futuremanda Member

Does your app have an update pending? There used to be a bug on... iOS? that was giving out calorie goals that were too low. I agree with resetting by rerunning on the desktop. If using it on phone or tablet or whatever changes it again, then for now, set it yourself manually so it sticks across platforms. (Though I also…

Do you skip your warm-up? Sometimes I get a lot of tension if I just bust into top walking speed.

You may be able to sneak a bit in by reading labels and selecting alternates for foods he already eats (provided he'll accept the alternate!). Bread, for example. Cookies, crackers, cereal. Dairy. Even his peanut butter -- I just opened the database and did a quick search (so, not sure if the entries I'm looking at are…

So would you be able to skip the before uni eating? For some people, waiting to break the fast you're essentially on when you're sleeping is really beneficial, and eating upon awakening just revs up hunger. If you're used to starting to eat around 10 am, then eat around 10 am, even if you're up at 7. Try it and see if it…

No. If you sync them, the data from the Fitbit will be compared to the estimation MFP makes, and an adjustment will be made. (I think it's called negative adjustments? Not sure.) MFP does this: BMR (calories burned existing, not moving) + Lifestyle (calories burned from general movements -- a given allotment based on an…

It's just perspective. We say that you eat exercise calories back because that's how MFP has to add them... after you tell it what you burned. Eating 1200, burning 300, and "eating it back" is the same as MFP saying "okay, eat 1500 and burn 300 a day to lose weight!" <-- which it totally would do, if it knew in advance…

This. Also, just guessing, because some people find this confusing: MFP gives you a calorie target, meaning it is a goal. You should eat it. (Plus exercise calories, which it will add to your goal/target!) This goal puts you at a deficit. Meaning your body actually spends more than 1200 calories in energy in a day. If you…

Eat more calorie dense foods to fuel yourself without feeling like you're eating MORE food (as in, greater volume). For example, peanut butter, a serving of nuts, olive oil for cooking, full fat dairy instead of fat free, etc. (Remember that you need plenty of fat and protein to be healthy, so don't limit it.) One tbls of…

2 lbs a week means you need to create a daily deficit of 1000 cals. Everyone's body burns calories just existing, and that varies. Age, sex, height, current weight all play a role. Then we burn calories living. Showering, making breakfast, etc. And then through exercise. Going to the gym, running, etc. All of those…

Log under cardio, and choose circuit training or calisthenics. Actually, there is a "calisthenics, home, light/moderate effort" that seems to give a more conservative burn estimate. (At least for me, when I just tested the three options.) Going with the most conservative estimate is a good place to start. And I usually use…

Why 1200? You're only trying to lose 26 lbs, so a good rate of loss would be 0.5 lb per week and an aggressive rate would be 1 lb per week. Leaner people are at risk of losing extra muscle mass if they try to create a whopping deficit to lose more quickly. Does MFP give you 1200 calories if you tell it 0.5 lb, or does it…

Agree. Start by setting up MFP correctly, with a modest goal. (People closer to goal weight, say, 50 lbs or less, should be choosing 0.5 lb or maybe 1 lb.) Choose a setting for lifestyle to reflect your movement outside of exercise. Log your workouts. Eat what MFP says to, including say, 50% of your exercise calories (it…

There's no recommended intake, so it just puts 0. Think of it as a minimum. Sat Fat has a recommended maximum, so think of that as a maximum. IMO, it's really tough to get enough fat overall (really important) while keeping sat fat under the minimum, so I do not worry about it. I do not know what your personal health…

Are you willing to make your diary public? It is tough to help if we can't see it. If you suspect you're not really adhering to your calories, then probably you're not really adhering to your calories. Log everything, every day, even days you go over your limit. Pick the smartest database entries, or create your own,…

If the exercise is new, or newly intense, you may retain water as your muscles adapt. I put on 4 lbs when I started pilates, which came off overnight maybe a week later. If you're not used to weighing yourself, do note that fluctuations will happen and are normal. Your menstrual cycle, your digestion, what you've recently…

