What was some mistakes you made when first dieting?

TaraHancock827

comparing myself to others
not weighing my food
having a cheat day instead of a cheat meal
stressing over the number on the scale
not exercising enough
not being 100 percent committed

HStheBusyBee

'Rewarding' myself with chocolate or pizza when I had been good on my diet. Rookie mistake! lol

epeart11

Not getting enough water... Very important in dieting.

caurinus

Setting too aggressive calorie goals
Setting calorie goals not aggressive enough
Drinking way too much alcohol
Not eating enough green vegetables, fruit, legumes, and lean meats
Trying to do moderate-to-high intensity exercise while eating less than 50g carbs a day

I expect the exercise/carb thing is probably a little controversial. Everyone's body is a little different. I know there are people who get tons of exercise on very low carb diets. Personally, it just doesn't work for me. I enjoy exercise a lot more when I'm as fueled up on carbs as I can be within my daily calorie goal. When I'm carb-deprived, anything more intense than a brisk walk feels just awful. I figure, as long as I have a calorie deficit, I'm going to lose weight, so why not enjoy the exercise and optimize my exercise performance as much as possible?

Asher_Ethan

I didn't log vegtables. I thought they were all 0 calories because of stupid Dr stupid oz

Kekekylene

Eating the low numbers that mfp gives you and not weighing stuff only using measuring spoons/cups etc.

kommodevaran

Dieting went well, but it didn't teach me to eat, just to diet So when I hit maintenance, I still tried to avoid fat, still had all kinds of arbitrary food rules, and felt sabotaged when I was offered something I wanted but "couldn't have".

MFP gave me the tools I needed to finally eat like a normal person.

kshama2001

Trying to lose two pounds per week when I should have had a more realistic goal of one pound per week.

Believing MFP's inflated exercise burns.

DorkothyParker

Circa 1995: Snackwells, Lean Cuisine, Slim-Fast. Blegh!

Oh, and dieting.

Sherbog

Skipping breakfast...not measuring my portions...forgetting to drink a cup of water before every meal....eating out!

jackie_van_d

ArcticSero wrote: »

I've been going on and off the horse a lot but so far lost 7 pounds, hoping to lose another 26 though and I hopped back on it again the past two months. Recently I realized I haven't been losing weight despite logging what I eat.

Until I realized I forgot to log simple things like butter/cheese/tomato sauce (when using it in spaghetti). I feel a "Duh" moment coming on and I'm resisting to slap my forehead. I've been so focus on the bread/meat/veggies/fruit/juices that I forgot to measure and scale the simple things I'm supposed to (like if I'm adding butter to toast or some cheese on my spaghetti).

Probably why it's extremely slow going process in losing weight.

Just duh.

What were some mistakes you made and didn't realize it?

I wouldn't call it a "duh" I'd call it an Ahha! moment

My biggest mistake on this journey, was expecting that I would loose weight as quickly as I did in my early 30's. I'm now in my mid 40's awaiting a complete knee replacement. Life has changed!

CrabNebula

Thinking that I would be done once I reached 180lbs/170lbs/165lb/150lb/140lb/130lb. I am finally done now in my 120s, but I really thought I would look great and be done at 180lbs when I first started. I am 5'5", btw.

JeffFit70

I lost most of my weight in the first year before I discovered MFP and before I knew anything about training and nutrition. However, if I could do it over I would:

• Begin lifting weights sooner to retain as much LBM as possible. Losing muscle is awful even if it looks good on the scale.
• I would make small, incremental, sustainable changes rather than drastic 180 of my diet.
• I would not deprive myself of foods I enjoy. Those cravings can only be ignored so long.
• And I would keep it simple (for the most part). Control calories and get enough protein and you are 90% done.

rileysowner

Two big ones:

1) Trying to eat 6 meals a day even though it made me constantly hungry and miserable.

2) Eating at far to large a deficit. I started at 1450 and then dropped to 1200 which is far to low for a male, and I didn't eat bad exercise calories so likely netting 500 or so. Lost a lot of lean mass and ended up putting the weight back on rather quickly.

Kathryn41057

I have been on a lot of WL plans in my day. I'd do some plan for a couple of weeks, get bored because I wasn't seeing the results that I wanted, and then I'd quit. It became a vicious circle for me. I still have a hard time. I'm 58 years old, and I've been doing this since I was 21. I'm working slowly into doing some weight training. I do not like tracking, I do not like having to write things down. But....... I know that I need some structure to keep me sane. So.... on I go.... 1 Meal at a time... Try to write everything down... and the most important.... Don't be too hard on yourself

khhregister

Not putting in enough time to set myself up for success.

For example - I would put off grocery shopping and I wouldn't buy NEARLY enough healthy choices for myself. So I would have something healthy and appropriate calories for breakfast and lunch one day, but nothing planned for dinner. Or I'd have a great dinner, but not save myself any leftovers for the next day.

