Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I would estimate that I'm walking about a mile per day. More on days when I have to go into Manhattan, because it's about half a mile each way from my apartment to the nearest subway station.

Limone, I started using a weight watchers pedometer for a bit and what I thought were great walks for me was basically nothing at all. I'm fairly fit now and manage to do a few miles of proper, brisk walks that have a few hills. I manage to work up enough of a sweat to need a shower after especially if I am going anywhere. The pedometer made me realise I wasn't pushing myself enough at all.

Yeah, I don't think my neighborhood walks amount to much (other than being a normal human being and buying vegetables and stuff) which is why I don't track them as exercise. What I SHOULD do once the weather is no longer freezing with random bouts of hail: There is a park a couple blocks away from my building that is atop a sort of steep hill... I should start running up and down that hill a couple times per day!

Or just make a point of trying to increase your speed. Pretend you are late for something or trying to get away from the police without raising suspicion!

Yes! Or pretend that I'm being pursued by rabid bears or aliens with laser guns or something! One of the most amazing things about living in New York is that you can act like a complete weirdo out on the streets and nobody gives a shiitake.

I am just so freaking hungry. Its probably the simple carbs. I need to eat more proteiny things.

I am avoiding restaurants - I can't even begin to figure out what the calories in a non-chain restaurant meal are, but I know that most places are heavy on the oil because it makes for extra yum.

Tracking your calories can be a bit of a buzzkill

Yep, I've been avoiding restaurants for that reason too. It's a bit of a bummer, but at least it saves you money I guess!

So, I do end up going a little over on MFP for sugar because of fruit but I don't worry too much about that. I tend to go over on fat too but be quite a bit under on carbs. As long as I'm close to my calorie goal and getting in plenty of veggies I call it good. i have a LOT (another 100 pounds at least) of weight to lose and my diet is SO drastically healthier than it was before.

Fitday.com is actually a FAR better nutrition tracking program, it shows you where you are on RDA for almost all nutrients, and gives you a pie chart with percentage breakdown. However their food database is sad compared to MFP and it is too cumbersome to add custom foods all the time.

Thanks for the welcome, everyone!

I find it sort of annoying that you can't track all the nutrients on MFP! But as you said, the database is much better on MFP. And the site isn't as much of a noisy eye assault as SparkPeople.

geeksweetheart, you know you can customize your macros for sugars/fats/etc on MFP right? But yeah, I don't obsess too much about the macros either, as long as I'm eating mostly healthy foods and getting enough calcium/iron/protein.

I agree about MFP lacking a little in terms of nutrient tracking. I have a history of vitamin D deficiency, so I try to be aware of my intake (in additional to taking a supplement a few times a week), and I wish I could track that. But overall I think the site is fantastic, and I've found some good people there, so I'm very happy with it in general.

I did change one of my meal categories to "supplements," so I log all my vitamins every day. It helps me A LOT to remember to take them before bed.

A friend recommended Beck's Diet Solution as a way to work on your motivation and the thinking that underlies eating patterns. Its a Cognitive Behavioral approach. Here are some of the worksheets. http://www.beckdietsolution.com/cbt-worksheets/

I also really like these daily tips (though there is a bit too much guilt talk for my liking): http://www.beckdietsolution.com/daily-diet-solutions/ The Monday Motivations really sound good.

Dur, no I did not know you could customize on MFP. Lol.

Anybody else find that as they improve their nutrition their appetite has decreased? I feel totally great and satisfied on 1600 calories a day (very appropriate for weight loss at my size) whereas on junk food I was always hungry and probably at 3000 cals a day. (blush)

I've ordered some Deva Vegan supplements as well. Even though I'm sure I can get everything I need through diet, I probably have a bit of a deficit from years of poor eating...

Oh Ashley that is a good idea for the "supplement" meal category.

I made supplements into a meal category too! It really honestly helps me to remember to take them, because I would forget at least 50% of the time before.

geeksweetheart, you can go here and click 'custom' to adjust your macros: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals

Thanks!!!

So you can add supplements as an additional category? That's a great idea!

I'm not getting enough protein. I feel like a stereotype.

Sounds like a classic case of beef deficiency!

You can name all of your meals whatever you want, so I just named one of mine "Supplements" and log all my supplements there. If you prefer you could name your supplements list "Monkey farts" though. Whatever helps you remember to take them.

edit: You can go here to change the meals/names: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

Yea! I also added second breakfast!

I ate terribly today but am still under for calories, so I guess that's good. But the only fruit/veg I've had all day was almost an entire cucumber. I planned on having a salad with dinner but I'm already full!

I've only been tracking a few days but I can't believe how my appetite has dropped. I don't want to eat as much because I am not eating constantly! It's pretty magical!

Tracking my time at work helps me steal back a few cals. My retail job is pretty physical so it counts. I also found out I could steal back a few by counting things like active cooking time!

I've seen people log some (in my opinion) silly things as exercise. 2 minutes of walking up stairs, 20 minutes of slow walking for grocery shopping, etc. Those activities are already factored into your TDEE, so it seems counter-productive to me to log them. But hey, whatever works!

Yeah, but when I found that "cooking" was exercise I had to laugh and use it the other day, because it's funny! I did count the time I spent stress pacing, though. And I meant it!

I might consider logging bread kneading! That's work!

I've always wondered if I burn more calories when I stressed out because my heart rate increases.

Me too...

Yeah, for me that's normal daily activity so that's why I don't log my neighborhood walks and stuff like that. But if someone was COMPLETELY sedentary and then started walking/grocery shopping I can see how they would log that stuff, because it is sort of new and "extra", at least at first. Like my mom - where she lives you have to drive to get pretty much anywhere, so most days the only walking she does is down 10 stairs from her condo and into her car. So if she suddenly started walking 20 minutes per day that would actually be sort of a lifestyle change.

On the topic of burning calories and MFP: I don't have a heart rate monitor at the moment (yes I need to get one), but after putting some exercises into their calculator I think they sort of overestimate how much you burn. Someone who uses a HRM regularly please verify or debunk this for me.