At Goal & Successfully Maintaining. So Why Am I Doing This All Over Again?
Replies
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Amazing how popular perception gets set in stone, isn’t it? It’s scary that even doctors parrot that number.
BL just doesn’t like to weigh or measure. 🤷🏻♀️
If that’s his jam, I’m OK with it. If we ever get to re-book our NZ trip that Covid cancelled, he’ll have to, though.
I think it was the initial shock of discovering he was too heavy for a helicopter sightseeing tour that initially got his attention. 😬
I looked at him this morning in his Tai chi gear and his gut is now gone and his belly almost flat. I popped him on it and told him “looking good!” and felt muscle on his abs.
One of these days the IKEA chip clip he still uses to hold his drawers up will fail him and I just hope somebody catches it on video, because it will definitely be on here as a GIF.15 -
springlering62 wrote: »Amazing how popular perception gets set in stone, isn’t it? It’s scary that even doctors parrot that number.
For me it was MFP letting me pick "lose 2lb/week" while I was already at the higher end of "healthy" via BMI. My self perception was that I'd let myself get so fat and I needed to fix it ASAP.7 -
@springlering62 I recently found this thread and just finished reading it in its entirety. Loved it! I wish I had found it earlier. So much good information here...presented clearly and with humor. I have it bookmarked for future reference. The mental vision of BL with the chip clip holding up his pants had me LOL!4
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Sharing this from another thread, because this question is important. User wanted to know why there’s so many inaccurate entries:
All MFP entries are crowdsourced. Some are honest entry errors, but I’m convinced others are sheerly wishful thinking. I’d hate to think that someone is deliberately skewing their numbers after going through the trouble of recording in the first place, but nothing surprises me in the endeavors of weight loss anymore.
Basically you have to use your common sense. If you see a Dunkin Doughnut listed at 45 calories, do you really think that’s accurate?
You’ll also find entries for recipes or meals where some users enter a gram as a serving and then they’ll use 200 (or whatever they weighed it out as) when entering it in their diary. That’s a personal preference for some users.
I usually enter a meal as 1 serving, and then calculate how many servings after I’ve fished it up and packed the leftovers. For example, cheese and chicken ravioli casserole tomorrow made 16 servings, so we’ll each get .125 of the meal I recorded when I baked it.
I just Google the item and look for a reasonable middle-of-the-range estimate and choose an item from the list, based on best guess.
Or Google “celery usda nutrition” and it will pull up the older (and MUCH easier to understand) USDA listing, then look for the equivalent or the food number in MFP.
Green checks are helpful but not always accurate. Often they’re based on products that have been reformulated since they got their green check. My cottage cheese is one such. I use the un-checked listing because it’s more accurate.
A lot of it is down to educated guessing. Is it perfect? Nope. But it’s way better than the unfettered eating I used to indulge in.8 -
springlering62 wrote: »Sharing this from another thread, because this question is important. User wanted to know why there’s so many inaccurate entries:
All MFP entries are crowdsourced. Some are honest entry errors, but I’m convinced others are sheerly wishful thinking. I’d hate to think that someone is deliberately skewing their numbers after going through the trouble of recording in the first place, but nothing surprises me in the endeavors of weight loss anymore.
Basically you have to use your common sense. If you see a Dunkin Doughnut listed at 45 calories, do you really think that’s accurate?
You’ll also find entries for recipes or meals where some users enter a gram as a serving and then they’ll use 200 (or whatever they weighed it out as) when entering it in their diary. That’s a personal preference for some users.
I usually enter a meal as 1 serving, and then calculate how many servings after I’ve fished it up and packed the leftovers. For example, cheese and chicken ravioli casserole tomorrow made 16 servings, so we’ll each get .125 of the meal I recorded when I baked it.
I just Google the item and look for a reasonable middle-of-the-range estimate and choose an item from the list, based on best guess.
Or Google “celery usda nutrition” and it will pull up the older (and MUCH easier to understand) USDA listing, then look for the equivalent or the food number in MFP.
