Gaining weight on 1200 calorie diet
Replies
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[1] Like others have said, weigh your food and double check the entries...the scanned items are often something completely different, and weights per item/slice can vary a lot.
[2] 20 minutes of running for a female might not be many calories. If she's not tall and near goal weight (I didn't see either listed) and runs/jogs very slow, it could be as low as 100 calories of burn.
[3] 4 lbs could merely be water weight, especially for a female.1 -
womanisadevil wrote: »You have to weigh even the packages with calories. They're horribly inaccurate.
For example my bag of popcorn says 1 package 270 calories for 50 grams.
After weighing the bag contained 67 grams.
So 1 package was actually 362 calories.
Bread and other items premade and prepackaged this happens soon much with!
You eat 4 things and BAM over 400 calories more than what you think.
This is off topic, but I keep seeing your avatar and I love it!1 -
tinkerbellang83 wrote: »dudasd1973 wrote: »Did you recently start running? Are you doing any other training along with the running? It could be that you are gaining muscle which does weigh more than fat. 4lbs isn't that drastic and could very well just be toned muscle being added. Physically how do you look? Have you compared some before and after pics?
Not going to be gaining 4lbs muscle in 3 weeks eating in a deficit.
Sorry, still a newb here. Just throwing the proverbial spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks. Apologies. I'll go back to the newb corner now5 -
So I've been following the MyFitnessPal plan for 3 weeks now and I'm not seeing any progress. I am vegan and eat pretty healthy on a daily basis. I've only had about 2-3 slip ups where I went way over my calorie goal for the day. I also run 2-3 times a week for about 20 minutes. I track my runs on the app and eat more to compensate for them. But even after doing all of these things I've managed to not lose a single pound and instead gain 4 pounds. I don't understand where the problem is. This is quite frustrating and makes me just want to quit and eat whatever I want if I'm just gonna gain weight anyway.
On top of what everyone else is saying, 3 weeks with 3 slip ups way over calories, 1 bad mess up can easily wipe out a weekly defecit, Especially if your not weighing things your likely not in defecit, So sends you into gaining. Need a scale.
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So I've been following the [blog] MyFitnessPal plan for 3 weeks now and I'm not seeing any progress. I am vegan and eat pretty healthy on a daily basis. I've only had about 2-3 slip ups where I went way over my calorie goal for the day. I also run 2-3 times a week for about 20 minutes. I track my runs on the app and eat more to compensate for them. But even after doing all of these things I've managed to not lose a single pound and instead gain 4 pounds. I don't understand where the problem is. This is quite frustrating and makes me just want to quit and eat whatever I want if I'm just gonna gain weight anyway.
First, if you're running/exercising a lot more than before, you're probably hanging onto a bunch of water. And don't weigh after exercising. Wait until a rest day or first thing in the morning.
More likely is what I bolded. If you've been at this 2 to 3 weeks and have gone "WAY over calories" 2 to 3 times, there's a good chance you've wiped out your deficit in 1 binge every week. If not wiping it out entirely, surely negated a lot of it. Of course... I don't know what your weekly loss is set to, but that pattern would be the first thing to look at correcting.
You'd be better off going over just a little for a treat a few times per week than allowing a major binge to add up to 2 or 3,000 calories at once even just once weekly.
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womanisadevil wrote: »You have to weigh even the packages with calories. They're horribly inaccurate.
For example my bag of popcorn says 1 package 270 calories for 50 grams.
After weighing the bag contained 67 grams.
So 1 package was actually 362 calories.
Bread and other items premade and prepackaged this happens soon much with!
You eat 4 things and BAM over 400 calories more than what you think.
This is off topic, but I keep seeing your avatar and I love it!
Marilyn Manson is bae.
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dudasd1973 wrote: »tinkerbellang83 wrote: »dudasd1973 wrote: »Did you recently start running? Are you doing any other training along with the running? It could be that you are gaining muscle which does weigh more than fat. 4lbs isn't that drastic and could very well just be toned muscle being added. Physically how do you look? Have you compared some before and after pics?
