peeperjj's Journal, 19 June 2018

Didn't even realize FS has couch-potato caloric usage. It has mine listed at about 500 more calories a day than I calculated it should be, which may be the reason my actual weight loss has been turning out to be about 1.5 times more than I thought it would be. If I stick their numbers into my formula, it's pretty close to what I've been losing. Are you building muscle? Weighs more than fat. Are you drinking enough water? Sleeping enough? Getting enough fiber? I dunno...but their numbers seems to be pretty good to me.  

I’m 5’3” so 3k seems way too high. If I’m measuring with the calipers correctly about 30% BF. I was pretty sedentary from 5/1016-3/2018 because of restrictions due to cancer chemo and surgeries. I walked and moved around but no real exercise. Now I’m lucky to get in an hour of walking a week (3.5 mph at 3-7 incline at the Y). I do pick up and do things around the house and chase my kids around but nothing I’d consider muscle gaining. Occasionally while watching tv or talking on the phone I’ll lift 3lb weights as I’m currently on 5# restrictions for another couple of weeks. I’ll goof off and do squats with the kids occasionally and use my 3 yr old as my weights since she gets a kick out of it lol.  

Oh and no I don’t drink water. Coke Zero cherry, weak iced tea with Splenda or coffee. If I’m working out I’ll have a bottle of water and if I stop by the gas station I’ll grab a flavored water. Water around here tastes bad and even the bottles I don’t care for. When I’m sweating I can down two bottles though. I get 65-90oz or liquids. I get 5-15g if fiber per day and tmi but I only go twice a week and have been that’s ay since childhood. I sleep 4-9 hours depending on my insomnia and nightmares. When I pass out from lack of sleep I can get a good 12 hours in about once a week and feel great afterword. I know I need to drink water and sleep :/. Even my sleeping pills stopped working when I started eating less. And thanks for your reply :D  

From the sound of it, you get a LOT more exercise than I do. FS says mine is 500 less than yours. That doesn't sound too far off.  

I find somethings are definitely out of wack in the excersize section, so I also have mine set up as sedentary and add only really active exercise I do. most of the regular things are already included in that setting. at least with my bike riding I have a stationary bike that tells me how many calories for the time on it for me and I just adjust the fatsecret numbers to fit that. so yes I do agree you have to accept that maybe the activity is a bit high in calorie burning  

I have no idea. My elliptical tracks my calories and consistently comes up higher than fs. I don't know how the elliptical calculates them, so who knows what is right, lol. I just figure if i am moving, panting and sweating it is good. I don't track any exercise except when i am working out or walking and i set my activity level for sedentary. 

Oh i count yard work and shoveling snow too. 

Wouldn’t bother with it. Usually, calories expended estimations from calculators to exercise equipment etc. can be way off as well as vary from person to person. Just do your regular diet and adjust as needed with how you’re progressing towards your goal, it’ll be easier that way to figure things out. 

For example, way back I had bought a fancy shmancy calorie tracking watch, heart rate monitor built in, the works... it claimed that I burned 2400 calories daily, through a regular day, & 400/500 with workouts. Well, after experimenting for 4 months with it & eating 3000 calories daily, I was gaining weight rapidly no losing, sooo I came to the conclusion it sucked. Wasn’t accurate at all. For the reason being, even though the “math/calculation” portion on the watch was accurate, measuring heart rate etc... my body wasn’t, & that’s the fallacy with the various trackers, everyone’s body is vastly different, & that’s something to pay more attention to rather than numbers on whatever estimator is used. the Average is about 20% off, sometimes much more. So, just adjust things as you need to & don’t worry too much about the numbers. Because as long as you’re progressing towards your goal, that’s what matters most. 

That’s a problem... I’m not progressing lol. I am but VERY slowly. I decided to start tracking expenditures just so I know how active I am being on a daily basis. The gym is half an hour away so I’m trying to see what things I do at home that I could maybe plan to do more. I should experiment with just certain things like just housework then just yard work etc but my family wouldn’t be happy the weeks I wasn’t doing housework lol. My tracker said I burned 66 calories walking 3-3.5 mph at a 9 incline but the machine said 113. Both have my age weight and height. FS says 133. My BMR and tdee are a lot different depending on which app/calculator I use. Was hoping the fitness section could help me narrow it down a bit. There also isn’t a pattern for my weight loss based on calories macros or activities.  

A simple way is just take whatever portion sizes of whatever foods you usually eat and start cutting them in half. Try that for a couple of weeks & then adjust the amounts as needed. If it’s fast foods or restaurants/take out, try cutting those sizes into 3rds. Add the amounts up for the week and see what you have and what your weight is doing for 2-4weeks. Decrease/increase amounts until you find what works for you. If you have a large meal one day, have a smaller meal the next depending on how much you ate the previous day. Etc. fill up on water inbetween/during meals. 

I honestly can’t cut portions any more than I have. My oncologist is okay with the diet as long as I maintain 1200 calories per day, preferably 1500. I gain or maintain on 1500! Most weeks I’ve getting 1200 average. Until next month I’m only supposed to pick up 5#, no bending, slow strolling walks for up to half an hour at a time etc. I don’t follow those as I’m lucky to get a month off of restrictions before they want to start another phase of reconstruction. I just find it frustrating because I have a time limit to get recon done but anything over 130 raises my risk of a recurrence supposedly. They’d rather see me at 110-115. (But yeah that’s what I was at 16-18 pre kids and cancer lol). I’m just at a loss as to what else to try while sticking to their guidelines. Being heavy isn’t good but eating to little can cause me issues too.  

