What did you eat today, and what did you learn from your food log?
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sugarfreesquirrel
Posts: 268 Member
Feel free to post screenshots or pics of your meals! and leave feedback for other users so they can make better decisions/spend less calories!
Breakfast- 2 wine biscuits
2 flour wraps with chicken thigh, burrito mix, tinned tomatoes and various veges
Lunch- 1 wine biscuit
Mug muffin- cinnamon, vanilla extract, oats, egg, banana, date
Afternoon tea- hot chocolate with jarrah and sugar
Popcorn with balsamic vinegar
Dinner- 2 pieces toast with marmite and butter
Cup of tea
2 apples
Small bit of mince with veges and olive oil
After dinner- Strawberry jelly
Toasted sandwich with marmite and tomato
Cup of tea
Total calories: 2782
What I learnt from today:
-Measure all foods to have more control over calories. There is a high number for chicken thigh because I didn't know how much it weighed.
-I had a lot of wine biscuits, I probably should have just had one with my evening pills
-Should have just had one flour wrap, and weighed it. Would have been more enjoyable if the fillings had been heated and if I had sprinkled some cheese on it, instead of having two wraps
-The mug muffin is high in calories and should just be a treat. It is only worth having if I put three or more dates in and tastes much better with salt.
-Should probably weigh my eggs
-Maybe consider watering down my teas/coffees
-Try stevia with hot chocolate instead of white sugar and experiment with less jarrah until you reach a minimum amount that you are happy with.
Not really sure how I could have made today better, have been so hungry! I should have done some exercise so I could have eaten more but it was raining and I didn't feel like doing anything inside. It looks like it will be sunny the rest of the week.
Breakfast- 2 wine biscuits
2 flour wraps with chicken thigh, burrito mix, tinned tomatoes and various veges
Lunch- 1 wine biscuit
Mug muffin- cinnamon, vanilla extract, oats, egg, banana, date
Afternoon tea- hot chocolate with jarrah and sugar
Popcorn with balsamic vinegar
Dinner- 2 pieces toast with marmite and butter
Cup of tea
2 apples
Small bit of mince with veges and olive oil
After dinner- Strawberry jelly
Toasted sandwich with marmite and tomato
Cup of tea
Total calories: 2782
What I learnt from today:
-Measure all foods to have more control over calories. There is a high number for chicken thigh because I didn't know how much it weighed.
-I had a lot of wine biscuits, I probably should have just had one with my evening pills
-Should have just had one flour wrap, and weighed it. Would have been more enjoyable if the fillings had been heated and if I had sprinkled some cheese on it, instead of having two wraps
-The mug muffin is high in calories and should just be a treat. It is only worth having if I put three or more dates in and tastes much better with salt.
-Should probably weigh my eggs
-Maybe consider watering down my teas/coffees
-Try stevia with hot chocolate instead of white sugar and experiment with less jarrah until you reach a minimum amount that you are happy with.
Not really sure how I could have made today better, have been so hungry! I should have done some exercise so I could have eaten more but it was raining and I didn't feel like doing anything inside. It looks like it will be sunny the rest of the week.
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Replies
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Honestly, I don't learn that much from my diary anymore (in year 8 of logging, 7+ of maintenance), but I learned a lot at first. I found my diary to be an excellent tool: I was reviewing it regularly, seeing where there were relatively high calories that didn't offer enough in the way of nutrition, satiation, general happinesss, and reducing/eliminating those to add things within calorie goal that give me more benefits per calorie. It was a process that took a while, but it helped me a lot.
What you report sounds like very little protein. People vary, but when I don't eat much protein, I'm much more likely to be unpleasantly hungry.
Also sounds like a lot of bread-ish stuff (wraps, wine biscuits, toast, sandwich). Was that white flour type stuff? Some people find refined flours not very filling, too; and that sounds like quite a lot of calories from bread-ish kinds of things. Some people find that those, and sugars/sweets spike their appetite, too.
