Share your regrets

Merkavar

share your weight loss regrets so others might avoid the same mistakes.

For me I guess my biggest regret is not starting to eat better/lose weight when I was 15, 20 or 25, leaving for so long.

And not taking photos. I have very few photos, I wish that I took some when I started. But I guess I thought I would stick to it for 30 days not 200.

I might scour my facebook for some photos, so I can see a before and after comparison.

What are your regrets?

Alatariel75

Not doing it years ago. I may get to a healthy weight now, but the stretchmarks, loose skin and stretched beyond repair tattoo are here to stay!

Not getting into martial arts many years ago. I think if I'd discovered it then, a lot of my current healthy habits would have flowed on from it and I'd have been in a better place now.

SergeantSausage

27+ years of daily Pizza, PopTarts, and Double Greasy Bacon McBeetus Burgers have shredded my arterial health. Blood pressure meds are something I should have avoided and could have quite easily ... I regret not doing so a decade or more ago before so much damage was done.

tomatoey

I'm working on shedding some slight regain years after major weight loss, but for the big one, I regret not having started lifting heavy weights earlier.

I very seriously regret having let my weight get in the way of a good time, when I was bigger. So much hiding and shame, such a waste. I could have worn a bikini anyway.

adriat

I regret not taking this seriously earlier in life. I also regret over eating today. :O

mrsmiley32

Opiates I didn't realize the 70lbs I gained. Quit almost 5 months ago.

Curious a lot of people are upset they didn't take photos, why? I would rather not have pictures I am ashamed of.

Emi1974

I regret that I didn't stick to calorie counting years ago. I started counting years ago for a while just after ww but not on MFP. Gave up. Last year I started counting on MFP and fell of the wagon. I knew it would work if I could stick to it, but it seemed like sooooo much work...

So I tried shakes with some success but put back on very quickly.
Then came the juice fast for 60 days. Lost again, but put on even more when I finished the fast. In my heart I still felt calorie counting was the better way.

So down and up, down and up again I reached 118.5 kg with health issues raising their ugly head. I knew I really had to do something about it. So was thinking about having shakes again, but then I thought I couldn't stomach it again for weeks on end especially as I couldn't maintain last time.

Restarted MFP in November, but slacked over December (teeth issues), recommitted 1st of January and promised myself to give my best for the full year. I will do it. 2015 is my year

I am certain over the years I have lost and gained the weight of one or even more humans

I am just too sick of it all.

Just need to do it, that is all!

The really hard part comes after the weight loss. Maintenance. I suck at it

Alatariel75

mrsmiley32 wrote: »

Opiates I didn't realize the 70lbs I gained. Quit almost 5 months ago.

Curious a lot of people are upset they didn't take photos, why? I would rather not have pictures I am ashamed of.

For me, it's a reminder of how far I've come and a bit of a warning of how bad things can get if I'm not careful. I never have to show them to anyone, but having them is helpful.

boiledpeanutlver

I regret not staying in shape over the years.when I married I was 100 lbs and I am shocked I let myself get to 148. I know my daughter will get married one day and I don't want to be the fat one in the photos. I find myself not seeing my old friends that live in other states because of my appearance. All I have to do is look at the photo of me in a bra and underwear to make me get on that treadmill!

AmazonMayan

I regret last summer. I had a good start exercising, both cardio and strength, and had been kind of logging food...I was definitely eating less and was close to getting strict about logging since weight loss was so slow. I had already started on MFP.

I was so embarrassed about my weight, that when we had a family member come stay with us for a couple weeks, I was too embarrassed to exercise with him here. I tried to still eat less, but by the time he left, I had completely given up and it took until December to get serious again. He's younger and his mom has gone through weight loss surgery. He constantly made comments about women's weights when there was an overweight person on tv or even a younger actress with what he considered a fat face (they weren't heavy at all). He's also a little big. I let him get to me and it gets me down thinking about the 6 months I wasted recovering my determination to live better.


This time I'm doing logging strictly first instead of exercise - I am starting to work that in more since I am seeing good results with food.

tomatoey

I almost forgot the most important one. I wish I'd never started running. I did C25K after years of being sedentary, as an overweight person. I'd previously only had minor issues that I'd thought everyone dealt with - a bout of plantar fasciitis here, flat feet. But nothing I thought would meaningfully affect my running. I read a lot about technique. I'd also read about so many people running with flat feet and being just fine.

