LONG RANT... but please, i need advice.
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Some people can do without logging, others can't. Portions creep up. Food gets forgotten. You think you've moved enough to deserve a larger portion when you haven't. Many things happen when you stop logging. Go back to logging faithfully and you will see that everything will change over time. In the meantime, you can work on other ways to maintain if you wish to loosen your logging at some point during maintenance. You can try IF, if that doesn't work well for you, you can compile a list of meals with known calorie counts to cycle through and eat most of the time, you can set certain rules for yourself (like less snacking if you snack a lot), try things out and see which strategies naturally result in lower calories while logging so you still have something to lean on if you wish to wean yourself out of logging at some point. Basically, you need a maintenance plan, what that plan is depends on what works for you. Develop it while losing so you have it ready for maintenance.13
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VintageFeline wrote: »"Smothered in pesto". That right there is one of the reasons you need to log. Pesto is pretty much just oil. Delicious yes but a calorie bomb, you can't go to town with it.
Your exercise means diddly if you don't have your calories in check. If you do lose what you've regained you need a better exit strategy for maintenance because as yet, you haven't got the skills to maintain your losses.
Just checked pesto sauce and a half cup came in between 460 and 620 calories, depending on the source and recipe.
That's would be a huge portion of my daily diet and wouldn't leave me much room to eat anything else.7 -
BTW yes you should weigh it to get an accurate number ... here I just wanted to see a rough estimate.1
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Get a kitchen scale an weigh food for accurate recording. And do some weight training in addition to the cardio. But also consider investing in a scale that measures muscle mass, body fat, and estimated base metabolic rate. I was gaining weight on 1200 calories a day, and started losing when I upped my intake to 1800 after getting a BMR test that indicated I had a base rate or 2200 calories.10
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You've got all the fundamentals: you work out and you make your own food. It's just a matter of tweaking them which is way easier. I used to be "fit-fat"; I would work out several times a week, but probably only burn ~200-300 calories a session and count it as 500-600 plus way over-eat my portions. It was only through accurate logging that I really got my portions in check. "Effort" counts for little if it's not deliberate; in fact it's easier to give up on ever losing weight if you *think* you're doing everything right. BUT, it builds the foundation for you to move in the right direction.
If I may make an observation (in addition to the pesto one above): you say that you treat yourself a couple times a week for your sanity. What is a couple times a week? Is it 500 calories each time or is it 1000? It's helpful to track your treats so you know how much they're contributing to your intake: don't get rid of them, but maybe cut them in half, or have them half as often, or find alternative ways to destress.
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You are eating too much but consider this. Try intermittent fasting as a way to control your caloric intake. Fast tell lunch or even a little later like 1 or 2 pm. You will get to eat tell full not splitting your calories up between a lot of meals.
I've lost 57-lbs doing a 20:4 IF diet eating ad libitum in the evenings. I'm at my lowest weight right now but I did gain back 10-lbs twice while I was doing a maintenance routine of a 16:8 diet and eating ad libitum. I found that if I made my lunch low carb (which did help with calorie reduction) I could still eat ad libitum in the evenings and maintain weight. With my eating habits, I need to do a 20:4 to have a small enough calorie consumption to lose weight but I can maintain as I described.
If I was trying to lose or maintain, I would rather shorten my eating window and not count anything until it works out so that I'm accomplishing my goal. If a person gobbles down 4000 kcal in an hour, this won't work obviously but it does work for a lot of people.5 -
Op , every time I get off the wagon and gain weight it's because I stopped logging. At the time, I swear I am not eating enough to gain weight. I'm so convinced it's something wrong with the scale, or me, medically...lol
I blame everything except my eating habits. I am active, I work out.... how can I still gain weight?
I swear, the minute I start to log my food the pounds comes off. I'm not 100% accurate when I log, but I log everything. Even a bite of pizza.