Green checks are helpful but not always accurate. Often they’re based on products that have been reformulated since they got their green check. My cottage cheese is one such. I use the un-checked listing because it’s more accurate.
A lot of it is down to educated guessing. Is it perfect? Nope. But it’s way better than the unfettered eating I used to indulge in.
This is great info, but one minor clarification: The actual USDA entries from MFP start-up do not include the text USDA. Entries that say "USDA" are user entered, one would hope in accordance with actual USDA data, but . . . ?
The very best way to find the actual USDA entries is to go to USDA Food Central, find the food in the SR Legacy part of the database**, and search MFP using that exact food title.
After a while, one begins to be able to recognize and even predict what the names will look like: Often, names only a bureaucrat could love:
"Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat and skin, raw"
"Oranges, raw, Florida"
Often the default serving size is something unhelpful, like 0.5 piece for that chicken, or 1 cup sections for those oranges. But - here's a key clue that almost always identifies a true USDA entry - the drop down servings list includes a variety of different serving size types, i.e., not just different weight units, but options for various weights, fluid volumes, counts, sometimes inch sizes, etc. Almost always, there's a 1g or 100g option that's good. Usually, the entry is also green-checked.
A very very few of those old USDA entries have one quantity that gives wrong calories, but they're howlingly obviously wrong, like zero calorie oil or thousands-of-calories garlic cloves. The other serving sizes are usually fine.
Over time, I've learned to search for the plural with small fruits, the qualifier "raw" for most fruits/veg ("strawberries raw"), cooking methods for stuff like beans ("beans black boiled" gets me the "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" entry, for example). I don't eat meat, so don't have meat search tips, but I suspect parts or specific types ("breast" for chicken, for example; or type of steak cut; etc.). You'll figure it out, with experience.
Yes, this sounds crazy to beginners. After a bit, it's automatic search behavior. Once a food is in our recent/frequent list, it'll stay found, assuming we eat it somewhat regularly.
** https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/
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In case you’re wondering if MFP works……BL is preening because one of the directors at the gym asked him how old he was. He thought he was 56 or 57 and was startled when BL told him 67.
Weight loss does make you look younger!
Turkey necks notwithstanding, ladies, lol.11 -
springlering62 wrote: »In case you’re wondering if MFP works……BL is preening because one of the directors at the gym asked him how old he was. He thought he was 56 or 57 and was startled when BL told him 67.
Weight loss does make you look younger!
Turkey necks notwithstanding, ladies, lol.
When my turkey neck bothers me, I look in the mirror and gobble. Then I flip it off. Rather be a healthy, moves-easily turkey than a beautiful but immobile and sick swan!12 -
Watched BL toddle off for Tai Chi this morning. I usually go with him and lift weights while he does Tai Chi, but this would be leg day and I busted my knee yesterday after tripping over the stub of a former “No Parking” sign.
Sometimes, you’ve gotta realize that you can’t do it all and this is one of those days.
BL still won’t tell me his weight, however, looked quite svelte today- in spite of the chip clip once again peeking out from his now doubled-over waistband. (It is a fact of weight loss that as the weight decreases, your pants get longer. So the chip clip is now pulling double duty to hold the waist band IN while keeping the hems UP.)
I’ve had it. I’m going to TJMaxx while he’s at hos weekly luncheon and getting the man some britches. I have no desire to be the woman the other gym goers point at, giggle, and say,” Did you hear about her husband……”
This is the man that when I replaced a green leather sofa we’d had for thirty years with a sleek white fabric number didn’t notice for weeks.
I’m wondering if he’ll notice the substitution of pants. Or maybe he’ll think he put weight on when he goes to clip them, rotflmao!!!!🤣🤣🤣
BTW, disaster struck last week when the cap came off the little jar of zero cal salad dressing he religiously takes to his weekly luncheon. A serving of balsamic vinaigrette covers a lot of ground in a micro car. He chose salad with no dressing, rather than the default the Hilton serves. “Do you know how many calories that stuff is?”
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I went to TJ Maxx yesterday and bought every single pair of men’s L black athletic pants they had.
