[30 Fat Still Awesome]

Hallo again,

So, I'm doing well on my diet. I'm eating about 1100-1200 calories per day and doing some exercises. Here's the issue - FitDay is extremely infuriating when it comes to calculating my "calories burned."

At 262 (yippee) I should be burning a lot more from walking up 3 flights of stairs than a mere 30 calories. I also do about 30 mins of walking/jogging. Should I really be stressing about this?

Also, about the diet - when I started, I was eating like 700-800 cals a day. Then I got yelled at by all of u so I upped it (). Now I find it hard to eat that extra bit of calories - and feel like I'm overeating. I munch on carrots and stuff throughout the day - but still, making the 1100 cal mark is difficult.

Any suggestions?

Thanks again. ps: Happy V Day Peoples!

[astrophe]

I use fitday PC.

I find dealing with the activity area best if I wear my heart rate monitor and then tweak the time to get what my HRM says. I find believing that is more accurate than the guesstimate from the fitday software.

Take a peek at 1200 menus over here. It's a diabetic friendly plan, but whatever. Anyone could use it for ideas for how to spread it around. Scroll to the middle of the page to the red links on the left.

http://diabeticgourmet.com/Food_and_...Meal_Planning/
HTH!

A.

[Linsy]

Don't worry about your exercise calories. The counters are inaccurate and you probably don't want to eat them back anyway.

In my opinion, 1200 is still a bit too low. At your weight you can probably eat more and still lose, especially with exercise. Keep in mind that if you stall later and want to lower your calories you won't be able to since you're already so low. It's easy to add an extra 200 or so calories just by using a little bit of olive oil, nut butters, stuff like that.

[moonkissed]

I haven't used fitday in forever. I use sparkpeople. idk how different it is but it is also free and you can put in your info (height, weight, age, goal weight, etc..) and also put in how much exercise you will do (like 30 mins 2 x a day or burn 250 calories a week or whatever. Then it will tell you a calorie range for that.

I find it works out perfectly.

I find exercise listings of calories burned never seem very accurate either. I was told to get a heart rate monitor if I wanted to be sure. But can't afford it right now so I just let it guestimate and instead stick with a good heart pumping workout where I feel I push myself within a time like 30 mins a day. And it all works out enough lol

I won't yell at you... But I would highly suggest upping your calories even more. I am the same height as you, weigh less and my calorie range is 1,350 - 1,700 (I prefer to stick to about 1400ish a week) **and when I stay on plan ~ can lose really well with that lol

I find myself struggling to up my calories too sometimes. idk what kindof things you eat. But you can try looking them over and seeing if somethings are low cal versions you could change to normal. The other posters gave amazing ideas too & sparkpeople also has menus u can use or get ideas from.



p.s. Thanks astrophe I love that link!!!

[Heather]

You will never be able to accurately calculate the calories you burn. There are just too many individual factors. So... know that all of those numbers are estimates.

And 10 calories for a flight of stairs actually sounds like a lot! Even at 262. Using a heart rate monitor, I once figured *at best* I burn 7-10 calories for 1 minute on the elliptical at a good clip. Climbing a flight of stairs takes just a few seconds, so wouldn't burn as much.

I've learned in weight loss to focus on the issues I can control and not worry about what I can't. I can control what I eat and how much I exercise. I can't control how much the scale moves or exactly how many calories I burn.

So, let a little of the worry go!

[seagirl]

Add some almond butter, cheese or a hardboiled egg to your snacks. Drizzle a little oil over your veggies. Add some avocado a sandwich.

Easy ways to up your calories with some healthy fats and protein.

Also, I woudn't worry about how many calorie you burn climbing 3 flights of stairs. Your body knows you are doing it.

Also, just relax and settle into this journey. You've got a ways to go (like all of us) and if you are this anxious at the beginning, it will be a miserable journey.

[stacygee]

I had trouble with fitday and started to use livestrong.com. I find the calories for food much more accurate and the calories burned, too.

Try to eat some healthy calorie dense food. Try and get to 1200. Peanut butter, avocado, cheese, banana. You could also drink some calories with some 100% real juice. Nuts are high in calories too. I eat cashews on my salad. There are alot of low-cal haters around here... I started at 264 and 1200 calories. There are pros and cons... Being at that low calorie count really helped me gain control of my eating. I think it shrunk my stomach. The problem was when I plateaued there was no where for me to go calorie wise as lower then 1200 is never recommended. I eat 1500 calories now on most days and aim for 1200 2-3 days a week. If I am on a plateau I can lower to 1200 until I break it. Best wishes!!

[joyfulloser]

Glad to hear your finding your way!

Remember...this process absolutely DOES NOT have to be painful! You should be able to enjoy your foods and not have to live off celery sticks and salad! LOL! If so...I'd be out of this game long time ago! As a matter of fact, most of my overweight friends don't eat nearly as much or as good as I do! Actually, most totally skip breakfast, get something fast, fatty and loaded with salt (to mask the lack of quality ingredients type of foods)!

That said, NO...no stress it. Do whatever makes you SWEAT! The more you SWEAT, the more calories your burning. At the end of each of my workouts (i.e. running, bodyweight pull ups, wii just dance 2, etc.) I'm SOAKED from head to toe.

As far as food is concerned...NO, less is definitely NOT more! Start high...1500-1700 cals. generally works for most. If you have to reduce it, then reduce it by 100 cals./day until you settle on a number that works for you. Avoid processed pre-packaged foods. Try to cook/prepare most if not all your meals. A friend told me (along time ago), that the key to dietary success is to COOK for yourself. He was RIGHT! You NEED to know what's in your food...furthermore you NEED to be able to CONTROL what's in your food.

In short...moderate exercise coupled with meal preparation and advance preparation for "OFF-PLAN/CHEAT" meals will get you where you need to go!

P.S. - I STRESS planning for OFF PLAN goodies as nobody can live their entire lives with denial of their favorite foods for all eternity...the key...PLAN for them.

[Tomato]

Originally Posted by Heather

And 10 calories for a flight of stairs actually sounds like a lot! Even at 262. Using a heart rate monitor, I once figured *at best* I burn 7-10 calories for 1 minute on the elliptical at a good clip.

I completely agree with Heather. When I read your initial post, I immediately thought that 30 calories for 3 flights of stair is a pretty good deal! I don't count calories and I don't count what I burn through exercise, but I know how long it takes me, say, on a treadmill to burn the same amount!

[30 Fat Still Awesome]

Thanks for the input guys! Your words are encouraging and helpful. I, too, cannot afford a heart monitor right now, but I'll have to dismiss my obsession with fit day's exercise calories counting.

Weigh-in on Saturday for me. Let's see what all this hard work is doing.