Please, buy a scale and start doing this. You will be amazed!7 -
Get a kitchen scale an weigh food for accurate recording. And do some weight training in addition to the cardio. But also consider investing in a scale that measures muscle mass, body fat, and estimated base metabolic rate. I was gaining weight on 1200 calories a day, and started losing when I upped my intake to 1800 after getting a BMR test that indicated I had a base rate or 2200 calories.
Im so confused. How did you gain weight on 1200 calories ?? I will never get this. I thought you only gained weight by eating more than you burned...:(1 -
There are ways to control your calories without logging,, the stoplight system is one IF is another, the smaller plates, 1/4 protein 1/4 carbs and the rest veggies is another. But if you want to eat whatever you like whenever you want you need to weigh to control portion size and log to make sure you don't go over maintenance3
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Thank you all for the reality check. I have been logging my food since I made this post. Now, lets hope I see results!
I have carefully read all your comments and will be applying the tips you all gave me!40 -
VintageFeline wrote: »"Smothered in pesto". That right there is one of the reasons you need to log. Pesto is pretty much just oil. Delicious yes but a calorie bomb, you can't go to town with it.
Your exercise means diddly if you don't have your calories in check. If you do lose what you've regained you need a better exit strategy for maintenance because as yet, you haven't got the skills to maintain your losses.
Just checked pesto sauce and a half cup came in between 460 and 620 calories, depending on the source and recipe.
That's would be a huge portion of my daily diet and wouldn't leave me much room to eat anything else.
I can't even imagine using half a cup of pesto at a time. I use an ice-cube's worth (I make my own and freeze it), which comes out to *maybe* a quarter cup, if even that... Half a cup would be drowning it!1 -
NotGuiltylawyer wrote: »Thank you all for the reality check. I have been logging my food since I made this post. Now, lets hope I see results!
I have carefully read all your comments and will be applying the tips you all gave me!
Good on you! Looking forward to a positive update a few weeks down the road!2 -
collectingblues wrote: »VintageFeline wrote: »"Smothered in pesto". That right there is one of the reasons you need to log. Pesto is pretty much just oil. Delicious yes but a calorie bomb, you can't go to town with it.
Your exercise means diddly if you don't have your calories in check. If you do lose what you've regained you need a better exit strategy for maintenance because as yet, you haven't got the skills to maintain your losses.
Just checked pesto sauce and a half cup came in between 460 and 620 calories, depending on the source and recipe.
That's would be a huge portion of my daily diet and wouldn't leave me much room to eat anything else.
I can't even imagine using half a cup of pesto at a time. I use an ice-cube's worth (I make my own and freeze it), which comes out to *maybe* a quarter cup, if even that... Half a cup would be drowning it!
I have a recipe that calls for 3/4 cup for a package of pasta...plus veggies and meat...and cheesex4...
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collectingblues wrote: »VintageFeline wrote: »"Smothered in pesto". That right there is one of the reasons you need to log. Pesto is pretty much just oil. Delicious yes but a calorie bomb, you can't go to town with it.
Your exercise means diddly if you don't have your calories in check. If you do lose what you've regained you need a better exit strategy for maintenance because as yet, you haven't got the skills to maintain your losses.
Just checked pesto sauce and a half cup came in between 460 and 620 calories, depending on the source and recipe.
That's would be a huge portion of my daily diet and wouldn't leave me much room to eat anything else.
I can't even imagine using half a cup of pesto at a time. I use an ice-cube's worth (I make my own and freeze it), which comes out to *maybe* a quarter cup, if even that... Half a cup would be drowning it!
Yes, well, she did use the term "smothered in pesto". That suggests she's drowning it.
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karintalley wrote: »Op , every time I get off the wagon and gain weight it's because I stopped logging. At the time, I swear I am not eating enough to gain weight. I'm so convinced it's something wrong with the scale, or me, medically...lol
I blame everything except my eating habits. I am active, I work out.... how can I still gain weight?
