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

SergeantSausage

How Easy Peasy Lemon Breezy it is, right?

I always thought it would be difficult.

If it is, you're probably doin ' it wrong.

Most of us were.

rocknlotsofrolls

chatnel wrote: »

You don't need to eat 5 meals a day or start eating breakfast if you never already did, your metabolism will not break, it's more important to eat the right amout of calories not the timings.

This exactly, and let me add also, don't believe everything you hear or read. The whole you must eat breakfast thing, or don't eat after 8pm, or you have to throw out all the junk that's in your pantry. All plans have a common denominator, and it's called eating less calories and/or exercising.

CooCooPuff

I wish I knew how much more I could eat to lose.

shannonbun

That losing weight will not magically fix your self-esteem or make mean people any nicer towards you.

mgdnutty

amwcnw wrote: »

Take before and during pics because the scale doesn't always tell the truth:)

Ditto

fr3smyl

DeWoSa wrote: »

I've basically been eating nothing but candy since Christmas and am maintaining a 15 pound weight loss.

You are my hero

fr3smyl

999tigger wrote: »

Not before I started, but I wish id realised how straightforward it is several years ago and then i'd have dealt with it.

racingislife97 wrote: »

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.

Wow! This really puts things into perspective.

trltayvia

This should be a pinned post in motivation!

terar21

Lift weights. Lift weights. And lift weights. Retain that muscle.

I was just thinking about this at the gym this morning. I was creeping on this girl with an amazing body and muscle for days. Exact body that I want. If I would've know lifting was so crucial years ago when I was in college that could be me now lol.

Seriously. Years ago I lost a decent amount and was at the lowest weight since hitting puberty lol. I was tiny. But I wasn't strong at all. Not very tight. Just little. Like a waif. After gaining it all back and then some, I've been working to get it back off. It amazes me that I still 15 pounds heavier than that "tiny" weight, yet my waist is the same size it was back then. What's the difference? Muscle. My waist shrunk but I managed to keep the good stuff. I can't even imagine losing another 15. Why didn't anyone tell me you had to lift to keep muscle lol???? Seems so basic now but it never crossed my mind back then.

joejccva71

1. Less is more when it comes to lifting.

2. Don't wait a year before starting to do heavy Squats and heavy Deadlifts.

3. Engage the lats before doing wide-grip pullups. Don't just use your arms and pull up.

freeoscar

That while pre-logging meals sounds restrictive, in fact it is liberating

ElizabethKalmbach

If you've followed the directions, and done the work, and you're still gaining or losing weight unexpectedly. SEE A DOCTOR. Because it really should be as easy as the math involved in CICO.

kern11

You can't out train a bad diet. And weigh and measure food.

Lexicpt

How hard it is to do this healthily with the eating disorder I've suffered from almost my entire life. Very emotional journey for me.

jackieomara

bookmarking this!

kclay1021

Thanasi99 wrote: »

Just wondering what tips "Veteran" users have for beginners.

Thanks!

That you actually CAN do it. . . . this is possible. . . . that you CAN be the person that you aspire to be.

I read so many articles about how discouraging it is for all of "us normal people" to look at women in magazines etc which always made me feel like "we don't want to be looking at people in magazines or the fitness role models on instagram because that is unattainable" - thats not true. Its not unattainable but it is also not reasonable to expect to look that way without putting in the kind of work that they do. . . if I want to put in a portion of the work and not devote EVERY SECOND to something then I may be able to see SOME results. . . For a while there I felt like there could be no role models because everything that I liked was said to be "unrealistic and unattainable."

gsschulte

I wish I had known that no one in the gym cares. Just headphones in doing their own thing just like me.

fr3smyl

I wish I had known about MFP years ago when I started trying to lose weight. The whole CICO makes so much sense when explained on the forums!

KBmoments

DeterminedFee201426 wrote: »

That ur suppose to eat at a deficit to lose weight
That u dont only have to eat fruits and veggies
That theres a point where ur suppose to maintain weight
That u dont have to starve and be miserable to lose weight
That it does'nt matter where ur cals come from as long as ur in a deficit thats *key*
That you dont need to exercise to lose weight
That weight loss progress is slower than ya thought

All of this entirely!

KBmoments

Meal timing has no impact on weightloss!

tomatoey

That you're stuck with your joints for life, so take care of them. Stay away from impact activities, unless you know for sure you can do them safely. I.e. you already have a history of doing that activity and maybe had some related coaching in the past; you were good at that activity (had the biomechanics for it); and you are not overweight.

I would have saved myself so much pain, time, money, and aggravation if I'd played it safe and didn't try to be a hero. I wouldn't be dealing with the limitations I've got now.

bhawk102

What tips do people have to reach your daily calorie goal when you are flat broke and waiting a couple days until pay day and have no groceries in the house? So far my answer is mooch off some friends

HannahZH

Don't tell people at working you're on a "diet"
Oh lord, they all just keep telling me off, when really all I want to do is better myself..

NoIdea101NoIdea

Realistic expectations; it takes longer than you expect to lose weight, and to not get discouraged if you don't see immediate results.

icck

Most of what has already been posted!

Personally, though? I wish I had known how well intermittent fasting would work out for me in terms of weight loss - I'd only heard about 5:2 before, but daily fasting fits seamlessly into my lifestyle and I've lost more weight in the month since starting than I did in the previous year.
But also I wish I had known that there is no one "right" beyond CICO, I wasted too much time finding my place food wise. If it fits your lifestyle and gives you the results you're after then go with it.

fr3smyl

NoIdea101NoIdea wrote: »

Realistic expectations; it takes longer than you expect to lose weight, and to not get discouraged if you don't see immediate results.

^^this^^^

Amberonamission

I've learned the the people here who I thought were incredibly mean years ago were 100% correct. I am not a special snowflake. Eat less, move more and pick up something heavy often.