Monkey's Diary

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MonkeysInMyLunchBox

MonkeysInMyLunchBox

New member
Hi everyone,

I am a 35 year old man and want to lost weight, as I notice my metabolism is slowing down and working a desk job isn't helping, because I am starting to jiggle, lol! :)
For the first format I am using the samples they posted in the top of the WLF forum. Then the next posts will be much shorter updates daily.

Any feedback and friendly chats are more than welcome! :waving:

1. How much weight do you want to lose?
15kg (from 99 to 84)

2. What is the timeframe for reaching your target weight?
End 2020 (11 months)

3. How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)?
a) Swapping beer with whiskey and water
b) Eating vegetarian again (3 days in already)
c) Walking 3-5km every day before work (2 days in already)
d) Doing calisthenics exercises
e) Eating less calories by eating slower: chewing 32 times and setting 20min timer to eat a meal (one week in already)
f) Using my Habitica app (and friends on it) to gamify the experience (2 months in already)

4. Who or what can support you in reaching your goal?
My 2 friends and brother who are also starting some of the same activities.

5. How realistic is your goal?
I think it's doable, mostly a combo of things, and if I'm accountable to you guys and my friends it should help.

6. When will you start?
I start officially Feb 2020, though I'm testing a few things out as mentioned above.

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I don't want to post too much in my first journal, but if needed, here is more info:

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  1. What is your current height and weight? 194cm / 99.1kg / BMI: 26.3
  2. At what weight would you like to be at four months from now? 90kg
  3. Why do you want to lose weight? Health / Fit in my clothes again lol :smilielol5:
  4. What obstacles could get between you and your weight loss goals? Alcohol, it makes me eat stupid
  5. Why do you think that you now have a weight problem? Desk job and eating because I crave, not because I'm hungry.
  6. Have you lost weight in the past? If so, what has worked in the past to help you lose weight? Yes, I was part of a running club and did calisthenics at home.
  7. Would you try writing down all food and drink consumed for a given period of time? Yes, starting after this post.
  8. Do you cook at home often? If so, what do you cook? No, my wife does.
  9. How often do you go out to eat? Where do you go? I go buy one toasted cheese and tomato sandwich at my work's cafeteria every day. (affordable and vegetarian)
  10. What are your three favorite foods? Sushi / Veg burgers, sandwiches and salads / Fries + potato chips
  11. What are your three favorite restaurants? Wimpy / McDonalds / Sushi
  12. What are three things you can do differently when it comes to food? Eat more raw and unprocessed foods, and smaller portions
  13. If you woke up tomorrow and your body was exactly the way you want it, what would be different? I would feel much lighter and healthier and less wobbly lol. :oops:
  14. Do you eat when you are not hungry? Yes, when I want to get away from my desk or get angry/frustrated
  15. Do you binge eat (large amounts at a time)? When I am alone for the evening and watch movies or drink alcohol with friends
  16. Do you hide your food or eat in secret? No
  17. Do you eat when you are sad, nervous, or depressed? Yes
  18. Do you eat as a reward? No
  19. Do you eat while watching TV or using the computer? Yes sometimes supper
  20. What do you normally eat for a meal? Vegetarian
  21. What type of snacks do you eat? Crisps or sandwiches
  22. Where do you go for exercise? Home
  23. What, if anything, are your three favorite types of exercise? Calisthenics / running / walking
  24. Do you have rewards for certain goals? Yes, points in the Habitica app
 
Welcome to the diaries :) Looks like a sound plan with achievable goals. I look forward to your success.
 
Hey Monk, welcome to the forum!

Your proposed diet and goals look very reasonable to me, stick with it and you should do fine. Maybe we can call it the anti-jiggle diet.

I have also cut my alcohol consumption way back, and shifted to more whiskey than beer when I do drink. It has really helped alcohol of any kind is mostly wasted calories. All that said I did have a big beer last night, but now that only happens once a week or less, and only one.

I am looking forward to following your progress.
 
Hi, Monkey & welcome to the forum :)
It's good that you have provided us with so much information at the start. Your goals look doable. Just focussing on eating healthier & moving more plus journaling each day will help you to lose weight. Tracking everything you eat can be daunting, but is very helpful. We always consume more calories than we think. I hope you like it here. I think you'll find lots of moral support.
 
Thanks everyone for the kind words and support! ☺️

Just two questions:

1. Do I need to log the caloric amount of everything I eat as well? Because I don’t know how much that is, especially a custom made meal or something that’s not in a calorie counter app.

2. Do we post daily? And if so, should I give a ton of info and caloric intake etc? Or just what I’m eating or struggling with?
 
Whatever you like, really. Some people post just their food, with or without calories, others focus more on how they are and how daily life affects food choices. It's all about figuring out what motivates you, specifically, to keep making healthy choices every day and to pick yourself back up when (not if: when) you fall down.
 
MonkeysInMyLunchBox said:
Thanks everyone for the kind words and support! ☺️

Just two questions:

1. Do I need to log the caloric amount of everything I eat as well? Because I don’t know how much that is, especially a custom made meal or something that’s not in a calorie counter app.

2. Do we post daily? And if so, should I give a ton of info and caloric intake etc? Or just what I’m eating or struggling with?
Click to expand...

It is completely up to you, everybody is different, some track more than others, others just try to make better food choices. If thins are you are trying are not working then strict tracking for a little while can be of benefit to find where problems may be, but it does not need to be done forever.

Some members post daily others less often, posting food and calories can help members help you with more precises diet suggestions but not posting that info and just posting how you feel will allow others to support you in other ways. we are all individuals.
 