Not going to be gaining 4lbs muscle in 3 weeks eating in a deficit.
Sorry, still a newb here. Just throwing the proverbial spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks. Apologies. I'll go back to the newb corner now
naw..stay out of the corner.
I actually saw me saying the same thing on a post somewhere a couple of years ago...I know better now...it's a hard way to learn (being wrong) but you get the right information at least.6 -
not sure why folks think scanning is a guarantee of accuracy.
You can scan the food and based on a serving it will log it for you but how do you know you are eating 1 serving.
You still need to measure it in some way.
Because common sense tells you to trust that it is pre-weighed along with being pre-packaged. It really shouldn't be unreasonable to expect the package to actually contain what it says it does. That's why people trust it. It is a shame that we can't trust the package - it should say exactly what is in the package....I know it doesn't but it should. Most people would assume that it's accurate.
but common sense also tells us that if the package says serving is 50 grams and the package is 340 grams then it needs portioned out...aka weigh out a serving.
And it often is exactly what it says on the package...but we aren't just talking about single servings.
For example...I scanned in my cheese sticks yesterday cause it was easy..but I still weighed out my serving as the box contained about 10 servings...my yogurt I have weighed it and now trust that the weight is within reason so I don't anymore.
This is what people don't get.
ETA: another thing I have scanned in items and it wasn't even close to waht I was eating...so yah user entered errors too
Sure THOSE things have to be weighed and weighing them is common sense. But when a package says one Elevation bar is 130 calories, or two slices of bread is 90 calories, or one frozen dinner is 300 calories, I think most people assume that's what they are. It never even occurred to me to weigh one of those types of items.1 -
LadyLilion wrote: »not sure why folks think scanning is a guarantee of accuracy.
You can scan the food and based on a serving it will log it for you but how do you know you are eating 1 serving.
You still need to measure it in some way.
Because common sense tells you to trust that it is pre-weighed along with being pre-packaged. It really shouldn't be unreasonable to expect the package to actually contain what it says it does. That's why people trust it. It is a shame that we can't trust the package - it should say exactly what is in the package....I know it doesn't but it should. Most people would assume that it's accurate.
but common sense also tells us that if the package says serving is 50 grams and the package is 340 grams then it needs portioned out...aka weigh out a serving.
And it often is exactly what it says on the package...but we aren't just talking about single servings.
For example...I scanned in my cheese sticks yesterday cause it was easy..but I still weighed out my serving as the box contained about 10 servings...my yogurt I have weighed it and now trust that the weight is within reason so I don't anymore.
This is what people don't get.
ETA: another thing I have scanned in items and it wasn't even close to waht I was eating...so yah user entered errors too
Sure THOSE things have to be weighed and weighing them is common sense. But when a package says one Elevation bar is 130 calories, or two slices of bread is 90 calories, or one frozen dinner is 300 calories, I think most people assume that's what they are. It never even occurred to me to weigh one of those types of items.
and that is what my original post said...
And the packages actually say about bread for example
2 slices (85 grams) = 90 calories as an example.
so common sense says oh 85 grams is there I wonder if 2 slices do weigh 85 grams...
I believe that the rest that are actually single serve are fairly accurate and if you scan in a single serve item and it's scans in the correct product and size you can be reasonable certain that it's fairly accurate...it's not off enough to derail weight loss...0 -
LadyLilion wrote: »not sure why folks think scanning is a guarantee of accuracy.
You can scan the food and based on a serving it will log it for you but how do you know you are eating 1 serving.
You still need to measure it in some way.
Because common sense tells you to trust that it is pre-weighed along with being pre-packaged. It really shouldn't be unreasonable to expect the package to actually contain what it says it does. That's why people trust it. It is a shame that we can't trust the package - it should say exactly what is in the package....I know it doesn't but it should. Most people would assume that it's accurate.
but common sense also tells us that if the package says serving is 50 grams and the package is 340 grams then it needs portioned out...aka weigh out a serving.
