Don't Set Yourself Up To Fail

24

Replies

  • R_is_for_Rachel
    R_is_for_Rachel Posts: 381 Member
    i totally agree, i've failed too many times because i've been horribly disappointed that i'm not thin now! I'm on 1lb a week and i try to only 1 x a week, and sometimes it's been 10 days to lose 1pound-but hey that's great! As long as i keep losing the weight, i don't care how long it takes because it's a lifestyle change
  • UncaToddly
    UncaToddly Posts: 146 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I blame shows like The Biggest Loser. People think, "If they can lose 10 pounds per week, I should be able to lose 2."

    I know what you mean. For me, part of my mindset of losing weight is from watching "My 600 pound Life" because I watch those people and think, if THEY can lose weight and I am HALF of what they weigh..... I got no excuses!"
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Also, I often see a mindset in women that they should suffer during dieting to atone for the 'gluttony' that led them to be overweight.

    I have heard this from some women as well. My wife said that when she was younger, and much thinner, that she used to wear extremely high heels with tight little pointed toes. She told me one time that "It is hard to forget how hungry you are when your feet hurt so bad." :)

  • mom22dogs
    mom22dogs Posts: 470 Member
    I think people are fixated on the 1200 calories because I know a lot of diets in my lifetime that I have tried, encourage the 1200 calories, so people start to think that to go on a "diet" you have to eat 1200 calories. Also, the 2 lbs a week was always a "good loss" when I was on weight watchers, and a few others. So I think people just automatically think you need to lose 2 lbs. It has taken me a while to wrap my head around eating more than 1200 calories, and losing less than 2 lbs a week. I have about 20 lbs to lose, and the trainer at the gym that I see, wants me to lose very slowly. He doesn't expect me to lose the 20 in a year even. I want to though, so 2 lbs a month is what I'm shooting for.
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
    I really don't think that people are purposely ignoring the formulas. MFP just doesn't make the information easy to find. I think a lot of the issues that you have outlined could be resolved if MFP had a guided setup, but I don't see them ever doing that. While we are lucky enough to have members that have been nice enough to take the time to explain things and have the information stickied, there are still a lot of members that don't come into or know about the community part of MFP.
  • catsdogsh
    catsdogsh Posts: 130 Member
    I agree with this post completely. My issue is I'm only 5 foot 2 inches and have diabetes, POS and I can't lose at 1,800. I barely lose at 1,200. But I try to make the healthiest choices I can and stick to it. It's possible they say once you lose some the metabolism can turn around so I could someday be able to eat 1,800 at maintainence
  • newheavensearth
    newheavensearth Posts: 870 Member
    Very well thought out and written post. Much appreciated.

    One note about the 1200 calorie limit though, as someone stated before: not all of of choose that. I'm kinda short and 15 lbs from goal. Here's my calorie goal per day breakdown as given by MFP:

    2 lb loss: 1200
    1 lb loss: 1200
    .5 lb loss: 1340
    Maintenance: 1540

    As you can see I don't get much, and I can't play around with my exercise calories as much as I used to. I've come to accept this as just another "It is what it is and stuck it up, buttercup" situation. I average 1400. Again, not much wiggle room if I want to keep losing.

    And I do try to set goals in terms of x lbs by x day. They keep me focused. If I don't make it, it's not the end of the world. I just move the timeline.

  • highwood1968
    highwood1968 Posts: 61 Member
    I chose the .5 lb per week....I am okay with 2 lbs per month of loss..yes it might take me close to two years to lose the weight I want to lose but I can't nor have any desire to restrict myself..I know myself well enough that moment I try and do that it will backfire.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
    jkal1979 wrote: »
    I really don't think that people are purposely ignoring the formulas. MFP just doesn't make the information easy to find. I think a lot of the issues that you have outlined could be resolved if MFP had a guided setup, but I don't see them ever doing that.

    There is a guided setup.

    Go to ... My Home > Goals > View Guided Setup.

  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    jkal1979 wrote: »
    I really don't think that people are purposely ignoring the formulas. MFP just doesn't make the information easy to find. I think a lot of the issues that you have outlined could be resolved if MFP had a guided setup, but I don't see them ever doing that.

    There is a guided setup.

    Go to ... My Home > Goals > View Guided Setup.

    I didn't realize that was called a guided setup.

    What I meant was an actual guide on how to use MFP. For example what weekly weight loss goal is ideal for someone and why. An explanation of the formula that MFP uses. A walk through of how to use the site or app. There is a lot of good information within the community, but that is usually not the first place people go to before setting up their goals and/or don't know to look here for that information.
  • xCyanideGirlx
    xCyanideGirlx Posts: 116 Member
    I set mine to lose 2lbs a week and it gave me 1580 cals. I customized it to 1400, but i NEVER eat under 1300.
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
    edited May 2016
    UncaToddly wrote: »
    Zella_11 wrote: »
    Zella_11 wrote: »
    Thank you! I reset my goal through settings, and my new calorie goal is 1480 per day (initially was 1200). So much more manageable and realistic. I feel so good about this now! I feel like this post gave me permission to let go of a much too aggressive weekly weight loss goal. Thank you OP!

