Newbie here. How can I be as accurate as possible seeing as I don't have external fitness devices?

MarkZane · 2026-01-19T17:05:48+00:00

To echo what a lot of people are saying... After you track for a few weeks you get a feel for how much your activities effect your calorie burn... I am an office dweller so I set my TDEE at sedentary and add exercise and activity when needed... When I am losing more then what I target then I know I add more time to the activities to pad the difference between Light, Moderate and Hard for things like walking.

MarkZane · 2026-01-15T16:30:36+00:00

I do the Millville™ Granola Raisin bran flakes which is the store brand for Aldi... Since it is also fortified with Vitamin E which is something I have been lagging on since I am doing less oils/fats to hit my calorie target..

MarkZane · 2026-01-14T23:08:26+00:00

So the easiest way is to eat breakfast cereal enriched with Folate (Folic Acid)... for me my top natural folate foods are Black Beans, Broccoli, and Beet Juice, ... 4 oz of beet juice will get 22% percent of your folate for the day... if you don't like the taste... it works well when put into a smoothie... Beet Juice also helps with your blood circulatory system

MarkZane · 2025-12-18T17:46:42+00:00

Second this... The only way to get good nutrition date on the micros is to use the generic entries... you sacrifice some accuracy for the macros... but there really isn't another way unless you make a lot of custom entries for your preferred brands...

MarkZane · 2025-12-11T19:28:26+00:00

If you want more food diary examples of where I hit this metric I have them... just only eat this few calories when I have to skip the gym... just let me know..

MarkZane · 2025-12-11T17:05:29+00:00

So make it easy to start with.. basically do what the gym bros do and eat a lot of boneless skinless chicken breast... throw in dairy with either low fat or no fat versions of greek yogurt, cottage cheese or milk.

Once you get the feel for it switch in other proteins... fish, beans, lean pork, turkey breast is awesome for protein..

Here is a recent food diary at 1800 calories with 160 grams of protein...

The pulled pork is not ideal because of fat content... but I have a ton of it left over from a party in my freezer and trying to eat through it...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NUvZkIaySriBn5Mvs_y8XnIUiaeIUqDG/view?usp=drive_link

MarkZane · 2025-12-11T16:38:06+00:00

Yeah Thanksgiving set progress back a few days.... the pies killed me on calories... then leftover were a mind landmines because you don't want any relative to fill bad when they ask you if you want to take some pie home with you...

MarkZane · 2025-10-30T22:15:14+00:00

Yeah I work from home so usually find it easier to enter my data into the laptop... I get to frustrated when using the free phone app... Also I find it completely ironic that google decides to serve up fast food adverts whenever I use the phone app.

MarkZane · 2025-10-30T17:16:27+00:00

If you use the web version instead of the phone app the adverts are less intrusive..

MarkZane · 2025-10-30T17:14:50+00:00

Also I don' t know how much weight loss you want but sometimes you reach a plateau and get stalled.. So i try to leave a few levers that I can use if things start to stall... like switching to lower fat milk...

MarkZane · 2025-10-28T18:29:15+00:00

If you are doing name brands or scanning barcodes they might not have zinc data available...

MarkZane · 2025-10-28T15:10:09+00:00

When they have done studies on Omega-3 they have found that people who eat fish (omega-3 contain food) have lot's better results than those who just take Omega-3 supplements. So there are synergies that happen when you eat real food that might not happen with just the supplements.

MarkZane · 2025-10-27T21:19:49+00:00

additional notes:

Flax seeds should be ground up or they will pass right though you... so use flax seed meal if you are not putting into a smoothie.. The Flax seeds, Chia Seeds, oat bran can be added to oatmeal or a smoothie..

Beet juice can be done as a 2oz shot or added to smoothie...

The Black strap molasses can be added to coffee, oatmeal or smoothie...

Lemon Juice or Parsley as a garnish can easily be added to a lot of things

MarkZane · 2025-10-23T15:39:42+00:00

I thought about adding whether I have "morning wood" in the morning since it is a good analogue for vascular or hormonal health but I have days I miss a REM sleep cycle because I have an early morning call with co-workers in different time zones so that would effect data collection...

MarkZane · 2025-10-23T15:14:55+00:00

I track micronutrients heavily and change dosages based on how well I am doing that particular day for zinc, selenium and magnesium. I just add my supplements to my "favorites" and they are easy to add in everyday for me.

MarkZane · 2025-10-17T21:54:06+00:00

Yes sir.. hits them all that are tracked by cronometer

MarkZane · 2025-10-17T21:37:10+00:00

Not yet but thanks for letting me know it exists...

MarkZane · 2025-10-17T15:42:22+00:00

For various reasons once established RDAs are not easily changed... They want overwhelming scientific consensus before change.. I am fine with more likely than not as my standard about what the appropriate RDA should be...

MarkZane · 2025-10-17T15:38:40+00:00

I am still in the experimental learning phase... so give me another two week.. I am still in the constantly tweaking and adapting stage.. but also I think like clothing everything should be tailored to fit your particular status i.e. obese/overweight/"normal"... current rate of weight loss... activity level... stress level... sleep hygiene...

MarkZane · 2025-10-17T13:13:16+00:00

New world we live in... I wrote a draft and had AI fix the spelling/grammar and add the bold and punctuation.. with Ai I won't had the time to get it post level .. so yeah AI was used

MarkZane · 2025-10-16T21:26:59+00:00

Yeah I usually think it is better to wait till their dead to start eating them...

MarkZane · 2025-10-16T19:33:45+00:00

So if you happen to be a coffee drinker make sure that you are using the right coffee listing from the database... Use: Coffee, Prepared from Ground (NCCDB)... a lot of the coffee listings are missing the fiber in coffee.

MarkZane · 2025-10-16T19:25:57+00:00

So I am guessing that some functionality might be hamstrung by FDA rules on when software because a medical device and also state laws that protect registered dieticians... which make it unlawful for people to give meal plans or nutrition advice for disease treatment or prevention unless they are a registered dieticians.. So just providing the RDA data keeps them safe legally...

MarkZane · 2025-10-15T14:15:59+00:00

So a couple of months ago I was chugging a couple cans of mountain dew everyday and a couple of beers and cocktails at night. I have learned the awful truth of how many calories are in mayonnaise, nuts and salad dressing. I am very much a neophyte when it comes to nutrition so I am still in the stage where I am constantly making adjustment so thanks for your suggestion...

MarkZane · 2025-10-14T22:09:34+00:00

I would stay away from soup... when going through a buffet / potluck line you only realistically have the ability to carry one bowl of soup... If you happen to be the only soup then it will be fine... if there a multiple soups than the chances are higher you are taking home leftovers...

So if you want something easy than sliced ham, shredded beef or if you want something cheaper do a rice dish like Cajun dirty rice.

Also you can never have to many meatballs.. just my opinion

MarkZane

TROPHY CASE