And it often is exactly what it says on the package...but we aren't just talking about single servings.
For example...I scanned in my cheese sticks yesterday cause it was easy..but I still weighed out my serving as the box contained about 10 servings...my yogurt I have weighed it and now trust that the weight is within reason so I don't anymore.
This is what people don't get.
ETA: another thing I have scanned in items and it wasn't even close to waht I was eating...so yah user entered errors too
Sure THOSE things have to be weighed and weighing them is common sense. But when a package says one Elevation bar is 130 calories, or two slices of bread is 90 calories, or one frozen dinner is 300 calories, I think most people assume that's what they are. It never even occurred to me to weigh one of those types of items.
and that is what my original post said...
And the packages actually say about bread for example
2 slices (85 grams) = 90 calories as an example.
so common sense says oh 85 grams is there I wonder if 2 slices do weigh 85 grams...
I believe that the rest that are actually single serve are fairly accurate and if you scan in a single serve item and it's scans in the correct product and size you can be reasonable certain that it's fairly accurate...it's not off enough to derail weight loss...
I have weighed protein bars and muesli/granola bars before, neither are what they say on the packet for an individual serve. One item may not be providing significant extra calories, but if someone was using the info for many items consistently it might add up to a decent amount. For someone with a small deficit, it could be enough to decrease it to close to nothing.1 -
LadyLilion wrote: »not sure why folks think scanning is a guarantee of accuracy.
You can scan the food and based on a serving it will log it for you but how do you know you are eating 1 serving.
You still need to measure it in some way.
Because common sense tells you to trust that it is pre-weighed along with being pre-packaged. It really shouldn't be unreasonable to expect the package to actually contain what it says it does. That's why people trust it. It is a shame that we can't trust the package - it should say exactly what is in the package....I know it doesn't but it should. Most people would assume that it's accurate.
but common sense also tells us that if the package says serving is 50 grams and the package is 340 grams then it needs portioned out...aka weigh out a serving.
And it often is exactly what it says on the package...but we aren't just talking about single servings.
For example...I scanned in my cheese sticks yesterday cause it was easy..but I still weighed out my serving as the box contained about 10 servings...my yogurt I have weighed it and now trust that the weight is within reason so I don't anymore.
This is what people don't get.
ETA: another thing I have scanned in items and it wasn't even close to waht I was eating...so yah user entered errors too
Sure THOSE things have to be weighed and weighing them is common sense. But when a package says one Elevation bar is 130 calories, or two slices of bread is 90 calories, or one frozen dinner is 300 calories, I think most people assume that's what they are. It never even occurred to me to weigh one of those types of items.
My bread says 100 calories per 50g slice... EVERY slice weighed 67-69g. Just saying. Seen this many times over5 -
What are you drinking? Those calories count you know.0
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When we buy challah, we don't get it pre-sliced. I have TRIED to cut a 1-oz (27-gram) piece that didn't crumble to nothingness halfway through. I can't get it smaller than about 45 grams.2
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estherdragonbat wrote: »When we buy challah, we don't get it pre-sliced. I have TRIED to cut a 1-oz (27-gram) piece that didn't crumble to nothingness halfway through. I can't get it smaller than about 45 grams.
I have conceded that I need to buy sliced bread, or have the bakery slice it for me.... I can't cut anything other than a doorstop myself!2 -
I have the exact same problem as you!! When I finish my diary at the end of the day I always get really excited by the number that shows up on the screen, but it actually looks like I gain weight instead of lose at 1200 calories. And I am always really generous with how much I ate XD like I always overestimate weight and size of the food.
I think exercise helps... Like eating 1200 but then going for a short run or something. But if you record that then MyFitnessPal adds more calories that you gotta eat so idk0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »LadyLilion wrote: »not sure why folks think scanning is a guarantee of accuracy.
You can scan the food and based on a serving it will log it for you but how do you know you are eating 1 serving.
You still need to measure it in some way.
