Thread for people who are trying out food focus :)

[StealthPolarBear]

And need support

This was recommended by TheHumanCatapult and is www.foodfocus.co.uk. you start by registering your weight etc and tell it how much you want to lose. It then tells you when that will be achieved, which for me was some time in 2013 . You then use it day by day to record all the food eaten, and all the exercise you have done. It is working for me so far (only day 5) because:

-Iget instant results (it tells you day by day how much it calculates you have lost, you won't see it on the scales)
-I see how much I am actually eating
-I'm in control. I can see the impact of whatever I am going to eat before I actually eat it which does help the willpower somewhat!
-It's FREE

I am seriously wobbling today that didn't take long did it I'm having such a crap day and I'm tired and I'm fed up andthe weather is crap and I probably have PMT and and and and

The only thing keeping me on the straight and narrow is that I'm being weighed at the docs on Thurs - they run a weight loss clinic which I've been going to for the past couple of months. Weigh in every two weeks - so far I've lost a couple of lbs and so I'm hoping that this time there will be more of a result. I told the nurse that I wouldn't bother coming again if I haven't lost anything this time, I felt like I was wasting her time. She said that I should keep plugging away, staying the same for a couple of months is better than putting on (which I had been).

Right - what is it that you want to eat?
If it's something big can you compromise? If it's fairly small, go and eat it, register it, and then take half the calories off tomorrow's allowance, and do a little bit more exercise.
Stealth hath spoken :)

Yes I agree whyme - I genuinely don;t seem to have the "stop eating" cues that everyone else seems to. I only stop out of politeness, so obviously if I' not in company, I just continue to eat.

SPB - your last post rang true with me!

Feeding to a schedule overrides a baby's natural instinct to stop eating when full. Because the likelihood is that we were all ff and/or bf to a schedule (I was ff after my mum attempted to bf me to a 4 hourly schedule for the first 3 weeks), this is cited as one reason why we have an obesity epidemic, because so many babies lost the ability to know when they are full. It is not the only reason, children these days are a lot more sedentary - I was skinny until my late teens despite being a greedy pig as I was always very active. I played netball and ran cross country at school, I was crap at Netball but I was one of the best distance runners in the school and competed regionally, however it stopped when I injured my knee(pulled ligaments) when I was 13. My knee never healed right and I still get pain in it even now! When I stopped the running the weight piled on.
That is one of the main motivations for me to bf my children as it is easier to feed on demand from the breast than from the bottle - I want to reduce the opportunity for my dcs to become as fat as me. DS does love his chocolate but I have noticed he never overeats, tends to be a little and often person which is much healthier than just gorging yourself until you are fit to burst (which is what I do).
SPB - well they say bfing takes up to 500 cals a day but that assumes you are feeding a newborn who feeds constantly. I guess it would depend on how often A is feeding? But it would certainly burn a few calories!

What I like about the Food Focus site is that you have a "buffer" in that you are given the number of calories you should expect to burn as well as the number of calories that you are allowed to eat. So if you go over the latter figure, as long as you still below the former figure you will still lose or maintain!
I have set myself a goal for losing 4stone, however I have got some interim goals to focus on for now, and every time I weigh myself I use the personal log to note how many pounds I need to lose to my next interim goal. My first is to reach my pre pregnancy weight (with DD) and I have 8lbs to go!
Perhaps setting yourself such targets would help?

Hi all - Fourthousand are you me ? I forget that I should not be eating the same as my 6 ft something running addict dp and pile my plate up - I MUST learn portion control. Just been to Bodypump which is great for burning calories but I'm now RAVENOUS so will have to distract myself and STEP AWAY FROM THE KITCHEN!! Keep it up everyone, we can do this!

good idea about interim targets. TBH I'm not really weighing myself though - I am going by the fit of my clothes, and so far, not so good :( Not finding my trousers any looser than normal at all really

I want need some chocolate!

Me too, Kara, this time of day is definitely my low point - am shattered and wanting sweet things to pep me up. Its going to take willpower to have an apple or something low fat . What does everyone snack on to avoid loads of fat/sugar?

Stop it you lot or I will be on my way down to the vending machine.

