What do you wish you had known..

Bud_

You can't out exercise a bad diet.....maybe at first but eventually it will catch up with you.

IndiaGuerita1983

asflatasapancake wrote: »

... Lastly, eat back your exercise calories and you'll pay the price.

Oh, man. So much this. When I eat my exercise cals back I gain instantly.

amusedmonkey

IndiaGuerita1983 wrote: »

DeguelloTex wrote: »

Hamburgers without buns are still pretty awesome.

Accurate.

But I eat hamburgers for the buns and the way they taste with the meat patty, not the other way around.

joeboland

1. Carbs aren't the enemy. Your muscle gains are really going to suffer without them.
2. Jumping from one workout routine to another (fitness ADD) isn't going to help. Pick one, and just stick with it. Focus on making it YOUR routine, and concern yourself with the fundamentals, such as progressive overload, good form, and really making the most of EVERY workout.
3. Losing 100lbs in a year and a bit is going to result in a lot of money wastefully spent on nice clothes that you only get to wear for 1-2 months. Buy your "transitional" clothes at Walmart, 'cause you (hopefully) ain't keeping them for long.
4. Sometimes, the pursuit to improve yourself comes at a trade-off with other things. It's not all a bed of roses. You'll lose friends along the way because your interests have changed, and that'll be okay - in time, you'll come to grips with it. It'll turn out that they didn't have much interest in being your friend beyond the unhealthy interests that you had before (mostly going from being a near-barfly to having less than one drink a month).
5. Don't overthink things. Those miserable 2-3 months of near-neurotic nutrient/macro-timing, anabolic window-adhering, late-night carb-depriving resulted in a negligible difference in your weight loss and fitness transformation. Just a lot of unneeded misery.
6. You'll start this journey for what were, in hindsight, all the wrong reasons - but they'll change along the way. You started as a relatively insecure 300-pound male with an aesthetic-driven attitude; this will change into a centred and balanced 190-pound male who is in it more for self-improvement, and most importantly, self-edification. Embrace it.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Therealobi1

1. you dont have to cut out anything- no such thing as good or bad food
2. weight watchers / slimming world is not necessary
3. simple but effective exercises can be done at home

JustAnotherGirlSuzanne

That the right way to lose weight is to eat less, not next to nothing (then crash and burn and consume every calorie in sight).

Lourdesong

I figured this one out pretty quickly into my weight loss, but making excuses/reasons for one's weight problem does not preserve one's moral character in the slightest, just own that you put on weight because food is good and you ate more of it than you should have. Everything will go a lot more smoothly the minute you stop wasting your time on trying to save face.

scrappermom96

Just because it says low fat low sugar....doesn't mean it is good for you! Some of those added ingredients you are putting into your body are not helping you!!

scaryg53

I wish I would have realized how unhealthy my relationship with food was, and I was eating for every emotion. I actually don't like feeling full anymore. I could eat enough food for 2 or three days in one meal, I wish I would have known what the right portions were for me, it would have opened my eyes a lot sooner. I wish I would have known that my, "I've gained 10 pounds, it's just 10 pounds," mentality leads to its just 10 more, and just 10 more.

jbsterks

Just because I weigh a certain number doesn't mean I'll look the way I want to.

Strength goals are more motivating than number goals.

muscle looks better than flab- so strength train. Even if it means you'll bulk up. MUSCLE LOOKS BETTER.

Running is not impossible.

The more active I am, the better I feel, the more I can accomplish.

COMPRESSION WORKOUT CLOTHING (excess skin stays in place).

Who cares if someone is staring at you while you work. They aren't fighting your battle. If you feel like someone is judging you, think of how little self esteem he/she must have if he/she has to put someone else down to feel better.

Celebrate achievements (just not with crappy food).

lottewiegeraad

1) someone elses journey isn't yours, so stop comparing

joeboland

lottewiegeraad wrote: »

1) someone elses journey isn't yours, so stop comparing

Good one.

LBoggie77

Lift weights!
Eat clean
Buy the fancy running shoes, your shins will thank you

Allterrain_Lady

MsKeelah919 wrote: »

Lookingformyself wrote: »

Boy! Where do I start??!! If I could go back in time, here's what I would tell former me:


- You don't want to lose weight. You want to lose FAT

AND SO MUCH MORE!!

This, I have never heard before. This changed my perspective on so much. Thank you!

You're welcome. Hope this helps!

Otherchickenlady

Diets and workout plans are not one-size-fits-all, and there's more than one way to get to a fit, healthy weight. I have a friend who has had incredible success eating mostly raw, with lots of smoothies and salads. I would love to eat that way, but my body needs more protein and fat to be satisfied. Starting the day with a calorie-dense breakfast helps me ward off cravings and unhealthy eating the rest of the day. A previous poster, however, found that she does best when skipping breakfast.
You have to figure out what works for YOU.