Because common sense tells you to trust that it is pre-weighed along with being pre-packaged. It really shouldn't be unreasonable to expect the package to actually contain what it says it does. That's why people trust it. It is a shame that we can't trust the package - it should say exactly what is in the package....I know it doesn't but it should. Most people would assume that it's accurate.
but common sense also tells us that if the package says serving is 50 grams and the package is 340 grams then it needs portioned out...aka weigh out a serving.
And it often is exactly what it says on the package...but we aren't just talking about single servings.
For example...I scanned in my cheese sticks yesterday cause it was easy..but I still weighed out my serving as the box contained about 10 servings...my yogurt I have weighed it and now trust that the weight is within reason so I don't anymore.
This is what people don't get.
ETA: another thing I have scanned in items and it wasn't even close to waht I was eating...so yah user entered errors too
Sure THOSE things have to be weighed and weighing them is common sense. But when a package says one Elevation bar is 130 calories, or two slices of bread is 90 calories, or one frozen dinner is 300 calories, I think most people assume that's what they are. It never even occurred to me to weigh one of those types of items.
and that is what my original post said...
And the packages actually say about bread for example
2 slices (85 grams) = 90 calories as an example.
so common sense says oh 85 grams is there I wonder if 2 slices do weigh 85 grams...
I believe that the rest that are actually single serve are fairly accurate and if you scan in a single serve item and it's scans in the correct product and size you can be reasonable certain that it's fairly accurate...it's not off enough to derail weight loss...
I have weighed protein bars and muesli/granola bars before, neither are what they say on the packet for an individual serve. One item may not be providing significant extra calories, but if someone was using the info for many items consistently it might add up to a decent amount. For someone with a small deficit, it could be enough to decrease it to close to nothing.
that is a lot of IFs and mights...
but lets be honest here...I have personally checked yogurt, frozen entrees, bread etc. there is a small variance for single serve items...typically a gram or two maybe 5 and that goes above listed or below listed so they do even out eventually.
I am a proponent of weighing food but to take it to an extreme is a bit much...esp for a "regular" person here on MFP....until you get to the point where you aren't losing due to a small deficit...but then again if you are eating enough single serve food items that are packaged that alone indicates another issue all together.1 -
I have the exact same problem as you!! When I finish my diary at the end of the day I always get really excited by the number that shows up on the screen, but it actually looks like I gain weight instead of lose at 1200 calories. And I am always really generous with how much I ate XD like I always overestimate weight and size of the food.
I think exercise helps... Like eating 1200 but then going for a short run or something. But if you record that then MyFitnessPal adds more calories that you gotta eat so idk
It's extremely unlikely that you gain weight at 1200 calories.
More likely is that you are underestimating the calories you are taking in (as pointed out to OP repeatedly in this thread) or overestimating the calorie burn from exercise. Are you weighing all solid foods using a food scale?
What are your stats - height/weight/goal weight?3 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »LadyLilion wrote: »not sure why folks think scanning is a guarantee of accuracy.
You can scan the food and based on a serving it will log it for you but how do you know you are eating 1 serving.
You still need to measure it in some way.
Because common sense tells you to trust that it is pre-weighed along with being pre-packaged. It really shouldn't be unreasonable to expect the package to actually contain what it says it does. That's why people trust it. It is a shame that we can't trust the package - it should say exactly what is in the package....I know it doesn't but it should. Most people would assume that it's accurate.
but common sense also tells us that if the package says serving is 50 grams and the package is 340 grams then it needs portioned out...aka weigh out a serving.
And it often is exactly what it says on the package...but we aren't just talking about single servings.
For example...I scanned in my cheese sticks yesterday cause it was easy..but I still weighed out my serving as the box contained about 10 servings...my yogurt I have weighed it and now trust that the weight is within reason so I don't anymore.
This is what people don't get.
