If Every Day Were Like Today...

Sigsnana
Sigsnana Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Wondering if others are having the same experience...I am tracking very carefully and faithfully, very rarely exceeding daily goals for calories. Every night I see the projected weight for "If Every Day Were Like Today." Those numbers never seem to be changing, so I went back to September, and gathered the projections for October and put them on a calendar vs the actual weights I'm seeing on my scale. The whole month of October is projected to be in the mid 160's and yet my weight has not gone below 170.8.

Looking ahead at the weights projected for November, they are still all in the mid 160's. So what do I need to do to move the scale to the projected weights? Do I need to verify each food's nutrition one by one to make sure I'm not fooling myself? I use a digital food scale and measuring cups and spoons...

I'm having 1200 calories a day, I cut back from 1400 a few weeks ago to speed things up. I exercise three times a week (I know, it should be more.) The only things I can think of are verifying all calories/nutrition, cutting another 100-200 calories (not liking that) and exercising a few more days a week.

Do you have any other thoughts? I appreciate it so much.

Replies

  • Sigsnana
    Sigsnana Posts: 7 Member
    And, how can I build my curated and verified list? I don't like the way the lists form in MFP. Must I save individual items as "meals?" I don't combine meals the same way every time....I just want to do well with this, for health's sake.
  • Sigsnana
    Sigsnana Posts: 7 Member
    edited October 2019
    Thank you for your advice. I have lost weight in the past month, I have only exceeded my calories by two hundred twice in the past two months. I am 5'5, today weigh 170.4 and my goal is to get under 150. I am 60 years old. I never thought of weighing a teaspoon or tablespoon of something...I suppose the If Every Day feature is just to encourage us, and I know it isn't literal, but my weigh-ins have been consistent and I would much like to reach the projected weight. Just want to be sure I am not fooling myself somehow. I will implement your suggestions. Thank you again. (Oh, and I don't add calories burned from exercise to my daily calorie goal.)
  • Ironwoman1111
    Ironwoman1111 Posts: 3,913 Member
    I love that feature for now! Please don’t hate me!🙈 When I first saw it, I decided to add a reminder on my phone and guess what? I’ve come in under the predicted weight a couple of times now! I try to at least walk everyday, even 20-30mins on my lazy days. Plus, I try to always have left over calories. A couple of times I went way over my allowed calories, it was a super oink 🐷 fest over the top number but it was the weekend, it was pizza and I didn’t care! Anyway, sounds like you’re on your way to losing. If you increase your workouts please don’t decrease your calories, it’ll be too much and you’ll end up feeling super tired! Good luck 😉
  • Sigsnana
    Sigsnana Posts: 7 Member
    Ironwoman22, I couldn't hate you! That is awesome. Since I've been tracking the projected vs actual, I see I am losing a very sustainable 1/2 lb per week. I did catch a few glitches in my calorie counts (large avocado instead of medium) and regular laughing cow vs light. I suspect my metabolism is very slow because of years of dieting....if I'd known then what I know now...we can DO this!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Sigsnana wrote: »
    Wondering if others are having the same experience...I am tracking very carefully and faithfully, very rarely exceeding daily goals for calories. Every night I see the projected weight for "If Every Day Were Like Today." Those numbers never seem to be changing, so I went back to September, and gathered the projections for October and put them on a calendar vs the actual weights I'm seeing on my scale. The whole month of October is projected to be in the mid 160's and yet my weight has not gone below 170.8.

    Looking ahead at the weights projected for November, they are still all in the mid 160's. So what do I need to do to move the scale to the projected weights? Do I need to verify each food's nutrition one by one to make sure I'm not fooling myself? I use a digital food scale and measuring cups and spoons...

    I'm having 1200 calories a day, I cut back from 1400 a few weeks ago to speed things up. I exercise three times a week (I know, it should be more.) The only things I can think of are verifying all calories/nutrition, cutting another 100-200 calories (not liking that) and exercising a few more days a week.

    Do you have any other thoughts? I appreciate it so much.

    That is a vastly oversimplified formula which assumes 1) linear weight loss; and 2) that every single day is exactly like "today" and that's pretty much impossible. Even if you CI was exact with no errors and exactly like today, your CO isn't going to be and is going to be variable.