I also tried doing "Lean Cuisine" dinners for a while and they were SO not filling. I felt like I was starving. For some dumb reason it didn't occur to me to supplement them with veggies. Also I really didn't have any idea how many calories I needed to be eating so I would have 1 of those tiny frozen dinners for lunch and one for dinner. I'm sure I ate too few calories and so I had no energy and I thought diets = punishing routine. I just looked up the nutrition info on one of my "favourites" from that time (Santa Fe rice and beans) and it had 290 calories. OMG. What was I thinking.

I can't believe I didn't start my diet with that very basic piece of information - how many calories do I need in a day.

Now I eat SO many veggies and I buy enough for ~ 5-6 days at a time. My refrigerator is BURSTING with veggies at any one time. Also I buy bags of frozen Chicken breasts from Costco. There is ALWAYS something in the house to eat which is a good choice for me.

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joseserpas1788

The biggest mistake I would make was that I would eat above maintnance on weekends and mess up my progress and because of that I would not lose weight.

khhregister

Asher_Ethan wrote: »

I didn't log vegtables. I thought they were all 0 calories because of stupid Dr stupid oz

hehe I'm going to call him "stupid Dr stupid oz" from now on.

ElizabethOakes2

I tried to do too much all at once and ended up injured and sick. (That was what prompted me to start writing the book I'm working on about historical health-fads and diet trends.)
This time, my doctor recommended using a calorie counting site (his own system that his health group uses) and starting at the top of my TDEE and working downward, cutting out a little at a time until I was losing. I switched to MFP at the end of December, and I like it much better- it's so much easier to work with.

IpakDaley

Before MFP, I didn't have a plan other than to eat very little. I lost weight, but it wasn't sustainable for obvious reasons. So glad I found this app and pulled my head out...

wizzybeth

HStheBusyBee wrote: »

'Rewarding' myself with chocolate or pizza when I had been good on my diet. Rookie mistake! lol

Hm. I reward myself with treats when I have enough calories left over.

Lovee_Dove7

Not measuring things (food scale, tape measure, before pics, etc etc etc)
Being impatient to lose a lot right away, instead of starting in a measured way and finding my "groove" (where I'm making progress)

chelseascounter

Eating way too much carbs + fat, and very little protein.

Lucy1752

I will admit my biggest mistake had nothing to do with the actual act of changing my eating habits and being mindful.

It had everything to do with the realization that...I AM WORTH THE EFFORT!

My mistake was not believing that sooner.

KimmyJaneTD

Gave up if I didn't lose weight every day. (which usually lead to me eating a whole pack of oreos in one sitting).

Telling myself if it wasn't a part of my meal, It didn't count (sneaking bites while cooking)

Thinking Plexus, Hydroycut, medifast, or anything other diet pill, plan, scam was going to work... and somehow I could still magically eat whatever I wanted. Like that whole pack of oreos.

Not including my family in my goals. My husband is my biggest support system now and my son loves taking walks with my. It makes this journey much easier. Even though my husband doesn't diet, or even really eat healthy..

I'm sure there is much more. but at the end of the day it's important to remember you learn from mistakes and its about a lifestyle change, so you're going to make mistakes along the way.

OhMsDiva

Asher_Ethan wrote: »

I didn't log vegtables. I thought they were all 0 calories because of stupid Dr stupid oz

I still don't log my veggies and not because of Dr stupid Oz

Lovee_Dove7

Lucy1771 wrote: »

I will admit my biggest mistake had nothing to do with the actual act of changing my eating habits and being mindful.

It had everything to do with the realization that...I AM WORTH THE EFFORT!

My mistake was not believing that sooner.

That's really cool!

arditarose

I tried to lose weight by running and eating "healthy". Even once I figured out I need to be in a deficit and started logging my food, I really forced myself to run even though I hated it. It did nothing for my physique. Once I get up all the steady state cardio I hate, and started lifting in a deficit-I found success.

starryphoenix

Well, the Spiru Tein Shake diet worked for me 13 years ago when I was 13. The thing about it was that it didn't teach me how to eat properly so when I got off of it I went right back up.

Then there was a diet I went on that isn't allowed to be mentioned on here. It worked for me and I lost 25 in a month. I kept the weight off for over a year but I was still lazy 5 years ago so I relapsed and gained it all back.

Good old fashioned healthy eating is where I am at now. Been going to the gym and being active too. I've had my ups and downs. Last year I got off track and gained 17 pounds back. I then roller coastered for a while after Christmas. I'm still not back to 162 yet, but I've found my discipline again this month and I'm dropping. I'm currently at 173. Could be worse. I weigh myself every day so I can adjust stuff and know what I am doing right or wrong. The scale tells me stuff I can't guess on my own.