And I am trying to make more. Had a quick half hour in town so headed to the ymca. 9-14 incline 2.7-3.3mph for 15 minutes then a quick 15 minute basketball game with my kids. All against my drs rules but I can’t just sit around and expect to be healthy lol. I swell up so I know the scale tomorrow will probably show a pound gain but I’ll lose it again when the swelling goes down. Binder helps but I took it off for basketball as I couldn’t move or bend right. Today was my ‘big’ calorie day and I’m at like 1250 lol. Guess I’ll have to move it to tomorrow instead. I just wish there was something that was 95% accurate so that I could have better knowledge to help me decide what I could possibly tweak. Considering seeing if insurance will pay for a metabolic test and a dietician or nutritionist. I’m hoping they will to help lessen the risk of the cancer coming back.  

Pepperjj, you have problems I've never considered or at least not thought about a lot. It's interesting the way the body reacts to chemicals, especially necessary ones. The meds that are helping you heal in one way are messing with you in others. I guess the good news is that you won't be on those meds forever, right? And you know your limits, which helps. I can tell you: I have NEVER gone from laying around watching TV to building a chicken tractor! I didn't even know chickens could drive tractors... ;) 

Omg thanks so much for that laugh :). A chicken tractor is a pen that can be moved around the yard. I can put chicks or a couple hens in it and move it around so they get fresh grass, insects and worms. It’s funny that you said about them driving tractors. We have a smoker that was custom made by one of hubbys former customers. It’s in the shape of an old time tractor! The grill part is where the engine would be and the wood box is under the seat. Hubbys family jumped on it one time and couldn’t figure out how to start it lol.  

I have found it accurate. I know It hard. I find that peanut butter help with the cravings! Good Luck.  

Fat secrets calorie burn estimates are way off for me with exercise (shows much more calories burned). I had a fit bit for a while that tracted my heart rate so it showed a pretty accurate depiction of the calories my body should have been burning. I burned anywhere from 1800 on sedentary days to 3500 on days that I worked and went to the gym. According to my fitbit data and CICO I should have lost wayyyy more weight than I did. But my body simply doesn't work that way.  

I’m off meds, finished chemo 3/27/2017. I take vitamin D a LOT because I’m always low no matter how much I’m in the sun. We are working on fat grafting to make my implants even and ‘normal’ looking so I don’t like like Barbie with a boob job lol. I don’t care but hubby does and even my dr says it’s important. The scar is trying to adhere to the implant and fat between the two can help it release I guess. Bless the man, he took out 600cc the first round and only put about 150 of that back in. So he helped me lose half a pound lol. He plans to do that again if he has time for the next round and a third of its necessary. My medical issues stem from losing an implant due to improper healing. That side gives us troubles. It’s my weak side (left) and the more I do the more issues we have. I’m not supposed to do anything that would make them bounce or move a lot. Same for my abdomen where he took the fat. I can swell for the first 6 months and surgery was 4/25. It’s challenging because I have an oncologist saying work my ass off but stay 1200-1500 calories. My family dr says I’m fine but slow and steady wins the race. My surgeon says don’t lay around doing nothing but 10 minute slow walks three times a Day is all he wants me doing. Don’t lose mich and don’t gain. I would love to get them all in a room together with the YMCA trainer that I’ll start going to next week. They could hash it out and then agree on a plan. By trying to make them all happy I make myself more anxious and nobody is happy lol. So now I’m trying to do it only for me but keeping more to what the oncologist said because I’d rather be fat sassy and cancer free than skinny happy and dying. Add a depressive disorder that I’ve felt with for decades that likes to pop up most inconveniently... I force myself to be positive. I can’t force myself to be patient lol. I’m a numbers person and these numbers don’t fit a pattern so it’s frustrating. I want to work my butt off yet can’t. I want to eat 500 calories and not be hungry but I can’t. So I’ll cuss at the app and my frustrations while putting on my outside happy face until I feel as happy as people believe me to be ;). And I guess I’ll just be happy at 140 for a bit. I think I’ll stop at 130 and then go back to my normal if I can do it without adding more than 2# the first month. Also going from pretty much bed rest to doing these things is stressful on my body but great for my mental health! Just being able to do things is great even though I can’t be honest with my drs.  

@ Dawnie.. does heart rate play a big role? Perhaps that’s why the treadmill at the ymca seems to be the most accurate. I keep my hands on the reader things and my heart rate stays between 142-155 when I walk 3-3.5 mph and incline from 2-14. It got to 183 once at the beginning. Hubby kept pushing me saying I was on target but I felt like I was having a heart attack. One of my 3 chemo was one that affects the heart so I freaked out a bit. Now any time I get it 170+ it’s the same feeling and I slow down or take a break. I’m hoping that my heart gets stronger during this as well and maybe I can start keeping it 160ish and not feel bad. My tracker doesn’t have a heart rate function. I really need to just walk causally on the treadmill like I would around the house. Maybe I could use those numbers for a more accurate calorie expenditure for my normal activities. For not I’m using ‘resting’ for anything that isn’t things like walks, treadmill, playing ball, cooking etc.  

@karriann unfortunately peanut butter would take a lot of my daily calories. I do like it though and when really hungry in the past I’d grab a quick spoonful. Honey would help with sugar cravings. Now Splenda in my coffee helps with sugar cravings and hunger as long as I’m just a little hungry. Once the stomach is really growling nothing but carbs starch or beef helps. I love Splenda now. In your opinion would a 5’3” 140 pound female with 30% body fat burn 2500-3000 calories per day doing things like 60 minutes of slow walking, light housework, reading, feeding pets and driving? That sums up most of my day lol. Also explains why most of my fat that’s left is in my butt haha. I think maybe it would be best to make an appt with my family doctor and get his opinion? I was eating around 1800-2200 calories before my diet and gained 10# in 7 months. I only added in the walking since then and the occasional 3# weights while I talk on the phone and some ball playing and treadmill. Maybe 150-200 calories a day average.