BL argued that he wouldn’t fit into anything I brought home. “I wear an XXL!”
He balked at trying them on til I did the wifely arms-crossed-silent-pointed-glare.
He fit into every single one of them, including the slim-fit L and chose two to keep.
He also fit into a pair of 34 shorts (he’s currently wearing 40’s he got after I complained his 42’s looked like baggy diapers). But he put those down like a hot potato. I don’t think he was ready for those.
What struck me as funny is, the man who has no qualms about holding his pants up with a potato chip bag clip is worried about an elastic waistband giving out. I told him with a straight face, “Don’t worry: elastic technology has improved so much since the last time you got new pants”, and he bought it.
And on an extra plus note, yesterday another family member using MFP texted:
MyFitnessPal has gotten me into a pair of pants I could even get closed 3 months ago
They are overjoyed. They’re a non-weigher, too.
It’s funny how there’s religious weighers (me, sometimes twice a day because it’s interesting!) and those who literally fly by the seat of (how) their pants (fit).22 -
springlering62 wrote: »It’s funny how there’s religious weighers (me, sometimes twice a day because it’s interesting!) and those who literally fly by the seat of (how) their pants (fit).
We just came back from a two-week road trip in an RV. Toward the end of the trip, my husband noticed that the bathroom scale was in the bathroom. "You packed the bathroom scale?! WHY?!" "Because I want to keep track of my weight." He just looked at me like I was a crazy. He's probably correct, but the presence of the scale made me feel better anyway (and I used it EVERY DAY).
BTW, I'm thoroughly enjoying the tales of your husband and his chip-clipped pants! Keep them coming!
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dralicephd wrote: »springlering62 wrote: »It’s funny how there’s religious weighers (me, sometimes twice a day because it’s interesting!) and those who literally fly by the seat of (how) their pants (fit).
We just came back from a two-week road trip in an RV. Toward the end of the trip, my husband noticed that the bathroom scale was in the bathroom. "You packed the bathroom scale?! WHY?!" "Because I want to keep track of my weight." He just looked at me like I was a crazy. He's probably correct, but the presence of the scale made me feel better anyway (and I used it EVERY DAY).
BTW, I'm thoroughly enjoying the tales of your husband and his chip-clipped pants! Keep them coming!
Ha. I travel with my bathroom scales as well, to weigh myself every day. A heavy cumbersome addition to my suitcase, but yeah. I even weighed myself when I spent the night on a ship (after looking hard to find an even non-carpeted spot in our room 😁 )
So far no air travel yet though, I might need to make an exception then.5 -
Hi, @springlering62!!! I just found this thread this week and binged it all. I giggled multiple times because my DH (dear hubby) is about 30 days into tracking and logging and is doing sooooo many things that mirror BL! We had quite the discussion over his tuna fish sandwiches yesterday. I’ve told him multiple times that his sourdough bread is a calorie bomb, but he’s finally realized it for himself. He had open faced sandwiches yesterday to reduce the cals.
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Last night’s conversation was about what macros are most satiating for him. He’s learned he needs a significant amount of fat in each meal too keep him full.
He’s been using my elliptical, too. He is soooo sedentary that it drives me nuts. I’m very glad he’s getting some cardio in. He’s always been pretty good about lifting weights 3-5 times per week, but he’d park his butt on the couch the rest of the time.
Also, men suck. He’s down 11 pounds in three weeks.
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@quiksylver296 lol at DH’s open-faced sandwiches. Mine’s done that a few times, too.
It’s really interesting watching them dip their toe into calorie counting, isn’t it? Sometimes you see the little gears ratchet forward. Sometimes they slip back, though.
Right now he’s really proud he found the Lewis Bakeries Keto Bread for 30 calories a slice. He’s saving ten calories a day as a result and he reminds me every time he makes a sandwich.
I went through that, too, so I get it. On the plus side, it’s very good bread. (BTW they make a low cal hamburger bun that is really, really good. As good or better than non-low cal buns.)
BL did a conference this weekend, so Thursday night, before he headed out early the next morning, we planned our meals for the next week.
