Training & Nutrition - Food diary support group: week one

I have a hard time losing the weight I would like for this summer. I see that others here are also trying to shed some pounds. So I came up with an idea based on the "Extreme Commute Club" and "Very Long Commute Club" threads in the Commuting forum. The concept is to support and advise each other in their dieting goals and successes. In the VLCC, I have found if I say what my riding goals are for the week and then report how I am doing day by day, I am less likely to bail out on my long rides.

To transfer the concept here, I propose that whoever would like to try this idea post their dietary goals for the week. Then, use the "edit" feature to post what you actually ate day by day. If we are honest about what we consumed, I think that we will learn from our eating habits. We can encourage each other to meet our goals and hopefully the posting here will motivate us to keep on our diets.

I hope some of you will join me in this experiment. We can all benefit form our collective experience and encouragement.

Ok, so according to the calculator I just accessed, I need around 3200 calories a day to maintain my weight at my present level of activity. I would like to lose a pound a week, maybe a bit more. According to what i read, reducing my calories by 3500 a week will equal a pound of loss. So, my goal will be to eat 2700 calories or less a day. we'll see how that goes...

Monday (one hour hard cycling)
english muffin with egg and sausage 340 calories
bag of Sun chips 210
2 cups tuna casserole 575
hamburger 350
tater tots 200
Corona lite beer 95
total: 1770

Tuesday (weights and yoga)
coffee with cream
oatmeal cookie
2 bowls curried chicken and veggies
pop tart
bottle of cider

Wednesday (one hour hard cycling)
coffee with cream
pop tart
slice banana bread
bowl left over tuna casserole
bowl clam chowder
tuna sandwich
cheese sandwich
I was starving today!!!

Thursday (one hour hard cycling)
coffee with cream
banana
cup low fat yogurt
Pizza, 3 pieces
banana

Friday (one hour hard cycling)
coffee with cream
muffin
fish sandwich from Mcdonalds
spaghetti and meatballs
garlic bread

Saturday
coffee with cream
pancakes
bacon
spaghetti and meatballs
2 glasses chapagne
3 beer

Sunday
coffee with cream
muffin
roast beef
potatoes
apple pie
2 beer

fitday.com (http://fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=aham23)

i use this free sevice and it works great for me. except for a trip to a wedding this weekend. it has helped me keep track and keep down my calories. i have lost 15 pounds just by reducing calories and light working out. good luck. later.

Good idea Mars. I always enjoyed reading the Commute Club threads even though I didn't qualify to participate. I hope I remember to do this!

Instead of counting calories, I'm using The Portion Teller by Lisa Young to calculate the number of servings I eat in each food group. My daily goal is to eat:

Vegetables, more than 3 servings
Fruits, 2 to 3 servings
Grains & Starchy Vegetables, 6 servings
Meat & Meat Alternatives, 2 to 3 servings
Dairy, 2 to 3 servings
Fat, 1 to 2 servings
Sweets & Treats, 0 to 1 serving


Monday: a=5;b=3;c=6;d=3;e=2;f=2;g=1 right on target! :)

Tuesday: a=6;b=1;c=6;d=3;e=2;f=1;g=4 (++)A Paczki for Fat Tues. put me way over :(

Wednesday: a=6;b=2;c=6;d=4(+);e=2;f=1;g=1 Not bad :)

Thursday: a=5;b=2;c=8(+);d=4 (+);d=2;f=3(+);g=2(+) my piggiest day so far :(

Friday: Way over!!! I didn't even write it down. :(

Saturday: a=1(-);b=1(-);c=4;d=3;e=2; f=1;g=3(++) ate less, trying to make up for yesterday

Sunday: a=4;b=3;c=5;d=2;e=3;f=2;g=2(+) :)

Ok, so according to the calculator I just accessed, I need around 3200 calories a day to maintain my weight at my present level of activity.
woa, that seems like a lot. How much do you ride a day? How much do you weigh?

Good idea Mars. I always enjoyed reading the Commute Club threads even though I didn't qualify to participate. I hope I remember to do this!

