MFP doesn't work.
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FitGirl_Running wrote: »You are right. MFP doesn't work. Oh, you can lose weight using MFP, but your chances of keeping the weight off are slim. I've been on MFP for years. I've had significant weight loss but gained it all back. All my MFP friends have either gained their weight back or are still struggling along trying to lose. Until I realized that diets don't work, and that making weight loss a goal doesn't work, I didn't have any real success. Those of you who want to say that you lost weight on MFP so it does work---it doesn't work unless you keep the weight off, so show me someone who has. I'll bet they are few and far between. Focusing on weight loss, counting calories, and dieting is just a recipe for disaster.
So you are right.. it doesn't work if you don't use it... I have been on MFP a long time and gone up and down.. why? because I stopped.. my own issues, problems or whatever made me quit. When I used it correctly, it worked like a charm but life happens and I stopped (numerous times).. here I sit again a week into this time but I am not viewing it for weight loss only.. I need to do this for me and no matter what I need to continue. I have many friends on here who are maintaining on MFP and noticed quite a few in this thread alone.
If you stopped using it or friends did and did not maintain "maintenance" on MFP then that is YOUR problem, not the app or website.
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You occasionally see new people making their introductions saying things like, "I hope it works." And I always think, "You aren't ready." It's just another way to put the responsibility somewhere else. If the mindset isn't right, long-term failure is inevitable.15
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You occasionally see new people making their introductions saying things like, "I hope it works." And I always think, "You aren't ready." It's just another way to put the responsibility somewhere else. If the mindset isn't right, long-term failure is inevitable.
Though saying "I hope it works" could just be a sign that they've never tried to loose weight with calorie counting. Or they've failed in the past so they are nervous about this time. It doesn't always mean they aren't ready or not in the correct mindset.2 -
On WW I lost 1.5 to 2 lbs per week. Never stayed the same or gained.
I am at 1200 calories per day
57 year old woman
180 lbs
Slightly active. Walk on treadmill 4x a week.
I haven't all the replies but this made me lol why change what's working ? If it's money you know the plan you can do it without paying now.
Calories are strict weigh solids on scales measure liquids in jugs
Log everything you eat and drink
Eat enough
Why are you in 1200 calories way too low if your honesty eating drinking only 1200 you'd lose weight
Thing is if your not losing but lost on we your not logging everything honestly
Everything needs logging sauces fruit veg etc etc
the plans change often,the points change often. ww never stays the same so its hard but she could probably find someone she knows doing it and they can help her out with what is X amount of points and go from there.0 -
I foolishly had a WW ready meal today. It was like something they probably serve in retirement homes where the patients are too old to complain. Absolutely horrible. I do not understand how people can survive on that stuff.
I will go back to my (weighed-out) homemade vegetable soup and lentils tomorrow.
And MFP does work! It's basically science.4 -
It means you're not logging accurately or overestimating your calorie burn or both. Or you have MFP set at too high of a calorie level for your activity.
You have to make adjustments if it's not working. There's nothing magical about weight watchers compared to MFP, you have to be in a caloric deficit with either program for them to work. If you're not, you'll maintain or gain.
Weight watchers makes it easy though since you don't have to weigh and log your food if you're eating their frozen meals 3x per day. This makes me think you are not logging accurately, even if you are logging diligently.1 -
FitGirl_Running wrote: »You are right. MFP doesn't work. Oh, you can lose weight using MFP, but your chances of keeping the weight off are slim. I've been on MFP for years. I've had significant weight loss but gained it all back. All my MFP friends have either gained their weight back or are still struggling along trying to lose. Until I realized that diets don't work, and that making weight loss a goal doesn't work, I didn't have any real success. Those of you who want to say that you lost weight on MFP so it does work---it doesn't work unless you keep the weight off, so show me someone who has. I'll bet they are few and far between. Focusing on weight loss, counting calories, and dieting is just a recipe for disaster.
Seriously? There's nothing wrong with going through phases of weight loss, and then relax up a bit. Weigh yourself weekly and give yourself an allowable deviation from that. When you reach that max weight, dial back your calories a bit. It's that easy. The flip side is, don't take any time off and just track calories for maintenance (the app does give this option also) if you notice after a few weeks your weight is still going down, give yourself a bit extra calories daily, if you see your weight is slowly going up, drop the calories a bit. It's a lifestyle commitment...4 -
On WW I lost 1.5 to 2 lbs per week. Never stayed the same or gained.
I am at 1200 calories per day
57 year old woman
180 lbs
Slightly active. Walk on treadmill 4x a week.
Are you entering your fruit and veggies into your diary? They aren't "free" on MFP. And the calories really can add up. When I was on WW, fruit and veggies were 0 points, but that's not reality.
Well, WW has a lower base calorie amount to make up for the "free" fruits and veggies.
However, I could understand a WWer coming to MFP and being confused about this and not losing weight due to thinking fruit and veggies are still free.
@MEBaraszu There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
When I weigh my food on a digital food scale, eat the calories MFP gives me, eat some (but not all) of my exercise calories, I lose as expected over the course of a month.3 -
Is this still going on? I doubt OP has been back, nor intends to be.5
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Oh dear, and here I thought it WAS working. I lost 21 pounds and have been doing this for 7 weeks. Am I doing it wrong?3
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3rdof7sisters wrote: »Oh dear, and here I thought it WAS working. I lost 21 pounds and have been doing this for 7 weeks. Am I doing it wrong?
