So there was a chorus of voices following my last post, all chirruping about My Fitness Pal. I mean I’d heard of it, but I’d never really considered using it myself. I was a bit confused and thought it was something to do with a fitbit, and in any event I was comfortable doing my own thing, you know? Logging stuff in the weight watchers app, and using their barcode scanner which is the best invention ever for folk like me with lazy bones.
Everything was connected. My watch spoke to my phone and sent smoke signals about my activity to the weight watchers app and when you’re a technical muppet like I am, the thought of having to set up a different carry-on from scratch is a bit daunting. It was all very comfortable, except for the fact that I’ve been treading water on the whole evicting pounds from my pants project. Which is a drawback quite frankly, when that’s the very reason all this counting and logging is happening in the first place.
The same counting and logging that I’m at the end of my rope with, right? I’ve spent the last couple of weeks locking horns with the Asshole voice over that very issue. When I don’t have his insidious voice in my ear, I log stuff as I go through the day.
On days when I’m bombarded with you don’t need to log every little thing, it’ll save time logging it all at once later on, of course you’ll remember and by the way get a life saddo I’m more likely to do a dodgy calculation on the back of a fag packet at the end of the day which, with a strong wind behind me might be somewhere near accurate. Or not. Depending on how effectively the Asshole has wiped my memory in the meantime.
So, when I was showered with suggestions that I give MFP a try, I couldn’t think of anything less appealing. I mean seriously there was no way I was having anything to do with that. I couldn’t be parted from my Weight Watchers app, and no way was I going to do both. No way at all.
Except, what if? What if this was the kick up the backside I needed? They say a change is as good as a rest don’t they, and although Weight Watchers has been good to me, if I never count another fucking smart point as long as I live it’ll still be too soon…I’m bored. But maybe I’m bored with the diet rather than bored with dieting per se? I’m desperate to keep the momentum going.
I think I mentioned that I switched to the No Count plan and I’ve been enjoying it actually, but I’m wary of the lack of boundaries. I’ve filled my boots with brown rice and wholewheat pasta this week because it’s free, but I can almost see those carbs jostling for position inside my pants as they weld themselves to my arse.
Besides that, I’m a food addict, and addicts don’t cope well without boundaries. It’s one thing eating a whole cauliflower because it’s free of points, but it’s something else entirely necking a massive bowl of pasta whilst wearing an innocent expression and claiming quite rightly that it’s free…it is. But it’s not, Not really.
So, change is a comin’. I’ve taken the plunge and signed up with My Fitness Pal, and I’m on board starting today. I feel excited, and although I’m not cancelling my weight watchers membership quite yet, I’ve kicked it into the long grass and I’m going to try counting calories in conjunction with MFP. Ta daaah!!
I’m still keeping my weigh-day as Sunday, so this dieting week will be a mixture of two diets but happily, I have no Asshole voice pitching to make today and tomorrow the stuff that fat-girl dreams are made of by taking my foot off the gas ‘because I’m starting again on Sunday’.
And you know he would have been all over that at one point, right? That’s head progress right there whether its reflected on the scale or not. It’s all good. No blip, no drama. Go to bed Thursday on Weight Watchers, wake up Friday counting calories.
Seamless. I’m excited to see how this works out.
And I wonder how many calories there are in gravy… 🙂
Good luck! Hope the change is just what you need.
Thanks lovely ?
I’ve been using a different but similar app CalorieKing for years, but not consistently! When I’m in diet mode I do find it helpful. I’ve heard good things about MFP but couldn’t be bothered starting all over again when CalorieKing already has all my favourites coded in.
I haven’t done WW for a long time but I was surprised you say pasta and rice (brown wholemeal yucky types) are free in this version. How is that possible? So high calorie, so high carb. Back in my day, I think they said fruit was free but the small print was to only average two pieces a day, so free didn’t mean unlimited.
It’s only free on the no count plan, but quite high in points if you’re not following that. And everyone is right there does se m to be a lot of data entry in mfp!
I love MFP. Like someone else said the first few weeks are a nuisance with entering data, but once you get some basic stuff in and get the hang of using it, it is the easiest and best tracker I’ve found. By far!!!!!!!!!!! However, I’m afraid it is not going to tell you good things about gravy…………..
I’m excited about it. But I still want gravy!
Echoing the gang here, to highlight that MFP is just another tool in our self-care toolkit, that it will be very helpful to reframe your use of it as a scientific experiment.
The reason I say this is that I consider myself a food addict, too, and my sometimes distorted mindset (black/white, good/back thinking) backfires when I use a tool like this. Although, to be honest, while losing my excess weight, I did keep notebooks wherein I wrote down everything I ate, alongside very brief notes as to what I was feeling at the time –I think I viewed it more as getting an understanding about how what I was eating tracked with my feelings of satiety/deprivation/anxiety/calmness, as well as how my feelings of anxiety/sadness/anger/frustration tracked with my food intake. And it was super helpful to go back and review the ‘data’ when I hit a rough patch.
