500-day streak: What I learned, why I'm quitting, and the best meal recipe

RyanTahiti

mevoy, Sustainability essentially means choosing the diet (and exercise, if applicable) that you'll stick with the longest - as opposed to an extreme regimen that will only last a week. There are unlimited options out there, and they all work differently for different folks. If you can find one that doesn't burn you out quickly, you'll stick with it longer and be healthier in the long run. And we're all in this for the long run, right?

raymax4

Correct

skinnyb05

Love your words!!! You are a true inspiration, you should stick around a little while longer!

HelenWater

Wise words. I look forward to taking the training wheels off one day. I've been logging for over 500 days and lost half of what I would like to lose.

You covered it all really.

Something I've learned is that exercise is the key for me. I try to exercise about 3,500 Calories per week, and make the exercise easy to do. I have a bicycle and a bike trainer, dogs that need walking, and a love of rowing on the water. Somehow, if I exercise I tend to choose more nutritious food.

RyanTahiti

ADDENDUM (forgot to include this one)

14. 98% obedience is 99% harder than 100% obedience.

RyanTahiti

HelenWater wrote: »

Wise words. I look forward to taking the training wheels off one day. I've been logging for over 500 days and lost half of what I would like to lose.

You covered it all really.

Something I've learned is that exercise is the key for me. I try to exercise about 3,500 Calories per week, and make the exercise easy to do. I have a bicycle and a bike trainer, dogs that need walking, and a love of rowing on the water. Somehow, if I exercise I tend to choose more nutritious food.

Helen, I wish I had some water nearby to row in - sounds like you've got a great cardio spot!

HelenWater

RyanTahiti wrote: »

HelenWater wrote: »

Wise words. I look forward to taking the training wheels off one day. I've been logging for over 500 days and lost half of what I would like to lose.

You covered it all really.

Something I've learned is that exercise is the key for me. I try to exercise about 3,500 Calories per week, and make the exercise easy to do. I have a bicycle and a bike trainer, dogs that need walking, and a love of rowing on the water. Somehow, if I exercise I tend to choose more nutritious food.

Helen, I wish I had some water nearby to row in - sounds like you've got a great cardio spot!

The places I row are about 40 km / 25 miles away, but the traffic is light early in the morning so it's quite a relaxed drive.

echmainfit619

The only thing I can add is please don't leave!

Maybe check in once in a while, just to say how the maintenance is going.

SynflowerMom

Congratulations. I'm in week 1 so thanks for the tips.

HeatherHS

Inspirational ... Good luck to you and well done. I'm at the opposite side, Week 1 - so here goes ...

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Great post! Enjoy your life x

LivingtheLeanDream

Congrats you've nailed weight loss, outstanding post
Been here 3 years 3 months, the last 3 I have stopped logging but have kept up my good habits and things couldn't be better
I weigh in bi - weekly to keep an eye on things and am consistent with exercise

2bfit_2015

What do you mean default goal for net calories is over estimated by MFP? I got lost there .

RyanTahiti

2bfit_2015 wrote: »

What do you mean default goal for net calories is over estimated by MFP? I got lost there .

When you enter your stats (height, weight, etc) in Goals and select "Maintain my current weight" or "Lose 1 pound per week" (for example), MFP calculates your calorie goals based on that.

For me, the calculation is way off, and I know it because of all my meticulous logging and the geeked-out amount of data I kept & sorted through.

So where it should be 1550 net calories per day for me, MFP's calculations put it at 1950. That'd be a severe disappointment on the scale every week if I wasn't aware of it.

[Related side note: the treadmills and elliptical machines at the gym also overestimate how many calories I burn by quite a bit. My Garmin with a heart rate monitor is much more accurate. Another reason I stuck to point #4 in my original post.]

desy617

RyanTahiti wrote: »

2bfit_2015 wrote: »

What do you mean default goal for net calories is over estimated by MFP? I got lost there .

When you enter your stats (height, weight, etc) in Goals and select "Maintain my current weight" or "Lose 1 pound per week" (for example), MFP calculates your calorie goals based on that.

For me, the calculation is way off, and I know it because of all my meticulous logging and the geeked-out amount of data I kept & sorted through.

So where it should be 1550 net calories per day for me, MFP's calculations put it at 1950. That'd be a severe disappointment on the scale every week if I wasn't aware of it.

[Related side note: the treadmills and elliptical machines at the gym also overestimate how many calories I burn by quite a bit. My Garmin with a heart rate monitor is much more accurate. Another reason I stuck to point #4 in my original post.]

thanks for all the much need information, how do you calculate the net calories if its not right, what did you do to figure it out. my net calories says 1248 right now

RyanTahiti

The MFP BMR calculator is pretty spot-on: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

It calculates my BMR at 1559 cal/day. But when I go into Goals and choose "Maintain my Current Weight," it sets my net calorie goal to 1950. At 1950 net, I know I'll gain almost a pound a week.

I think their calculations after that to find Net Calories just overestimate how much I burn throughout the day - even though I set Activity Level at "Sedentary," which is underestimating.

Or maybe it's just that my metabolism is so slow it breaks the algorithms...

Petranne

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livluvlift

Congrats on all your hard work! Good luck to you! :-)

jnv7594

Congrats to you. Excellent work. I've been at this for about a year and three months and have lost over 100 pounds, but I have not had a continuous logging streak unfortunately as I have missed a day here and there. I do disagree a bit with a couple of points you made in your list, but whatever works for you. I will be giving that recipe a try though.

kaitlynmcadams17

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