Ok, so I started off getting healthier about 10 weeks ago when a spark ignited during the month of my birthday. My feet hurt, my back hurt and I was way over my proper weight. I started running one night. My husband was a cross country runner in college and he helped me start my intervals. I started with 2 intervals of 3 minutes running 3 minutes walking. I am now up to a total running time of 15 minutes with three one and a half minute walking breaks (20 minutes??). I hope to be able to run a mile without stopping very soon.( my goal was Christmas, but my progress is slow, I may be able to do it by New Years.) I stumbled on to this forum during those beginning phases and have been lurking until this week. I appreciate your posts , honesty and humor. As a result, I have been analizing my mental and physical behaviors trying to figure out WHY I got to over two hundred pounds.
I have noticed some very minor results with my running but wanted to kick it up a notch with a good eating plan as well. I started using the phone app loose it and have been sort of satisfied with the program but after two weeks, I have no idea if it is working or not. I have not weighted myself. I don’t want to be obsessed with numbers or calories, but counting calories is making me a little crazy. I am having trouble keeping accurate account in times when I am unable to truly measure things. During family style meals or when eating out at lunch. Is that a table spoon of Ranch Dressing or two? How many shredded nuts are on my salad? How many ounces of meat are mixed in this salad? I have been guestimating for a lot of the time and usually I guess way over the amount it actually is. The exercise is the same way. MPH etc. I am walking a lot more now in addition to the running just to make sure I don’t accidentally go over in calories. And all of that mixed with less food is making me tired.
How do you guys adjust to having to count every single bite? I feel like I am MORE obsessed with food than I was before. Going to the grocery store today was over whelming. All I could see was the chocolate covered Christmas Milano cookies and the store baked Cinnamon bread with no nutritional info on it. I ended up buying 3 boxes of Kashi cookies and Snack wells. Not sure how much better that stuff is for me. I am trying NOT to eat all of my work out calories back, but I am eating some back and then feel guilty like I might be eating too much still….MAN, this is a metal game!!!!
Sorry for the rambling, but today was a tough day. Tough shopping trip, tough work out and the Kashi Cookie did not make me feel better. I guess food should not affect or effect my emotions or state of being. I think that may be a tough nut to crack.
Thanks for listening. Some tips for this newb would be excellent.
******Update 10-2012******
It has been a year since I started my journey and I have come a long way. It is still a challenge but some of the everyday food "issues" are easier. Generally speaking my new eating habits are easier and I feel better.
I have lost almost 60 pounds in one year. I thought I would be closer to goal but slow is OK too. Hoping by next year I will be 30 pounds lighter.
Thanks everyone for your daily dose of courage and butt kicking. 3FC has become a part of my "plan".
Last edited by dstalksalot; 10-23-2012 at 07:42 PM.
Welcome!!! This is a great place and has helped me a lot. there are a lot of great people here and its an amazing support system.
I plan my entire day of eating and punch it into my calorie counter online. That way, the whole day of meals is set out for me in a schedule, and its much easier for me not to stray when I have something to stick to.
There are a lot of really great calorie counters online for free and they're pretty simple to use. Some of them make it fairly easy to enter homemade dishes.
As for food affecting your emotions...well, I know that's how I got to almost 200 lbs. my emotions and my food have always been meshed. That's a journey that's separate from weight loss, but needs to go hand in hand. Get your mind in order and your diet will follow. Easier said than done.
First of all, welcome! I'm new here too. I've found as far as shopping goes that it's a great idea to plan out a menu that has the amount of calories you want to eat in it, make a shopping list, and then go shopping. That way you know what you're eating that day and even that week and you know what you need before you get there. As far as portions go look at the nutrition label whenever possible. If there isn't one there are a lot of apps and websites that give you the recommended portion size and the nutrition facts in it. I use calorieking.com and cronometer.com (this one tells you a lot more about the nutrition of your food).
If you don't know how many calories are in something or what the portion size is you can either: A) not eat it or B) eat what you believe is a reasonable amount and look it up later. If the calories were way more than you wanted to eat make a mental note to stay away from that food. It's also a great idea to have a few 'safe foods' foods that you know you can eat freely without consuming massive amounts of calories. Melons are great because one small melon has only 150 calories! As far as dressing, ask for it on the side ALWAYS and then measure it out with your spoon. It may not be accurate, but it's better than just blindly dumping it on. Also, if you google pictures of portion sizes you can get pictures of common portions sizes and things to help you remember them by. For example: 1 tsp. is about the size of a die, 1/4 cup is the size of an egg, etc.
Hope I helped and good luck!
Last edited by melonsforfree; 12-07-2011 at 01:31 AM.
If you don't know how many calories are in something or what the portion size is you can either: A) not eat it or B) eat what you believe is a reasonable amount and look it up later. If the calories were way more than you wanted to eat make a mental note to stay away from that food. It's also a great idea to have a few 'safe foods' foods that you know you can eat freely without consuming massive amounts of calories. Melons are great because one small melon has only 150 calories! As far as dressing, ask for it on the side ALWAYS and then measure it out with your spoon. It may not be accurate, but it's better than just blindly dumping it on. Also, if you google pictures of portion sizes you can get pictures of common portions sizes and things to help you remember them by. For example: 1 tsp. is about the size of a die, 1/4 cup is the size of an egg, etc.