    Good for you! And while you're losing, don't weigh every day, at least at first. When I weigh every day I go insane. And don't play games with the scale. Weigh ONE time, the same time every week (or two weeks, or month, whatever). Don't move the scale to another place on the floor. Just weigh once and record your weight.

    Definitely going to heed this advice--the daily weigh ins are making me crazy, as sometimes the number is the same, down, up; my mood has been attached to these fluctuations. No need for this madness! Putting the scale away, sticking to my new calorie goal with fidelity, and meeting my reasonable weekly fitness/exercise goals will all help me achieve success. My new weigh in day will be every other Saturday. I feel free! Thank you!
    ...For me, it is a number. Today's number. Nothing more, nothing less. I log it and move on and when I gain a pound or two here or there, I can guess why lol.
    --->>Sometimes when I am being good and it doesn't move for a few days, then BAM, it shows a loss, it validates that it is all part of a journey.

    I find that (for me) the reward or penalty for "being good" or eating too many calories is DELAYED! I will be doing well, and the weight loss doesn't show up until a few days later, for instance. I will get frustrated at how slowly the weight is coming off. Or at times I will eat some high calorie items and go above goal, and I'll think that I got away with something because it will look like I stayed the same weight. But then I will get the payback and my weight will pop up 2 pounds practically overnight.
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
    edited May 2016
    I chose the .5 lb per week....I am okay with 2 lbs per month of loss..yes it might take me close to two years to lose the weight I want to lose but I can't nor have any desire to restrict myself..I know myself well enough that moment I try and do that it will backfire.

    That's a lot better than gaining slowly over the years! I've gained about a pound a year on average over the last 20 years. I have lost about 10 pounds of that so far slowlt over the last couple of years and kept it off. If I lose 2 pounds a month I will lose the last 10 pounds (hopefully) in 5 months. The months will pass whether or not I lose weight anyhow. I would LOVE to be 10 pounds lighter before Thanksgiving. If I do it slowly but surely I will get there. The last pounds have been difficult for me to lose.
  • hiyomi
    hiyomi Posts: 906 Member
    I actually disagree with the first two sentences of your post! I feel like many times people are uneducated about how many calories they can/should eat and jump into something new with no research or understandings of benefits/losses. Most of the time weight loss is something that people decide on a whim and when they do, they come into it completely new without knowing much information. I believe that they see "eat less, lose more" and think eating very little calories is the automatic answer. I think everyone needs to do a little research into weight loss and exercise/nutrition! Are there any newbie starter threads around here that may help people with that? If there isn't someone should make one! I would but I don't feel completely qualified to do so as I am in the process of losing weight. But maybe someone who has had success can!
  • MissusMoon
    MissusMoon Posts: 1,900 Member
    hiyomi wrote: »
    I actually disagree with the first two sentences of your post! I feel like many times people are uneducated about how many calories they can/should eat and jump into something new with no research or understandings of benefits/losses. Most of the time weight loss is something that people decide on a whim and when they do, they come into it completely new without knowing much information. I believe that they see "eat less, lose more" and think eating very little calories is the automatic answer. I think everyone needs to do a little research into weight loss and exercise/nutrition! Are there any newbie starter threads around here that may help people with that? If there isn't someone should make one! I would but I don't feel completely qualified to do so as I am in the process of losing weight. But maybe someone who has had success can!

    But did you read the rest of the OP? Because it addressed this issue very specifically.
  • hiyomi
    hiyomi Posts: 906 Member
    MissusMoon wrote: »
    hiyomi wrote: »
    I actually disagree with the first two sentences of your post! I feel like many times people are uneducated about how many calories they can/should eat and jump into something new with no research or understandings of benefits/losses. Most of the time weight loss is something that people decide on a whim and when they do, they come into it completely new without knowing much information. I believe that they see "eat less, lose more" and think eating very little calories is the automatic answer. I think everyone needs to do a little research into weight loss and exercise/nutrition! Are there any newbie starter threads around here that may help people with that? If there isn't someone should make one! I would but I don't feel completely qualified to do so as I am in the process of losing weight. But maybe someone who has had success can!

    But did you read the rest of the OP? Because it addressed this issue very specifically.

    No I did not sadly lol It was too long u.u Guilty...
  • afatpersonwholikesfood
    afatpersonwholikesfood Posts: 577 Member
    While I agree that people shouldn't be afraid of proper calorie goals and that those with less to lose stand to lose more muscle since the body can only obtain so much energy from fat, I disagree that rapid weight loss is automatically unhealthy or a precursor to failure. That's a common belief people repeat, but there's no proof behind it. It may be entirely appropriate for someone 250+ to lose more than 2 pounds per week, for example, until they are smaller. The key is for the calories to count in a larger deficit so that nutrient goals can be reasonably met. It's less about a set max of 2 pounds per week and more about proportions.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    I KNOW. 2 pounds a week. And lots of these women (sometimes men) have only 30, 20 pounds to lose. You just can't lose that fast without killing yourself!