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I spend a lot of calories on extra virgin olive oil. (120 cals pre tbsp) I should probably get a mister.
I like looking at weekly calories and see I spent most of my time on.
@sugarfreesquirrel - when I’ve been very hungry- I add low calorie voluminous foods to my recipes to make me feel more full. Lettuce, cauliflower rice, broccoli.1 -
What you report sounds like very little protein. People vary, but when I don't eat much protein, I'm much more likely to be unpleasantly hungry.
Hmm, I should probably look into that. I have some protein powder, yogurt and I enjoy those small tins of tuna.Also sounds like a lot of bread-ish stuff (wraps, wine biscuits, toast, sandwich). Was that white flour type stuff? Some people find refined flours not very filling, too; and that sounds like quite a lot of calories from bread-ish kinds of things. Some people find that those, and sugars/sweets spike their appetite, too.
Yeah, I didn't notice that. The biscuits are low calorie and low sugar so I probably have more of them than I should, but I am usually competing with the rest of the family for them. I have to have something with my pills, so that's what I'll pick if I just want something small and not as part of a meal. The bread is low calorie too, less than 200 calories for 2 slices. I didn't need 2 wraps, one would have been fine.
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I went to the Barbie movie with my dad then had a medium mixed meat salad. I think it was at least 1500 calories, yikes.I had hummus, yoghurt dressing and satay sauce. Next time I would have bbq sauce and a small salad instead. Or just eat somewhere else.
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And I’m having dinner and dessert at my friends house tomorrow and making this dessert. Not sure how to stay within my calorie deficit. Maybe I’d be better off buying a cheesecake I can portion out? The mousse is fricken delicious though!!! Usually reserved for birthdays.
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Yesterdays Food Diary
Breakfast-Jelly
Mug Muffin
Almonds
Lunch-Coffee
Savaloy (mini sausage)
Mouthful of McDonalds milkshake, 1 chicken nugget
Salad with mixed meat, hummus, yoghurt dressing and satay sauce
Dinner-sugar free chocolate
Random chicken stew my mum made with some mashed potato
Glass of milk
Tomato juice
Snack- popcorn with balsamic vinegar
Crackers
Total calories: A bit over 3000
My main regret for the day was not preparing a better lunch when I went out, I looked at a few different options and didn't really think about how the meat was prepared and the amount of dressings that went on it. I would have been better off getting a roast, a sandwich, sushi or a smaller portion. The tomato juice was low sugar and low calorie, I didn't need the savaloy but everyone else was eating them and I was jealous, and I didn't need the chocolate, but the Barbie movie put me in a bad mood.0 -
sugarfreesquirrel wrote: »And I’m having dinner and dessert at my friends house tomorrow and making this dessert. Not sure how to stay within my calorie deficit. Maybe I’d be better off buying a cheesecake I can portion out? The mousse is fricken delicious though!!! Usually reserved for birthdays.
I log tons of my own recipes.. it’s super helpful.
If you are making this dessert .. add in all the ingredients to make your own MFP recipe - that will give you the total calories. Then figure out what the portion size is and divide that by the whole recipe.
For instance- if I make a large dessert and the total ingredients = 1000 calories.. then I know half of that is 500 calories - 1/4th or the dessert will be 250 calories. Then just eat that portion to stay under your calorie goal.
Also - if I know I’m going to a special event.. I’ll have a small lunch and save calorie room.
💡 idea-
Maybe it might be helpful to log all your calories?
Have you tried a tdee calculator to see how many calories will make you lose weight?
https://tdeecalculator.net/
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SafariGalNYC wrote: »
If you are making this dessert .. add in all the ingredients to make your own MFP recipe - that will give you the total calories. Then figure out what the portion size is and divide that by the whole recipe.sugarfreesquirrel wrote: »And I’m having dinner and dessert at my friends house tomorrow and making this dessert. Not sure how to stay within my calorie deficit. Maybe I’d be better off buying a cheesecake I can portion out? The mousse is fricken delicious though!!! Usually reserved for birthdays.