Instead of counting calories, I'm using The Portion Teller by Lisa Young to calculate the number of servings I eat in each food group. My daily goal is to eat:

Vegetables, more than 3 servings
Fruits, 2 to 3 servings
Grains & Starchy Vegetables, 6 servings
Dairy, 2 to 3 servings
Meat & Meat Alternatives, 2 to 3 servings
Fat, 1 to 2 servings
Sweets & Treats, 0 to 1 serving


Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday


good luck Roody, glad to see you here!

woa, that seems like a lot. How much do you ride a day? How much do you weigh?It sounds right, if Mars weighs roughly 200 pounds and is "vey active." Body weight seems to have much more effect on these figures than activity level does, BTW.

But those calories add up fast when you keep track accurately! Remember to include your beverages as well as solid food.

It sounds right, if Mars weighs roughly 200 pounds and is "vey active." Body weight seems to have much more effect on these figures than activity level does, BTW.

But those calories add up fast when you keep track accurately! Remember to include your beverages as well as solid food.

Man, do they ever! I've eaten 500 calories without batting a lip! :eek:

fitday looks pretty great. However, I'm going to stay low tech with a $.69 memo pad, because the key for me is having it with me in my pocket all day, so I can write things down right away before they are forgotten, flip through it whenever I'm standing on line or something, and having it there to capture everything right away can be a disincentive to frivolous food choices.


Edit: Although I must say, some of the calorie numbers on fitday don't seem right to me. Only 550 calories for THREE slices of pepperoni pizza???

Zowie, my wife and I were just laughing about that line from Donnie Darko! Ha, that's great. Remember don't look for love in all the wrong places!

I did great today--I hit the target portions right on the nose! I admit this is my third week using the Portion Teller, so it is easier than at first. And I don't always get it just right, but it averages out. This is easier than counting calories, which I've done in the past.

I used Fitday last year. It was fun and not too hard. But it took longer than Portion Teller. Like zowie, I was skeptical of some of the figures. I liked being able to see all your other nutrients added up like protein, fat, vitamins and so on. I permanently changed my eating habits when I saw those results on Fitday!

I did great today--I hit the target portions right on the nose! I admit this is my third week using the Portion Teller, so it is easier than at first. And I don't always get it just right, but it averages out. This is easier than counting calories, which I've done in the past.

I used Fitday last year. It was fun and not too hard. But it took longer than Portion Teller. Like zowie, I was skeptical of some of the figures. I liked being able to see all your other nutrients added up like protein, fat, vitamins and so on. I permanently changed my eating habits when I saw those results on Fitday!


Are you losing weight using the Portion Teller? Nice job staying on target btw. :)

I use the Free Fitday service and have added in most of the things I eat from the package labels. In general their calorie numbers on correct from what I can see. Eating out is the killer. Pizza Hut pizza will have a lot more cals then a frozen Tonys. Neither of which are any good for us. Later.

Are you losing weight using the Portion Teller? Nice job staying on target btw. :)
Thanks. :)

But what about you? You were 800 calories under your target! At this rate you'll cease to exist in a couple months! BTW, how much would you weigh if you went to Mars?

Too soon to tell. I've been losing weight (this time) since July 15, 2005. My longterm goal, after s l o w l y getting to my goal weight is to keep the weight off. I'm hoping that Portion Teller will help me do that, by making me more aware of how much I eat. Like many overweight people, I have a mild eating disorder. My body doesn't seem to give me the right cues about when I'm hungry and when I'm full. So I need some external method to help me do this. Like I said, Fitday helped a lot a couple years ago. So did just writing down how much I ate, sort of like you're doing.

I use the Free Fitday service and have added in most of the things I eat from the package labels. In general their calorie numbers on correct from what I can see. Eating out is the killer. Pizza Hut pizza will have a lot more cals then a frozen Tonys. Neither of which are any good for us. Later.
I did the same thing! For example, I usually eat the same thing for breakfast, so I added it all up (oatmeal, raisins, banana, peanut butter and skim milk) and entered it into the Fitday database as "Roody's breakfast." It might still be there?

I do a similar thing with Portion Teller. I now know by heart that my breakfast is "2 grains, 2 fruits, 1 fat and 1 dairy."

So how's it going?

I've had a couple good days and a couple bad days. I'm going to weigh myself today, so that should give me a good indication of how well this is working.

Second week:


a. Vegetables, more than 3 servings
b. Fruits, 2 to 3 servings
c. Grains & Starchy Vegetables, 6 servings
d. Meat & Meat Alternatives, 2 to 3 servings
e. Dairy, 2 to 3 servings
f. Fat, 1 to 2 servings
g. Sweets & Treats, 0 to 1 serving