AniaR
09-12-2012, 05:20 PM
So, this past year has been a struggle for me body image wise. After rounds and rounds of different medication I found my weight going up very quickly with no signs of stopping. My favourite clothes stopped fitting and clothes that were always loose were now very tight. I had a LOT of water retention and my face was getting bloated a lot.
Unfortunately for me after some discussion with my doctor we realized on the med regime I was on my weight would continue to go up and we weren't sure when it would stop. Since starting meds I've gained 20lbs, gradually at first, but then quite quickly in the end.
So, the meds are stopped and the water retention and bloating stopped instantly! Yay! But now... how to get off all that extra weight I put on (mostly in my tummy area!)
I have been working out, swimming, physio, having a very active job and I couldn't understand WHY it wasn't changing. I thought I was eating healthy.
Well, I started using a FREE website that also has FREE app called www.myfitnesspal.com and I wanted to suggest it to you all. I know body image and size is something a lot of mers are concerned with. This has REALLY helped me!
When you join, it helps you calculate based on what your BMI is and what a healthy BMI is and it'll tell you YOUR target goal for calories every day. (2000 is what is used generally because it fits many people- that # may not be the right number for you). It lets you input your food every day for every meal, tells you the calories but also tells you how much salt and sugar and pretty much anything else you'd like it to specify. It also tells you what you should be eating (in green) and if you over eat (in red) both with calories, vitamins, sugar, and salt. You can also put in all your exercise including things like cleaning.
It's a great free program, you can customize it for how much weight you wanna lose or muscle you wanna gain OR if you just want to maintain your body. It's also customizable for pregnant ladies to make sure they're eating all the right stuff.
So for me, the first thing I found out was I have waaaay too much sugar without even eating junk food. I didn't realize just how much sugar was in certain types of food! Same with salt! I also had no clue how many calories were in some of my favourite meals at restaurants. I'm not even talking fast food, I'm talking restaurant.
Here's a few screen shots
http://mernetwork.com/index/attachment.php?attachmentid=6263&stc=1&d=1347484012
In this one above, you can see it's set up a bit like FB to be easy to use. At the top you see how many calories I have remaining that I can eat today. Normally that number isn't so high but when you look in that chart you'll see how many calories I burned. From the top bar and the left bar you can click to input your information for food etc. On the little banner to the left it tells you how much weight you've lost. Mine used to say 5lbs... then I went camping for the long weekend and ate hot dogs and smores all weekend. LOL went RIIIIGHT back up.
http://mernetwork.com/index/attachment.php?attachmentid=6264&stc=1&d=1347484208
Here's an example of a day for me that's not too bad with food but still has a lot of sugar. Yesterday I slept through breakfast. Lunch ended up being my breakfast. Had plain yogurt and granola bars. Already 11/39 for my sugar, and 120 for salt. The salt isn't too bad, you actually need around 2000-2500 for that but keep in mind one satchel of salt from a fast food joint is usually OVER 2500g. As the day goes on, I have good intentions... I eat veggie rolls for supper. I had a mango with nutella on it as a snack later on and holy cow look at that sugar! Nutella as marketed as something fairly healthy... but that's a lot of sugar for a little spread!
Now you'll notice at the bottom it tells you how much you're likely to weight in 5 weeks if every day you ate like this. Normally that number is higher for me, but if you look down farther you'll see there's a warning telling me I didn't eat enough calories and my body could be in starvation mode.
That's not the first time I got that message. When I started keeping this food diary through my fitness (which btw you can access right from your phone so if you're ever in a doc app and you need to know what you've been eating you can pull it right up!) I got it frequently. I realized I wasn't eating enough food and enough variety, having too much sugar and salt, and barley drinking any water. No wonder I couldn't get that extra weight off. My body was keeping all that fat saying "noooo! I don't know when I'll have this again!". I also found my cravings for sugar were through the roof!
Yesterday wasn't the best eating day for me. But I have been doing much better. This kind of calorie counting doesn't work for everyone, but I have started FEELING better just by looking at those numbers and making better choices for the next day. I'll eat something with more protein so I feel full longer and don't get as tired. A lot of things high in protein have less salt and sugar.
Keep in mind my diet is extremely restrictive so I can't eat the same things you can. You'll have more choice than I do!
Myfitness also has a tab for recipes put together by the community that already have all this stuff worked out. You can menu plan and have it all done for you. They also have a big community of vegans, vegetarians, and people with diabetes.
Anyway, I have reallly enjoyed being on this site so I wanted to share it with you all. Like I said, it's free. I think it's great not just for losing weight but actually feeling HEALTHY. I have felt so much better just by changing things around and drinking more water. Plus, it's motivating. The social aspect of it keeps me motivated too. You only share as much as you want.