He asked for Swiss Chicken Sunday night. It’s pounded chicken breast brushed with Dijon, rolled with a slice of Swiss cheese, dipped in butter, and dredged in bread crumbs and Parmesan. With green beans and a salad, it’s a very reasonable dinner.
He called Saturday evening, said “I am just over food. Too much food here. Plan something light tomorrow.”
So I grilled chicken to chop for a wrap or salad. He came home, pulled out his low cal bread, and said, “nope. I’m just having a pimento cheese sandwich.”
That’s all he had, besides our usual low cal homemade ice cream. (Chocolate-Peanut Butter, and a particularly good batch!)
He said he tried to behave at the conference, and eat only meat and salads, but “there was so much food available, it grossed me out. I was surprised I felt like that.”
All I could think was “you’d lose your mind at bunco”. But I kept that to myself. He’s already sure it’s a coven of iniquity.9 -
OH MY GOSH!!!
DH asked me about cauliflower rice yesterday!!! This is the man who has said for 25 years that "will not eat cooked vegetables" because he hates them ALL, allegedly. He stated he would like to try my Swedish meatballs on cauliflower rice because the sauce would hide the taste.
#1 - Cauliflower rice doesn't taste at all like cauliflower.
#2 - Swedish meatball sauce does coat the "rice" really well.
This is a MAJOR breakthrough. I hope he finds cauliflower rice palatable. I will have so many more options if he'll eat it. Currently I make regular rice for him and cauliflower rice for me.9 -
I swore I'd never eat cauliflower anything, but I've found I can eat the Outer Aisle "pizza" crust as long as I cook it until it's crispy. Haven't ventured into cauliflower rice yet, but I'm inching towards it...2
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pridesabtch wrote: »I swore I'd never eat cauliflower anything, but I've found I can eat the Outer Aisle "pizza" crust as long as I cook it until it's crispy. Haven't ventured into cauliflower rice yet, but I'm inching towards it...
Trust me, as an added source for this: Cauliflower rice doesn't taste like cauliflower. (That's why I don't care for it, personally: I like cauliflower.) It doesn't have much taste at all, IMO: Very neutral.3 -
pridesabtch wrote: »I swore I'd never eat cauliflower anything, but I've found I can eat the Outer Aisle "pizza" crust as long as I cook it until it's crispy. Haven't ventured into cauliflower rice yet, but I'm inching towards it...
Minute Rice with butter and salt used to be one of my weaknesses. I haven’t bought a box of minute rice since I started MFP, and thankfully no longer miss it.
I often mix cauliflower rice into rice dishes like stir fry, fried rice or red beans and rice. It adds a lot of bulk and is very filling and very neutral taste- much like rice.
We tried those much-touted Japanese shiburi or whatever noodles. They may be virtually zero calories, but yuck. We both disliked the smell and taste.
Some things are a no go, no matter how low.
I don’t bother to cook the cauliflowert. I just rice it in my little pull-string chopper. No joke, this thing is the greates thing since sliced bread:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010VDS8K4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
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Last night, we complimented a guy in aquafit class on his noticeable weight loss. He was thrilled, and went on to tell us about this great app called My Fitness Pal, lol.
It’s nice to see it working for others IRL.
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springlering62 wrote: »...
I don’t bother to cook the cauliflowert. I just rice it in my little pull-string chopper. No joke, this thing is the greates thing since sliced bread:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010VDS8K4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
you have such awesome suggestions, @springlering62
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springlering62 wrote: »Last night, we complimented a guy in aquafit class on his noticeable weight loss. He was thrilled, and went on to tell us about this great app called My Fitness Pal, lol.
It’s nice to see it working for others IRL.
That is fantastic. 😂2 -
So this month is BL’s one year anniversary month on MFP, and he had his second doctors visit this morning.
He was able to come off diabetes meds following his first visit, which was a major success right there.
He started at 1870 target calories per day, and his current target is 1910, not including exercise calories.
He had lost 40, but at his weigh-in at the doctor’s office this morning was only down 35.
He began with an average of 1874 steps per day and two Tai Chi classes per week.
