This is why I log my food & exercise - x-post

I've been battling an injury since Oct. and between that, the holidays and it being the triathlon off season, I was up a few pounds by year's end. In Jan, I decided to get my act together and I started exercising more and eating less. But my weight didn't really change. I was so frustrated! How could I be operating at a calorie deficit but not lose weight?

Everyone told me things like:

- it's water retention (for 6 weeks?)
-muscle weighs more than fat (my muscle mass had gone down and my body fat % up)
- it's about how your clothes fit (tight)

I know people were trying to make me feel good and, if you are trying to lose 50 lb., maybe freaking out about 3 lb., like I was doesn't seem reasonable. But the reality is that I had gained and it was a real gain, no****er retention or building muscle and my weight was not going down even though I was eating less and exercising more.

I was pulling my hair out and ready to throw in the towel when I decided to download my food diaries from My Fitness Pal and put them into a spreadsheet. This is something I used to do every month or even every couple of weeks when I was losing, but I hadn't done it since mid-Oct!

So I did it and what did I discover?! That I was eating 100 net calories a day MORE than I thought I was in Jan. In fact, I was not operating at a calorie deficit AT ALL. I just thought I was because that was my perception from inputing the food and remembering the days I was under and not so much the days I was over.

However, I have been operating at a calorie deficit in Feb. and my weight has already started to come down. So, knowing that the laws of physics have not been violated after all along with seeing the scale respond the way it should be responding has done wonders for my mood and I am no longer frustrated.

But, if I didn't log and I didn't actually study those logs, I would never have realized what was going on and would have continued to be frustrated and maybe would have given up and started to eat more and more (as has happened in the past).

 ok, so how do you figure out if you are operating at a calorie deficit? I am really working hard, but nothing seems to be moving, I am feeling a little better in my clothes these days, but still no movement on the scale.  I want to learn all I can about making my body better.

Thank you,
Erin

At one point I wore a heart rate monitor every time I exercised. I got a good sense for how many calories I burned with what sport and what level of effort. These days I use the generic formulas at My Fitness Pal but I adjust them if they seem high based on what I was seeing when I wore a HRM.

Then, in my spreadsheet, I take the average calories eaten per day, subtract off the average calories burned in exercise, and that gives me my average net calories.

  Erin, I use My Plate religiously, and log every calorie.  Well worth the effort.  It will calculate a base metabolic rate for you and then you can add calories/exercise.

http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/

It's amazing how our minds work, Mac!  Log, log log!   Congratulations on getting a grip on the calorie defifict v. surplus!

Thank you soo much for sharing and showing how important it is to track and be aware of what you are doing and eating.

I'm just starting (had surgery on the ninth of Feb) and so I'm still in the walking stage, about a mile and a half a day (spread over a couple of dog walks). But I want to be jogging/running my dog two miles by May. My husband thinks I might be a bit pre-mature on wanting to be able to do that. But I think I can and SHOULD be able to do that! hehe

Thanks for the great info!! I so appreciate it!