ETA: another thing I have scanned in items and it wasn't even close to waht I was eating...so yah user entered errors too
Sure THOSE things have to be weighed and weighing them is common sense. But when a package says one Elevation bar is 130 calories, or two slices of bread is 90 calories, or one frozen dinner is 300 calories, I think most people assume that's what they are. It never even occurred to me to weigh one of those types of items.
My bread says 100 calories per 50g slice... EVERY slice weighed 67-69g. Just saying. Seen this many times over
okay so your bread is appx 20 grams over what the package says...for me and the normal bread here in my province that is 20 calories a slice so for a sandwich that is an extra 50 calories which if eaten everyday would equate to 350 calories a week...
but lets say the meat you put on that sandwich is 98 calories less than the package...
bam...net less calories than you log.
but again bread is one of those things that is not single serve....it is based on the loaf being X grams and there being X slices in that loaf of bread.
ETA: I think bread is oen of those things that will be off consistently from the package as I don't think it accounts for the ends being smaller/weighing less. as I said above the nutrition is based on the loaf weight divided by the number of slices.0 -
I have the exact same problem as you!! When I finish my diary at the end of the day I always get really excited by the number that shows up on the screen, but it actually looks like I gain weight instead of lose at 1200 calories. And I am always really generous with how much I ate XD like I always overestimate weight and size of the food.
I think exercise helps... Like eating 1200 but then going for a short run or something. But if you record that then MyFitnessPal adds more calories that you gotta eat so idk
did you read any of the replies to this thread indicating that gaining on 1200 is highly unlikely and chances are you and the OP are under estimating what you are eating even though you think you are over estimating.3 -
WinoGelato wrote: »I have the exact same problem as you!! When I finish my diary at the end of the day I always get really excited by the number that shows up on the screen, but it actually looks like I gain weight instead of lose at 1200 calories. And I am always really generous with how much I ate XD like I always overestimate weight and size of the food.
I think exercise helps... Like eating 1200 but then going for a short run or something. But if you record that then MyFitnessPal adds more calories that you gotta eat so idk
It's extremely unlikely that you gain weight at 1200 calories.
More likely is that you are underestimating the calories you are taking in (as pointed out to OP repeatedly in this thread) or overestimating the calorie burn from exercise. Are you weighing all solid foods using a food scale?
What are your stats - height/weight/goal weight?
I don't really have a good scale, but I'm either overestimating the weight when I don't know, or just eating the exact amount that the nutritional info is given for (eg. 1 container, 1 unit, etc). I swear I'm not underestimating ;-;
I'm not that overweight or anything, so that might be why. I started at 145 lbs, I'm 5'7 and I wanted to lose 15 (because I gained 15 lbs since starting school and I was at a consistent 130 lbs before). It does seem like at 1200 I'm either staying the same or gaining
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And the packages actually say about bread for example
2 slices (85 grams) = 90 calories as an example.
so common sense says oh 85 grams is there I wonder if 2 slices do weigh 85 grams...
I believe that the rest that are actually single serve are fairly accurate and if you scan in a single serve item and it's scans in the correct product and size you can be reasonable certain that it's fairly accurate...it's not off enough to derail weight loss...JaydedMiss wrote: »My bread says 100 calories per 50g slice... EVERY slice weighed 67-69g. Just saying. Seen this many times over
I'm not disagreeing with you folks. I understand NOW that they may be off. I'm just saying MOST people (new to calorie counting especially) probably see "serving size 2 slices (85 grams)" and it's NOT common sense to double check. I think it's completely normal for most folks to ASSUME that a serving size = 2 slice and that 2 slices = 85grams. Until these forums, it never occurred to me to check. I assumed the manufacturers had the knowledge of how much a slice weighed.
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livingleanlivingclean wrote: »LadyLilion wrote: »not sure why folks think scanning is a guarantee of accuracy.
You can scan the food and based on a serving it will log it for you but how do you know you are eating 1 serving.
You still need to measure it in some way.
