New to the site. Is it helpful? Lost 20 but more to go...

BonnieDoneGood

Hi. Bought a FitBit One earlier this year and began monitoring my food intake to some extent and getting more exercise. Have lost twenty pounds and want to lose forty more. Have hit a wall and plateaued at the twenty so I got this app looking for help and inspiration. How has this site helped you?

Sued0nim

You lose weight in the kitchen so get into the swing of weighing and logging everything you eat accurately. Will help you learn how to choose the best foods for you, working in the foods you love; learning portion sizes etc

The fitbit will let you eat more if you move more (make sure you're set to sedentary on MFP, enable negative calorie adjustments and have same goals and time zone on MFP and fitbit apps - Also put in your stride length on fitbit) log food and additional non-step exercise on MFP
-
But if you're not tracking accurately what you eat MFP is no use to you

BonnieDoneGood

The settings are more important than I had realized. Can you explain why I should set it to sedentary on MFP? Understand the other advice, but not quite following you with that one. Thanks much.

feisty_bucket

BonnieDoneGood wrote: »

The settings are more important than I had realized. Can you explain why I should set it to sedentary on MFP? Understand the other advice, but not quite following you with that one. Thanks much.

Because it's very common for people to fluff up their regular activity level. Unless people have serious manual labor jobs, they're probably in the sedentary category. It's the safest to pick anyways. If you end up dropping more than you expected, you can always bump it up later.

Sued0nim

Because the sedentary has a minimal allowance for activity and the fitbit worn constantly will adjust the MFP calories you get during the day from just moving around / walking so that you have a closer to accurate level for your actual activities - I suppose it makes no real, other than emotional, difference as negative adjustments will just reduce them if you set your activity level too high

ahoier

The site itself will not make the pounds fall off....I will start by saying that. I will also say, I've been on and off the site for 2 years now.....been "working out" for 4+ years.....semi-consistently....BUT, I did not start to see "progress" until I started watching my diet accordingly.

What really helped me, when I catapulted into this "lifestyle change" was:

Fasted cardio. Look it up.

I work basically 10-7 most days of the week, except Saturday and Sunday....typically Monday through FRIDAY I would wake up at 7.....start the coffee up. Take a cup of black, and a splash of half and half, on my way to the gym. I would hit the elliptical hard for a good 40 minutes....plus a 5 minute "cool down". This is mandatory.

After that, I would do a circuit of randomized exercises, mix of free weights, machine weights, etc.....pull ups, push ups....basically, whatever I felt like doing. This was all totally random. My gym has a lot of old timers that come in the morning, so I had to "work around" them.....if the chest press was full, I'd move to the chest-supported row machine, etc. If you read, you'll find pros and cons of "routines" - I never followed a "routine" - so I feel this helped my progress. Simply because my body could not guess where I was gonna "hit" next

If you do the same routine, day in, day out.....eventually, YES you will plateau....it's the same reason why my bodies who work hard labor are overweight.....they give the excuse, "oh but I worked out all day at work, laying drain pipes!" - what I try to explain to them, your body has "adjusted" to that day to day activity.....so that's why they are still fat,,,,and well, not to mention, most of them go home, plop in front of the TV with a bag of potato chips and watch monday night Football...with a 24 pack of Natural "Light" beer.

That was my other downfall.....the beer. LOL. When I first started working out, I was a heavy drinker lol....back when FourLOKO still had the Taurine, Caffeine and 12% Alcohol by Volume....HA. Those things were GREAT. I'd crash about 8 p.m. wake up at 7 a.m. brew my pot of coffee.....and then go burn the rest of the alcohol off at the gym!

Well.....don't get discouraged.....I still drink...but I keep it to special ocassions, And during the week I still have a glass or two of wine. Preferably red. I've acquired a taste for wine. Yes, it is delicious, at night, after a good workout.

My other secret to success. I do not eat "solid" food after 8 p.m....after my p.m. workout I may slurp down a whey protein shake......but that's it. No solid food after 8 p.m.

I then typically wake up around 8 a.m.....that's essentially a twelve hour "fast"....in which my body is burning up calories.