Of course you're doing it wrong. If you were doing it the right way (like a small number of people in this thread), you'd either be maintaining or gaining weight. Are you using a food scale? [/sarcasm]3 -
boy Im tired from trying to help people today lol. seems like its a "dont give me advice Im right" kind of day3
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CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »boy Im tired from trying to help people today lol. seems like its a "dont give me advice Im right" kind of day
If I'm not accepting feedback I'm not learning and growing.
I've been here almost 8 months and I'm still learning!!
ETA -I for one appreciate the help.4 -
leanjogreen18 wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »boy Im tired from trying to help people today lol. seems like its a "dont give me advice Im right" kind of day
If I'm not accepting feedback I'm not learning and growing.
I've been here almost 8 months and I'm still learning!!
ETA -I for one appreciate the help.
people like you are great,even being here almost 3 years I still sometimes need to learn new things and appreciate feedback as well.but some people just make you want to shake them silly lol2 -
leanjogreen18 wrote: »CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »boy Im tired from trying to help people today lol. seems like its a "dont give me advice Im right" kind of day
If I'm not accepting feedback I'm not learning and growing.
I've been here almost 8 months and I'm still learning!!
ETA -I for one appreciate the help.
I'm several years into maintenance, and I've been on and off MFP for around 3 years, and I still learn new things from here all the time
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My opinions not wrong, it's mine, and it does work, for me.0
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On WW I lost 1.5 to 2 lbs per week. Never stayed the same or gained.
I am at 1200 calories per day
57 year old woman
180 lbs
Slightly active. Walk on treadmill 4x a week.
I am 61, and lost quite a bit of weight on WW, when I was around 47 or so. (Please ignore the flames that will follow.) I have kept it off until the last couple of years because I got lazy with journalling, so I am at it again.
I was probably using an earlier points system that you, but it was easy to follow (I never joined it, I just bought the books). My goal back then was 135 lbs. I never quite made it, but I made 136, and I was happy with that. But here's there thing. The points were worth about 50 calories each.
My point range, when I got down to near-goal, was the 18 - 23 point range. You do the math.
less than 150 pounds / 18-23
150 to 174 pounds / 20-25
175 to 199 pounds / 22-27
200 to 224 pounds / 24-29
225 to 249 pounds / 26-31
250 to 274 pounds / 28-33
275 to 299 pounds / 29-34
300 to 324 pounds / 30-35
325 to 349 pounds / 31-36
more than 350 pounds / 32-37
My last few weeks, here were my points...I was very good about staying in my range. As you can see, my points stayed in that range. Now, we had plenty of no-point foods then too - leafy greens, carrots, tomatoes, green beans, asparagus, onions, broccoli and radishes were all 0 point foods. So we could eat up as much as we wanted. I ate a LOT of green beans back then.
Total pts Pts avg To go! avg wt
147 21.00 7.2 143.09
163 23.29 8.4 143.23
134 19.14 7.2 143.03
153 21.86 8.6 143.43
136.5 19.50 5.6 142.37
126 18.00 4 140.17
117.5 16.79 3.8 139.40
148.5 21.21 3.4 139.34
156.5 22.36 4 139.69
110 15.71 1 138.86
121 17.29 2 136.91
The way the points were calculated, it encouraged higher fiber content, and the zero-point foods were all very healthy. I really had no problems at all using this plan - it worked great for me. But I can't use the MFP suggested calories - saying that I can lose weight on 1200 is simply not possible, for me. I know this because I have counted calories for so many years. So I use my own numbers. And I use the MFP site to track.
Many people fall on the extreme end of the ranges of caloric needs. I am on the low end, and I know it.
My point here is, you need to find what works for you. MFP can certainly help you meet your goal.0 -
Wow this thread has made my day. OP, hopefully now you will have the constructive information you will need to assess what needs to be tweaked in order for you to start seeing results.
1. Like many people say...Weigh your food accurately with a digital scale
2. Double check you are getting the correct entry on the database AND picking the correct quantity (check it against the packaging if in doubt)
3. Ensure you are counting oils, condiments and the like to ensure you are not missing calories.
3. Scales are not a great indicator of weight loss. your weight will fluctuate throughout the day and the accuracy of your scales may change if you move them around. Make sure you weigh at the same time of day, make sure your scales are in the same place. Basically go for consistency when weighing.
4. Measurements. In addition to scales, throw in some measurements too. I measure waist, stomach, chest and incidental measurements like how loose my wedding ring is for example.
Lastly, I think you should give any new regime at least 12 weeks. You need to give yourself a good chance and ensure you are using the tools correctly. This app is an absolute gem, that is why you have generated so much opinion and passion from the MFP user base.
Good luck with the weight loss2 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »On WW I lost 1.5 to 2 lbs per week. Never stayed the same or gained.
I am at 1200 calories per day
57 year old woman
180 lbs
Slightly active. Walk on treadmill 4x a week.
I haven't all the replies but this made me lol why change what's working ? If it's money you know the plan you can do it without paying now.
Calories are strict weigh solids on scales measure liquids in jugs
Log everything you eat and drink
Eat enough
Why are you in 1200 calories way too low if your honesty eating drinking only 1200 you'd lose weight
Thing is if your not losing but lost on we your not logging everything honestly
Everything needs logging sauces fruit veg etc etc
the plans change often,the points change often. ww never stays the same so its hard but she could probably find someone she knows doing it and they can help her out with what is X amount of points and go from there.
The ww business is just that introducing new plans every January to make more money
If it's working fur her why change that's what I'm wondering ?
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