1200 is not enough!

jjpptt2 wrote: »

In fairness... none of us (at least, the vast majority of us) have nutrition credentials, but look at all the advice we give. Lack of credentials doesn't automatically mean bad advice.

For me, the bigger issue is the anxiety. If that's causing you to work harder and stay focused because you know a "public" weigh-in is coming, then maybe it's a good thing. If it's causing you un-needed stress, then maybe it isn't?

In the bigger picture... it sounds like you're doing really well. 1-1.5lbs per week is about perfect, and certainly not something to be discounted.

I hope most people would know to take the advice from a free open forum with a grain of salt. And none of us are being paid for it (unless I missed a memo). Trainers are expensive and if you're paying someone money under the assumption that this person knows what they're talking about better than the Average Joe then they had better. That's kinda why I'd like to know his reasoning behind the number.

Okay, thanks for opening your FOOD diary.

1. Lots of "one half apple" "1/3 cookie" (who eats one third of a chocolate chip cookie, and well done there ) "1 scoop of protein powder," etc. Start weighing stuff on a digital food scale. You're eating more than you think.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

2. Why are you (for instance) logging 600 calories for exercise, then not eating those calories?

3. Your food logging is not consistent. There are a few days logged, then a few not, etc. It needs consistency.

Chelle8070 wrote: »

It's a real bummer about the measuring cups vs weight. All in all I've probably been on MFP for 5+ years (not regularly but still) and have been thinking measuring cups are sufficient this whole time because "hey! i'm measuring"

Seriously - thank you all!

Actually, scale is quicker and easier, once you get the tricks down. A couple of key things:

If you're doing something like a salad or sandwich, put the plate on the scale and zero it. Sandwich example: Bread on plate, note weight, zero scale; mustard on bread, note weight, zero; meat on bread, note weight, zero; etc. You can do this with a pan when making a soup or somesuch, too. (I usually note amounts on a junk-mail envelope to record on MFP later when I have clean/dry hands.)

For anything in a jar, bottle or that comes in a chunk (cheese, say), put the jar or hunk on the scale and zero. Take your utensil and scoop or cut off your desired portion. Note the negative weight on the scale - it's how much you took out. This is so much quicker and easier than putting peanut butter in a tablespoon (especially when you take washing the spoon into account), and it's more accurate.

ETA: You can use the negative method when chopping things on a cutting board, too. Chop stuff into individual piles, put whole cutting board on scale, zero, push one item into cooking pot, note negative, etc. If your scale is too small to see the display with the cutting board on it, carefully balance the cutting board on a bowl atop the scale.

It can take a few days to figure all this stuff out, but I'd almost guarantee you'll find weighing less fussy and time-consuming than measuring.

Chelle8070 wrote: »

As far as the trainer goes - I was working with one guy who is great for conversation (about life, food, all of it)... then the manager of that location booked me a month and a half worth of sessions with him. He's not attentive, complains about all the stuff he has to do, and as I said, guilts if I don't lose 10lbs a month. I have today and Thursday with him and then I go back to the first guy. I'm done training with the manager.

It doesn't help that he severely let himself go and the owner is pushing him like a beast to get back in shape to better represent the company.... so he's training like 4x a week with the owner and doing ridiculous amounts of cardio, etc. I admire his drive and all but I just am not going to push quite as hard as he has been.

I actually worry about him and think all the extra pushing is playing into him being a crappy trainer for the time being.

Not that any of this is or should be my problem. I don't like the anxiety that my weigh in is causing. This is the first time I'm nervous vs excited to see the results and that isn't going to help anyone.

Oh, man: Dump him for sure. I started at about your height and weight (I was 5'5", 183), and (1) losing 2 pounds a week at that point is seriously a bad plan (health risk) especially if you're quite active at the same time; and (2) 1200 (net) was waaaay too low for me, at age 59-60 at the time (and I'm more lightly built than you are - I'm best off weighing in the 120s with my body configuration).

Your current weight loss rate is good to slightly aggressive. You're doing great. Pay attention to your energy level; if there's any sign of fatigue or weakness, for sure eat a little more.

a) you don't need to be doing 1200 if it is causing you grief and you sure as *kittens* don't need to be getting grief about "only" losing 5lbs.

b) if you aren't already, please get yourself a nice trending weight app (trendweight/weightgrapher/libra/happy scale depending on your platform) and start using it and even, if possible, populate it with previous data so you can visualize your progress when **kitten**holes such as your trainer open up their useless orifices.

c) Excessive macro splits are fine if they're your preference; but they seldom help anything else.

Once you're hitting 0.8g to 1.2g of protein per lb of goal bodyweight in the "normal" weight range (which is already 2x RDA and probably sufficient for most people in a deficit with marginal benefits by eating more), once you're getting in 0.35 to 0.45g of fats per lb of bodyweight, and once you're consuming your 26-27g of fiber as a female and 36-38g of fiber as a male, well, the rest you can apportion pretty much how you wish without too many problems or too many extra benefits. Usually carbs will help with energy and exercise and fats with satiation but these things are definitely individual in terms of their effects.

d) 1200 not accurately counted could easily equal 1500 accurately counted, and they both would still be a deficit. You don't need a huge deficit in order to lose weight. Many people, myself included, would advocate deficits that don't exceed 20% of your total daily energy expenditure when you're normal weight or barely overweight and that don't exceed 25% when you're very overweight or obese.

e) Over a period of 4 to 6 weeks... you counts what you think you've eaten. You counts what you think you've spent in terms of calories out. You compares to how your trending weight chart says your weight has changed. You think about making small changes to your goals if you're not happy enough with your progress.

f) throughout you seek to experiment and do things that you feel you can keep doing for a long long time to come... cause the long game is called maintenance.

g) dealing with **kitten**hole who is not happy with 5lbs a month is not a good long term investment.