newbie with menu planning ??s

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champeaux
champeaux Posts: 2
in Introduce Yourself
Several of my friends have amazing weight loss totals since New Years, and when asked how they did it, the comment is always "My Fitness Pal & Fitbit". I've had a Fitbit for months to monitor my sleep & walking totals, so I downloaded Fitness Pal for my phone and have been playing around with it.

A few questions:

1. I'd like to take a day to scan in all the foods I like to eat, but right now it looks like I'd end up tying all those foods to one day and blowing my calorie totals.

2. Can I create weekly menus ahead of time?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Replies

  • marychambers123
    marychambers123 Posts: 2
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    i'm still trying to loose weight at 60yr old......haven't figured out the secret yet....now this programe is telling me i need to consume all these extra calories..can't see it happenong but am willing to give it a try....nervious as hell.......any suggestions????
  • runnercheryl
    runnercheryl Posts: 1,314 Member
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    I'm not sure how the scanner works (I don't have a device), but online you can move your food diary to your day of choice and put in your foods. You don't have to add them ON the day. Usually I input mine a day ahead, and just adjust them on the day if things change.
  • amstringham
    amstringham Posts: 7
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    Im new to the menu planning to, and the calorie counter. I have found that without drinking Pepsi all day I am well below my recommended calorie intake. It is making me nervous, keeps saying I need to add more calories but I just keep thinking, isnt that what got me here in the first place?
  • AR73
    AR73 Posts: 107
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    Once you get used to a routine and find the foods that work for you it will become a lot easier.
  • sun33082
    sun33082 Posts: 416 Member
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    You don't need to scan in all the foods you eat at once. You just need to scan them in as you eat them. They are most likely already in the database. So it's not like you are adding to the database by scanning in all the foods.

    For those of you confused about the calories. When you signed up for MFP, you entered whether you wanted to maintain or lose weight and how much weight you want to lose per week. MFP then adjusted your calorie intake for that. So yes you do need to eat those calories. When you exercise it will add more calories, because again, you've already set MFP for how many pounds you want to lose per week, so if you burn more calories, you will need to eat more calories.

    As far as menu planning, you may want to just eat normally for a week and log it to get a visual of what your normal intake is. Then you can adjust by adding healthier foods and elminating non healthy foods. Small changes make a big difference.
  • lormel61
    lormel61 Posts: 7 Member
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    Was wondering the same thing....Also is there a place where you can save all the foods you eat so you don't have to keep looking them up? Under "all meals" I only have about 15 items
  • sjv1966
    sjv1966 Posts: 121 Member
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    Im new to the menu planning to, and the calorie counter. I have found that without drinking Pepsi all day I am well below my recommended calorie intake. It is making me nervous, keeps saying I need to add more calories but I just keep thinking, isnt that what got me here in the first place?

    I too sometimes feel like how could I possibly have been eating more during the years I was gaining weight than what I am eating now based on the MFP guidelines? But for me the weight gain was gradual -- about 10 lbs per year. To gain 10 lbs per year you only have to eat an extra 100 CALORIES PER DAY. 100 is nothing! Of course I am sure we all plan to loose weight faster than 10 lbs per year but my point is that small changes, done EVERY DAY, make a big difference over time.

    Also, when I think honestly about what I used to eat it really was more than I am eating now. Each meal was only a couple hundred more calories than a meal I have now but 200 calories at each meal is an extra 600 per day. That is the difference that will make a difference in the long term.

    In your specific case the Pepsi's really could have been the whole problem. Sugar soda is crazy high in calories especially if you are drinking it all day. That one relatively small change could be enough to do it.

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