Agreeing with:* If you're an evening eater, save more calories for evening. * Get adequate protein AND fat for satiety. * Choose snacks with your head, not your appetite. Plan ahead, and/or come up with snack-choosing guidelines for yourself to follow when you're feeling like you could eat the kitchen and need to venture…

I agree that it would be helpful if you tightened your logging. Missing days, missing meals, missing info (quick add). There's really no way for you to know what you've truly been eating, and if you're not losing, that means there's no deficit. Log it all, always, consistently, as correctly as you can, and give that…

I think people are focusing on your logging because if you fiddle with your settings, but still end up with a similar calorie goal, it isn't going to change anything for you if that calorie goal has not been working for you. And since your calorie goal is already at the bottom, you can't reduce it. So if you've not been…

0.5 lb a week is about 250 cals per day, or 1750 through the week. So if you ARE losing about 2.5 lbs a week, and would be happy with 0.5 lb less, you could eat 250 cals more every day, or load up some split from 1750 onto your rest days.

Jessica Smith on YouTube has some nice low impact workouts. You can also just go on YouTube and look for "low impact cardio" or "quiet cardio" and see what you get. Yoga and pilates would also be low impact, and would help with strength, flexibility, balance, and the like. For yoga, I like Yoga with Adriene (also on…

This. Then you log your exercise when you do it, and you'll get those calories added to that day's total. MFP intends you to eat back your exercise calories. However, HRMs, machines, MFP, etc often overestimate. I'd say start with either eating back a fixed percentage (50-75%) or assuming you burn between 7 and 10 cals per…

0.5 lb per week is a good rate of loss for someone with <30 lbs to lose. (0.5 lb to 1 lb, in that neighbourhood) I'd also say that 4 weeks is not quite long enough to evaluate how well your plan is working. Give it another 2 before you really decide that you need to step it up. And take measurements and photos if you…

Yes, it changes your target. If your target is 2000, and you burn 300, it will add 300 to your target. Making your target 2300. The tally -- how much you actually did eat -- is just ... how much you actually did eat, which will obviously differ. Try looking ahead in your diary, to days that haven't happened yet. The…

Are you logging exercise? MFP gives you your exercise calories back to eat. So if you can eat 2000, you get 2000. Burn off 400 one day, it'll give you 2400. 250 another day, you get 2250.

Net is "What I have Eaten" minus "What I burned off Exercising". So if you eat 1200, and sit around all day, you net 1200. If you eat 1200, go to the gym, and burn off 300, you net 900. Because you ate 1200, but burned 300 of that off, so really, you're left with 900 calories for the day to fuel every other thing your body…

I do some light yoga. I may do a bit of work on a specific pose, plus some poses that I usually do to work towards some of my flexibility goals, and a light video, something without too much strength building. Stretches and learning, poses for stress relief, leisurely walk, etc. I will even take easier modifications in the…

You can create your own entry for the brand of yoghurt you use. Use the label, and use grams when you create it. You can choose whether or not to let it be searchable in the database. (Make SURE there are no usable ones already in there that you've overlooked, and that you enter all the info, completely and correctly,…

Unless your cheat meal was like 7700 calories, and you ate to maintenance the rest of that day, and on the other weekend days too, you're just retaining some water. It can happen when you suddenly eat more sodium and/or carbs than you're used to, change up your exercise (such as intensifying it in reaction to your last…

Almost never knowing what's in your food is frustrating. I'm in a similar situation and it's tough. Only advice really is to do your best, and practice patience (so you don't drive yourself crazy!). In 4-6 weeks of logging, take the # of days logged and divide by lbs lost. That's the number of days it is taking you to lose…

If you're eating ~1600 and losing 1 lb per month, and would like to lose 2 lbs per month, that's another 3500 calories you need to cut over about 30 days. 3500/30 =116.7 or 117 per day You could easily add in some more walking, or cut your eating down to about 1500 or a bit under. That should do it, if your current numbers…