MFP - starting out have questions.

[DrHarleenFrancesQuinzel]

So Ive stepped into the next stone bracket. I need to do something before it gets too bad. I only have 1 - 1.5 stone to lose and not really bothered on time scale so as long as it goes down.

My TDEE is (I think) just a little over 2000, However Im not sure what to put down in my activity levels. I work in an office so desk work, but I exercise 5-6 times a week most weeks. This is a mixture of 1 hour bootcamps, 1 hour PT and running (up to half marathon distance).

So question number 1. What should I put down for my activity on my TDEE calculator? Do I put down sedentary or medium activity levels? I was going to find out my TDEE and take off 300-500 calories a day. Or perhaps I should put down my goal weight at sedentary activity and just stick to those calories every day? Which is best?

Also DH does the cooking. He enjoys it and its always been this way. Therefore I have no idea how much I am really eating. One night this week we are having Spaghetti Carbonara. How would I record this? I dont want to ask/make him weigh it out and add it all up (what a faff), but if I put in generic food this might be wrong. Or will it be about right? Can I get away with that?

So question 2. Can I get away with having some meals as generic meals that are already in MFP or do I have to weigh and measure every ingredient?

I put my activity as low and then logged what I actually did.

But if you'd rather have the same number of calories to play with every day, then it might be better to put it as moderate.

The more accurate you are with inputting, the more predictable your outcome will be. If you have favourite recipes, it probably is worth using the 'my recipe' function (so you only have to input once) but it probably won't make that much difference if you use something that's already on the database from time to time (pick a middling value and round your portion size up not down and you'll reduce potential to underestimate)

Yes it is a faff but it's the only way if you want to use mfp accurately. Weigh everything that goes into it and use the recipe function on mfp. It gets easier as you build up the database.