He now walks at least 10,000 steps per day, does two Tai Chi, and five aquafit classes per week. He also does “Around the Church” (1.51 miles) walks with me and the High Anxiety Dog at least once a day, and takes the HAD for a spin around the block by himself a couple of times a day. He has also become very active in a couple of “Friends” of state parks groups, and does trail cleanup, painting, works on cabins, and is helping restore a blacksmith’s shop and move cannons and other reenactment and historical gear.
He got an Apple Watch about six months ago, and makes a concerted effort to close all his rings every day. He also dutifully gets up and moves when Siri tells him to. The Apple Watch has been very motivating.
He doesn’t pre-log his diary, but mentally calculates how much he’s got left.
Although he’s lost two pants sizes, he’s still 2.7 points into the obese range, and is frustrated he hasn’t lost weight in several months.
We had a long conversation this morning about him maybe having found his maintenance. Otherwise, is he weighing correctly (I try not to stand over his shoulder), is he recording everything, is he eating all or just part of his exercise calories (prevailing wisdom here is to not eat all in case there’s errors) ?
He feels like he is good on all points. So we discussed that the only thing left to try is to cut his calories a little bit.
He’s digging in his heels. He’s at a happy place with what he can eat, and his doctor told him he’s fine with him maintaining, but not to gain more.
He’s also waaaaaay more active and energized than he was this time last year, which is a win-win for both of us. He looks younger, obviously feels better, and has slimmed down, regardless of lengthy plateau.
I guess we’ll see what the results of his blood tests are, and see what he wants to do from there.
All in all, down 35 pounds in a year, off diabetes meds, feeling better, more active and more engaged.
But yeah, he had to give up Cheez-Its.
Fair trade.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️28 -
springlering62 wrote: »So this month is BL’s one year anniversary month on MFP, and he had his second doctors visit this morning.
He was able to come off diabetes meds following his first visit, which was a major success right there.
He started at 1870 target calories per day, and his current target is 1910, not including exercise calories.
He had lost 40, but at his weigh-in at the doctor’s office this morning was only down 35.
He began with an average of 1874 steps per day and two Tai Chi classes per week.
He now walks at least 10,000 steps per day, does two Tai Chi, and five aquafit classes per week. He also does “Around the Church” (1.51 miles) walks with me and the High Anxiety Dog at least once a day, and takes the HAD for a spin around the block by himself a couple of times a day. He has also become very active in a couple of “Friends” of state parks groups, and does trail cleanup, painting, works on cabins, and is helping restore a blacksmith’s shop and move cannons and other reenactment and historical gear.
He got an Apple Watch about six months ago, and makes a concerted effort to close all his rings every day. He also dutifully gets up and moves when Siri tells him to. The Apple Watch has been very motivating.
He doesn’t pre-log his diary, but mentally calculates how much he’s got left.
Although he’s lost two pants sizes, he’s still 2.7 points into the obese range, and is frustrated he hasn’t lost weight in several months.
We had a long conversation this morning about him maybe having found his maintenance. Otherwise, is he weighing correctly (I try not to stand over his shoulder), is he recording everything, is he eating all or just part of his exercise calories (prevailing wisdom here is to not eat all in case there’s errors) ?
He feels like he is good on all points. So we discussed that the only thing left to try is to cut his calories a little bit.
He’s digging in his heels. He’s at a happy place with what he can eat, and his doctor told him he’s fine with him maintaining, but not to gain more.
He’s also waaaaaay more active and energized than he was this time last year, which is a win-win for both of us. He looks younger, obviously feels better, and has slimmed down, regardless of lengthy plateau.
I guess we’ll see what the results of his blood tests are, and see what he wants to do from there.
All in all, down 35 pounds in a year, off diabetes meds, feeling better, more active and more engaged.
But yeah, he had to give up Cheez-Its.
Fair trade.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
What an achievement!! Congratulations to him!
I know you know this, but for his benefit (and others reading), he could perhaps do something like just cut 50 calories from his daily allotment. He will likely not notice, but it should result in a super-slow weight loss. I mean, what's the hurry right? If he wants out of the obese range, that might work.
