MFP Thread 7

[Not2bObvious]

Continued chat for those using MFP as a weight loss tool

Just doing my online shop...any recommendations for things that are filling but healthy and I can grab on the go? 11mo DS means it's not always easy to prepare stuff in advance.

Don't I find it hard to do my steps and sometimes do them in the front room.
Cheddar. My fave thing to grab is bbq chicken. A few slices are really low cal, no cooking and filling.
Run was good. Finished at 1500 though I haven't gone over if you include exercise. But over 500 was snacks. It's so bad. Ahhh.

Anyone watching how to lose weight well? Some interesting ideas but doesn't seem like much you could stick to.

Thanks coragreta, will definitely add some chicken to the shop.

I did half an hour of Scarlett Moffat's exercise DVD tonight

And yes I'm watching How to Lose Weight well. I can't see how any of these diets are sustainable long term, perhaps with the exception of WW

I fancy Dr Xand

Thanks for the welcomes.

I have done well with no alcohol today (had fallen into having 1 or 2 in the evenings over Christmas and New Year). I've eaten well and have come in under my calories thanks to doing all of Charlotte Crosby's Belly Blitz this afternoon. It was so hard, my ears went funny at one point and I had to pause it for a breather! I haven't done any exercise for nearly a year, before this I could easily do an exercise DVD, so my fitness levels definitely require attention!

What is Scarlett Moffat's DVD like Cheddar?

Well done on the booze, lady. I'm missing it and would love a massive gin right now

Scarlett's DVD is really good but I am horrifically uncoordinated so some of the moves took me a while to get. It's long, but cut into a few segments. I had a good sweat on by the end.

I would love a gin too! I've just put myself to bed as the gin and the chocolates were getting difficult to ignore.

I might give Scarlett a try when I get bored of Charlotte then.

Well done lady and cheddar on the exercise. I'm done for today at 1550 (I find I can't eat less than 1500 without feeling ill and I lose weight on that much anyway so happy to stick at that). Need to plan a mid afternoon snack for tomorrow though as dinner won't be until about 9pm tomorrow night. Might take an orange and some peanut butter and crackers.

Wow this thread is moving fast!!

Hi don't- 4lbs isn't bad, you'll get that down fast enough. Cora hope you enjoyed your run. Cheddar I didn't even realise you could log one chip! Well done!

Welcome to Mumble. This group is really supportive. I don't have friends on mfp either. Dawhead you've dropped 2 stone since July, during a stressful time. Be proud! Sesame well done on the discipline and walking.

Cheddar get some cucumber, carrots etc and chop them up, leave in bowl in fridge to dip into. And lots of fruit.

I've had a good day, typical me back full force but DH is reminding me to take it easy and not to burn out like I did late last year. I'm really keen to sort out December gains now though.

Kitchen closed at 1280cals. 15000steps and a 30min fitness blender workout. Everything hurts!

Lots of good behaviour around here, well done all. Dry January has pretty much been forced upon me for 10 days which is good actually! I haven't ventured near mfp for a few days, yesterday would have probably been mostly OJ, toast & corn crisps
Feeling a smidgen better but not here to moan, here to soak up all the positive vibes. Keep it up, y'all doing stellar work, I'm cheering you on from bed😉

Try not to worry when you are sick Not. Fighting infection uses up lots of calories anyway. That's a true scientific fact!

I'm working on site now but working from home after lunch as the heating is broken in my office (other site!). So far 5000 steps. Aiming to hit 10-15 by end of day which I think is mamageable, and a Pilates video once DD is asleep.

Today's food:
Breakfast: oats/chia seeds with almond milk and a little cashew butter
Lunch: more of my cauliflower tahini salad. Was still hungry after it yesterday so made a little protein pot of hard boiled eggs and spinach.
Dinner: salmon cakes, sweet potato and minty peas

That will be 1300 in total.

Haha it would need to be full on assault to fight my carby cals these few days sugar, not really bothered though - I'll right it when I'm better

Thought I'd share today's menu as well;
Breakfast was Portidge with fresh mango and a coffee with milk
Lunch is a cheese salad
Dinner is a chicken Thai dish with rice that DH makes.
Dinner won't be until about 9 tonight so also have a Graze box of edamame beans and cashew nuts, and a satsuma for late afternoon snack.
That's 1485 cals for me.

jonty I love peanut butter! Great choice.

sugar I will do that - thank you

not Glad you're feeling better; hope that continues. Don't worry that you haven't used MFP for a few days, that's absolutely to be expected considering how poorly you've been.

My menu today is:
Oatcakes, apple and tea for breakfast
Skinnylicous soup, veg sticks and babybel for lunch (more tea too )
Homemade chilli with veg for dinner

Quick newbie question: I've told MFP to track my steps using my iPhone. So when it notices that I've done steps and calculates the calories, does it mean I don't have to log that exercise? Eg this morning I walked for an hour and did 6k steps which the app logged. Do I now need to tell it I've done exercise? I guess not but if someone could explain this in plain English to me that would be awesome. Thanks.

If the steps are showing in mfp then no you don't add it. Although I would advise not taking it as gospel the amount of calories it gives you - usually very overrated. If you're going to use exercise cals against food, assume only about 50%, iykwim? I only add exercise when I do a class at my gym as my phone isn't physically on my person to count my movement. Got up for a bit & cleared away some of the decorations. Back to bed for a bit

It's great seeing everyone's menus, you're all giving me lots of ideas to move forwards with.

