So Many Calories....

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2

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  • journeysover
    journeysover Posts: 31
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    You are very brave to post. I had a similar eye opener not only calories but my sugar was off the scale and could have led to diabetes. I am finding it a day by day challenge and am finding( mostly unsuccessfully) trying not to eat what I exercise off.
  • chipaddict
    chipaddict Posts: 53
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    Don't be embarrassed, it's the reason most of us are here! Good luck with your weight loss xx
  • marx4
    marx4 Posts: 236 Member
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    You are motivated and sincere to lose weight. Counting the calories is an eye opener, agreed. Most everyone loves to eat, it isn't easy, I get so discouraged. But YOU will do it, keep it up and think positive, you're on the right track!!
  • kaetmarie
    kaetmarie Posts: 668 Member
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    knowledge is a start! welcome and good luck on your journey!! start small, keep logging (no matter what!), and be patient. you CAN and WILL do this!
  • Hambone23
    Hambone23 Posts: 486 Member
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    I think a lot of us start MFP with that really big eye opener. I know I charted a few of my "regular" days before I started to see how many calories I was taking it, and seeing it all listed there and laid out in front of me, well, yeah, eye opener. But that's a fantastic first step--to realize how bad we have been eating. Now we can turn it around. :smile:
  • HonkyTonks
    HonkyTonks Posts: 1,193 Member
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    Welcome to MFP :) I am glad to see you are taking the first step on your journey, and you are getting the right idea about taking it slow and not trying to make a drastic change. You will soon start to identify what things you could do without, those big calorie adders that just aren't worth it. The great thing about calorie counting is you can still eat things you enjoy, you don't need to totally cut everything from your diet. You can just make smarter better choices. It's a lifestyle change.

    Good luck!
  • nnylee
    nnylee Posts: 814 Member
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    YOU CAN DO IT!!
  • Raina27
    Raina27 Posts: 133
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    I agree with everyone! When I first started it was a real eye opener for me seeing how many calories, or sodium and sugar is in everything that I eat! Now I take forever in the grocery store reading labels and finding healthier alternatives for foods that I enjoy!! Glad you were able to catch yourself before it got outta hand!! One thing that helped me is NOT eating out!!! I told my husband that I would rather buy more groceries and cook everyday than to eat out everyday and that has been working for me!! I also plan out my food and log my diary each night for the next day which also helps me to not just eat anything and log it later!!
  • 0EmmeNicole0
    0EmmeNicole0 Posts: 180 Member
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    You are very brave to post this! It is a shock how many calories are in a lot of the foods we eat. What's even more crazy are the foods we THINK are healthy so we eat those and really they are full of calories because of all the sugar , carbs, and fats. It's crazy really.
  • C00lCountry
    C00lCountry Posts: 282
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    As many have stated before me, many people (including myself) was kind of surprised at some of the foods we ate.
    I kind of figure like this,

    Before MFP

    Breakfast would say that is not so bad
    Lunch would say that is not so bad
    Dinner would say that is not so bad

    After
    End of day
    Holy crap what am I doing!

    Now I see my mistakes and sounds like so do you.
    You can do it.
  • muzmacol
    muzmacol Posts: 358 Member
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    Good on ya! Took guts that did!
  • BarbWhite09
    BarbWhite09 Posts: 1,128 Member
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    Good post. & good luck doll :)
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    Eating healthy is a learning curve.. Keep logging and start doing a little planning ahead. Read labels. Use the MFP database to look up foods before you put them in your menu plan. It's sometimes overwhelming at first, but pretty soon it will be second nature.. just stick with it. After some experience, you will have a good idea of what is healthy and what's not. Planning ahead is the key. I usually fill out most of my daily menu plan early in the morning. If there is something in particular I want to eat that day, like a small steak and some trimmings, I enter that in first and build other meals around it so everything fits in my calorie range.

    I thought about doing it that way, but doesnt that make you feel like you are "locked in" to have to eat the food you logged?
    Not at all. You can always delete it if you change your mind.
  • sissamae
    sissamae Posts: 232 Member
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    I used to be a fast food "junkie" and one day (on one of my "breaks" from eating healthy) I decided to enter what a day for me could look like if I ate out at every meal. I recorded about 3000 calories. I didn't usually eat out every meal of the day, but there were days that I did. And even when I ate at home, I was eating WAY too much! It was certainly an eye-opening experience!! It truly made me realize what I was doing to myself. Once I was back on track with logging my food, if I had a bad day (in other words a day I ate poorly) I just wouldn't log it. I actually think I felt that if I logged it then that made it real and if i didn't log it then I could deny how bad it was. SO GOOD FOR YOU FOR LOGGING IT!!!! Now, when I have a "bad" day, I log it. It keeps me accountable. Logging poor food choices is probably still the hardest thing for me to do (even harder than the 5 miles I ran last weekend), but I know if I don't log it, I will fall back into my old habits. Now that you see the problem, you can fix it. It is one day at a time and one choice at a time! Soon the good choices start to add up!
  • has001
    has001 Posts: 29 Member
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    Thank you for being so open and honest to yourself! That takes a lot of guts! I think for me my biggest struggle was portion size and moderation of bad things. I can say that honestly I look at life and what goes in my mouth a lot differently since starting MFP; and it has worked! Although I'm still working towards my goal, I have found that truly being honest with myself and what goes into my mouth and body will help me to realize through logging what I should/ Shouldn't have! Good luck in your journey!
  • cbl40
    cbl40 Posts: 281 Member
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    Think about how lucky you are to have found this tool! You will get there!!! You CAN do it!
  • wickedcricket
    wickedcricket Posts: 1,246 Member
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    Knowledge is Power. Use your power wisely & for good. I pretty much save the fast food for rare/special occasions. a) it's NOT nutritious and b) it's killing us. Think of it like poison- take it in small doses

    cheers!
  • docdick9120
    docdick9120 Posts: 34 Member
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    Most people who say "I don't eat hardly anything and still gain weight." have not done what you have just done. It's a great step forward in a long journey. Very few of us really know just how many calories we take in every day. I use the tracking of food as a learning tool. If I find that some food has more calories that I think it's worth, then I choose something else. You're on track, keep learning and losing!
  • beautifulone14
    beautifulone14 Posts: 27 Member
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    Welcome to your new journey!! This is a journey, you will stumble, you will fall, but you will get up!! I promise you, this app/website has done wonders for me!! It will take you a few weeks, but pretty soon, you will be addicted to logging your calories/exercise! And when you get to that first milestone you set for yourself, it will be AMAZING!
  • migoi357
    migoi357 Posts: 173 Member
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    For me, the pre-logging of food isn't about being 'locked in' as much as having figured out a path to where I'm going and staying on that path. I think of it just like when I'm hiking. There might be several ways to get to point B but picking a path rather than wandering aimlessly through the woods usually results in a better journey. I find that getting off that path usually ends up like it does when I'm hiking...I run into thorns.:glasses:

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