If anyone does join, feel free to add me : Rainamermaid :3
Unfortunately for me after some discussion with my doctor we realized on the med regime I was on my weight would continue to go up and we weren't sure when it would stop. Since starting meds I've gained 20lbs, gradually at first, but then quite quickly in the end.
So, the meds are stopped and the water retention and bloating stopped instantly! Yay! But now... how to get off all that extra weight I put on (mostly in my tummy area!)
I have been working out, swimming, physio, having a very active job and I couldn't understand WHY it wasn't changing. I thought I was eating healthy.
Well, I started using a FREE website that also has FREE app called www.myfitnesspal.com and I wanted to suggest it to you all. I know body image and size is something a lot of mers are concerned with. This has REALLY helped me!
When you join, it helps you calculate based on what your BMI is and what a healthy BMI is and it'll tell you YOUR target goal for calories every day. (2000 is what is used generally because it fits many people- that # may not be the right number for you). It lets you input your food every day for every meal, tells you the calories but also tells you how much salt and sugar and pretty much anything else you'd like it to specify. It also tells you what you should be eating (in green) and if you over eat (in red) both with calories, vitamins, sugar, and salt. You can also put in all your exercise including things like cleaning.
It's a great free program, you can customize it for how much weight you wanna lose or muscle you wanna gain OR if you just want to maintain your body. It's also customizable for pregnant ladies to make sure they're eating all the right stuff.
So for me, the first thing I found out was I have waaaay too much sugar without even eating junk food. I didn't realize just how much sugar was in certain types of food! Same with salt! I also had no clue how many calories were in some of my favourite meals at restaurants. I'm not even talking fast food, I'm talking restaurant.
Here's a few screen shots
http://mernetwork.com/index/attachment.php?attachmentid=6263&stc=1&d=1347484012
In this one above, you can see it's set up a bit like FB to be easy to use. At the top you see how many calories I have remaining that I can eat today. Normally that number isn't so high but when you look in that chart you'll see how many calories I burned. From the top bar and the left bar you can click to input your information for food etc. On the little banner to the left it tells you how much weight you've lost. Mine used to say 5lbs... then I went camping for the long weekend and ate hot dogs and smores all weekend. LOL went RIIIIGHT back up.
http://mernetwork.com/index/attachment.php?attachmentid=6264&stc=1&d=1347484208
Here's an example of a day for me that's not too bad with food but still has a lot of sugar. Yesterday I slept through breakfast. Lunch ended up being my breakfast. Had plain yogurt and granola bars. Already 11/39 for my sugar, and 120 for salt. The salt isn't too bad, you actually need around 2000-2500 for that but keep in mind one satchel of salt from a fast food joint is usually OVER 2500g. As the day goes on, I have good intentions... I eat veggie rolls for supper. I had a mango with nutella on it as a snack later on and holy cow look at that sugar! Nutella as marketed as something fairly healthy... but that's a lot of sugar for a little spread!
Now you'll notice at the bottom it tells you how much you're likely to weight in 5 weeks if every day you ate like this. Normally that number is higher for me, but if you look down farther you'll see there's a warning telling me I didn't eat enough calories and my body could be in starvation mode.
That's not the first time I got that message. When I started keeping this food diary through my fitness (which btw you can access right from your phone so if you're ever in a doc app and you need to know what you've been eating you can pull it right up!) I got it frequently. I realized I wasn't eating enough food and enough variety, having too much sugar and salt, and barley drinking any water. No wonder I couldn't get that extra weight off. My body was keeping all that fat saying "noooo! I don't know when I'll have this again!". I also found my cravings for sugar were through the roof!
Yesterday wasn't the best eating day for me. But I have been doing much better. This kind of calorie counting doesn't work for everyone, but I have started FEELING better just by looking at those numbers and making better choices for the next day. I'll eat something with more protein so I feel full longer and don't get as tired. A lot of things high in protein have less salt and sugar.
Keep in mind my diet is extremely restrictive so I can't eat the same things you can. You'll have more choice than I do!
Myfitness also has a tab for recipes put together by the community that already have all this stuff worked out. You can menu plan and have it all done for you. They also have a big community of vegans, vegetarians, and people with diabetes.
Anyway, I have reallly enjoyed being on this site so I wanted to share it with you all. Like I said, it's free. I think it's great not just for losing weight but actually feeling HEALTHY. I have felt so much better just by changing things around and drinking more water. Plus, it's motivating. The social aspect of it keeps me motivated too. You only share as much as you want.
If anyone does join, feel free to add me : Rainamermaid :3