Curvykinkycurls wrote: »

Hi all - just popped my head into the group to say hello. I'm conscious my tracking has stalled recently, life seems too busy to spend time entering what I'm eating but still will pop a diary entry in occasionally to ensure my macros and portion sizes are within limits. As I cook from scratch it can be time consuming (esp cooking 2 meals due to my family being meat eaters). Do you all log as you cook, directly onto the app, or do you write it down & log later? I know pre-logging is preferred by many, but I don't meal-prep and can't see this working for my lifestyle (unless I make & log big batches of soup, etc that last for days). The spur-of-the-moment kind of meals I make when I finish work are very much, let's see what's in the fridge and put something together!

My life is simple, because I only cook for myself, but I'm a spontaneous cook, too, often changing my mind about even the whole nature of what I'm cooking as I cook it, like starting a pasta topping, then switching the plan to tostadas before putting pasta in a pot.

I note as I cook, on junk mail envelopes or similar paper headed for recycling. Often my phone isn't even in the room.

I've been at this a long time. My intuition is good about where I am in calorie budget when I'm doing an all-at-home day (or even some repeat snacks/meals out). Most commonly I don't even bother to log before the end of the day. If I'm uncertain I might log the day up to that point before dinner, but more often after dinner to see what snack wiggle-room I may have left. (Remember, I'm in maintenance. "Before dinner" was more common while losing, after a small number of months start-up learning.)

Often, the junk mail scribble-logs become backgrounds for mixed media visual journaling.

Most of my scale use habits are like Mtaratoot's, though I think I may more often do the "put the plate/pot on the scale, tare, add ingredient, note, tare, add another ingredient . . . " kind of thing.

Perimenopause hormones are definitely making it harder to see results, but I'm convinced if I hadn't turned plant based 18mth ago, I'd have put on 30lb by now! Oestrogen hormone levels are no joke.

Can I give intrusive uninvited advice? Context: Menopause at 45 from chemo, then 7.5 years of anti-estrogen drugs after that, drugs that can amp up some menopause symptoms. Menopause for almost 23 years now, a third of my life.

Please try not to let menopause get in your head. There's a sense in which our expectations can create some of our reality. I'm not saying menopause doesn't have challenges. In my experience, it was . . . more helpful? . . . to see what came tangibly, and deal with it like any other issue or symptom in my life. Things happen, but cursing menopause as the cause can create more heat than light when it comes to dealing with it, at least that's what I found.

If HRT or phytoestrogens (herbs and such) help you, that's an option for sure. (I couldn't use HRT, since estrogen made my tumors grow, and some phytoestrogens were iffy.) Other than that, when hormone levels cause symptoms, the effective treatments/strategies are generally no different from what people do in other contexts for the same symptoms.

@AnnPT77 sorry to hear about your crash, but glad nothing too serious. It shakes you up nonetheless. Pretty viburnum, I'm also busy gardening now and (finally after months of heavy rain) have sown all my vegetable seeds for Spring. I'm focusing on more beans this year, seen as they're more expensive and less variety in the shops than the beds of potatoes I had last year. I can't wait to be picking fresh produce from my garden again for dinner. Do you have a flower garden or veg garden?

Thank you.

I'm never even sure whether I have a garden! These days, it's mostly ornamentals, but it's more of an untidy plant collection than a cohesive flower garden. (I love oddball ornamental plants!)

A few sample weirdos are in the spoiler if anyone shares that interest. Some maybe grow wild where you are, but not here.
I used to veggie garden, when my husband was alive and for a couple of years after, but stopped during cancer treatment (no energy!) and didn't resume. Just dealing with the general house and yard stuff is honestly more than I can handle now solo. We have some great local farmers markets, and I frequent them, so I get nice fresh veggies.

The only edibles I grow are some herbs. I have sage, thyme, lovage, oregano, and tarragon in the garden (amongst ornamentals), mint outdoors all year in an isolated trough because it's a spread-y thug, rosemary in a pot that moves in and outdoors seasonally.

Last year I added chives and garlic chives also outside all year in planters. I usually plant pots of basil, dill, and cilantro/coriander to grow as annuals, and sometimes nasturtiums for salad.

Best wishes!

Yes I also eat more dairy and while I eat less sweets my weight doesn’t come down.
I am thinking about going back a little on the cheese…

I have also started intermittent fasting again and that feels great. It has been 2 weeks now and that also didn’t impacted the scale. Disappointing. But so long as I don’t gain.

In regards to the scale. I would see what it says. You can decide what youare going to think about it.
If you are above x, you will think y (something compassionate if possible !)
If you are between x and y, you will think z.
If you are under x, you will think y.

Thoughts management beforehand does help a lot.