Even with the very graduated C25K program, and expensive shoes, I wound up with chronic tendonitis (tendinosis) in an ankle, and I've been living with the pain for years. For a long time, this affected just ordinary walking around, never mind sports. (I worked around it, but anything fun, any game involving running is out. I spent months just off my foot completely.)

My biomechanics were bad to begin with, but I didn't know how bad, because they didn't interfere with my life in a significant way until I hurt myself. It's well and good to say, "well your technique was bad" or "it's your biomechanics, that's just you", but I think a lot of people have no idea about how bad their form is, or how vulnerable their biomechanics make them, until it's too late. Most people don't have access to running coaches who could give them feedback (and even then, coaches don't necessarily know - feet, ankles and knees are complex structures).

Also, as an uncoached non-athlete with almost no history of running, I didn't know how to read pain signals (which were really very minor, to begin with).

That injury set the stage for other injuries down the line (knees), due to compensation effects.

So my advice to overweight people is to steer well clear of running and other high-impact activities. Unless you're under the guidance of a very knowledgeable running coach with an excellent understanding of biomechanics. Even then, maybe stay away from it until you hit goal weight (fyi - every extra pound of weight is another four pounds of pressure on your knees.)

Walking, swimming and cycling are much kinder to joints.

Ooci

I could have had a baby - possibly. My weight got so out of control that instead I grew a 10 cm endometrioma. I could never face IVF as I knew it wouldn't work with such a high BMI, even if I had found a clinic to take me on.
The pain of this infertility made me depressed and actually fatter. I decided finally enough was enough and I lost the weight ( most of it) and stopped thinking about babies ( mostly).

Ooci

SergeantSausage wrote: »

27+ years of daily Pizza, PopTarts, and Double Greasy Bacon McBeetus Burgers have shredded my arterial health. Blood pressure meds are something I should have avoided and could have quite easily ... I regret not doing so a decade or more ago before so much damage was done.

I hope you can undo the damage. That's a tough regret.

dontjinxit

Ooci wrote: »

I could have had a baby - possibly. My weight got so out of control that instead I grew a 10 cm endometrioma. I could never face IVF as I knew it wouldn't work with such a high BMI, even if I had found a clinic to take me on.
The pain of this infertility made me depressed and actually fatter. I decided finally enough was enough and I lost the weight ( most of it) and stopped thinking about babies ( mostly).

Aw. I have a morbidly obese friend that had IVF and a baby at age 50, so technically if you can find that one ethically challenged doctor, it's never too late. I wouldn't wait until age 50 though. She looked like she had a foot in the grave for about a year after that experience.

Ooci

dontjinxit wrote: »

Ooci wrote: »

I could have had a baby - possibly. My weight got so out of control that instead I grew a 10 cm endometrioma. I could never face IVF as I knew it wouldn't work with such a high BMI, even if I had found a clinic to take me on.
The pain of this infertility made me depressed and actually fatter. I decided finally enough was enough and I lost the weight ( most of it) and stopped thinking about babies ( mostly).

Aw. I have a morbidly obese friend that had IVF and a baby at age 50, so technically if you can find that one ethically challenged doctor, it's never too late. I wouldn't wait until age 50 though. She looked like she had a foot in the grave for about a year after that experience.

All credit to her for her bravery and strength, I couldn't. I've made my peace with it - age 42 it isn't going to happen, and my husband has never been bothered for children and isn't remotely interested in adopting or fostering - in fact he's appalled by the mere suggestion of babies!!
Not having them, I don't know what I'm missing and can enjoy other things. Children are a privilege not a right.

joolsmd

I know its silly to regret being ill, but I do regret that I let being ill stop me from exercising. It just seemed an easy excuse to say 'can't do gym today, I'm ill.' So by the time they found out what was wrong with me I'd broken a strong gym habit and its taken me two years to get it back. I'm just grateful that the weight gain wasn't too high.

cheshirecatastrophe

I regret the individual workouts that have pushed me over the overtraining or overuse brink into serious, activity-pausing injury. (Yes, fitspo memes, there IS such a thing as regretting a workout.)

