RayahEllen Member

Interesting articles. So really measurements and strength gains are going to be my best options for tracking progress?

Man. That's frustrating. What's the best way to get a reliable body fat % then?

Im visibly leaner and have little muscles popping. Have a much rounder booty. I've also made considerable gains in my lifting so I am getting stronger and I thought gaining muscle!

Go do it and call it a mental health day. As long as you stay on track 80% of the time, then one meal is not going to hurt you. Tonight I'm going to a locally owned pizza joint and coldstone creamery afterwards with my husband. Enjoy life. But come tomorrow, hit that routine again.

You're just arguing semantics now. Did you want the advice or are you just looking to argue? Cause it sure is looking like the latter.

To alter the grams and not have MFP do the calculations based off percentage, yes, you have to buy the premium version. The percentages are the basic version of the app and the premium version lets you alter the grams specifically.

Thanks everyone. I just needed re-assurance that I wasnt going crazy and that my hunger levels really could have spiked. I don't think it has to do with my cycle because I've been hungry since I upped my calories, which happened to coincide with the last few days of my period. NEAT is the concept that as I've eaten more, I…

No, My last cycle was the last week of February, so it should be about two weeks til my next one again. It started when I upped my calories to 1650. At first I realized that I was being a lot more grumpy towards my husband, and then I kinda just connected the dots that I was just hangry. lol

Even some of the USDA entered ones are wrong though. I go through and check things against the USDA online database and its amazing how many of those are wrong as well. I have gone through and corrected many so that they will be in "My Foods" from now on and I don't have to search through a billion different nutrition…

When I am planning out my macros for the day, I concentrate on hitting protein first, then fats, then filling in the rest with carbs. To hit my protein goals: I usually have eggs/egg white scrambles with sausage and cheese for breakfast. I eat protein pancakes for my post-workout (Kodiak Brand is amazing! Currently doing a…

French Fries. Chips and Salsa/Queso/Guacamole. Any kind of reese's.

I agree with Queenliz, and this just an observation, I don't know you and how you log your food, but you seem to be adding a lot of the "generic" food entries in place of building your own recipes and using USDA entries. I would try tightening up your logging by creating your own recipes with whole food USDA entries and…

You can go look at my diary to get a reference. I weigh everything and build my own recipes with weighed amounts. I only use USDA entries that I have personally checked for accuracy for all whole foods, and check nutrition labels against entries when I eat everything else. I also pre-log the day before so that I don't go…

Don't stress finding the "perfect" split. You will hear a billion different people tell you why which split is the best. I started out protein heavy because 1g/1lb was recommended to me but I found that I didn't have the carbs to enjoy eating the fruits and veggies that I liked because like 50% of my calorie intake was…

I use skinnytaste.com to find a lot of my recipes. I am not a picky eater, but my husband is, and that website does great at "hiding" veggies in dishes like casseroles and stuff. If you're willing to do things like that, you can find a lot of good recipes online.

Is that the same for fat then, do you know? .4 of current weight or goal weight? I eat at a 200 calorie deficit since I'm only about 5 to 10 pounds away from my goal weight. I wasn't having issues reaching my protein goals really, just found that I was only eating like one or two servings of veggies and was lucky if I…

So looking at .8 for my protein, .4 for my fats, and the rest carbs... That leaves my numbers at 112p/56f/160c. Does that look more balanced...?

Everything I have seen says 1 to 1.2 grams of protein per lb of body weight.

You are correct, now that I look, I was averaging more around 75 to 80 g of protein. Still not enough either way, I think. What does fat levels look like? I know you said there's not a recommended level, but if I hit protein and fat, and leave the rest for carbs, I'm left with the same issue of not enough carbs for all the…

I weigh 140 and am 5'2. I'm cutting right now. On workout days, my goals are 159p/119c/53f. On rest days, I'm at 137p/102c/46f. And kommodervan- I realize it's my macros, that's why I'm asking, is it okay for me to do this? Lol I also wasnt eating enough protein in general before to support muscle growth. I was eating…

I ask myself if I'm actually hungry or just "craving" something. If I'm not hungry, then I'll drink water or distract myself somehow. If I am hungry and craving something, it depends on if I can work it into my macros whether I eat some or not. Usually I work it into my macros/calories for the next day if I cannot get it…

@VintageFeline This ( and basically the whole article it was in: linked below) is what I was referring to when I was speaking of starvation mode in my earlier posts: "So, like many, I thought with my online tracking system thru MyFitnessPal.com, that I should listen to it's "recommendations" (and many docs say this too),…

Thanks for your help. I am trying to lose those last couple pounds before mid October for my honeymoon so I feel the pressure, but y'all may be right that I need to give my body a rest for a few weeks and then get back into it in September. Thanks!

@ummijaaz560 I lift weights 3x a week and do cardio x2 a week. I know that it's harder to estimate calories burned on weight lifting days since a HRM does not count it correctly. On cardio days, I use a HRM. Any advice for how many calories I should "eat back" on weight days?

That makes sense. I eat 1400 calories flat even on the days that I exercise. I do not eat back my exercise calories. You're saying that increasing my intake on the days I exercise may help weight loss in the end? That was what I was kinda getting at in my original post, that I wasn't fueling my body correctly and that was…

Actually, I did do my research for IIFYM on bb.com. While I did use the IIFYM TDEE formula initially, I decided to go elsewhere when I saw how high they put my TDEE at. I actually did research on TDEE formulas and how different sites/calculations/formulas work and what they actually mean. As a result, I compiled my own…

From what I have read, is it possible that my issue is I am not eating enough at 1400 so increasing to what the IIFYM system suggests would solve that, help me build muscle, and have a small calorie deficit? When I have spoken to nutritionists in the past when I was eating 1200 calories a day and in the gym for 2+ hours,…

To clarify though, my BMR may be 1350, but my TDEE is 2144 including my workouts. So 1930 would give me 200 calorie deficit a day and while this is a smaller calorie deficit than when I was eating 1400 calories, I'm also hoping to start toning as opposed to just weight loss.

Really I am interested in transitioning to the IIFYM, so while I truly appreciate the suggestions and help, I was hoping for advice on that lifestyle! :)

I realize that and I have been matching all my entries to the back of the packages or to the USDA guidelines for whole foods.