Have you tried a tdee calculator to see how many calories will make you lose weight?
https://tdeecalculator.net/
I scanned the barcodes on all of the ingrediants and divided it by 5. It was about 600 calories per serve. I haven't used a tdee calculator but I've found the calorie amount MFP and fitbit has given me has always resulted in me losing weight.
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sugarfreesquirrel wrote: »SafariGalNYC wrote: »
If you are making this dessert .. add in all the ingredients to make your own MFP recipe - that will give you the total calories. Then figure out what the portion size is and divide that by the whole recipe.sugarfreesquirrel wrote: »And I’m having dinner and dessert at my friends house tomorrow and making this dessert. Not sure how to stay within my calorie deficit. Maybe I’d be better off buying a cheesecake I can portion out? The mousse is fricken delicious though!!! Usually reserved for birthdays.
Have you tried a tdee calculator to see how many calories will make you lose weight?
https://tdeecalculator.net/
I scanned the barcodes on all of the ingrediants and divided it by 5. It was about 600 calories per serve. I haven't used a tdee calculator but I've found the calorie amount MFP and fitbit has given me has always resulted in me losing weight.
Yes, I'm logging foods here on MFP so it makes sense for me to use MFP to get my calorie budget.1 -
What you report sounds like very little protein. People vary, but when I don't eat much protein, I'm much more likely to be unpleasantly hungry.sugarfreesquirrel wrote: »Hmm, I should probably look into that. I have some protein powder, yogurt and I enjoy those small tins of tuna.Also sounds like a lot of bread-ish stuff (wraps, wine biscuits, toast, sandwich). Was that white flour type stuff? Some people find refined flours not very filling, too; and that sounds like quite a lot of calories from bread-ish kinds of things. Some people find that those, and sugars/sweets spike their appetite, too.sugarfreesquirrel wrote: »Yeah, I didn't notice that. The biscuits are low calorie and low sugar so I probably have more of them than I should, but I am usually competing with the rest of the family for them. I have to have something with my pills, so that's what I'll pick if I just want something small and not as part of a meal. The bread is low calorie too, less than 200 calories for 2 slices. I didn't need 2 wraps, one would have been fine.
As usual, good insights from @AnnPT77
If I'm low on protein and/or eat a lot of refine flours I get very hungry.2 -
Breakfast:Tomato juice
Crackers with pills
Hot chocolate
Jelly
Stevia chocolate
Lunch-Popcorn with vinegar
Tea
Coffee
Snack- Protein shake
Almonds
Dinner/Dessert- Macaroni and Cheese with a green salad, red onions and carrot with balsamic vinegar
Chocolate mouse
1/4 of a donut
Hot milk/water
Banana & Date mug muffin
What I learnt from today:
-Tomato juice should be a treat because even if you pick a low calorie one, you will want to drink the whole bottle and then keep going
-It looks like I'm just picking up random foods and eating. I need to have more of a plan most of the time and sit down and plan some of my meals
-I need to start buying jelly with less sugar in it, we have one called Aeroplane that is really good, but the other one in the cupboard has something like 18g of sugar per serve and I've been eating 2-4 serves a day even though a serve is only like 80 calories
-Should probably add some greek yoghurt or a banana to my protein shake
-It's really good that I pretracked the chocolate mousse, it wasn't as damaging as I thought it would be. It has encouraged me to weigh and log another family favourite that I'm terrified of knowing the calories for (hint, the main ingrediant is peanut butter!!! the powdered stuff is too expensive)
-I wasn't expecting the donut, I should have said no, it didn't taste very good and it made me chew through another hundred calories or so
-I need to stop having mug muffins everyday, they are like 500 or 600 calories each and they aren't satisfying, just delicious!
