Lets see if technology helps me lose weight!

ripcord

Decided to try one of these fitness logs! I originally posted a thread here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056650407 about trying to lose weight before my holiday in September. I got some great advice!

I spent a few weeks trying things that didn't work, but then I got pointed to an iphone app called My Fitness Pal. It's really been a great help. I'm going to start this log from the time I started using the MFP app.

So I've gone with the simplistic approach - to lose weight, I need to burn more calories than I take in.
The app takes your information and tells you how many calories you need each day depending on how much you want to lose.

I entered my information into the app as follows:
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 11''
Weight: 227.4 lbs (103 kg)
Lifestyle: Sedentary (I work in an office)

It tells me my "Calorific Requirement" (how many calories I need to maintain my current weight) is 2500.
So to lose 2 pounds per week I need to reduce this by 7000 calories (1 pound = 3500 calories). This is a reduction of 1000 per day, which allows me 1500 per day.

I enter all the food I eat into the app to make sure I'm keeping it as accurate as possible. I exercise during the week, but I don't take this into account as I would probably overestimate the calories burned. The extra exercise also allows me some leeway (if I go a hundred or so calories over on a day).

As some background, I've been overweight since I was young. I was ok in college, but unhealthy eating as I grew older took its toll. I believe I was 250 pounds a few years ago! I do have some muscle, and I'm pretty broad, but there's definitley plenty of fat to go! At the moment, my current goal it 210 pounds (15 stone). That would be fantastic!

So here it is! I will include the first couple of weeks at the start.

ripcord

And so it began

ripcord

So here it is! Last Wednesday I weighed 227.4 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

Here is my daily calorie intake. I tried to be as accurate as I could - calculating the amount I got from ingredients in home cooked meals etc. Also sometimes scanning the barcodes on packaged goods. (I just got really hungry on Saturday so slipped up with some extra snacks and a massive bowl of cereal ).

WED 1,559
THU 1,464
FRI 1,687
SAT 2,356
SUN 1,414
MON 1,551
TUE 1,569

The above numbers are only for food. I did not take exercise into account.
During those seven days, I had the following exercise:
* Two 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* One 1-hour five a side soccer game.
* One spinning class.

It was tough. All week I was generally hungry and tired.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 11/7 I now weigh 223.25 lbs! A loss of 4.1 lbs This seems alot. Scales is very accurate and I weighed myself at the same time and same place as last week. I also took different readings to make sure.

Others have suggested this is "water weight" and an expected result. After doing some research It seems they are probably right.

ripcord

Last Wednesday I weighed223.25 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

Here is my daily calorie intake. Weekend was a disastor. Beer and chipper friday. Comfort food and junk at the cinema saturday.

WED 1629
THU 1455
FRI 2671
SAT 2870
SUN 2093
MON 1577
TUE 1587

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned were not factored into the numbers above)
* Two 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* One 1-hour five a side soccer game.
* One spinning class.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 18/7 I now weigh 221.25 lbs! A loss of exactly 2 lbs I'm delighted. Considering how disasterous the weekend was, I was hoping for any sort of weight loss.

Its started me thinking maybe if I kept good during the week, I could have one day a week where I "indulge" in foods that are less than healthy - and still maintain weight loss. This is probably not a good idea though.

ripcord

Last Wednesday I weighed 221.25 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

Here is my daily calorie intake. Weekend was redicolous. Stag weekend. Breakfast rolls, fizzy drinks, take-aways, and loads of beer. A great weekend, but I'm regretting some of it now!

WED 1479
THU 1567
FRI 4024
SAT 3734
SUN 3599
MON 1508
TUE 1783

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* Two 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* One 1-hour five a side soccer game.


And the result? Today on Wednesday 25/7 I now weigh 223.55 lbs! A gain of 1.2 lbs I'm a bit pi$$ed off, but I really can't complain, considering the weekend I had.

In the thread I referenced in my OP, people suggested that the increase is due to "water weight" (glycogen) in the body after all the carbs at the weekend. I did some reading and it makes sense. Next wednesday will be interesting!

ripcord

Last Wednesday I weighed 223.55 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

Here is my daily calorie intake. Kept good this week. No beer. I've had a flu since last Thursday and I haven't fully recovered yet. Hence not so much training.