I've just had an 800+ calorie lunch! Whoops. Luckily I hadn't had breakfast in anticipation, so with a bit of walking and a light dinner I could still come in at target. I will just have to try to avoid all of the hidden calories that I forget about when not using MFP, the drinks and things.

I set my activity level as sedentary/not active and let it pull steps from the app data. Agree entirely with Not about exercise cals- my Fitbit says I burn masses of calories from day to day activity! I see them as a buffer for what I go over some days rather than use them all.

Thanks not. Makes sense to me now.

Thanks sugar. I'm considering a FitBit. Do you rate yours?

I've only had it since Christmas, I enjoy challenging myself and watching my heart rate go up and down. It's just another gadget really, but I like them!

Evening.

Sorry, this is a generic post, picking up general themes, rather than noting everyone, been a busy day or so.

I have a Garmin 235, which is a more technical version of the Fitbit, but used for specific training in running and cycling and made for saddos like me , I hear good things about the Fitbit. Tracks heart rate, performance stats , calories, distance, cadence, elevations etc. Nigh on £250 so all belt and braces but an amazing bit of kit if you are seriously into training. This syncs with MFP, Strava etc. I love mine! It averages my steps and tells me my target for the day. I'm currently on over 15,000 a day, but run and lot and have 2 spaniels.

Anything that motivates seems good to me. I can't run to music, others have to.

Healthy treats that I use and use for the teen DC are falafels, cheese 'sticks' (not strings or anything), hummus, scotch pancakes, nuts/seeds, DC adore fruit.

Food for today - (I'm running soon, so had a large lunch)
Brekkie - Porridge and blueberries.
Lunch - Egg sandwich with seeded bread, huge salad with sun dried toms and mozarella, clementines, banana.
Dinner - Homemade Jamie Oliver minestrone soup and crusty bread (after my run)
Energy gel.
Wine.

I've done 90 minutes walking with the dogs, and will be running 10 miles tonight.

7st 5lbs. Lost 2lb over Christmas.

I had a Fitbit for about 3 years imma (I've decided that's your nn 😉) and I was well addicted to it but then it died & I now just use the iPhone like you. It didn't track properly as far as high impact exercise went imo, and while it did encourage me to hit my steps (had been known to walk around hotel rooms for 10 mins on business trips to hit target) overall it was a pricey gadget that I liked but I wouldn't replace now it's gone to gadget heaven. At the end of the day for most of us, it's 80/20 diet/exercise for weightloss. My exercise has really been more for my head - I could never have the time or energy to do enough to rely on it sorely for weightloss. So get the calories right, get 30/60 mins decent exercise in 3-5 times a week and you'll see result. And if we manage that 80% of the time, we can have 20% relaxed times.

Sesame and Sugar thank you for being so nice about last year when you say like that it hits home .

Sesame a big breakfast sounds lovely and 1700 is very respsectable for this time of year.

Dont I rarely hit 10k steps (unless I'm out shopping). 1400 cals is very good and very in awe of you throwing out the Xmas stash too.

Cheddar I can't help with the snacks I'm afraid - when I'm focused I really can't snack at all to stay within my calorie limits. My only non-snack tips are Fry Light and Skimmed Milk - save a fortune in calories!
There's lots on these threads about trackers - I have a Fitbit too and it's a nice gadget but really it doesn't motivate me that much. Completely agree with wise Not - this is primarily about food for many of us - any exercise is great for us obvs but the calories make the real difference.

Cora 500 in snacks is nothing well done on the run!

Mumble well done on the exercise! And a 400 cal lunch (after a 400 cal brekkie) isn't bad at all

Jonty your calorie counts are excellent too - well done for getting on track so soon!

Sugar wow 1280/1300 already is brilliant! It's a double-edged sword when family give us advice - they mean well but sometimes it's the last thing we want to hear .

Not so glad you're on the mend - even getting up for a bit is a great achievement. Lots more and for you.

Need sorry but at you losing 2lbs over Xmas!!! That.Does.Not.Compute (for a glutton like me I mean ).

Anyway, phew, phew, phew for me. No damage done this week - in fact my loss at NYD pretty much stayed, so lost 0.5kg since last week (~1.1lb) bringing me to 64.3kg (~10st 1.8). So my Net Xmas gain was only 1kg (~2.2lb) which is bloody amazing by my standards. Last year I gained 3.2kg (7lbs) from mid-Dec to mid-Jan.

Aim for this week is just to maintain, so I'm going to try to keep my average close to 1600 for the week. 1560 allocated so far today, so just maybe one more snack tonight after dinner.

Breakfast: Coffee and choccie biccies
Lunch: Boiled egg, cheese, bread
Dinner: Spag bol/bog(?)
Snacks: 3 choccies, 4 biscuits so far....

I have a vivofit which is garmin and I love it. It motivates me to do more steps. I am over today and I am going to do Pilates later.
Just had a lovely dinner with one of my new cook books. Very delicious.
So far I'm at 1354 but think I'll go a few more with something sweet later. Getting slightly better. Being back at work is helping.

Evening all! Kitchen just closed at 1250 so I'm happy. I took the hounds out for a hours walk and managed to hit my 10000 steps so all good.
I've got a Fitbit Flex 2. I like it because it's small and girlie on my wrist. It doesn't measure heart rate or pick up when I do spin but I like how it encourages me to walk more. I've just got DH a Garmin vivofit hr and he loves it.
I'm going to the hairdressers on Friday for a full change. I've had shoulder length blonde hair for years so I'm going shorter and darker. Then new glasses on Saturday .
Oh and I've joined that Walk 1000 miles thing as well. This time last year I couldn't get off my fat arse. This year according to DH I haven't got one!!