Because common sense tells you to trust that it is pre-weighed along with being pre-packaged. It really shouldn't be unreasonable to expect the package to actually contain what it says it does. That's why people trust it. It is a shame that we can't trust the package - it should say exactly what is in the package....I know it doesn't but it should. Most people would assume that it's accurate.
but common sense also tells us that if the package says serving is 50 grams and the package is 340 grams then it needs portioned out...aka weigh out a serving.
And it often is exactly what it says on the package...but we aren't just talking about single servings.
For example...I scanned in my cheese sticks yesterday cause it was easy..but I still weighed out my serving as the box contained about 10 servings...my yogurt I have weighed it and now trust that the weight is within reason so I don't anymore.
This is what people don't get.
ETA: another thing I have scanned in items and it wasn't even close to waht I was eating...so yah user entered errors too
Sure THOSE things have to be weighed and weighing them is common sense. But when a package says one Elevation bar is 130 calories, or two slices of bread is 90 calories, or one frozen dinner is 300 calories, I think most people assume that's what they are. It never even occurred to me to weigh one of those types of items.
and that is what my original post said...
And the packages actually say about bread for example
2 slices (85 grams) = 90 calories as an example.
so common sense says oh 85 grams is there I wonder if 2 slices do weigh 85 grams...
I believe that the rest that are actually single serve are fairly accurate and if you scan in a single serve item and it's scans in the correct product and size you can be reasonable certain that it's fairly accurate...it's not off enough to derail weight loss...
I have weighed protein bars and muesli/granola bars before, neither are what they say on the packet for an individual serve. One item may not be providing significant extra calories, but if someone was using the info for many items consistently it might add up to a decent amount. For someone with a small deficit, it could be enough to decrease it to close to nothing.
that is a lot of IFs and mights...
but lets be honest here...I have personally checked yogurt, frozen entrees, bread etc. there is a small variance for single serve items...typically a gram or two maybe 5 and that goes above listed or below listed so they do even out eventually.
I am a proponent of weighing food but to take it to an extreme is a bit much...esp for a "regular" person here on MFP....until you get to the point where you aren't losing due to a small deficit...but then again if you are eating enough single serve food items that are packaged that alone indicates another issue all together.
That's what I've been thinking, and am usually thinking everytime one of those "always weigh everything" posts comes along. Because sure, things have variance -- but that means in both directions.
I mean, I do weigh everything. But pre-sliced bread, rollls, and crackers? No.
Because the times I've spot checked, I find that one of three things happens: It's either exactly where it should be, it is marginally over, or it is marginally *under*. So I figure the second and third balance each other out over the consumption of a package, and damn, I'm not feeding the obsession to the point where I am honestly going to worry about a gram of bread.4 -
collectingblues wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »LadyLilion wrote: »not sure why folks think scanning is a guarantee of accuracy.
You can scan the food and based on a serving it will log it for you but how do you know you are eating 1 serving.
You still need to measure it in some way.
Because common sense tells you to trust that it is pre-weighed along with being pre-packaged. It really shouldn't be unreasonable to expect the package to actually contain what it says it does. That's why people trust it. It is a shame that we can't trust the package - it should say exactly what is in the package....I know it doesn't but it should. Most people would assume that it's accurate.
but common sense also tells us that if the package says serving is 50 grams and the package is 340 grams then it needs portioned out...aka weigh out a serving.
And it often is exactly what it says on the package...but we aren't just talking about single servings.
For example...I scanned in my cheese sticks yesterday cause it was easy..but I still weighed out my serving as the box contained about 10 servings...my yogurt I have weighed it and now trust that the weight is within reason so I don't anymore.
This is what people don't get.
ETA: another thing I have scanned in items and it wasn't even close to waht I was eating...so yah user entered errors too
Sure THOSE things have to be weighed and weighing them is common sense. But when a package says one Elevation bar is 130 calories, or two slices of bread is 90 calories, or one frozen dinner is 300 calories, I think most people assume that's what they are. It never even occurred to me to weigh one of those types of items.
and that is what my original post said...
And the packages actually say about bread for example
2 slices (85 grams) = 90 calories as an example.
so common sense says oh 85 grams is there I wonder if 2 slices do weigh 85 grams...
