need some diet evaluations and constructive criticism

brandirobin · February 2012

hi everyone!
i'm new to the site, been on for a week now. i've been religiously tracking every bite that goes into my mouth! i started working out in january and have been successful so far. i'd like to keep on track though and was wondering if there was any one out there would could view my food diary and see what things i'm doing that are right and what things i need to fix up a bit!

CoderGal · February 2012

So I only looked at the wrong things

if I ate like you I wouldn't feel very good, and probably hungry. You seem to be eating a lot of meat and grain and cheese. And the only fruits I saw were in liquid form(containing lots of sugar). The biggest problem I see is fruit juice instead of real fruit, not enough veggies, way to much cheese, and maybe not grain and meat in practically every meal. Are you on a specific diet? Id recommend going by some sort of food guide. You r getting a lot of some nutrients and none of others.
Gluck!

iwisheyes · February 2012

So I only looked at the wrong things if I ate like you I wouldn't feel very good, and probably hungry. You seem to be eating a lot of meat and grain and cheese. And the only fruits I saw were in liquid form(containing lots of sugar). The biggest problem I see is fruit juice instead of real fruit, not enough veggies, way to much cheese, and maybe not grain and meat in practically every meal. Are you on a specific diet? Id recommend going by some sort of food guide. You r getting a lot of some nutrients and none of others.
Gluck!

^ this
And I would add, try drinking more water, as well.
But - kudos for being completely honest with yourself in tracking. The first time I started tracking food, I wasn't. Needless to say, that past effort at weight loss failed miserably.

nikkibyrdRN · February 2012

Great job tracking! It seems like you are taking in alot of protein. I would definitely say add in some whole grains and more fruits/veggies. And increase your water intake. Yesterday you burned 702 cals but only drank 5 glasses of water. You should be drinking at least 8 on rest days and more on exercise days!! Good luck!

gonzang · February 2012

You are on the right track now that you are here and getting support. That's great! I'll piggyback on what other ppl said. I would work on eating more whole foods and getting healthy proteins, carbs, and fats. Aim to eat less processed food that doesn't give your body signals that you are full the way whole foods do. I'm not totally against packaged stuff, but Ican tell when I have had too much of it now.

Good luck to you!

heybales · February 2012

I can tell you selected too aggressive of a weight loss goal while selecting sedentary activity level.

This caused your maintenance calories to be lowest they can be.
And then when MFP subtracted 1000, it really ended up under 1200, but that is the limit the set at.

And 10 to 1 odds, that 1200 calories is 300 at least below your estimated healthy BMR figure, meaning if you constantly eat at that level, it will slow down.

If you really love eating that low, you can at least do something to not lose that free 300 calories or more of calorie burn.

Search for 'spike day" or "cheat day" since you are starting out, and hopefully the BMR has not lowered yet.
That method may just save you.

Or, you could also select a weight loss goal that caused the net calorie goal to end up slightly above your BMR, and gain that extra 300 plus free burn.

Because usually what happens when you eat too low, you will stall. Depends on how far under, and how messed up your metabolism already is.

Search for "stall" or "plateau" for comments on that happening frequently. And notice all the comments from ones that had it happen too, and eating more saved them.

CoderGal · February 2012

^ this
And I would add, try drinking more water, as well.
But - kudos for being completely honest with yourself in tracking. The first time I started tracking food, I wasn't. Needless to say, that past effort at weight loss failed miserably.

Kudos indeed keep it up! Also Id like to say water is awesome. And if you take everyones advice and eat better portions of unprocessed food you'll be able to eat more calories, feel better, and still loose weight
Keep us updated and keep up the tracking!

brandirobin · February 2012

thanks so much everyone! good tips. i'm not following any particular diet, just watching what i eat right now. i don't know how to set up my BMR ? besides what it gave me for the 1200 cals. from reading other posts, i see i should be eating my exercise calories which i haven't been before. i've been trying to make an effort to cook more at home (we eat out way too often).

for starters, i'll go with more fruits and veggies and water and see where that takes me!

heybales · February 2012

thanks so much everyone! good tips. i'm not following any particular diet, just watching what i eat right now. i don't know how to set up my BMR ? besides what it gave me for the 1200 cals. from reading other posts, i see i should be eating my exercise calories which i haven't been before. i've been trying to make an effort to cook more at home (we eat out way too often).

Under Tools - BMR.

Then you can setup Goals - Custom - Net calorie goal for that number, and know you are not eating too low.

MFP doesn't care if your selected weight loss goal and activity level caused the math to end up below your BMR. You actually caused it to be 1200 by your choices. It actually ended up lower than that if you do the math, but they stop at 1200 to protect you to some degree.

and while correct on exercise calories, depends on how you get that estimate.
MFP is usually over, unless just walking. Only eat 70-80% of them.
HRM is more correct, could eat most of them then.

PrairieRoseNE · February 2012

The only suggestion I have is to add "Sodium" as a trackable column in your diary. You've got some high sodium foods in your diary and even if you do NOT have a heart condition or issues with fluid retention, a lower sodium diet helps to keep you from having execess water weight, which shows up on the scale!! Drinking lots of water helps flush out those excess fluids, but you'll do your heart a favor if you try to decrease the sodium intake

And if you have questions on how to reduce your intake - give me a shout

From someone who's "been there & done that"

((HUGS))
~~PR

CoderGal · February 2012

The only suggestion I have is to add "Sodium" as a trackable column in your diary. You've got some high sodium foods in your diary and even if you do NOT have a heart condition or issues with fluid retention, a lower sodium diet helps to keep you from having execess water weight, which shows up on the scale!! Drinking lots of water helps flush out those excess fluids, but you'll do your heart a favor if you try to decrease the sodium intake

And if you have questions on how to reduce your intake - give me a shout

From someone who's "been there & done that"

((HUGS))
~~PR

FYI to do this go to
My Home Tab > Settings (blue bar) > Dairy Settings

Under Nutrients Tracked I've added things I want to keep an eye on like Carbohydrates, protein, fat, salt, and sugar. Then the information for all those things will then show up in my dairy

I've recently removed salt and added fiber because I rarely go over 1000mg a day and wanted to keep my eye on fiber.

If you know more about nutrition you can change the ideal goals as well. From the posts I've seen a lot of people think MFP sets the salts to high and the protein to low. So you're going over by more then you think in many peoples eyes, but don't worry so much if you go over protein.

need some diet evaluations and constructive criticism

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