Did you all see this: fat main driver for breast cancer in older women

So in sorting this out now we are reducing our risk more than by addressing any other area of our lifestyles! Now, who's for that apple?

manic, I chain drink black coffee

Thanks for starting this thread SPB I have been moaning about my weight for ages and not doing anything about it. I have started buying bigger clothes so I am comfortable and look better, and in fact just spent £26 on a new pair of jeans today. I have set myself a target to get back to my pre pregnancy/post weight watchers weight when I felt really good. I have 1st 8lbs to lose, not a mountain by any stretch and it will only take me til Christmas if I lose 1lb a week.

I have already substituted sultanas for sugar on my weetabix, swapped normal alpen for sugar free (still high cals I know) for my brekkie at work, started having soup for lunch instead of sarnies and crisps, and swapped a chocolate bar for an apple and an eat natural bar for snacks. Wine is a major vice here too, DH and I have been drinking virtually every night, and there's always some excuse to pop to the shop. Aside from health/weight implications, we must be spending a fortune!

Don't know how good I'll be posting on here - will be enough of an effort managing to log everything I think, but I've managed it before!

Good luck all :)

To StealthpolarBear-- A BIG THANK-YOU for giving out website on Foodfocus, I have signed up and it is such a releif and feels alot easier than going to weight watchers every week and so much cheaper!.

thanks SPB - I had wondered about black coffee but because of my slightly irregular hours I'm a "bit" neurotic about sleep and worry I will be wired if I drink too much . However I do love a nice Nescafe vanilla latte sachet (and I add extra coffee powder) in the afternoon- satisfies my sweet craving and I think they're only about 80 cals. Any other suggestions gladly welcomed - snacking late afternoon is my downfall, I can't stop myself!

Credit to TheHumanCatapult please who recommended it :)

OK snacks, we need to all compile a list of savoury and sweet. All I can come up with so far is:

Savoury
pickled onions

Sweet
OPtions hot choc sachet

Suggestions welcome!

I am actually only on 326 calories today, but I havent actually eaten yet tonight

I drink caffeinated coffee before lunch and decaf after, but that's more for DD's benefit than mine (breastfeeding) - nothing keeps me awake, other than a toddler :(

Why is pasta so full of calories? It's the one thing I really miss

Hi all,
I am doing crap. Last week of term and my stress levels are off the scale.
Haven't filled in my foods since Monday.
Aaaaargh.

Well done all the rest of you!!!

Does anyone have the habit of wanting to snack at night? about 9pm , really gets me , so for snacks I suggest.

Dried Apricots
Celery Sticks
Carrot Sticks
Low Fat Laughing Cow Cheese Triangles
Mini Tomatoes
Melon
Strawberries no CALORIES in the fruit, good luck to you all

mm I've just had an alpen light double choc bar and they are really nice - have a chewy base so seem quite substantial. Only 62 calories!

I have bought a pack of treat size Cadbury's chocolate selection, and they are only about 75 calories each and just enough to kill the chocolate craving.
I also have strawberries, grapes and nectarines in the fridge along with low fat yoghurts.
I also have a jar of pickled onions
We have discovered that we have some very high calorie cereals in the cupboard, DH has started doing the food focus website today as he needs to lose some weight.
I had 3 weetabix this morning, that is a good low calorie option. I don't put sugar on cereal (except I put a bit of jam in my porridge!) so don't add anything on.
Went a bit over on the calories yesterday but will try and do better today!

How is everyone getting on today. I have had toast for breakfast and a lovely canteen lentil soup (and breadbun) for lunch

Been good today, Weetabix for lunch and jacket spud with cottage cheese for lunch.

BTW I have noticed some of the nutritional values for some of the foods in the database are wildly inaccurate! I strongly suggest you double check. It had 85cals/100g for Asda GFY cottage cheese but when I looked at the tub it was only 66!

yes, I know, and not everything's in so I usually do best guess and then adjust! I ended up 'eating' over a litre of soup once because the tub I had must have been much more calorific than what they had on record!

hello good afternoon hello

just thought I'd let you know I got weighed this mornign and I have lost 4lbs since I was last done four weeks ago

off now to read the thread, back in a mo

Yes I agree some of the info on the database is a bit inaccurate, but I'm working on the premise that some will be over and some will be under and over the course of a week or certainly a month you're probably getting a broadly correct figure. Without wishing to out myself (I recently namechanged after two or three threads that would have made me instantly identifiable to anyone who knows me in RL) I do know a lot about the nutrition info on food labels and I can tell you that a lot of food manufacturers use a similar database to get nutrition info for their foods and that when food is actually tested, there is a 20% tolerance. It ain't an exact science anyway.