Crossfit, counting calories, no weight loss!

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  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    matchbox_girl wrote: »
    I always thought I was doing great with logging. I thought twenty crackers was logged as twenty crackers and six pop tarts was six pop tarts haha. I don't understand I guess. I log everything if I can and the things I can't scan in I do just guess (my mistake). Slim fast, soup and crackers, and dinner didn't seem like I was eating too much most days but apparently I am.....yeesh. Might have to stop eating all together

    look at my diary if you want...you will see what I eat...I am not actively trying to lose so my logging is a bit loose atm but during my loss I ate a chocolate bar every night...because I had the calories to do it...because I logged accurately....and I ate a lot of food.
  • matchbox_girl
    matchbox_girl Posts: 535 Member
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    I tried to turn off my exercise calories so I wouldn't be tempted, but I think you have to be a premium member to do that. So instead I put in "extremely sedentary" and went from there. Still not enough.
  • mikepicher
    mikepicher Posts: 23 Member
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    hahaha... don't do that, because that won't help either! :-)

    i don't agree with others that you can eat whatever you want as long as you stay in your macros / calorie goals. sugar is the devil. if you're getting it from fruits and vegetables, great... pop tarts? no.
  • matchbox_girl
    matchbox_girl Posts: 535 Member
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    I'm still confused, I'm sorry. Everyone says I'm not tracking correctly but how else do I track the calories in, say, 20 saltine crackers? A serving is five, and there are a certain amount of calories in that serving. Therefore, I add four servings to my diary. I leave nothing out, ever. 15 pop tart binges and all....
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
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    matchbox_girl wrote: »
    I'm still confused, I'm sorry. Everyone says I'm not tracking correctly but how else do I track the calories in, say, 20 saltine crackers? A serving is five, and there are a certain amount of calories in that serving. Therefore, I add four servings to my diary. I leave nothing out, ever. 15 pop tart binges and all....

    The nutrition label on your box of crackers should specify how much that 5 cracker serving weighs. Weigh the crackers you're going to eat and use that as the entry in your diary. Ditto all packaged foods.
  • matchbox_girl
    matchbox_girl Posts: 535 Member
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    VintageFeline wrote: »
    Honestly? I think you're eating out too much when you don't have a handle on portion sizes. Guesstimating how much of something you've eaten is fine if you're good at it or are only doing it now and again but when you're doing it for most of your meals it's going to be a problem.

    When you do log things you're obviously eating at home you don't appear to be weighing them, or are using cups for solids. Neither of those are accurate. If you're not even using cups and are just eyeballing it makes it even harder to have any clue if you're actually eating what you think you are. Your results suggest you don't have reliable eyes at this point (which is very very common, none of us got overweight eating reasonable portions!).

    On top of this is the inconsistency of what you think your intake is. Some days you are way over, others way under but with what looks like a tiny amount of food for the items logged.

    So I suggest dramatically reducing the eating out. Don't ever use a generic recipe from the database, use the recipe builder and start using a food scale for all solids and cups for all liquids. Be consistent for 4-6 weeks and reassess.

    Some days I actually don't eat much. Not because I wasn't tracking, but because some days I just don't eat very much at all. Others not so much. I track everything and if I'm guessing I try to overestimate it the best I can so that doesn't happen.

    Example: a crock pot steak last night should have been about 400 cals, if that. Nothing was on it. Even in a case like that, I try to double the serving in my diary so I don't underestimate.

    Some days I have slim fast and half a bowl of soup and that's it. Not because I'm tracking wrong, but because that's what I'm putting in my mouth.
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
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    I'd say it's the guessing when there isn't nutrition information. So when you make dinner how do you calculate the calories? Do you use the recipe builder? Do you weigh out your portion after you've cooked it?
  • matchbox_girl
    matchbox_girl Posts: 535 Member
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    zdyb23456 wrote: »
    I'd say it's the guessing when there isn't nutrition information. So when you make dinner how do you calculate the calories? Do you use the recipe builder? Do you weigh out your portion after you've cooked it?

    Recipe builder. I find the recipe I make online and caclculate it with the ingredients from there.
  • MDChesler
    MDChesler Posts: 48 Member
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    Food scale and weigh solids in grams, not ounces. You must be hyper accurate with logging. Also use a chest strap heart rate monitor for your workouts, NOT a wrist strap one. it yields a more accurate result of calorie burns than anything else. Drink plenty of water. The average woman should consume roughly 2.2l of water per day. Food has water in it also. The average man requires about 3l per day. Also don't get discouraged! You got this!
  • NEOHgirl
    NEOHgirl Posts: 237 Member
    edited February 2017
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    matchbox_girl wrote: »
    I'm still confused, I'm sorry. Everyone says I'm not tracking correctly but how else do I track the calories in, say, 20 saltine crackers? A serving is five, and there are a certain amount of calories in that serving. Therefore, I add four servings to my diary. I leave nothing out, ever. 15 pop tart binges and all....

    What they are suggesting to make sure it's accurate is to weigh those 20 crackers in grams, and compare it to the grams listing for a serving size on the box. There could be a discrepancy between the listed grams in 5 crackers and the ACTUAL # of grams in 5 crackers. In this case, x 4, so if it is off, the difference gets bigger witch each added serving.

    Also, have you been taking body measurements? Sometimes you can lose inches before you lose pounds, particularly if you are doing some strength-building exercised. If you haven't started taking body measurements yet, please do. If you DID take them at the start, have you remeasured yourself recently? As others have said, be honest with your tracking, and like you did with the poptarts, review them to see how different things affect you. Someone can work fast food into their diet, but good for you eliminating it for now until you get a better handle on where you need to be. Good luck!

    Edited only to correct a spelling error.
  • matchbox_girl
    matchbox_girl Posts: 535 Member
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    Thanks everyone! I'm going to invest in a scale. I had no idea what a pain in the butt tracking food really is.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    matchbox_girl wrote: »
    Thanks everyone! I'm going to invest in a scale. I had no idea what a pain in the butt tracking food really is.

    So many people feel overwhelmed at first, but my experience is that after the first couple of weeks to adjust it gets *way* easier. You got this and we're pulling for you!

    I was like "There's no way I can weigh everything" and here I am a couple of years later at goal weight, still throwing stuff on the scale. It only takes a couple of seconds from my day. And lots of people don't even continue to weigh once they hit goal -- it was just something I decided to do because I like being accurate. So don't get discouraged and think you'll necessarily have to do it forever. You can decide later on what works best for you.



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