AngryViking1970

lottewiegeraad wrote: »

1) someone elses journey isn't yours, so stop comparing

Yes. My mantra during this whole weight loss journey has been 'comparison is the thief of joy'.

IndiaGuerita1983

asflatasapancake wrote: »

IndiaGuerita1983 wrote: »

asflatasapancake wrote: »

... Lastly, eat back your exercise calories OR you'll pay the price.

Oh, man. So much this. When I eat my exercise cals back I gain instantly.

Whoops. I actually meant to post "or" instead of "and". You should at least eat back some of your exercise calories. Of course, since a lot of times calculating calories burned can be a crap shoot, it may not be beneficial to eat all of your exercise calories back. I do actually eat most of mine. When I wasn't, I found my body to be very angry with me.

Ahhh...okay. Gotcha. See, I'm the opposite. When I eat mine back I start gaining.

IILikeToMoveItMoveIt

How much counting calories works...and how fast the weight drops when I keep to my calorie goals. How empowering it is to see almost daily progress. That exercise is a great bonus for fitness but I don't NEED to do it in order to loose weight. I do it because I like it.

lholmes1985

That I'm worth it. It won't be easy, but each day I make progress is a step towards a happy future

BodyByBex

...I knew it...I just didn't LEARN it until this week....

1) Consistency is important
2) You need to USE the food scale...not just have one. Because..
3)Estimating doesn't work.

happygalah

It's ok to feel hungry.

Altagracia220

Feeling angry, deprived, disappointed, impatient,scared, nervous is all part of the losing weight process.

xcalygrl

Lifting weights does awesome things for your body. (I wish I would have started lifting sooner.)

tlh68

To not have let it get this far out of control to begin with.... BUT...

I am learning patience along the way. Something I NEVER had.

FoxyLifter

LIFT LIFT LIFT!!!

I wish I started a heavy lifting program from day one! I've been doing cardio and aerobics for too long with no noticeable results. Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit. Lifting + eating enough protein helps improve body composition. Keeping as much muscle mass is important because it's so hard to build.

zoober

Stop buying food or drink that you can't consume intelligently. If it's not in the house, you can't eat it.

kjablinskey

joeboland wrote: »

1. Carbs aren't the enemy. Your muscle gains are really going to suffer without them.
2. Jumping from one workout routine to another (fitness ADD) isn't going to help. Pick one, and just stick with it. Focus on making it YOUR routine, and concern yourself with the fundamentals, such as progressive overload, good form, and really making the most of EVERY workout.
3. Losing 100lbs in a year and a bit is going to result in a lot of money wastefully spent on nice clothes that you only get to wear for 1-2 months. Buy your "transitional" clothes at Walmart, 'cause you (hopefully) ain't keeping them for long.
4. Sometimes, the pursuit to improve yourself comes at a trade-off with other things. It's not all a bed of roses. You'll lose friends along the way because your interests have changed, and that'll be okay - in time, you'll come to grips with it. It'll turn out that they didn't have much interest in being your friend beyond the unhealthy interests that you had before (mostly going from being a near-barfly to having less than one drink a month).
5. Don't overthink things. Those miserable 2-3 months of near-neurotic nutrient/macro-timing, anabolic window-adhering, late-night carb-depriving resulted in a negligible difference in your weight loss and fitness transformation. Just a lot of unneeded misery.
6. You'll start this journey for what were, in hindsight, all the wrong reasons - but they'll change along the way. You started as a relatively insecure 300-pound male with an aesthetic-driven attitude; this will change into a centred and balanced 190-pound male who is in it more for self-improvement, and most importantly, self-edification. Embrace it.

This is EXCELLENT advice!!!

linkirving

I just wish I had known about MFP sooner. Also, that I had looked in to FitBit sooner.

k35cunning

Lookingformyself wrote: »

Boy! Where do I start??!! If I could go back in time, here's what I would tell former me:

- Scale lies. You can have two completely different figures while seeing the same number on that damn machine (Hello, strength training)
- Limitations are in your mind not in your body (The "I can't" is not coming from your abs!)
- Healthy food can be tasty
- Don't compare yourself to others. It's a lost, useless battle .
- No exercise will ever be harder than being highly overweight for 15 years
- Jillian Michaels knows everything.
- Getting back on the wagon is way harder than staying on it. If you have to slip, first, ask yourself a 100 times if it's worth it
- Kitchen scale for solid food and cups for anything liquid. Every time. No choice there
- You don't want to lose weight. You want to lose FAT
- Food is the answer to hunger. And only hunger. Do not feed your emotions
- You don't need a gym or fancy equipment to move your a**
- Jillian Michaels knows everything. About everything. I mean it.

AND SO MUCH MORE!!

Appreciate the sound thoughts and advice. There is a ton here and all of it is so apprecaited. Just starting my journey to FIT. It's going to be along one, but it's long ovedue.