Hey Monkey, you asked a couple of good questions, and got some good answers. I can speak as one who does count every calorie and posts it every day. That has been of great help to me in my diet. But as LaMa, Cate, and Trusylver say others do it differently and do fine. It depends more on you than on what we do. Sometimes I think starting with tracking and posting helps get you started even if you change over time. I got a lot of comments on my food early on, easier for people to do when they see it. Those comments from others helped me find a more nutritious diet and more low calorie but filling foods.

Cate said:
We always consume more calories than we think
Click to expand...
What Cate said was sure true for me, I tend to "forget" how much and what I ate, tracking things was a real wake up for me.

As to not being able to accurately estimate calories my secret to that is the WAG, the wild ass guess. I think if you give estimating an honest try in the end you'll average out fine. Now I am using the myfitnesspal tracker, if you can give it a name for something it will give you a number of estimates, I do that a lot. You can also try to input the ingredients and get calories for each. And sometimes I just ask my wife or some other unbiased party, believing their random WAG might be better than mine. I just point at it and ask "how many calories do you think are in that?" Really no wrong way to do it, and over time I think you learn and get better.

No matter which way you decide to go I am looking forward to following your progress!!
 
MonkeysInMyLunchBox said:
Thanks everyone for the kind words and support! ☺️

Just two questions:

1. Do I need to log the caloric amount of everything I eat as well? Because I don’t know how much that is, especially a custom made meal or something that’s not in a calorie counter app.

2. Do we post daily? And if so, should I give a ton of info and caloric intake etc? Or just what I’m eating or struggling with?
Click to expand...
Hi Monkeys!

1. No, although I think calorie diaries can be useful tool to control your intake. Other tools could be portion size, hand size, choosing low calorie foods, or skipping meals. It really depends on your preferences.

2. If you have need to post daily - do it! If not, that's also ok. i personally feel the need to post every day right now, that keeps me away from thinking about food and also I have daily reminder why I'm doing what I'm doing.
 
Hi, Monkey! Good to meet you, and to have you here with us. :)
You look like you have a great approach going already - clear goals and good strategies and supports already in place - I reckon you'll be giving us an inspiring story to read this year!
 
Ah wow, you guys are incredible. We don’t even know each other and you guys are so willing and supportive. Loving the feedback and community already! ☺️

I am going to make myself write something, because in a perfect world I would want to reply to every person’s point and comment, but it would get daunting and then I end up not writing at all.

So to reply in general:

1. I used Noom for a few months in 2015/6 and used Lifesum in 2017 and end last year for tracking.

2. I ended up remembering why I stopped with having to manually enter all the ingredients on my plate every time I ate. And guessing the weight was difficult, but sitting with a kitchen scale on my work desk would be overkill lol.

3. I guess I like the hand size as references. That is something we can all relate to. (Especially as South Africa doesn’t use pounds, feet, inches, etc.)

So my food intake for the day would be:

A) lunch: vegetarian veg grilled skewer (first meal was at 14h00)
B) with potato wedges grilled
C) supper drink: 2x glasses of whiskey (one shot with water and ice in tall glass, as I’m not having beer for Feb, at least.)
D) supper: vegetarian wrap with fried haloumi
E) dessert: shared sticky toffee pudding with wife
F) coffees: 3x cappuccinos during the day and one decaf at night (never any sugar in any of my drinks)

(Note: I was at an event from 7am to 6pm so I had to eat what I was served, and went out with wife to meet our parents for supper, so not the usual types of meals.)

There we go. That’s my first official food diary. Maybe some calorie or portion sizes to be included in future.

Thanks again everyone!
 
MonkeysInMyLunchBox said:
it would get daunting and then I end up not writing at all.
Click to expand...
:rotflmao: It can indeed get daunting! Good for you for seeing and avoiding that tricky trip-up!

I know they won't be typical examples of your meals, but I must say all that sounded pretty good to me - especially the fried halloumi wrap and half a sticky toffee pudding! Yum! You're away to flying start!
(Cappuccinos can be a bit of a trap - depending on the size of the cup/mug, and the type of milk, they can be over a hundred calories a time. When I have one, I ask for a "skinnycino".)
 
aiminglow said:
:rotflmao: It can indeed get daunting! Good for you for seeing and avoiding that tricky trip-up!

I know they won't be typical examples of your meals, but I must say all that sounded pretty good to me - especially the fried halloumi wrap and half a sticky toffee pudding! Yum! You're away to flying start!
(Cappuccinos can be a bit of a trap - depending on the size of the cup/mug, and the type of milk, they can be over a hundred calories a time. When I have one, I ask for a "skinnycino".)
Click to expand...

Ah wow I didn't know that about cappuccinos! I will check it out next time, thanks @aiminglow !
 
Today's intake wasn't the best:

Breakfast: Banana

Lunch: Toasted cheese and tomato sandwich (they only had white, as I prefer brown)

NOTE: These sandwiches are bad as they sell them at work for so cheap and it's too easy to buy. I would love to stop going to our company's local coffee shop. Very affordable, but that makes it easy to buy sandwiches, coffees or muffins and brownies. (The last two are not done often, more of a savoury tooth.) But I feel like I have no self control, especially when I am at my desk for long hours. (And yes I go for walks and drink lots of water.)

Supper: Salad on a cheese roll x2 (no meat, just cheese and rocket and cucumber with vegan mayo)
The bad thing: My wife and I had sweet cravings and ended up eating a small dessert each (+/- 20cm wide, flat dough Nutella pizza) :eek:

Activity: 17min activity
6954 steps
642 active calories burnt
 
MonkeysInMyLunchBox said:
Today's intake wasn't the best
Click to expand...
It doesn't look all that bad. Can you estimate the calories?
 
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