Hope I helped and good luck!
Great points! Also, if you're writing/logging in everything you eat it acts as kind of a deterrent from randomly shoving things in your mouth. Sometimes I'll look at something that's tempting me and think "Its just not worth the trouble it'll take to find out how many calories are in it and lot it in."
If you're going to calorie count, I DO suggest counting and logging before you eat. That way you're not going to under/overestimate what you've eaten.
Measuring cups/spoons are a lifesaver. I'm planning on buying a cheap scale next time I'm at the store as well.
P.S. I'm sure you've swung by our calorie counters section of the forums...its really helped me a lot.
I am a calorie counter, too. I plan all meals ahead of time. It takes me about 5 minutes to plan the days menus. And as has already been said , plan it and count it before you eat. As for dining out there are a few things to remember stay away from fried foods, do not order anything with sauces or gravies, no desert. I find planning ahead much more preferable than having to wear extra large clothing again.
There are a lot of free calorie counters you can use on line including fit day, and fat secret. That makes calorie counting easier. I use Bodybugg and their calorie counter.
The other thing is, weight and measure everything when you can. Eventually, it helps you to be able to eyeball it. It also, eventually, helps you to understand what you're taking in, even when you aren't able to calculate your calories.
Here's some helpful tools:
3 oz protein is about the size of a deck of cards or bar of soap.
Medium potato= computer mouse
Medium apple/orange= tennis ball
1 Cup raw veggies= baseball
Salad dressing= get it on the side. Those little plastic cups usually hold 2 ounces. The little ladle at the salad bar, also usually around 2 ounces.
Salad- think of a CD, that's about a cup. Lettuce is hard to measure, but who cares. It's tiny calories. If you're going to mess up, mess up on salad and veggies.
Re: salad dressing on the side. Order it on the side, but do not put it on your salad. Dip your fork in the dressing, then take a bite of salad, saves a lot of calories this way.
Thanks for your comments and specifically the equivalence examples. I have been weighing and measuring everything. Hopefully that part will get easier.
I seem to be more obsessed with food these days and I have not been able to give up all of my sugar yet. I look forward to my skinny Latte or 100 snack pack every day. I just hope this works for me. I can't bear to put all of my energy into this and fail. It is heartbreaking.
I think calorie counting is overwhelming for everyone in the beginning!
Eventually you start becoming good at it, an expert of sorts, and calorie counting becomes more second nature.
I can now, after almost 4 months of strict calorie counting, simply look at my boyfriend's plate of food and do a pretty accurate calorie count in a few minutes, without measuring or weighing.
I know this sounds silly, but you can start to "test" yourself as you get better by creating a plate of food, giving your best guess without strict measurements, then deconstructing the plate and weighing/measuring everything properly.
Anyway, the point is, it gets much easier the longer you do it.
For people like me ("non-cooking calorie counter") it is a bit easier. I usually don't actually cook much of anything. Ever. I survive off what I term "easy foods" ~
This is a typical day for me:
Breakfast is usually an egg sandwich.
That's two slices of bread (70 calories each = 140 calories)
1 egg & 1 egg white (110 calories)
and one slice of 2% cheese (50 calories)
2 COFFEEs (1 pkt Equal & 3 tbsp sugar-free French Vanilla creamer = 100 calories)
for a total meal of 400 calories.
See? Easy
mid-morning snack of 1 svg cashew pieces = 160 calories
Lunch is a Green Giant Healthy Vision frozen veggie (1 packet has 2 servings at 45 cal each so that's 90 calories)
1 Can of white breast chicken (170 calories)
40 grapes (140 calories)
total - 400 calories
good healthy snack can be 1 cup fat free cottage cheese
with an equal packet & some sprinkled cinnamon
175 calories
Dinner might be a can of Campbell's Chunky Chicken Noodle Healthy Request Soup
- total 220 calories
and TWO sugar free chocolate Jello pudding for 70 calories eac (140)
I drink one Diet Mtn Dew when I get to work. Then I drink water the rest of the day.
Total calories for the day: 1495
And I do use FitDay to keep track of my calories. Most calorie counters on-line are chock full of thousands of foods, and you can also create your own custom foods, so you don't have to constantly recount (or remember) something you have from day to day. Yes, it's all very much a PITA, but IT DOES GET EASIER the more you do it. Pretty soon it will be "old hat" to you & most foods you won't even have to "dissect" because you'll already have it in your database. Then it won't be a PITA anymore, it'll just be a "habit" - a very good habit.
Posted a 1 year update in the first post.
I am still calorie counting and measuring everything. Thanks everyone for your guidance through this interesting year. 57 pounds gone and another 30 to go.
The phsycology of weight issues. ONE YEAR UPDATE