Welcome @hanabanana2

Sorry I've been so MIA. I've been having a harder than usual time with sleep and sticking to my calories. When sleep is poor, everything else becomes hard (I have not had many variations or experimentation in cooking either, defaulting to my go-to dishes of khichdi, sheet pans, rice/veg/tofu...

As a list person, I don't know why I've never got in the habit of jotting down my meal prep! I think I've always tried to avoid double work (entering into the app as I go) especially if bar coded items are involved, but I'll give the junk mail journaling a go @AnnPT77 👍 it might be more do-able when making the various family dishes. (Your flower pics are beautiful BTW, the Datura is so pretty!)

Weather has been great this week so I've transplanted my veg seedlings to the garden allotment. Also plenty of digging, strimming, mowing, weeding...my body feels broken now to be honest! 😂 I always over-do it at this time of year. But it's a workout of sorts, so I'm focusing on the gains!

Diet-wise, I'm working on getting more protein and reducing salty snacks at the moment. I'm not a huge snacker, but if there are crisps in the house I will reach for them, so I'm stopping buying them...thankfully my kids actually don't seem to mind so that's come as a pleasant surprise.

@SparkSpringtime69 hope the app kick-starts your loss again. It can be infuriating to be back to square one with weight loss, sure we can do it though 💪

@henridw2095 poor sleep makes everything so much harder. Do you have a winding down routine? I like Audiobooks as it drowns out my tinnitus and helps me relax. Guilty of late screen time though and that can be really detrimental to sleep quality.

@hanabanana2 welcome! Hope logging is going well so far? It's just getting back into the habit isn't it.

@maya440 good to read you are trying IF - what times are you aiming for? I didn't stick with it (missed eating dinner with my family) but I liked the concept and found it easier than I thought I would.

@chelseynikole9618 free pastries! That's a lot of willpower to muster up daily! 😂 Does your workplace leave them out all day long? Maybe have a mint if you feel tempted and the fresh breath may make you less inclined towards snacking?

Hey everyone, nice to read everyone’s updates.
Since my last check in I have started limiting myself to one pastry a work week (usually a chocolate croissant or a blueberry scone) and bringing my Greek yogurt sweetened with stevia topped with granola and fruit for breakfast or lunch. I eat an English muffin with avocado and a fried egg for lunch at work (it’s free!) a few days a week as well. And at home I’ve switched from chips to flavored seaweed snacks over the last month or so. I realized I don’t indulge nearly as much in sweet treats since I’ve found my love for stevia sweetened Greek yogurt with granola and fruit. On days I am off work, it’s not my breakfast, it is my mid day snack!

I’ve also gotten back on track with daily walks or using my stair stepper if I can’t get outside. I just want to be healthy and strong. I am going to continue to stop focusing so much on the scale. I’m doing monthly weigh ins now instead of weekly.

@Maya440 I am still eating cheese but I’m limiting my quantities significantly. The scale hasn’t gone down but it’s not going up either so that’s ok. I still intermittent fast 16:8 about 3-4 days a week and 14:10 the other days. I know 14:10 doesn’t do much but it helps me from late night snacking to still track it.

@Curvykinkycurls I have been avoiding chips and eating seasoned seaweed snacks! A yummy alternative and super low cal. I am also aiming to eat more protein and have been doing pretty great at that.

@henridw2095 its okay friend I was where you are a few weeks ago. You’ll get through this

@hanabanana2 glad you found this group! It’s helped me to have a community to check in with!

How is everyone doing? I feel like I've been scrambling to keep up with myself. My cooking has been very simple (morning oats, sheet pans, steamed vegetables and tofu with rice and riced cauliflower). I now love mixing my rice with riced cauliflower; it adds bulk (I love big portions) and tastes great.

I've been bummed out about what is happening to MFP since I used to use the newsfeed quite a lot. But it's also an opportunity to refocus on my nutrition. I started tracking with cronometer yesterday and will use MFP only for the remaining social aspects: this group, the UAC, and some friends I will connect with through PMs. I started an MFP companion account Instagram account under the same handle and am using it to post the little summaries I used to post on my newsfeed; they're mainly a chance for me to reflect on my day. Anyhow, I very much hope this group will stay alive.

@chelseynikole9618 I also started run/walking and am slowly building the habit. I have one pair of Hoka Mach6 and also a new pair of glycerin 21 from
Brooks that I have to cut insoles for. I have long feet (size 12 for running shoes), but they’re not particularly wide, so it’s not that easy for me to find shoes in the running store (men’s don’t fit). Fleet Feet can suggest brands for me (they have a machine to measure), but often don’t have much selection to try in my size.

@AnnPT77, this sounds like a lot of the good kind of busy! I had no idea that the rowing shoes were inside the boat. And lots of nice foods - I also like cold asparagus (I like almost all veg, the only exception being broccoli rabe, which is the only food to give me acid reflux).