WED 1481
THU 1549
FRI 1674
SAT 1766
SUN 1830
MON 1600
TUE 1477

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* One 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* One 1-hour five a side soccer game.


And the result? Today on Wednesday 1/8 I now weigh 215.5 lbs! A loss of 8 lbs :eek: . Can't believe it. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure. (Some of them dropped to 214.5 but I decided to round it up).

Its alot to lose. I can only assume that last week I was indeed still carrying some "water weight" from the previous weekend. Added to the fact that I was good all week. Maybe the flu helped with the weight loss? Not sure. I'm happy anyway! And I'm at the second last hole on my belt!

ripcord

Last Wednesday I weighed 215.5 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

Here is my daily calorie intake. I was generally over this limit this week. Not very good. Friday was a disastor - night out with lads from work and more beer/food than I can remember (literally!) No training because I'm not being completely rid of this flu.

WED 1575
THU 2528
FRI 4096
SAT 2433
SUN 1677
MON 1757
TUE 1556

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* No exercise at all. Still not 100% after flu.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 8/8 I now weigh 214.75 lbs! A loss of .75 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

I'm actually happy it hasn't gone up. The lack of any exercise and the binging at the weekend probably stopped it dropping. I have a wedding in 2 and 1/2 weeks - if I can get down to 210 for that I'd be delighted!! I can't remember the last time I was 210!

ripcord

Last Wednesday I weighed 214.75 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

Here is my daily calorie intake. This was a bad week. Kinda lost enthusiasm for it, and had some fast food at the weekend.

WED 1468
THU 1558
FRI 1603
SAT 2472
SUN 2478
MON 2315
TUE 1617

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* Two 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* One spinning class.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 15/8 I now weigh 214.25 lbs! A loss of .5 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

Again I'm happy it hasn't gone up. Have to try and get more dedicated this week.

hellosunshine2

Congratulations! At least you're losing weight with the help of this technology that you have. In fairness, you are doing great I think. I suggest you would also buy a cheap pedometer. I know you have a sedentary lifestyle but it would really help I guess. You can measure the number of steps you take in a day. You can even park your car to a farther place and keep yourself moving in the office like go the photocopier machine to pick up documents, go to the water dispenser, use the stairs instead of using the elevator etc. I guess in these simple ways we can start losing weight as well.

ripcord

hellosunshine2 wrote: »

Congratulations! At least you're losing weight with the help of this technology that you have. In fairness, you are doing great I think. I suggest you would also buy a cheap pedometer. I know you have a sedentary lifestyle but it would really help I guess. You can measure the number of steps you take in a day. You can even park your car to a farther place and keep yourself moving in the office like go the photocopier machine to pick up documents, go to the water dispenser, use the stairs instead of using the elevator etc. I guess in these simple ways we can start losing weight as well.

Thanks for the support and advice!

ripcord

Last Wednesday I weighed 214.25 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

Here is my daily calorie intake. This was a good week. I've noticed a trend. Its easier to stick to the limits when in a usual routine e.g. weekdays where I'm in work and I eat meals at the same time each day. Days where things get shaken-up are trickier (like weekends).

WED 1502
THU 1562
FRI 1562
SAT 1852
SUN 1794
MON 1779
TUE 1502

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* One 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* One hour in the gym (kept it pretty light)
* One 1-hour five a side soccer game.
* One spinning class.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 22/8 I now weigh 212.15 lbs! A loss of 2.1 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

Pretty happy with that. Down to the last hole in my belt! (I should probably get a new one ). I have a wedding on Friday and another night out on the Saturday. Next week I'll be happy if it hasn't gone up..

ripcord

Last Wednesday I weighed 212.15 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

Here is my daily calorie intake. This was a terrible week. It was a long weekend consisting of a family reunion and a seperate wedding and then another night out. I ate/drank so much I stopped even trying to count the cals. I added a random value of 4000 for the weekend and thats being conservative!

