What Are Some Things You Wish You Had Known Before You Started?

Thanasi99
Thanasi99 Posts: 40 Member
edited 4:34AM in Health and Weight Loss
Just wondering what tips "Veteran" users have for beginners.

Thanks!
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Replies

  • 2sweet4sugar34
    2sweet4sugar34 Posts: 25 Member
    Logging everything with perfect accuracy is nearly impossible and having a treat here and there won't ruin my progress.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    That I don't need to do hours of cardio!
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
    That carbs are not the enemy. Eating too much is :lol:
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    How one day of excess sodium can affect the scale very dramatically.
  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,771 Member
    That weight loss is not linear and occasionally makes no sense. Eat over your calories for the week? Two pound loss. Everything perfect for a week? No loss.
  • annavalente
    annavalente Posts: 119 Member
    That I wouldnt see results straight away and that it would take time and patience!
  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,771 Member
    seltzermint555 wrote: »
    How one day of excess sodium can affect the scale very dramatically.

    To add to this: after eating one meal, after going to the bathroom, weighing in the afternoon vs. first thing in the morning, etc. It's crazy. And I notice if I have a large amount of carbs, 200 g +, I'm usually a couple of pounds heavier for a few days.

    As long as you're logging accurately, don't get hung up on what the scale is showing.
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
    How many local farms are food producers are actually available.
  • isulo_kura
    isulo_kura Posts: 818 Member
    How easy it actually was
  • DressedInDreams
    DressedInDreams Posts: 96 Member
    How valuable a food scale is, and that CICO simply works.
  • misssmadalyn
    misssmadalyn Posts: 360 Member
    isulo_kura wrote: »
    How easy it actually was
    Yesssss!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    The only things really is that it's ok if I go over occasionally, it only takes a few days to make up for it, and that weight loss is not linear and water weight is a b****. And to trust the math. Always trust the math. Log as accurately as possible, so you'll KNOW that you can't have gained fat and won't freak out if you gain a couple pounds.

    But really, I knew I didn't have to cut foods etc... that's why I actually started in the first place.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    How difficult and emotional it would be to adjust to my new body. I was totally unprepared for that.
  • DeWoSa
    DeWoSa Posts: 496 Member
    I've basically been eating nothing but candy since Christmas and am maintaining a 15 pound weight loss.
  • rushfive
    rushfive Posts: 603 Member
    It is not (all) about your exercises...
    It is about how much you eat.
  • pollypocket1021
    pollypocket1021 Posts: 533 Member
    Practice makes perfect; you don't have to be perfect when you start, you'll figure out what works for you as you go along, assuming you stick with it.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    Not before I started, but I wish id realised how straightforward it is several years ago and then i'd have dealt with it.
  • Lrdoflamancha
    Lrdoflamancha Posts: 1,280 Member
    edited April 2015
    Patience is the key, do not expect to lose it all in a few weeks or months. It really is all about tracking your intake. Buy a food scale immediately and use it for everything. Do not trust the user added foods on the MFP database to be accurate. Double check foods on the USDA website for calorie counts. Low carb works well for some people not all.... Same goes for calories in calories out... It is personal preference. Calories really do count. Eat less than you burn. Never eat back exercise calories. Do not trust the calorie burns listed on MFP they are generally way too high.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    I wish I'd been better prepared for the impact of extreme weight loss on my identity.
  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,771 Member
    Velum_cado wrote: »
    I wish I'd been better prepared for the impact of extreme weight loss on my identity.

    Do you feel comfortable elaborating on this? I've lost 54 pounds (more than a quarter of my start weight) and I am really struggling to see it at all most days.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    barbecuesauce wrote: »
    Velum_cado wrote: »
    I wish I'd been better prepared for the impact of extreme weight loss on my identity.

    Do you feel comfortable elaborating on this? I've lost 54 pounds (more than a quarter of my start weight) and I am really struggling to see it at all most days.

    Sure :) I've lost nearly 200 lbs and I'm currently a UK size 14 (US 12), so pretty average in terms of size (although "overweight" by the good old BMI chart *eyeroll*) . However, I still very, very much identify as a "fat girl". Not in any kind of negative way, just as a description of my appearance. I have been fat since I was about 7 or 8 years old, so seeing myself as not being fat feels very uncomfortable to me. As an adult, I did a lot of work to stop seeing "fat" as a bad thing, and by the time I decided to lose weight, I had absolutely no shame or discomfort around the fact that I was fat (my choice to lose weight was based mainly on feeling like I wasn't very healthy, not my appearance). I was shocked into silence during a discussion about loving food, and the other person said, "Yeah, but you're not fat like me."

    I'm very much into body positivity and fat activism and find myself saying, "As a fat girl..." quite a lot when discussing the issues, and I've recently had to consider how that statement might be viewed by someone who is the size I used to be. Like I'm appropriating an identity that I'm not entitled to.

    It's all just a lot more complex than I thought it would be.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    people make it harder than it has to be
  • playmadcats
    playmadcats Posts: 199 Member
    To keep trying those clothes that are only just too small. Worst thing was when I found the one size two small jeans are now miles too big in the space of 3 months.
  • Robertus
    Robertus Posts: 558 Member
    edited April 2015
    That men can count calories too; it isn't just for girls!
  • Allelito
    Allelito Posts: 179 Member
    It's not about what you eat, but how much you eat.
  • racingislife97
    racingislife97 Posts: 40 Member
    This topic popped into my head during a walk to the grocery this morning. I wish I'd known, and believed, that it is as easy as it is, if you trust the math and the data. For the last 20 some years, I've been doing what many people call extreme sports and workouts to lose weight. Triathlons up to 1/2 ironman, 6 hours of cardio a day in the Tri days, 15 to 50 mile mountain bike rides, 100 mile roadbike rides, very long hikes.... My Strava account has all of the details for the last two years.
    None of it caused a single pound to come off, I actually got heavier.

    On Jan 30th I injured my knee cycling. I'd just completed a monthlong strava challenge 200+ miles and more than 20,000 feet of elevation. I rested for a month, gained weight (8 pounds), knee got no better.

    I joined MFP on March 1(ish) knowing I couldn't workout, and had do do something with nutrition. 58 days later, I'm 21 pounds lighter, and walking a lot.

    Some days were hard to stay close to the 1000cal deficit, but I also learned that it's entirely mental, and a lapse isn't the end of all improvements. I've really learned to trust the data, some days I go up, for a couple days, but it's always followed by a bigger loss. The lag in response of the scale is about two days for me.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    It's funny when I was in grade 11 I lost 25lbs through calorie counting. Gained it back because I didn't know what maintenance was.

    Joined the military lost more weight through massive workouts...no calorie counting...

    Gained it back when I got pregnant and they wouldn't let me exercise...I didn't know about maintenance.

    Yo Yo'd for 20 years...didn't know about maintenance.

    So I wish I had known what maintenance was before I started otherwise I wouldn't have had to start here (not that I don't like being here at least I learned about maintenance)
  • Cheri1218
    Cheri1218 Posts: 268 Member
    Weighing/measuring your food is really the key. We eat a LOT more calories than we realize, even when we are "counting calories," because our idea of a serving is really off. Take cereal, for example. If you just pour.yourself a bowl and count it as a serving, you are possibly eat double (or more) of the amount suggested.

    I hear people complain all the time, "I'm not losing weight but I'm watching what I eat." How closely are you really watching?
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
    That losing the weight wouldn't make me happy or cure my deeply rooted self esteem issues.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    Carbs aren't bad
    Sugar isn't bad
    Moderation is key
    Enjoy foods you love within moderation, there's no need to give up anything

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