But then again I don't regret it, because pushing myself to that edge is such an integral part of who I am. I don't know how to be a person who doesn't do that, and I'm not sure I'd want to be if I could.

I wish I'd gotten into racing (running and cycling) earlier, instead of a decade+ of pounding away at cardio on my own...but I enjoyed that, too, so really the only difference is I don't have fun race medals to show for it.

tl;dr - I am hypercompetitive and can't regret it, and I like shiny things.

lemonsurprise

I regret not writing down exactly how I felt before losing weight. It's easy to forget them sad feelings and start picking out new things you're not happy with once you start getting closer to your goal so I would highly advise that. Even the most obvious feelings or the most obvious things your weight stops you from doing, they're all very easily forgettable once you gain that new confidence!

Delilahhhhhh

herrspoons wrote: »

None. The past is the past and can't be changed. I'm only interested in what I can do today and tomorrow.

SO THIS^^^^^
Regrets can lead you down a path of madness and I sure don't want to walk that road.

SrMaggalicious

herrspoons wrote: »

None. The past is the past and can't be changed. I'm only interested in what I can do today and tomorrow.

^^this..everything has a cause and effect of who we have become today. If we never failed at anything, we would not learn half as much...I am truly grateful for all...both, highs and lows.

Merkavar

SrMaggalicious wrote: »

herrspoons wrote: »

None. The past is the past and can't be changed. I'm only interested in what I can do today and tomorrow.

^^this..everything has a cause and effect of who we have become today. If we never failed at anything, we would not learn half as much...I am truly grateful for all...both, highs and lows.

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. - George Santayana

SrMaggalicious

you didn't read my post correctly "if we never failed at anything we would not LEARN half as much...doesn't say not remember, it says not to REGRET...big difference @Merkavar.

kommodevaran

I regret not considering eating more natural fats earlier. I believed what I was told, that fat was just empty calories, dry foods was the way to go, and that good taste was somehow dangerous.

_Zardoz_

Why focus on the past and negatives that you cannot change? Move forward make better choices decisions now. I never regret anything at the time that was what I believed the best decision for me. Even if it wasn't I learned from it which was a positive. So I have no regrets failures are just an opportunity to learn so embrace them

Kalici

I seriously regret not forcing my Doctors to run more tests and instead did a lot of damage to myself with disordered and restricted eating.

mrsmiley32

_Zardoz_ wrote: »

Why focus on the past and negatives that you cannot change? Move forward make better choices decisions now. I never regret anything at the time that was what I believed the best decision for me. Even if it wasn't I learned from it which was a positive. So I have no regrets failures are just an opportunity to learn so embrace them

Wait but you can change, that's the point of MFP. I tend to agree with you that you shouldn't regret the past, however you should learn from it! Which by context is what we are discussing to help others from making our mistakes.

imabeevampire

I regret not exercising after pregnancy. It's taken 4 years for me to do something about it.
BUT I'm glad I didn't wait another 5 years to do something

Jolinia

I regret relying on ephedra and not nutrition and fun exercise and learning to cook for myself to control my weight when I was younger. I should have at least taken a multivitamin.

Francl27

Honestly... Sure, I wish I had eaten better when I was younger, so I wouldn't have the loose skin I have now... But man did I enjoy it.

Ooci wrote: »

I could have had a baby - possibly. My weight got so out of control that instead I grew a 10 cm endometrioma. I could never face IVF as I knew it wouldn't work with such a high BMI, even if I had found a clinic to take me on.
The pain of this infertility made me depressed and actually fatter. I decided finally enough was enough and I lost the weight ( most of it) and stopped thinking about babies ( mostly).

I was close to obese when we did IVF, I was told to lose weight, but not in order to increase the chances as much as to make it easier if I got pregnant. Bottom line, they stimulated me too much and I ended up just making crappy eggs, and we had two failed frozen cycles... by then we didn't have enough money to throw away again so we decided to go for the 'sure' thing and use the money to adopt instead... so glad we did.

For what it's worth though, my sister went through the same thing and is really enjoying her child free life.

Liftng4Lis

Not starting to lift 15 years ago

dougpconnell219

I regret allowing myself to be obese literally since I was 12.

I regret stopping what lost me 50lbs ten years ago and gaining it back.