WED 1588
THU 1920
FRI 4000
SAT 4000
SUN 4000
MON 2505
TUE 1973

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* One 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)

And the result? Today on Wednesday 29/8 I now weigh 212.85 lbs! A gain of 0.7 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

Not too worried about it. In fact i'm relieved that it isn't more. Must get back on track this week. Nothing major happening this weekend so I should be able to stay good!

lorrieq

Nice work, losing alot! You can see clearly the correlation between calorie intake and weight loss, so it's up to you It;ll only get harder though as you become lighter!

ripcord

lorrieq wrote: »

Nice work, losing alot! You can see clearly the correlation between calorie intake and weight loss, so it's up to you It;ll only get harder though as you become lighter!

Thanks! I think 1500 per day is the minimum I could manage. As can be seen from previous weeks, I can barely keep it around that. I doubt a man my height and build should be eating any less anyway. Thankfully I think the excercise is compensating for when I'm over. I suppose i'll just keep going until I hit my "target" wieght (haven't decided what that is yet)

At the moment my current goal is 210 (15 stone). That would be great. A couple of years ago I was 17 1/2 stone so 15 would be a blessing! Starting to get compliments from people about how well I look, which is nice

In any case, I'm going on a 6-week holiday to asia starting in three weeks. So the calorie counting will be stopped for that! I'm not too worried, I tend to lose weight when I go on holidays anyway. All that sightseeing

ripcord

Last Wednesday I weighed 212.85 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

Here is my daily calorie intake. Sunday was a complete disaster. Take away, cakes, fizzy drinks etc. So bad that once again I just added random calories for that day. Also, once again, it was tricky to keep track of things at the weekend.

WED 1701
THU 1608
FRI 1603
SAT 2395
SUN 4000
MON 1608
TUE 1732

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* Two 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* One 1-hour five a side soccer game.
* Two spinning classes.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 5/9 I now weigh 210.25 lbs! A loss of 2.6 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

Horray! I have reached my first milestone of 210 pounds (15 stone). Haven't been this weight in a long time! . I'm assuming the extra exercise this week compensated for the extra calories at the weekend. Next Wednesday will be the last update as I'm going on holidays for a few weeks!

ripcord

Well I'm back!

After a fantastic 6 week holiday. I've had two months with no exercise, and I've been eating alot of junk and drinking plenty of holiday beer!.

So, my current weight is now 219.6 lbs! An increase of 9 lbs since my last weigh-in! Not good!

I'm getting back to the MFP app now. I've been on it since monday - but i prefer to weigh-in every wednesday. So here we go - lets lose some of those pounds for christmas!

ripcord

Oh dear.

Started to track calories, but it all fell apart last friday. Weekend was a disastor and not much exercise. Now I'm 221.2 - an increase of 1.6 lbs.

Can't believe I put on that much in only a few days. Maybe last weeks reading was a bit off. Anyway - determined now to get back into it. My next target is 14 stone - 196 lbs. A long way to go. I've got a holiday in spain next april so i have approx 4 months to get somewhat respectable for the beach!

kennyb3

Your consistency is shocking - at least one disaster day a week, sometimes two.

It's obvious you can just go for a few beers and eat healthy so it looks like you need to go cold turkey.

ripcord

Weekly Target: 226 lbs.

Back again! Its been a bad christmas but the diet and training starts back today.

A new goal - I want to be 14 stone (196 lbs) on Wednesday 17th April. So I need to lose 2 pounds a week. Working backwards from that date (based on 2 lbs a week loss) I need to be 226 today.

So this 226 value represents my target for this week. This will decrease 2lbs every week.

ripcord

Weekly Target: 224 lbs.

Last Wednesday I weighed 229.9 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

Started to keep track of the calories, but slipped up for a few days so I stopped (not a good idea!). I made some small changes though - no fizzy drinks and no takeaways. Exercise wasn't great.

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* 1 hour circuit training in the gym.
* 1 spinning class.
* I game five-a-side football.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 9/1 I now weigh 227.2 lbs! A loss of 2.7 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

I'm happy enough. Not sure how much is water weight. Quit a bit off my weekly goal though! The adventure continues...

ripcord

Weekly Target: 222 lbs.

Last Wednesday I weighed 227.2 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

Wasn't keeping track of calories last week, but I did start on Monday. Next week will have complete numbers!