As far as supplements go....I will say, I've tried damn near all of them. Hydroxycut Hardcore worked in the beginning, until my body hit that plateau, and the caffeine didn't have any more effect on me......I then had to cycle off of them (yea, read the bottle, it kinda says this lol...but not straight out....it states though not to be used more than x weeks, etc..). I still take my fish oil though....and garlic in the morning (keeps mosquitoes away during my morning run, supposed to help BP and cholesterol levels too), and a probiotic 30 minutes before lunch...on ocassion I'll take a multivitamin but it's not something I take every day. I kinda base it around how my nutrient intake looks like on my FitnessPal reports.....if my Vitamin C is low...etc....

But that being said......these are all "tools" or "supplements" nothing but determination will change the way you look, or feel. Look to the stars, and you will succeed

Sued0nim

ahoier wrote: »

The site itself will not make the pounds fall off....I will start by saying that. I will also say, I've been on and off the site for 2 years now.....been "working out" for 4+ years.....semi-consistently....BUT, I did not start to see "progress" until I started watching my diet accordingly.

What really helped me, when I catapulted into this "lifestyle change" was:

Fasted cardio. Look it up.

N

I work basically 10-7 most days of the week, except Saturday and Sunday....typically Monday through FRIDAY I would wake up at 7.....start the coffee up. Take a cup of black, and a splash of half and half, on my way to the gym. I would hit the elliptical hard for a good 40 minutes....plus a 5 minute "cool down". This is mandatory.

After that, I would do a circuit of randomized exercises, mix of free weights, machine weights, etc.....pull ups, push ups....basically, whatever I felt like doing. This was all totally random. My gym has a lot of old timers that come in the morning, so I had to "work around" them.....if the chest press was full, I'd move to the chest-supported row machine, etc. If you read, you'll find pros and cons of "routines" - I never followed a "routine" - so I feel this helped my progress. Simply because my body could not guess where I was gonna "hit" next

If you do the same routine, day in, day out.....eventually, YES you will plateau....it's the same reason why my bodies who work hard labor are overweight.....they give the excuse, "oh but I worked out all day at work, laying drain pipes!" - what I try to explain to them, your body has "adjusted" to that day to day activity.....so that's why they are still fat,,,,and well, not to mention, most of them go home, plop in front of the TV with a bag of potato chips and watch monday night Football...with a 24 pack of Natural "Light" beer.

That was my other downfall.....the beer. LOL. When I first started working out, I was a heavy drinker lol....back when FourLOKO still had the Taurine, Caffeine and 12% Alcohol by Volume....HA. Those things were GREAT. I'd crash about 8 p.m. wake up at 7 a.m. brew my pot of coffee.....and then go burn the rest of the alcohol off at the gym!

Well.....don't get discouraged.....I still drink...but I keep it to special ocassions, And during the week I still have a glass or two of wine. Preferably red. I've acquired a taste for wine. Yes, it is delicious, at night, after a good workout.

My other secret to success. I do not eat "solid" food after 8 p.m....after my p.m. workout I may slurp down a whey protein shake......but that's it. No solid food after 8 p.m.

I then typically wake up around 8 a.m.....that's essentially a twelve hour "fast"....in which my body is burning up calories.


As far as supplements go....I will say, I've tried damn near all of them. Hydroxycut Hardcore worked in the beginning, until my body hit that plateau, and the caffeine didn't have any more effect on me......I then had to cycle off of them (yea, read the bottle, it kinda says this lol...but not straight out....it states though not to be used more than x weeks, etc..). I still take my fish oil though....and garlic in the morning (keeps mosquitoes away during my morning run, supposed to help BP and cholesterol levels too), and a probiotic 30 minutes before lunch...on ocassion I'll take a multivitamin but it's not something I take every day. I kinda base it around how my nutrient intake looks like on my FitnessPal reports.....if my Vitamin C is low...etc....

But that being said......these are all "tools" or "supplements" nothing but determination will change the way you look, or feel. Look to the stars, and you will succeed

Fasted Cardio has been debunked as broscience for years

It makes absolutely no difference when you choose to eat, find what works for you

Calories in, calories out, logging accurately - no supplement, gimmicks, tricks will help over and above eating at a defecit

BonnieDoneGood

Agree that nothing takes the place of determination, and I am all about that. Thanks to all of you for your kind advice.