I swear, the minute I start to log my food the pounds comes off. I'm not 100% accurate when I log, but I log everything. Even a bite of pizza.
Please, buy a scale and start doing this. You will be amazed!
You should definitely weigh every day IMO. The more data the better. If you go weekly, you may weigh on a water retention day. I know a lot of folks don't like weighing but I really don't understand that mentality. Nothing sneaks up on you if you weigh often.4 -
karintalley wrote: »Get a kitchen scale an weigh food for accurate recording. And do some weight training in addition to the cardio. But also consider investing in a scale that measures muscle mass, body fat, and estimated base metabolic rate. I was gaining weight on 1200 calories a day, and started losing when I upped my intake to 1800 after getting a BMR test that indicated I had a base rate or 2200 calories.
Im so confused. How did you gain weight on 1200 calories ?? I will never get this. I thought you only gained weight by eating more than you burned...:(
Some people will trash there metabolism by eating very little and then their BMR goes way low and then if they are not very active, they will have a very low TDEE.
e12 -
karintalley wrote: »Get a kitchen scale an weigh food for accurate recording. And do some weight training in addition to the cardio. But also consider investing in a scale that measures muscle mass, body fat, and estimated base metabolic rate. I was gaining weight on 1200 calories a day, and started losing when I upped my intake to 1800 after getting a BMR test that indicated I had a base rate or 2200 calories.
Im so confused. How did you gain weight on 1200 calories ?? I will never get this. I thought you only gained weight by eating more than you burned...:(
Some people will trash there metabolism by eating very little and then their BMR goes way low and then if they are not very active, they will have a very low TDEE.
e
Yeah, not to the point where one gains on 1200 calories. Please don't derail the thread.11 -
Sounds like the answers you need are in your own post: "I loosened up on my diet'" "Diet is not bad but not great'" "I treat myself a couple of times a week," "Large salad with lots of pesto and cheese."
Last time I loosened up on my diet, I gained 90#. You are exercising a great deal, but remember, you cannot out train a bad diet. So, perhaps go back to what you did to drop those 30#. Then if you need to (for your sanity), find a way to treat yourself that keeps you in that calorie deficit.3 -
karintalley wrote: »Op , every time I get off the wagon and gain weight it's because I stopped logging. At the time, I swear I am not eating enough to gain weight. I'm so convinced it's something wrong with the scale, or me, medically...lol
I blame everything except my eating habits. I am active, I work out.... how can I still gain weight?
I swear, the minute I start to log my food the pounds comes off. I'm not 100% accurate when I log, but I log everything. Even a bite of pizza.
Please, buy a scale and start doing this. You will be amazed!
You should definitely weigh every day IMO. The more data the better. If you go weekly, you may weigh on a water retention day. I know a lot of folks don't like weighing but I really don't understand that mentality. Nothing sneaks up on you if you weigh often.
and imo I don't think weighing everyday is a good idea if it is going to cause stress.
and if you log accurately and consistently using a food scale and correct entries weight doesn't sneak up on you.
I weigh myself maybe 1x a month if that...and I consistently maintain when I want or lose when I want.2 -
karintalley wrote: »Get a kitchen scale an weigh food for accurate recording. And do some weight training in addition to the cardio. But also consider investing in a scale that measures muscle mass, body fat, and estimated base metabolic rate. I was gaining weight on 1200 calories a day, and started losing when I upped my intake to 1800 after getting a BMR test that indicated I had a base rate or 2200 calories.
Im so confused. How did you gain weight on 1200 calories ?? I will never get this. I thought you only gained weight by eating more than you burned...:(
Some people will trash there metabolism by eating very little and then their BMR goes way low and then if they are not very active, they will have a very low TDEE.
e
THEIR metabolism isn't trashed unless it's an ongoing situation that has lasted a fairly long time...such as and ED.
and no gaining on 1200 isn't going to happen even with a child.4
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