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* One 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* One spinning class.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 16/1 I now weigh 224.8 lbs! A loss of 2.4 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

I started the diet and training on Monday so I imagine most of this is water weight and simply less food in my system. I'll have a better idea next Wednesday. At least I'm heading in the right direction!

ripcord

Weekly Target: 220 lbs.

Last Wednesday I weighed 224.8 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

WED 1748
THU 1645
FRI 1846
SAT 3016
SUN 2560
MON 1465
TUE 2083

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* Two 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* Two spinning classes.
* One gym session (pretty light)

And the result? Today on Wednesday 23/1 I now weigh 222.3 lbs! A loss of 2.5 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

I'm happy with that! Still heading in the right direction. Food intake a bitt high, especially at the weekend, purely due to food (not drink). The training is going well so I'm sure that's compensating. Onwards and upwards! (or downwards in this case!)

ripcord

Weekly Target: 218 lbs.

Last Wednesday I weighed 222.3 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

WED 1532
THU 1524
FRI 1695
SAT 3095
SUN 1917
MON 1559
TUE 1560

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* Two 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* One spinning class.
* One hour 5-a-side soccer.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 30/1 I now weigh 220.2 lbs! A loss of 2.1 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

Pretty happy with that! Once again, food intake was bad at the weekend. Not drink related, but junk food. Again, I'm doing a good amount of exercise so I'm assuming it's compensating for the junk food. Still tracking 2lbs shy of my weekly target, but I'm not complaining too much!

ripcord

Weekly Target: 216 lbs.

Last Wednesday I weighed 220.2 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

WED 1668
THU 2256
FRI 1852
SAT 1754
SUN 1395
MON 1662
TUE 1727

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* One 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* Two spinning classes.
* One hour in the gym (light).
* One hour 5-a-side soccer.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 6/2 I now weigh 218.5 lbs! A loss of 1.7 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

Hmmm. With that much exercise and the levels of calorie intake I would have expected more weight loss. Don't get me wrong! Still happy its going down! I'm just curious. Perhaps I'm under-estimating the calorie intake for the times when I go "off the rails"!. Certain things are hard to judge calorie-wise. For example, went to the cinema on thursday and had a bag of pic-n-mix. Hard to judge that!

ripcord

Weekly Target: 214 lbs.

Last Wednesday I weighed 218.5 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 13/2 I now weigh 219.8 lbs! A gain of 1.3 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

The less said about this week, the better. Just gave up - eating crap food and missed out a couple of days exercise. Now tracking 5 lbs off my target :mad:

Must be more commited next week...

ripcord

Weekly Target: 212 lbs.

Last Wednesday I weighed 219.8 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

WED 1606
THU 1610
FRI 1624
SAT 1550
SUN 2593
MON 2074
TUE 1585

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* Two 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* One spinning classes.
* One hour in the gym (light).
* One hour 5-a-side soccer.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 20/2 I now weigh 216 lbs! A loss of 3.8 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

Well! Am very happy with the large loss. My clothes are definitley a lot looser. I doubt it was all fat loss - so perhaps I was carrying some water weight from the high value last week. Food was pretty good. Exercise is still the key - must keep that up. Tracking 4 lbs off the target now, but can't complain.

ripcord

Weekly Target: 210 lbs.

Last Wednesday I weighed 216 lbs. The MFP app indicated that to lose 2lbs I should keep my daily calorie count at 1500.

WED 1896
THU 1605
FRI 1756
SAT 3000
SUN 2155
MON 1641
TUE 1596

Weekly Excercise: (Calories burned not taken into account above)
* One 1-hour boxing training sessions (like circuit training)
* Two spinning classes.
* One hour in the gym (light).
* Two hour 5-a-side soccer.

And the result? Today on Wednesday 27/2 I now weigh 214.4 lbs! A loss of 1.6 lbs. Weighed myself at the same time as last week, same place, and took several readings to make sure.

Food wasn't great this week. Saturday went off the deep end completely - gave up counting the calories so just put 3000 as estimate! The 5 days of training is still helping keep off the "slip ups" at the weekend.

This weekend is a stag weekend! I'll be happy if I'm the same weight this time next week