Right now, I’m in maintenance (and have been for almost 7 (!) years), and I still bounce around a bit (+/- 5 lbs over this past year, mostly seasonally, but I think that might be my ‘normal’), and I STILL play around with what works for me/what feels onerous. I try not to make myself feel chained down to any one method. I haven’t kept a food notebook consistently for the past five years (maybe 10% of the time?).
As an aside (and I don’t want to muddy the waters here), what I’ve been doing lately is making sure I eat more veggies every day. It’s another scientific experiment in my maintenance journey: what happens if I don’t set out to “restrict” my eating, but rather instead require/encourage myself to eat 8-10 servings of veg? It’s been interesting, and I’ve had to experiment further to find the kinds of veg and ways of preparing them that help me view eating them as more a reward/indulgence than punishment. I’ve found that eating something I’m not that fond of just because it fits in a certain template backfires rather spectacularly.
All this to say: be excited, if you can, about gathering the data! Give it an honesty try, but do it without putting pressure on yourself. And keep feeling (and reporting) your feelings! We out here in the ether are rooting for you.
Seven years? You’re my hero! Again, thanks so much for taking the time to share, I’m blown away by all your advice ?
I think you will find it interesting and useful to use myfitnesspal.com. I use the same user name over there if you want to friend me susanc7818, of course I use it every where on the net.
My only warning would be not to eat back your exercise calories which, the program will let you do.
I would say to eat the way you know works and log it and see if the over all day of calories is to high. Or is the problem too many carbs? fats? proteins?
Using myself for an example I am coming up on 53 and I am now only 5’5 inches tall and as of the morning I weigh 148.5. I have my calories on maintence right now with no exercise do to my calf injury. They are saying I can eat 1580 calories a day a whopping 200 extra calories from the weight loss setting. I am beginning to think it may be a little bit to high since I am up a half a pound. Not exercising is really playing hell with staying at the same weight dammitt! Its frustrating sometimes!! Not to mention emotionally its tough!!
I would eat the WW way and log it on the site and see how it works out, how the ratio of foods play out maybe it will give you insight to see how to tweak your program.
Have a great weekend.
Agree totally about not adding back exercise points. Also nothing is free. Count everything.
(I am age 56.)
Hi Susan well I did think about doing that but good grief I’d have run out of calories by lunchtime and MFP would have fired me by teatime!
If you are looking up a listing that someone else has plugged in MFP, only use the ones that have green check marks. They have been checked and should be accurate.
The first few weeks, it is a lot of data entry. You will be entering the stuff that you eat routinely. It is important to enter it correctly, check yourself as you go.
There is a reason it asks for all the information. Because the more detailed info you give it, the more it can track for you. So when it asks serving size and how many servings, etc, you will be glad later if you enter carefully.
This is a science experiment.
You are looking for your balance point and your losing point. You can adjust your g levels for fat, carbs, protein. And that is where weight loss IS. Total number of calories and then how many g of each of those categories.
The nutrients screen will show you how many you have used and how many you have left. (Sugar will be about half of your carb total. Which will be very interesting for you to see.)
It takes a bit to get the hang of it, but when you do, you will be able to see what works for you.
And make it fun, positive. Do not see it as a chore. It is a tool. (I use to do these numbers by hand).
I take pictures of labels if I do not have time to enter it right then. But I enter everything fairly quickly.
Me personally, I do weigh and measure. But many things I only have to do it once. I buy the same size apples for example. I use a measuring spoon instead of a serving spoon. I use a measuring cup instead of pouring. I leave the cups in the containers for things like frozen blueberries.
Thanks so much for all your advice, I really appreciate you taking the time to help ?
Someone, in comments, suggested you simply track a few days, as you have been eating with WW, on MFP and see what your real numbers actually ARE, and then think of what you might need to tweak. I think that is excellent suggestion. Tweaking along the way is fine of course.
For example, you might discover your protein is way too low, and your carbs and/or sugar is really high. I use that example because it is very common. You might discover you are eating too many of the not good for you fats and not enough of the good for you fats, also common.
And what helps me hugely is packages of plain frozen green veggies. Broccoli and green beans and spinach. Also cauliflower. I add them to a lot. I use them as rice or noodles substitute. It is quick, always in my freezer. Adds a lot of volume and nutrition and fiber for very little calories. I use fresh squeezed lemon on broccoli and spinach. I can very happily eat an entire package of it that way.
I use egg whites daily for breakfast. I buy it in the carton.
I cook my protein the minute I walk in the door from the store and then have it always ready. A pan of boneless skinless chicken breasts for example.
When I posted this 2nd note, on my end it did not show. I thought it was lost. So that is why I repeated a lot of this info on your next post.
Hi Vickie, don’t worry about it, it’s awesome that you take the time to help and support this transition to a new regime…I’m very grateful!
No way to have you startin with CICO, & not offer the first of COUNTLESS unsolicited words of advice. Don’t let’s be intimidated by the (intimidating) high numbers, the caloric value of foods. They’re just expressed like Japanese yen!
Fleury you’re not kidding! I’ve eaten just about dust today and I’m about out of calories!