csplatt Member

I check the label and if it’s not available switch to a calories per gram / ounce instead of slice and use a food scale.

Raw carrots and cucumber with hummus (weighed on a food scale). Watermelon.

How are you calculating the calories? What's your strategy for getting to the right number?

Try one tsp sugar and 3 Tbsp half and half.

My kids like thing separate (no casseroles / soups) and this works well with my calorie counting. So I’ll pick a protein, a starch, a veggie, some bread. My family will eat all of it but depending on the day, I may skip the bread. Or I’ll only have a half cup of the starch. Etc

That’s what you eat.

How long have you been trying? When I need to cut, the first two weeks are the hardest. Once I make it past two weeks, I’m good. But also, I still eat the foods I used to overeat. But I put them on a digital food scale and control my portion.

when you go to add food, click “recipe” and “add new recipe” to save your daily breakfast as one item

I’ve found that what worked a few years ago doesn’t always work now. We all likely have a different body composition than we previously did, so it would make sense if a different number led to success now vs then.

With your continued input, I would say perhaps you are over estimating calories burned through both daily activity and exercise. I am 5’6” and even around 145 lb, my maintenance was 1600 🤷🏻‍♀️ That’s just the way the math worked out in the end.

I agree with whoever just said whether success should be the number on the scale or visible / measurable fat loss (which you have achieved).

When I need to cut, I find that if I can make it to the two week mark, I am over the hump and can continue successfully.

I’m 42 and pulled down from about 155 to 133. At this end of the spectrum, expect it to be slow. Use a digital food scale for everything that you can. I even weigh my bananas, peanut butter, noodles before I cook them, cereal, etc I love being in control of my health in my 40s and heading toward 50. You’ll love it too! I…

How long do you seem to last before you fall off the wagon? I find that if I need to cut and I can make it 2 weeks with perfect logging, I'm over the hump and can be consistent.

Know what you are going to crave and decide ahead of time how much of it you will have. Log it as a snack for the day ahead of time and know how many grams you will eat when you want it. You can go ahead and pre weigh it, have it ready in a bowl or in a baggie. I eat a chocolate peanut butter cookie pretty much daily. But…

Biggest bang for your buck is in the kitchen. Are you using a digital food scale? I use one for everything - strawberries, cheese, cereal, etc

If you are already going to OTF 4x a week, why pressure yourself to add four more hours of exercise weekly? Provided you are eating within your calorie goals.

This would give you MOVEMENT which could be related to your activity level but I cannot imagine it would elevate your heart rate or be difficult enough to count as an exercise session? Curious what others say.

a pillsbury biscuit with a morning star meatless sausage patty

I would take this one step at a time. There are workouts that will strengthen and/or tone core muscles, but you cannot actually choose where your fat comes off of. First focus on being in a consistent calorie deficit. Get good at counting your calories on a food scale and sticking to the goal. Then start adding exercise.

yeah kinda ruined it

I would eat at maintenance for a day to alleviate that hunger then return to a deficit.

It depends on how you’ve set your activity level. If your walks already contribute to the activity level you set up, don’t double dip! I set mine to sedentary then log most movement like walks. If it wasn’t set to sedentary, I might not add walks.

The peace signed to me indicates that there is some fun in this post and that it is simply a place for us to have a good time whining unnecessarily. With that in mind… I give you… CHIPS BY THE BAGFUL. LAYS. CHEDDAR. And that sour cream and onion dip with wavy lays.

I have to keep counting calories in maintenance in order to stay my preferred size.

I hated the news feed. I’m here for the forums and the calorie tracking. I don’t really do “friends”

Are you counting your calories? We lose muscle mass with age unless we are lifting weights to help maintain. This means we burn fewer calories than ever during daily activities.

Pre plan your food for the day the night before and go ahead and get it logged into MFP. Then your ultimate goal is to eat it all — but spread it out so it lasts all day. Also, you have to be willing to put up with a little hunger. I had to realize that it’s very possible to wait to eat even when I start to feel hungry. I…

We are never a single weight consistency. Our weight operates in a range. It’s constantly fluctuating in ways unrelated to fat. So maybe for a while a persons weight will hit somewhere between, say, 170-175. But a few months later they may notice it has shifted to 165-170. It’s a downward TREND.

Only fruit and veggie!? My lunch today was a tilapia fillet with black beans and guacamole on a fajita tortilla. I do feel slightly hungry during the day, but after a few weeks I get used to it.