-I enjoyed dinner at my friends, but I ate too much because I was hungry. Should have had more salad and less M&C.
-Little kids really, really love my chocolate mousse, everyone had seconds lol!0 -
Some good posts from a previous thread I started that was similar (forgot it was existed, or would have continued there!)sugarfreesquirrel wrote: »What changes will you make tomorrow?
Here are some things I've learnt since starting:
-Vegetables don't usually have many calories
-It is worth weighing just about everything
-You should track things even if you don't know how much they weigh or how many calories they have. They still count.
-If you like luke warm drinks like me, add half hot water, a quarter cold water and a quarter milk instead of half a cup of milk. For some reason the dietitian didn't like me drinking like a litre a day of milk.
-2 apples is probably too many, you will get full before you finish them
-Changing the amounts of one or two things can be enough to keep you in a deficit
-If you want a grilled cheese sandwich with lots of flavor, you can add low calorie cream cheese and a small amount of another cheese like mozzarella and not lose out.
-It is better to dish up a small amount of food and go back for more later, because you don't really know how much you will eat, especially if you have had corona and your appetite has changed and it means you know how many calories you have eaten instead of setting aside what you haven't eaten.
-You can use rice cakes, certain mushrooms and crispbreads instead of bread
-Healthy food can be really delicious
-If you like burgers, replace the bun with an iceberg lettuce leaf to save calories
-If you have pasta with tinned tomatoes and spinach, 150g of pasta will be too much
Thanks for reading! hope someone found that helpful
My plan is to review my food diary at the end of everyday and report back if I learnt anything.sugarfreesquirrel wrote: »I learnt it's better not to order food without knowing the nutritional information. Too much anxiety around guessing! At least if a friend prepares your food you can inquire about the ingredients.Good post!
Seven years plus into logging, I'm likely not making any meaningful changes tomorrow. 😉
But I do think diary review (and adjustment of eating patterns) is one of the very most powerful things about food logging. It helped me figure out what I personally found filling, improve my nutrition gradually by tweaking eating patterns in small happy ways, and more.
A few specifics (well, maybe some a little meta):
* There are some foods that are OK-ish to me from an enjoyment standpoint, but not worth the calorie cost for the satiation, nutrition and happiness they bring me. Those are easy to cut.
* I value well-rounded good nutrition, but it's fine to have treats (calorie dense, nutrition sparse) if overall nutrition is in decent shape within calorie goal. Treats don't cancel out broccoli or Greek yogurt.
* If I make it a point to eat lots of varied, colorful veggies and fruits, I don't have to pay much explicit attention to fiber or micronutrient goals. They just fall into place automagically, pretty much. (I eat really, really lots of veggies/fruits, though.)
* Restaurant meals aren't a problem, typically, if I plan ahead and order thoughtfully. (Many people don't realize how much restaurants will flex certain items on the menu - it never hurts to ask, politely. Even some fast food places allow customization.) That said, it's OK to splurge on the rare special occasion. Averages matter, not individual meals or foods.
* In July/August, I always wish that fresh sweet corn was less calorie dense. I could eat more. 😆
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Todays food log
Breakfast - Jelly
Almonds
Tea and milk
Lunch- popcorn and vinegar
Chai tea
English breakfast tea
Cracker
Afternoon tea- baked beans
Mug muffin but with raspberries
Dinner- toast w tomato and cheese
Rice cake w onion relish
Hot chocolate
3,548 calories minus 883 from yesterday. 13km walked.
I leant that I need to get a lower sugar jelly
I need to eat more proper food I am snacking a lot, eating mug muffins and popcorn everyday which is partly good because I need more fibre
The baked beans were good but would have been nice with a potato and cheese
The raspberries were a good choice
The rice cakes were a low calorie choice to transfer relish to my mouth, my hot chocolate did not taste good with stevia, I should either use real sugar or no sugar0 -
Hey everyone!