I believe that the rest that are actually single serve are fairly accurate and if you scan in a single serve item and it's scans in the correct product and size you can be reasonable certain that it's fairly accurate...it's not off enough to derail weight loss...
I have weighed protein bars and muesli/granola bars before, neither are what they say on the packet for an individual serve. One item may not be providing significant extra calories, but if someone was using the info for many items consistently it might add up to a decent amount. For someone with a small deficit, it could be enough to decrease it to close to nothing.
that is a lot of IFs and mights...
but lets be honest here...I have personally checked yogurt, frozen entrees, bread etc. there is a small variance for single serve items...typically a gram or two maybe 5 and that goes above listed or below listed so they do even out eventually.
I am a proponent of weighing food but to take it to an extreme is a bit much...esp for a "regular" person here on MFP....until you get to the point where you aren't losing due to a small deficit...but then again if you are eating enough single serve food items that are packaged that alone indicates another issue all together.
That's what I've been thinking, and am usually thinking everytime one of those "always weigh everything" posts comes along. Because sure, things have variance -- but that means in both directions.
I mean, I do weigh everything. But pre-sliced bread, rollls, and crackers? No.
Because the handful of times I've spot checked, I find that one of three things happens: It's either exactly where it should be, it is marginally over, or it is marginally *under*. So I figure the second and third balance each other out over the consumption of a package, and damn, I'm not feeding the obsession to the point where I am honestly going to worry about a gram of bread.
The law of large numbers will work...
As long as there's space in the deficit.
For folks who are working on those 5-10 "vanity pounds" to get from a 23 to a 22 BMI at .25 lb per week. A 50 calorie discrepancy daily will derail them.
For someone who's going from obese/morbidly obese to overweight/normal BMI at 1.5-2.0 pounds per week not such a big deal.3 -
stanmann571 wrote: »collectingblues wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »LadyLilion wrote: »not sure why folks think scanning is a guarantee of accuracy.
You can scan the food and based on a serving it will log it for you but how do you know you are eating 1 serving.
You still need to measure it in some way.
Because common sense tells you to trust that it is pre-weighed along with being pre-packaged. It really shouldn't be unreasonable to expect the package to actually contain what it says it does. That's why people trust it. It is a shame that we can't trust the package - it should say exactly what is in the package....I know it doesn't but it should. Most people would assume that it's accurate.
but common sense also tells us that if the package says serving is 50 grams and the package is 340 grams then it needs portioned out...aka weigh out a serving.
And it often is exactly what it says on the package...but we aren't just talking about single servings.
For example...I scanned in my cheese sticks yesterday cause it was easy..but I still weighed out my serving as the box contained about 10 servings...my yogurt I have weighed it and now trust that the weight is within reason so I don't anymore.
This is what people don't get.
ETA: another thing I have scanned in items and it wasn't even close to waht I was eating...so yah user entered errors too
Sure THOSE things have to be weighed and weighing them is common sense. But when a package says one Elevation bar is 130 calories, or two slices of bread is 90 calories, or one frozen dinner is 300 calories, I think most people assume that's what they are. It never even occurred to me to weigh one of those types of items.
and that is what my original post said...
And the packages actually say about bread for example
2 slices (85 grams) = 90 calories as an example.
so common sense says oh 85 grams is there I wonder if 2 slices do weigh 85 grams...
I believe that the rest that are actually single serve are fairly accurate and if you scan in a single serve item and it's scans in the correct product and size you can be reasonable certain that it's fairly accurate...it's not off enough to derail weight loss...
I have weighed protein bars and muesli/granola bars before, neither are what they say on the packet for an individual serve. One item may not be providing significant extra calories, but if someone was using the info for many items consistently it might add up to a decent amount. For someone with a small deficit, it could be enough to decrease it to close to nothing.
that is a lot of IFs and mights...
but lets be honest here...I have personally checked yogurt, frozen entrees, bread etc. there is a small variance for single serve items...typically a gram or two maybe 5 and that goes above listed or below listed so they do even out eventually.
