Analyze my chart

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timothylmayer
timothylmayer Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've kept a close record of what I eat over the past three-four months. At the same time I began to do some serious hiking and walking, 4-5 miles each day. However, I can't seem to loose the weight. Is there a way to analyze the data and figure out what direction I should take?

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  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,487 Member
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    If you wish people to critique your diary please open it. You can do that on settings.
    If you are guessing, using cups, or going off package labels, your calorie count is probably off.

    Get a food scale and weigh all solid foods.

    Also, please provide your height, weight, goal weight, calorie goal, and weekly weight loss goal.
    The more we know, the more we can help.

    Cheers, h.
  • timothylmayer
    timothylmayer Posts: 7 Member
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    OK will open up the diary
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    Work on your logging. You're not using a food scale, you are using generic entries - are the homemade items things you used the recipe builder for? If not don't use them. Get a food scale, use the recipe builder, use good entries. All those things should help.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
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    i have some questions. how tall are you, how are you measuring your food - do you use a food scale? i see you have servings like 5 1/2 links or a square of food by inch. if you weigh foods, you often get different results than if you judge by a physical size or use a measuring cup, and always weigh before cooking, not after.

    also keep in mind that the MFP calorie goals are approximate, so sometimes they'll need some tweaking. if you are logging accurately, try cutting 250 calories per day and see what happens. if you're not currently gaining weight, that should be enough to get you losing a pound every other week. if you still see no results, cut another 250.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    edited October 2016
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    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    Work on your logging. You're not using a food scale, you are using generic entries - are the homemade items things you used the recipe builder for? If not don't use them. Get a food scale, use the recipe builder, use good entries. All those things should help.

    This.

    I can't tell if you've created the recipes or not, but they look like generic entries to me. And this can be WAY off. "1 serving of lasagna"? how much is that? It can vary HUGELY. same with the soup. As far as your breakfast, from what i can see that should be "346" calories for 5.25 links, at-least according to the package i've seen online. That's already 150 calories off, i imagine the other discrepancies are much larger.


    PLUS, i doubt very seriously you're burning an extra 900 calories worth of exercise calories.
  • timothylmayer
    timothylmayer Posts: 7 Member
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    I'm using "Map My Walk" for exercise and I hike 4 to 6 miles a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
    Not using a food scale, perhaps I should invest in one?
    I know my floor scale is bonkers at time, I've seen crazy variations from the way I stand on it. The doctor's scale last week weighed me in at 7 pounds heavier, but I had most of my clothes on at the time. I always try to weigh myself nekkid and at the same time every morning on the home scale.
    I do use the recipe builder.
    And I am six foot, two inches in height.
  • timothylmayer
    timothylmayer Posts: 7 Member
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    I've focused on a LCHF diet as per my doctor recommendations. Always had trouble keeping the fat off. Even as a kid. Right now my job is behind a desk typing, so that does affect it.
  • Firefly0606
    Firefly0606 Posts: 366 Member
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    A food scale is a must - they aren't expensive and worth the few dollars investment anyway.
    Don't guess anything - weigh every. single. ingredient.
    It might seem tedious at first, but it becomes a habit very quickly....once you see results you'll be hooked ;)

    A lot of people will also only eat back half of their exercise calories. I do this too. So when I put in my exercise and it defaults to say I have burned 300 calories, I will manually change it to 150 calories. That way only 150 is added to my calorie allocation for the day.

    But most of all, keep trying and don't give up!! You might feel like this is a setback, see it more like a learning curve. Once you figure out what it is that is slowing your weight loss down, or the combination of a couple of things, you will see results :)
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,487 Member
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    Get a food scale. It will make your logging so much more accurate. It may seem a pain to begin with but once you have good entries in your 'recent' list it is much simpler.

    For packaged goods, even single servings, weigh them. Smart phone have a scan you can use to get the nutritional info. Always check against the package or mfg website. Some entries in the database are just wrong, so double check them. I know rather arduous but you only need to do this once then you always have the correct entry.

    For raw foods, meats, fish, veg, fruit, and grains, use USDA entries in g, These are the most accurate. ie: carrots USDA.

    Always check the drop down for the serving size or weight. You can often convert to a single gram, that way Apple 100g can be altered to Apple 127g.

    Get new batteries for your body scale, or a new one. Keep in mind those with body fat tracking are very inaccurate. So much so that they are useful for watching your body fat trend, up or, preferably, down.
    Nothing wrong with the weight read out though.

    Eat back a constant portion of your exercise calories. Not sure how much you have to lose, you may not need the extra energy from them yet, but by the time you get closer to your weight there is a good chance you will- just to off set exercise fatigue. It is also a good buffer if you have to take a break from exercise. You won't need to choose between dropping your base calories or stalling in your weight loss.

    A few weeks of tight logging of food and exercise and you will have accurate numbers to work from.

    Sorry that was so long.

    Cheers, h.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
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    timothylmayer wrote: »
    I've kept a close record of what I eat over the past three-four months. At the same time I began to do some serious hiking and walking, 4-5 miles each day. However, I can't seem to loose the weight. Is there a way to analyze the data and figure out what direction I should take?

    IF your numbers are correct, you should easily be losing weight. You seem to consistently have a big calorie deficit each day, and this is enhanced by the additional calories from exercise.
    1. Are you remembering to log everything you eat? Your daily calories seem low for such a tall man, but you haven't stated your actual weight.
    2. Your exercise calories seem quite high some days.
    3. Although the calorie numbers are low, maybe you could consider changing some of the items that actually make this up. Try cutting out the beer and ice cream, and perhaps substitute something else for the sausage links some days.
    4. There's no water logged on your chart.
  • timothylmayer
    timothylmayer Posts: 7 Member
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    Didn't think about the water .....

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