First off, props to everyone sharing their meals – it's inspiring and genuinely cool to see what everyone's eating. 🥘
Breakdown of my day:
Breakfast: Jumped in with 2 wine biscuits followed by 2 flour wraps packed with chicken thigh, burrito mix, tomatoes, and a bunch of veggies.
Lunch: Kept it light with a wine biscuit.
Snack: Whipped up a mug muffin with cinnamon, vanilla, oats, egg, banana, and a date. Also had a cup of hot chocolate with Jarrah and a sprinkle of sugar, and a bowl of popcorn spiced up with balsamic vinegar.
Dinner: Classic toast with marmite and butter, and a cup of tea on the side. Also had some mince mixed with veggies, cooked in olive oil, and 2 apples to finish off.
After Dinner: Couldn’t resist a strawberry jelly and toasted sandwich with marmite and tomato, with another comforting cup of tea.
Total damage: 2782 calories.
Takeaways from Today:
Always measure the foods for better calorie control. That chicken thigh estimation might have been a tad off since I didn't have its weight.
Those wine biscuits are a bit sneaky with their calorie count! I should probably cut back.
Thinking back, a single flour wrap would have sufficed – and some melted cheese would've been heavenly. Note to self: weigh and heat the fillings next time.
That mug muffin was delicious but a tad calorie-dense. Maybe it should be a once-in-a-while treat. And a pinch of salt does wonders!
Might experiment with watering down teas or replacing white sugar with stevia in my hot chocolate.
Honestly, felt super hungry all day. The rain was a bit of a downer; otherwise, I would have tried to burn off some of those extra calories. Forecast's looking sunny for the rest of the week, though. Hoping to balance out better!
Would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Let's keep motivating each other! 💪
Stay hungry (for progress!),
Ramzan.
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Today-
•Smoked salmon & almond wrap, egg
•Grilled calamari & octopus
•Jamaican curry shrimp & vegetables (bell pepper, Cauli, broccoli, haricot verts, ginger, shallots)
•Blueberries
Log insight-
I used coconut milk in the curry and decided to use half milk half broth to save calories. Also used riced cauliflower instead of rice to save additional cals. 👍🏻
💫1400 cals for the day.
100+ grams of protein.5 -
SafariGalNYC wrote: »Today-
•Smoked salmon & almond wrap, egg
•Grilled calamari & octopus
•Jamaican curry shrimp & vegetables (bell pepper, Cauli, broccoli, haricot verts, ginger, shallots)
•Blueberries
Log insight-
I used coconut milk in the curry and decided to use half milk half broth to save calories. Also used riced cauliflower instead of rice to save additional cals. 👍🏻
💫1400 cals for the day.
100+ grams of protein.
Sounds like a delicious day!1 -
Here's what I had today:
-Skipped breakfast bc I woke up at 11
Lunch: chicken and rice, pita bread with tabbouleh
Snack: mike and ikes (went to the movies)
Dinner: salmon, grilled vegetables, coconut rice
Dessert: got pressured into eating half a crumbl cookie (my diet's still kind of a secret rn)
Overall it was around 250 calories past my goal for the day.
Takeaways from today:
-Saturday is just like any other day, so don't slip back into the "but it's a weekend" excuse to allow yourself more calories.
-Eat slower so that people don't say anything if you finish eating before they do.
-Choose healthier options from restaurants and/or eat more of the healthy food that's available.
-If something isn't worth the cals, don't finish it.
-Cut back on buying concessions at the movie theater.
-Drink water earlier so you can make the water intake goal by the end of the day.1 -
Dinner tonight
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@sugarfreesquirrel How many grams of protein are you getting per day and what % of your daily calories is that?3
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kshama2001 wrote: »@sugarfreesquirrel How many grams of protein are you getting per day and what % of your daily calories is that?
Mine is set at 108g of protein per day and 20% of my daily calories. I don't think I've been hitting it though.0
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