I am a proponent of weighing food but to take it to an extreme is a bit much...esp for a "regular" person here on MFP....until you get to the point where you aren't losing due to a small deficit...but then again if you are eating enough single serve food items that are packaged that alone indicates another issue all together.
That's what I've been thinking, and am usually thinking everytime one of those "always weigh everything" posts comes along. Because sure, things have variance -- but that means in both directions.
I mean, I do weigh everything. But pre-sliced bread, rollls, and crackers? No.
Because the handful of times I've spot checked, I find that one of three things happens: It's either exactly where it should be, it is marginally over, or it is marginally *under*. So I figure the second and third balance each other out over the consumption of a package, and damn, I'm not feeding the obsession to the point where I am honestly going to worry about a gram of bread.
The law of large numbers will work...
As long as there's space in the deficit.
For folks who are working on those 5-10 "vanity pounds" to get from a 23 to a 22 BMI at .25 lb per week. A 50 calorie discrepancy daily will derail them.
For someone who's going from obese/morbidly obese to overweight/normal BMI at 1.5-2.0 pounds per week not such a big deal.
and this is when "old members" go to the logging accurately and consistently.
If by the time you are at the "vanity" weight stage and you haven't learned about weighing food for accurate logging even a food scale will only get you so far...and they at some point have to accept that a range is best.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »I have the exact same problem as you!! When I finish my diary at the end of the day I always get really excited by the number that shows up on the screen, but it actually looks like I gain weight instead of lose at 1200 calories. And I am always really generous with how much I ate XD like I always overestimate weight and size of the food.
I think exercise helps... Like eating 1200 but then going for a short run or something. But if you record that then MyFitnessPal adds more calories that you gotta eat so idk
It's extremely unlikely that you gain weight at 1200 calories.
More likely is that you are underestimating the calories you are taking in (as pointed out to OP repeatedly in this thread) or overestimating the calorie burn from exercise. Are you weighing all solid foods using a food scale?
What are your stats - height/weight/goal weight?
I don't really have a good scale, but I'm either overestimating the weight when I don't know, or just eating the exact amount that the nutritional info is given for (eg. 1 container, 1 unit, etc). I swear I'm not underestimating ;-;
I'm not that overweight or anything, so that might be why. I started at 145 lbs, I'm 5'7 and I wanted to lose 15 (because I gained 15 lbs since starting school and I was at a consistent 130 lbs before). It does seem like at 1200 I'm either staying the same or gaining
Did you see the many examples from people where the actual weight of something that came prepackaged was more than the package suggests, meaning the calories are higher (or in some cases lower) as well?
Unless you are an extreme outlier, it just simply isn't possible for you to be 5'7, 140ish pounds, not completely sedentary (ie bedridden) and maintain or gain weight at 1200 calories. If you aren't using a food scale and logging consistently, it's far more likely that you are consuming more than you think you are.0 -
This video illustrates why a food scale is a terrific tool to have in your weight loss plan.
https://youtu.be/XpHykP6e_Uk 1 -
not sure why folks think scanning is a guarantee of accuracy.
You can scan the food and based on a serving it will log it for you but how do you know you are eating 1 serving.
You still need to measure it in some way.
^^^^^^^This^^^^^^
I also scan, but then I check the results against the label, then weigh it. After weighing it, if the serving size is not grams, the label usually has a gram listed, such as 1/2 cup (113 g). So when the database spits back 1/2 cup and my grams is 130, I convert the serving size to 1.15 servings and enter it that way.
So you can scan, but if you want to be sure, you still have to weigh it.0 -
You said "pretty healthy on a daily basis", but do you use a food scale to measure your intake? Or count your calories? A food scale will give you a good estimate on the calories in what you're consuming.
You're definitely eating more than you think.0 -
Open up your diary if you want more constructive feedback there.
Pay close attention to your salt intake before weigh in, a high salt meal can drive up the scale for several days.0
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