Or, he could just be happy where he is. Chip clip belt and all.
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I feel BL pain with the Cheeze-its. I havent had any since the end of January as I could gobble the whole dang box in one sitting.
What an inspiration the two of you are. Thanks for blogging!5 -
Congratulations to BL (and to you for doing it again)! I've still to put my mind to 'good trade' on the Cheez-Its, I can happily mostly avoid, but I can't quite call it a good trade...YET.2
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quiksylver296 wrote: »Last night’s conversation was about what macros are most satiating for him. He’s learned he needs a significant amount of fat in each meal too keep him full.
He’s been using my elliptical, too. He is soooo sedentary that it drives me nuts. I’m very glad he’s getting some cardio in. He’s always been pretty good about lifting weights 3-5 times per week, but he’d park his butt on the couch the rest of the time.
Also, men suck. He’s down 11 pounds in three weeks.
Many, many years ago, after my first baby was born, I went to Weight Watchers to lose my baby weight. I lost 35 pounds. My husband, who wasn't even trying, lost 18. The only reason he lost was because I was cooking differently because he still ate his usual snacks and never exercised. Meanwhile I was recording every morsel and running. Its so not fair!
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springlering62 wrote: »So this month is BL’s one year anniversary month on MFP, and he had his second doctors visit this morning.
He was able to come off diabetes meds following his first visit, which was a major success right there.
He started at 1870 target calories per day, and his current target is 1910, not including exercise calories.
He had lost 40, but at his weigh-in at the doctor’s office this morning was only down 35.
He began with an average of 1874 steps per day and two Tai Chi classes per week.
He now walks at least 10,000 steps per day, does two Tai Chi, and five aquafit classes per week. He also does “Around the Church” (1.51 miles) walks with me and the High Anxiety Dog at least once a day, and takes the HAD for a spin around the block by himself a couple of times a day. He has also become very active in a couple of “Friends” of state parks groups, and does trail cleanup, painting, works on cabins, and is helping restore a blacksmith’s shop and move cannons and other reenactment and historical gear.
He got an Apple Watch about six months ago, and makes a concerted effort to close all his rings every day. He also dutifully gets up and moves when Siri tells him to. The Apple Watch has been very motivating.
He doesn’t pre-log his diary, but mentally calculates how much he’s got left.
Although he’s lost two pants sizes, he’s still 2.7 points into the obese range, and is frustrated he hasn’t lost weight in several months.
We had a long conversation this morning about him maybe having found his maintenance. Otherwise, is he weighing correctly (I try not to stand over his shoulder), is he recording everything, is he eating all or just part of his exercise calories (prevailing wisdom here is to not eat all in case there’s errors) ?
He feels like he is good on all points. So we discussed that the only thing left to try is to cut his calories a little bit.
He’s digging in his heels. He’s at a happy place with what he can eat, and his doctor told him he’s fine with him maintaining, but not to gain more.
He’s also waaaaaay more active and energized than he was this time last year, which is a win-win for both of us. He looks younger, obviously feels better, and has slimmed down, regardless of lengthy plateau.
I guess we’ll see what the results of his blood tests are, and see what he wants to do from there.
All in all, down 35 pounds in a year, off diabetes meds, feeling better, more active and more engaged.
But yeah, he had to give up Cheez-Its.
Fair trade.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
What a testimony!! Congratulations to him 🙂3 -
Way to go, BL!
My DH tried a bite of cauliflower rice last night. He had enough calories to have regular rice, but I gave him a bite of mine. His opinion - it's not awful, but it's not rice. #truth11 -
@springlering62 I have really enjoyed reading the updates about your BL! He’s had such an amazing journey. I have been super inspired by both of you - these posts kept me going when things were really dark.
Anyway, I’m leaving MFP and just wanted to say thanks for your honest posting. No doubt y’all are going to be awesome for years to come. Rooting for both of you! 🌼
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I can't believe it's been a year! Bravo to both of you. It's been fun watching the journey.
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