Swiftdogs Member

If you use similar ingredients regularly, save one as a meal. Then you can use the whole list again and just tweak quantities.

Gender: Female Age: 55 Height: 5'9"' Starting weight: ~163 Current Weight: 127 Goal weight: whatever looks good Activity level: set sedentary but more than that Weight loss goal: at maintenance since April Calorie Goal (Net): 1540 Average Calorie intake: 1540 Exercise: 10K per Fitbit, just starting to dabble with weights…

Your fat and protein targets are MINIMUMS. Go over any time you can and still be within calories. Done.

Thanks for the input! So far the hip hasn't complained about bodyweight squats. (Quads are another story, but they've been told to shut up. :wink: ) What it doesn't like is twisting or lateral stress. So I should be able to do most things from a squared-up position. I should also mention that I'm a total klutz. NR includes…

Thanks for the reply! I figure form is important, and probably more so at my age. I'll probably never be able to do all the exercises they list. Plus I don't want to buy a bunch of equipment until I have a feel for what I'll need. So I'm hoping "some" is better than none.

This is exactly what I do to log exercise. Yes, I'm a serious numbers geek. :tongue:

Your snacks are good ones for hitting macros. It's fine to go over on fat (and protein) as long as you can do it and stay within your calories.

Yes, just set your desired loss to zero. You'll still need to tweak your numbers to find what keeps you from gaining or losing. You can adjust your macros, too. The defaults for protein are pretty low. Congratulations on your loss and welcome to MFP!

Eight months for 36 pounds - female, age 55, desk job, arthritic hip that limits exercise. What worked for me was absolute accuracy in logging and making sure I hit my minimums for protein, fat and fiber with a moderate calorie deficit. Portion control is the key and (IMHO) excess restriction leads to failure. Add activity…

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1294677--eat-all-the-sweets-a-30-day-tale-of-love-happiness Skim through this thread and look at the tickers. Short answer: Yes.

I did that when I first started and caused skin problems and, let's say, colon issues. You have to make room in your calories for enough fat. Have some dairy with your fruit and you'll stay full longer, too.

Food. Normal, tasty food.

I also thought I was sedentary based on MFP's definitions. But when I started wearing a Fitbit I found out my time with my dogs kicks me way over that. I always get an adjustment of several hundred calories a day.

Congratulations on your loss! I'm also in the smaller-cup crowd. But they're not as saggy, so I'm not entirely displeased.

I hate that. I'd much rather the graphs show what your goals (not just calories) were at the time. But it's a free service, so I can't complain too much. At least we can see our actual history.

Lean steak :love: It's not "low" calorie, but easier than I expected to fit in.

I have to take a relatively short stride most of the time due to arthritis in my hip. When I walk on a treadmill, my Fitbit gives me more calories burned than the machine shows for that speed because I'm taking more steps.

As others have said, the calorie deficit is most important. But walking is a great way to work up to other exercise, or fine by itself (see ticker). It gives you some extra calories to work with, too. My motto: Will walk for wine. :drinker:

Ditto! I want to be able to find this again. Thanks to those who have posted. :flowerforyou:

Excuse me while I shut the door and lower the blinds ... :love:

You probably didn't gain 10 pounds of fat in those two months unless you were really overeating. You may be carrying extra water in your muscles now that you're back to exercising. So you may make it. Meal timing also doesn't impact weight loss. Just eat at the frequency and timing that works best for you.

First and foremost, I thank you for your willingness to serve. Losing ten pounds in a month is an unrealistic goal unless you are very obese. "Clean" eating has nothing to do with weight loss; only a calorie deficit matters. Weigh and measure all your food and keep your diary here on MFP carefully. If you just have to…

I didn't start there, but changed to a half a week pretty quickly when I realized a pound a week was a bit aggressive for my age, size and activity level. I went to even less of a cut for the last 10 pounds. It worked very well for me, and I seem to be managing my first months of maintenance okay so far.

Using the scale even intermittently helps train your "eye" for portions.

What I do with chocolate protein powder is throw a scoop in the blender with about 3/4 cup almond milk, 1 T cocoa powder and a frozen banana. Peanut butter bumps up the calories, but is good in it. I don't know if it's worth messing with a lousy brand of powder, though.

Since your work hours vary depending on grooming, etc., you might want to set your activity as lightly active for your off-work days and log your work as exercise. You'd have to do some experimentation to find calorie burn numbers to fit those activities. Or pick a higher activity level (or go by TDEE) to have a consistent…

Fat is also a minimum. The calorie number is the only critical one to stay under to lose weight. You shouldn't be consistently under my too much to avoid losing muscle. But you're a big guy and have a lot to work with. (Could I borrow your extra calories for a day? :tongue: )

Good! Protein, fat and fiber are minimums, and the MFP defaults are pretty low.

I always refill my collection of bottles. My well water is better than the stuff I can buy, IMO.

I weigh daily and keep a record without worrying about fluctuations. I expect to go up a bit all this week because I'm eating leftover ham. The extra sodium will cause some extra water retention. No problem.