Are my diet and exercise sufficient?

Jcorn7
Jcorn7 Posts: 25 Member
edited December 4 in Health and Weight Loss
I work out 2-3 days a week, working on 3 days minimum soon. For now, I just go to the gym, stretch, then hop on the stationary bike for about an hour. I burn around 480 calories and go just over 18 miles at level 5 of 20. This is going from pretty much no exercising before. My job consists of being on my feet a lot. My diet used to be ice cream every other day, fast food everyday or every other day.
Since I started working my new job back in March, usually, but not everyday, breakfast is a biscuit and gravy, one scoop of scrambled eggs, and 2 sausage links (greasy I know). Lunch could be a cheeseburger and fries or mashed potatoes and gravy. Dinner would be fast food and possibly ice cream.
For the past couple months, I have not touched fast food. I haven't drank soda since starting the new job. It's usually water and one cup of lemonade at work. I drink about 3 bottles of water a day. Breakfast at work is the same. Lunch I try to stick with a chicken breast and mashed potatoes/gravy along with a cup of fruit. Dinner is usually a double chicken chopped salad from subway. It has spinach, bell pepper, cucumber, and tomatoes with a little bit of honey mustard and some shredded cheese. I get a side of apple slices and sometimes get 3 cookies, which I'm very aware that does not help at all. I've been eating less ice cream. I'm thinking of switching breakfast to oatmeal. Other than a 20 ounce lemonade at lunch, I drink water through out the day.
Overall I feel that my health is much better. Although I switched to salads, water, more fruit, and increasing exercise, I'm not sure I am losing weight. My guess is calories are still high, and aside from switching to oatmeal for breakfast among other changes I could make, I'm not sure what else to do. I'm aware that weight fluctuates and I try to avoid scales. I'm wondering if my improving diet plus increasing the amount I exercise (cardio with the bike) is beneficial to my health and losing weight if I stick to what I'm doing now along with the couple improvements I've already mentioned. Any helpful and friendly advice is appreciated. Thank you.

Replies

  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
    Are you measuring your intake accurately, logging everything, and hitting your calorie goal as calculated by MFP?

    Weight loss only comes with a calorie deficit. You can lose weight eating fast food or chicken/potatoes/veggies. A 20 oz lemonade is going to have a lot of calories in it. Are you logging that and fitting it into your day?

    The only way for you to know whether your diet is sufficient is to log it. Simply making changes to your perception of "healthier" choices is not enough. You have to eat less calories than your body uses each day.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    You can't know if you are losing weight if you don't track your intake nor your weight. Why are you avoiding weighing?

    For weight loss, how much you eat (calories) is the only thing that matters. This is why it's smart to track intake.

    For health, a good diet and moderate exercise is important. A balanced and varied diet is better than a restricive one. If you track your intake, you can more easily see if you are hitting your nutritional goals.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    I agree with the above posters.

    Your calorie intake will determine if you gain or lose weight.

    Eat fewer calories a day than your body uses and you will lose weight.
  • Jcorn7
    Jcorn7 Posts: 25 Member
    Well I know that the daily average is 2,000 calories. I was thinking around 1,500 calories a day. I stay away from scales because when I look at them, it makes me want to stop due to the scale telling me I've made no progress. I just joined MFP and will start trying to log my calories daily. I had to guess on the subway salad due to some many options and I can't see the full description on mobile, or I couldn't find an option to extend it.
  • ClareMillsRoberts
    ClareMillsRoberts Posts: 28 Member
    2000 calories is just an estimate really based on an "average" woman, it's not something to aim for. Everyone will have a different calorie requirement to maintain their current weight depending on their height, weight and activity levels. you can work yours out by plugging your stats in to an online calculator - Google TDEE calculator. Once you have your number most recommendations are to reduce that by 500 calories per day for a 1lb per week weight loss. If you put all your stats and your goal in to MFP it will work it out for you. Once you have your goal you need to start logging everything you eat and drink in MFP - that's the only way you'll be able to tell if you are meeting your goal. Ideally you shoukd weigh all solid food and measure all liquids including cooking oil. It's worth noting that some healthy options can be quite calorific - avocado, nuts and seeds, olive oil, coconut for example - that's not to say you can't eat them but you need to measure and log to make sure you aren't inadvertently going over your goal. From the dirt you have described the lemonade, gravy, salad dressing and cookies are all high calorie items that you could reduce.
  • daniip_la
    daniip_la Posts: 678 Member
    edited October 2016
    As a guesstimate on calories, I'd say you're eating a good deal more than you think.

    For that breakfast, I'd guess it was at least 600kcal. Lunch, maybe another 600kcal depending on how the chicken's prepared. Glass of lemonade, probably 200kcal. Supper probably 500kcal at least, and another 600kcal for the three cookies.

    Those numbers are all rough estimates as I don't know how the food you're eating is prepared, and you don't know the amounts. But you're looking at roughly 2600kcal from that estimate. Plus ice cream.

    I wouldn't jump on the "you need to exercise more" train, but you need to start logging what you eat. That's where the weight loss will come from.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    You need to learn how to prepare food for yourself.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Jcorn7 wrote: »
    Well I know that the daily average is 2,000 calories. I was thinking around 1,500 calories a day. I stay away from scales because when I look at them, it makes me want to stop due to the scale telling me I've made no progress. I just joined MFP and will start trying to log my calories daily. I had to guess on the subway salad due to some many options and I can't see the full description on mobile, or I couldn't find an option to extend it.

    If you want to lose weight, you have to eat less/move more. If you can do that without dealing with calories, do that. But many people can't. That's why sites like MFP exist. If you are going to deal with calories, you need to do that right. "The daily average" of an average woman is 2,000 calories, yes, but are you her? I doubt it. You are better off using your own stats. Plug it into MFP and use the numbers it gives you. Guessing is no good. Log the correct item when you have access to a computer. You can also or prepare your own food from scratch. And when you weigh yourself, keep in mind that you'll need a month to see any discernible results.
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