I wish I had known . . . (or "Things that didn't work")

EmmaFitzwilliam

What have you tried that, on reflection, just didn't work?
What are you doing differently this time?

What didn't work for me:

1200 is not a magic number. You can lose weight and take in more than 1200 calories.

Nothing *has* to be forbidden or "not on your diet".

No "food cop" asking if I am "allowed" to have X food or Y portion size. Ties in to the above.

Knowledge is power. Awareness of portion size and calorie count matter. You burn an average of X amount of calories per day. (Varies by age, gender, body composition, activity, etc.) If you consistently exceed your personal X amount of calories, every 3500 calories will add a pound. An excess 50 calories a day (every day) results in an excess 350 calories over the course of a week. And that excess, every day, every week, can lead to a gain of 5 pounds in a year.

Choose wisely in terms of exercise and gym time. I spent so many pointless hours at the gym, on the elliptical or using all the wrong weight machines.

There is no dietary "end game" or "finish line". Success lies in making changes and building awareness you will draw on for the rest of your life.

What I am doing differently:

Over the past year, I've worked my way down to 1200 calories as my baseline goal (I'm short and sedentary, and nearing my goal weight), but I started at 1450 calories a day.

I allow myself to eat anything I want, in limited, considered portions.

I allow myself to occasionally exceed the recommended number of calories without self-recrimination.

My exercise now comes from some or all of the following, 3-5 times a week: 1.25 mile not a power walk from the transit station to my office, a .75 mile walk at lunch, and walking to the coffee shop and the close transit station after work. Also, I *very* occasionally do some weights work at home with a resistance band and some dumbbells. Calisthenics and weights may actually have a lot going for them.

professionalHobbyist

I wish I would have known.....

That there was this awesome App, the food diary.

It is so helpful!

I had already lost 75 pounds before downloading the App and finding the awesome food diary.

It makes things so much easier. Using a scale more often was a side benefit to using the food diary.

As far as how I eat and exercise?

I'm good with it.

It has worked long term for me and I am in the health I was 20 years ago.

Bizurke51

i wish i had known that weight loss hurts your strength and that to preserve your strength you need to lift heavy.

jennyonthespot

I wish I had invested in a food scale years ago! I was way under estimating what I ate.

I wish I had known that a 1200 calorie limit is completely unnecessary.

I wish I had known that there is no finish line.

I wish I had understood that the quality of calories makes a huge difference in how I feel.

I wish I'd understood how to exercise effectively. So much wasted effort!

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kndev

jennyonthespot wrote: »

I wish I had invested in a food scale years ago! I was way under estimating what I ate.

I wish I had known that a 1200 calorie limit is completely unnecessary.

I wish I had known that there is no finish line.

I wish I had understood that the quality of calories makes a huge difference in how I feel.

I wish I'd understood how to exercise effectively. So much wasted effort!

I whole heartedly agree with all of your points!

kndev

I wish I had known that food scales can change your life.
I wish I had known that water intake makes a HUGE difference in your nutrition and workouts.
I wish I had known the importance of setting mini-goals not focused on the scale.
I wish I had known the importance of taking progress pictures and tape measurements.
I wish I had known that a treat meal here and there is okay too.

Samenamenewlook

Things that didn't work -

Diets ... all of them
Exercise plans that I hated, but appeared to help others lose tons of weight

I wish I had known -

That I need to fuel my body to work out hard
That focusing on performance in the gym, rather than the scale, would make me feel accomplished
That CrossFit was where I'd find my true love for fitness ... I'd be a beast by now had I started sooner!

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Debmal77

I wish.......ugh....just too many.

lowriderjim

Excellent post by EmmaFitzi


I use how my jeans fit more than the scale.

I do weigh daily just to see haw my body reacts in the short term. I post on this site every Monday and have learned the monthly change is more meaningful.

Teamhynes

I wish I knew....

That using a food diary is a miracle and not a burden

That my body is an amazing thing capable of rebounding and recovering from the horrible things I've done to it

That when I changed my point of view about food being fuel and not being reward or comfort, my life would change

That my head plays such an important role in diet and exercise and that if I work hard at the mindset and focus on where I'm at and what I want, everything else is much easier

That I'm a work in progress and, to quote from above, there's no finish line

That words like "cheating" or "bad" are ridiculous when applied to food

Moonlight17

I wish I knew about HIIT!!
I wish I knew that losing weight was simply about eating proportionally and exercising more.
I wish I wasn't so hard on myself when I lost the first 20lbs

professionalHobbyist

jennyonthespot wrote: »

I wish I had invested in a food scale years ago! I was way under estimating what I ate.

I wish I had known that a 1200 calorie limit is completely unnecessary.

I wish I had known that there is no finish line.

I wish I had understood that the quality of calories makes a huge difference in how I feel.

I wish I'd understood how to exercise effectively. So much wasted effort!

Food quality!!!

Good nutritional calories help me feel energized and ready for like, work, and play. I fill up on them. No skimping either. I don't eat way under my calorie goal. I need the fuel.

I wish I would have know how terribly wrong the old saying a calorie is "just" a calorie for me personally. I have a busy life with a fair bit of stress. It does not work that way for me. If I eat poorly I can feel it when the gas tank runs low.

Sweet_Heresy

I can eat WAAAAAY more than 1200 calories and still lose weight.

...and at 5'8" and 185, 1200 calories is rather unsustainable anyway.

Doing obnoxious amounts of boring cardio is not required to lose weight.

Lifting weights will not make me "bulky" and in fact, will help me look better than just cardio.

No, I can't eat as much of a food as I want because its low fat (thanks, mom).

...and in fact, fat is actually good for you. And carbs are not evil.

High reps low weights is absolute crap.

quiksylver296

Sweet_Heresy wrote: »

I can eat WAAAAAY more than 1200 calories and still lose weight.

...and at 5'8" and 185, 1200 calories is rather unsustainable anyway.

Doing obnoxious amounts of boring cardio is not required to lose weight.

Lifting weights will not make me "bulky" and in fact, will help me look better than just cardio.

No, I can't eat as much of a food as I want because its low fat (thanks, mom).

...and in fact, fat is actually good for you. And carbs are not evil.

High reps low weights is absolute crap.

Most of this!

andympanda

Just because other people say something, does not mean i have to do it, I can do what works for me, and if i emjoy it, I will keep on going in the right direction.

whmscll

Allowing myself to eat anything I want as long as it fits within my calorie goals makes me not crave it so much any more. It's only when something is "forbidden" that I can't seem to get enough of it.

Starvation mode is a myth.

Sugar is not the devil (but I still feel better getting most of my carbs from fruits and veggies rather than grains.)

I can lose weight without exercising at all. No guilt on rest days!

tiggernic

I wish I could tell my younger self that 10stone was not fat.

allyouwannado

this is a great thread! thanks for posting