    That's an unfair statement, I've lost 2lb a week with 32lb to lose and am not killing myself far from it.
  • hiyomi
    hiyomi Posts: 906 Member
    emmylootwo wrote: »
    hiyomi wrote: »
    MissusMoon wrote: »
    hiyomi wrote: »
    I actually disagree with the first two sentences of your post! I feel like many times people are uneducated about how many calories they can/should eat and jump into something new with no research or understandings of benefits/losses. Most of the time weight loss is something that people decide on a whim and when they do, they come into it completely new without knowing much information. I believe that they see "eat less, lose more" and think eating very little calories is the automatic answer. I think everyone needs to do a little research into weight loss and exercise/nutrition! Are there any newbie starter threads around here that may help people with that? If there isn't someone should make one! I would but I don't feel completely qualified to do so as I am in the process of losing weight. But maybe someone who has had success can!

    But did you read the rest of the OP? Because it addressed this issue very specifically.

    No I did not sadly lol It was too long u.u Guilty...

    Why would you reply to a comment without reading it first?

    Reminds me of that April Fool's prank that the NPR did: http://gawker.com/npr-pulled-a-brilliant-april-fools-prank-on-people-who-1557745710

    I read pieces of it, but I didn't read the entire thing.
  • zugunruhey
    zugunruhey Posts: 31 Member
    I completely agree. What's worked best for me is to under promise and over deliver. Setting my weight loss at 0.5 lbs a week ensures I don't have to make drastic lifestyle changes overnight that would be likely to make me burn out and give up. Even on a bad day it's fairly simple to eat more than 250 calories below maintenance, so every day I'm getting that nice positive reinforcement of those green leftover calorie numbers. Slow and steady wins the race!
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    I KNOW. 2 pounds a week. And lots of these women (sometimes men) have only 30, 20 pounds to lose. You just can't lose that fast without killing yourself!

    That's an unfair statement, I've lost 2lb a week with 32lb to lose and am not killing myself far from it.

    Me too ... initially I was going to lose only 15 kg (33 lbs). That was my goal. It took me 16 weeks to lose 15 kg. I was pleased, and my Dr was ecstatic. I had seen her before I started losing weight and there were some issues. I went to see her toward the end of that loss and she ran bloodwork ... and rang me at work all excited because things had improved that much. :)
  • lil_lizt
    lil_lizt Posts: 275 Member
    I'm 5' tall, 163lbs (firmly in the obese range) and currently (very) sedentary as studying for exams in the next few weeks is my main priority. I maintain at 1,700 and set to lose 1lb a week as I have 51lbs to lose. Not everybody can eat 1,500 or 1,600 as OP suggested to lose, and I'd gain on 1,800!
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
    Well, for starters getting the body you want requires work. Keeping the body you have does not. It's human nature not to want to do extra work. Second, its easier to stay motivated when you see quick results. I know so many people that are sold on a fad diet because they lost 10 lbs in a week and then are pissed and lose interest because they don't lose that much weight the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th week not understanding that the first week they didn't actually lose 10 lbs they just rid their body of extra water.

    ...I want everyone reading this to understand unless your doctor tells you otherwise you have the rest of your life to lose weight. That even if you lose weight at a rate of a half a pound a week at the end of the year you're going to be 26 lbs lighter than you were at the beginning of the year. That's awesome. Your body will love you for that. After two years you'll have lost over 50 lbs. Nothing wrong with that! You have the rest of your life. Don't give up because it doesn't happen tomorrow.

    Thank you! Before I learned how to eat long term on a well balanced and SUSTAINABLE plan I would cycle onto Atkins or South Beach or Miracle Soup or Lemonade Cleanse, etc. I would lose a few pounds but abandon it because I missed my favorite foods! I really do have hope this time. People should listen to veteran maintainers on MFP and get ideas for how to lose weight and keep it off IMO.
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
    zugunruhey wrote: »
    I completely agree. What's worked best for me is to under promise and over deliver. Setting my weight loss at 0.5 lbs a week ensures I don't have to make drastic lifestyle changes overnight that would be likely to make me burn out and give up. Even on a bad day it's fairly simple to eat more than 250 calories below maintenance, so every day I'm getting that nice positive reinforcement of those green leftover calorie numbers. Slow and steady wins the race!

    I love this approach! I would rather see the green than red at the end of the day also. I need positive reinforcement and adjusted my goal down as well. It isnt as painful for me to go a few hundred calories under maintenance for the long term. Plus it is good training for keeping off the weight forever instead of feeling angst, desperation, hunger and Yo Yo dieting.