    I completely ignored that projection.
  • Sigsnana
    Sigsnana Posts: 7 Member
    Yes, best to be ignored, I agree. It seems a foolish taunt and could be used as an excuse to beat up onself. I'm glad to debunk it and embrace my steady losses. This program is absolutely fabulous, especially when it is up and running. Good luck to everyone on their quest!
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Reference weighing vs measuring cups, check out this thread:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,023 Member
    weigh everything by the gram on a food scale. I was shocked how much I was underestimating before buying my scale.
  • sunny145
    sunny145 Posts: 73 Member
    nighthawk584 wrote: »
    weigh everything by the gram on a food scale. I was shocked how much I was underestimating before buying my scale.

    Me, too

    My idea of a tablespoon of peanut butter and reality have nothing in common! I weight everything now.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    The projection is not to be taken seriously. It always makes me smile but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for those projections to come true. 🙄
  • Itmustbu
    Itmustbu Posts: 19 Member
    Weighing your food is great advice. You might be getting more calories than you think. With that said I think that 1200 calories might be too low for you,especially since you exercise,so I wouldn’t go lower.

    Sigsnana wrote: »
    And, how can I build my curated and verified list? I don't like the way the lists form in MFP. Must I save individual items as "meals?" I don't combine meals the same way every time....I just want to do well with this, for health's sake.

    Once you enter an individual food mfp should automatically show that food first as you type in an entry. Just make sure the nutritional information is correct before you select it. If not you can create a food. If you are on the app on a smart phone there’s a handy barcode icon in the upper right hand corner that allows you to scan a lot of foods

    I wouldn’t pay any attention to the projections for anything more than entertainment. If you just stick to it and be patient it will show on the scale in the long run

  • squirley13
    squirley13 Posts: 112 Member
    Sigsnana wrote: »
    Wondering if others are having the same experience...I am tracking very carefully and faithfully, very rarely exceeding daily goals for calories. Every night I see the projected weight for "If Every Day Were Like Today." Those numbers never seem to be changing, so I went back to September, and gathered the projections for October and put them on a calendar vs the actual weights I'm seeing on my scale. The whole month of October is projected to be in the mid 160's and yet my weight has not gone below 170.8.

    Looking ahead at the weights projected for November, they are still all in the mid 160's. So what do I need to do to move the scale to the projected weights? Do I need to verify each food's nutrition one by one to make sure I'm not fooling myself? I use a digital food scale and measuring cups and spoons...

    I'm having 1200 calories a day, I cut back from 1400 a few weeks ago to speed things up. I exercise three times a week (I know, it should be more.) The only things I can think of are verifying all calories/nutrition, cutting another 100-200 calories (not liking that) and exercising a few more days a week.

    Do you have any other thoughts? I appreciate it so much.

    I saw the title of this discussion and immediately felt the deep depression I had for years on here as I followed everything like I was highly trained to do and exercised more and more til I had no more time nor energy in a week to do so! I was between 1000-1500 and exercised for 20 hours a week and had my macros 60% Carbs 20% Protein 20% Fats (maybe varied 5% around each) for 6 years!!!! As I turned 45 I realized my weight only went up 60 lbs in that time not down and I developed Crohn’s, SIBO and Hashimotos being so healthy! The last half of 2018 I cried myself to sleep every night reading those words of in 5 weeks and that number was ELUSIVE!!! So I listened to all the successful, happy and healthy people and started Keto January 5, 2019 at 247.5 and I am now 161. I wish I lnew how to put a picture on here and I could show my graph timeline!!! I’m successful and happy by doing 5-10% Carbs 30% Protein and 60-65% Fats. Carbs make insulin rise and store as Fat. Fat burns fat and I’m always feeling fed and happy. I had to ignore my college educated brainwashed degree and all my national nutrition certifications that all truly made me fat and sad! The haters that argue my experience are fools and I only pity them because I made fun of Low carbs dieters for years also. Some people like myself are slower learners but at least I don’t cry myself to sleep anymore and gained my confidence back that my hardwork is paying off on the scale and dropped 8 sizes this year!

Categories