What I learned being on the forums for a week
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Exactly me too!! I failed over and over in the past and would regain. On my own it was tough and what I was doing just wasn't sustainable in the long run, so I'm happy I ventured over here on my phone app...it definitely has shown me it's perfectly okay to incorporate foods off my plan too. It has stopped me from binging (I would have binged by now 100% if I was on my old diet plan/mindset)Sounds like a great plan OP. Just like one salad won't make you healthy, one piece of chocolate won't derail your progress.
I have found that since I quit restricting things I don't really want it as often as I used to. I can have it if I want it, but most of the time I really don't think about them. In the past when I cut things out and tried to substitute them or just ride it out it it usually lead to a binge.0 -
Yay for someone who came to MFP with preconceived notions, opened their mind, didn't get butt hurt when people speak to the point, and adapted their approach based on gaining fresh insight. OP, you just figured out the hardest part. Congrats.
And I have calories to spare today. I think I will add a donut to my post-work IPA. Nah, who am I kidding. Couple IPAs beats a donut any day!0 -
Yes. I love that I don't feel that I'm "on a diet" I'm just recording what I eat and what exercise I do and make sure it all fits. Sunday roast and pudding? Do it. Fried eggs? Fill your boots.0
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What a refreshing post after the last few days on the forums.
Way to go, OP! You'll do great
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Thanks everyone for the awesome words
Doesn't matter what anyone says, I'm finding balance and you guys helped me get there 0 -
baby05phat wrote: »it helped me learn that my diet is truly not over just because I had one thing that isn't "totally" healthy, having some cheat snacks might even help me keep on track.
This is great. I think getting rid of that all or nothing feeling in general can be so helpful. It's not like you are either perfectly on plan or ruining everything--we can be imperfect and have bad days (and work in things that make it easier or more sustainable).
My tendency before I really started was also to go overboard and decide I had to eat really perfectly and exercise a lot and of course I'd do it for maybe a week and something would happen and I'd decide everything was ruined anything so I'd have to start again later.
This time I made a conscious decision not to do that and with exercise especially I was easy on myself and just decided I'd try to do a little something regularly and work up without going overboard. After a couple of months work got crazy and I freaked out because I felt like I couldn't get in my workouts (now I'd manage, probably). But rather than deciding that just meant I obviously couldn't lose weight now and eat to deal with stress and sorrow that I had failed, I decided to give myself a break, accept I was going to miss my workouts that week, and do what I could--which was eat within my calories even though I screwed up by not having preplanned dinners a couple of days and had to eat what was available around my office/quickly after I got home at midnight. Not ideal at all, but I actually lost really well that week (because I stayed within my calories) and felt so empowered by the fact I hadn't gone off the rails despite messing up some. I also felt more confident I could get through it long-term and, of course, I managed to quickly get back to my preferred eating and workout plan.0 -
I also want to show what my old diet/restrictions did to me ...this can't be good for my body at all, it was also mentally draining
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cmcdonald525 wrote: »There are a whole lot of diet myths out there, these forums pretty much debunk them all!
.... And have pretty much ruined Pinterest for me now that I know 99% of the weight loss pins are wrong lol
LOL! love this. so true!0 -
You like us! You really like us!
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baby05phat wrote: »Thanks everyone for the awesome words Doesn't matter what anyone says, I'm finding balance and you guys helped me get there
I need a like button for this.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »
This is great. I think getting rid of that all or nothing feeling in general can be so helpful. It's not like you are either perfectly on plan or ruining everything--we can be imperfect and have bad days (and work in things that make it easier or more sustainable).
My tendency before I really started was also to go overboard and decide I had to eat really perfectly and exercise a lot and of course I'd do it for maybe a week and something would happen and I'd decide everything was ruined anything so I'd have to start again later.
This time I made a conscious decision not to do that and with exercise especially I was easy on myself and just decided I'd try to do a little something regularly and work up without going overboard. After a couple of months work got crazy and I freaked out because I felt like I couldn't get in my workouts (now I'd manage, probably). But rather than deciding that just meant I obviously couldn't lose weight now and eat to deal with stress and sorrow that I had failed, I decided to give myself a break, accept I was going to miss my workouts that week, and do what I could--which was eat within my calories even though I screwed up by not having preplanned dinners a couple of days and had to eat what was available around my office/quickly after I got home at midnight. Not ideal at all, but I actually lost really well that week (because I stayed within my calories) and felt so empowered by the fact I hadn't gone off the rails despite messing up some. I also felt more confident I could get through it long-term and, of course, I managed to quickly get back to my preferred eating and workout plan.
This is so inspiring! Even if things don't go according to plan, it's not the end of the world you can still make it work because it's a long term journey. Unpredictable stresses will come up in our life and even with them we can make it work ... definitely opened my eyes a lot, that it doesn't all have to be perfect0 -
When it was "perfect" .. my results were horrendous, I would lose fast and regain it all by binging eventually because I didn't allow myself any "unclean" foods, and it always caught up to me...I've been this way 2 years now back and forth yoyo ..... so I know it 100% doesn't work for me0
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Nobody told me it's okay to have other foods, all diet books/tumblrs/pins /banana girls .. told me just only eat fruits/veggies/clean foods nothing else and you can't slip up. So yeah for the first time I see a good life for myself without all the pain0
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baby05phat wrote: »Nobody told me it's okay to have other foods, all diet books/tumblrs/pins /banana girls .. told me just only eat fruits/veggies/clean foods nothing else and you can't slip up. So yeah for the first time I see a good life for myself without all the pain
That's awesome, OP!! You've got this!0 -
I first came to the forums when I googled - working out at "target heart rate". I was really confused about what it really meant and a co-worker was really confusing me about needing to be in a "fat burning rate"... anyway, I got my answer and stumbled on the awesome Aspartame thread. I was hooked after reading every single page of that thread!
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This!!! I had the exact same mindset as you before, and joining MFP recently helped me sooo much learning new things and changing my attitude towards dieting/nutrition/food etc. I,m a lot less stressed out by everything now, taking things easy, and my life is overall getting better on top of my weight loss being easier to manage.0
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Reading the OP reminded me that before MFP I would do the same as the OP go on a "healthy eating" kick get hungry depressed bored and then binge and put on any lost weight and more.
Even when I first joined MFP I still looked for threads such as Juice Fasting, Phentermine, Shakes, etc etc Anything that I thought was going to make me lose weight fast.
However, after reading all the "Mean People" comments in those kind of threads debunking all the fad diets and putting forward the "stupid" idea that all calories are equal for weight loss and that VLC diets do not work in the long term. I too had an epiphany. They were right!!! I was the one who was doing it wrong.
There are so many people on here who are legends in the forums, they are consistently telling the truth about how to lose weight. They patiently impart their wisdom in the forums so that people like me and the OP can have that light bulb moment and start to lose weight and get healthy in a sustainable way.
I applaud your generosity of spirit to come on the forums and face all the crap day after day just so others can benefit from your knowledge and experience.
And thank you OP for reminding me how much I owe to MFP
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OP - glad the forums were able to help you sort things out. When I saw the title I assumed this was going to be a mean people/bully thread….good for you.0
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