes I do weight milk. I put glass on the scale, and fill it up. I said nothing about salsa, but it has calories and a ton of sodium (these are important to me), also I said nothing about lettuce, and the mustard she used had calories. Too me when starting out this process until you get used to being able to throw the salsa on the food know how much is a portion for now it can be weighed to learn and help lose weight in the process.

    This was ONLY suggestions..
  • Catawampous
    Catawampous Posts: 447 Member
    edited September 2016
    Yes and I appreciated them. I was given exactly what I asked for! I am the obsessive type and I want to know exactly what I am dealing with. It might be something I relax on later down the road but for me right now, it's important to be as accurate as possible. If I run across any stumbling blocks I can refer back and see where things might have gone wrong.

    @cmriverside - Definitely get what you are saying and I appreciate you responding!

    Thank you all so much all for your input. It's helping me a lot.
  • ajourney2luv
    ajourney2luv Posts: 2 Member
    I've looked at your log for the last week and here are my thoughts: 1. If you plan is to lose weight without exercise, then you really need to know your RMR (resting metabolic rate). RMR is the amount of calories your body burns without doing anything. 2. if you want to lose weight slowly, then you should decrease calories by 100 or 200 or increase physical activity. 3. I have also notice that you consume a large amount of sodium. that can sometimes cause you to retain water. Since you are consuming more than the normal amounts, you should definitely continue to drink at least 8 to 10 cups of water a day.

    I have a sedentary life style because I have a desk job and I am currently attending night school. I have little time to workout except on the weekends. Due to that reason, i've cut my calories to my RMR-200. I'm loosing weight without exercise very slowly.

    These are just my thoughts and suggestions.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,269 Member
    To the point of weighing food being potentially obsessive: Yes, it could be . . . but there are reasons to do it that have nothing to do with obsession, IMO.

    I found weight loss to be kind of a fun science-fair project for grown-ups. By logging my food & activity as accurately as possible, and weighing myself daily, I found I could then use simple arithmetic to:
    • Estimate my upcoming weight loss,
    • Figure out the delay in weight loss if I went substantially over goal (thus be able to decide if it was worth it),
    • Predict when water weight from extra (but still healthy) carbs or sodium would drop off, and
    • At the end of the loss process - quite accurately estimate my own personal NEAT & TDEE, rather than relying on calculators that are based on population averages.

    Others may not be interested in these things, and that's totally fine. For me, the "science fair" aspect helped make this more fun and educational.
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  • Catawampous
    Catawampous Posts: 447 Member
    @ajourney2luv - I was wondering when someone was going to notice that sodium level LOL. It's definitely an issue for me. I LOVE salt. I was looking over that yesterday and reset my goals on that downward by a large margin. Also I'm rather shocked at how much sodium the Ole Extreme Wellness Tortilla wrap has in it! As well in other foods.

    Thank you for noticing that and I will keep on plugging along to get it down to a more reasonable level.

    @Trixiegirl66 - Thank you for the observations and input!

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