New members
Replies
-
HI, I am a newbie here , just poking around the site. I have been seriously logging int MFP for the past 3 weeks. My problem is getting in the exercise, and getting my mind straight that this is going to be a long process. looking to lose 60 lbs. Scale has not budged in a week. Trying to keep the bad, "give up,what's the use voice" from taking over. I'll drink some water and see you guys later!!!
Welcome to the group @ebentzley !
Not that you asked, but thought I'd post some thoughts on things to check when you get in a stall...hopefully you're already doing these things, but I find these were my go-tos when I was having issues. I still have to check them while in maintenance at times too.
Water Retention: If the exercise is new to you (even if it is just a different routine) you may have some water retention. Just push through the stall and it will eventually drop off (could be days or even sometimes weeks later). And even as vintage babes, I'm still convinced we have monthly hormonal weight fluctuations (yippie for being a gal...NOT)...so just be patient with yourself during the process. Look at monthly trends, if possible. I've had weeks where I don't lose much, then the next week, drop a couple pounds. Oh, and yea, drinking more water, for me, was great for helping to flush the water retention. Not the same for everyone, but worth a try to see if it helps you.
Accurate Calorie Burns: Also be sure you logging accurately for your exercise and weight. I've seen some folks on here log crazy high calories for some of their activity (nearly double what it should be based on other calorie calculators - I have one person on my feed regularly logging 2K+ burns for bike riding, but given what she's said about her ability, even for the hours she's out riding, I think she's at a minimum double estimating and possibly more....had another lady that would regularly log calorie burn for 'driving her car', and wondering why she wasn't losing ~ had to drop her as a friend as her whining about not losing was getting on my last nerve for that level of nonsense). Also, as you lose weight, you get less calorie burn for the same activity...it's a bummer, but it's a reality.
CICO Estimation: So when it comes to calories in vs calories out, my biggest rule is "Don't fool thyself". I typically tried my best to under-estimate my calorie burn from my exercise (and not count every little activity), and if needed (because there was no scale) over-estimate my calorie intake. That always gives me a bigger deficit to work with, but frankly it was probably closer to being spot on rather than giving me any 'extra' deficit as I was working on a 1 lb/wk deficit, but regularly only lost about .75lbs/week.
Accurate Portion Sizes: Also, be sure you are accurately logging your food.- It's eye opening to get a scale to weigh out portions at least for a while (if you aren't inclined to be obsessive about it like me), until you know what a real serving size is (typically 28-30g / 1 oz for most things ~ I use little custard bowls to put my portions in, not make me feel like there is more, but because they have some lines on them, and I fill up different foods to different lines depending on the weight of the food)...and even more surprising, you can find you are often satisfied with that little of a portion.
- If you eat out a lot, find a way to better estimate portion size as they often give way too much food for a serving (often their serving should be 3-4 portions for a woman and at least 2 portions for a guy). I typically use my hands (as they are always with me), so I know that a palm-full, or a fist, or something the size of my hand is about a portion...it takes some work to figure out what foods are what portion sizes, but once you have an idea, it makes estimating a bit easier when logging. To give you an idea, for me, the flat palm of my hand is about 4oz of meat, my thumb is about 2 Tbsp (of peanut butter), my fist is about a cup, about 1/2 a palm-full is 28-30g of nuts/candy. Clearly, it will be different for you since we all have different sized hands, but it's a decent way to estimate.
- Oh, and the serving sizes on bags of food isn't as grossly bad as some people make it out to be in the forums. So, I regularly count out the number of chips I eat when I'm at a Mexican restaurant (or even at home) and use a standard equivalent from the database. It's fair to say to double check it for a while, but once you can confirm the food you are purchasing is typically right, you don't need to weigh those things regularly...just grab it, log it, and eat it.
My biggest stalls were typically caused by lower than expected calorie burns (like when I went from doing a ton of cardio to doing more weight lifting - same exercise time, but less calorie burn) and getting sloppy on my food portions (or not staying below my calorie goal consistently)...it's one reason I love that I was so obsessive about logging even on really bad days (still don't get the mindset of not logging when you know you've had a bad day), because I could track down my problem areas pretty quickly and work to fix them. However, water retention regularly played with my head too, and there isn't much you can do about it.9 -
Great to see you, @ebentzley
0 -
Hi! I'm turning the big "6" "0" the end of August. Been searching for group to call home. Need to lose 50lbs and would love to lose around 80lbs, considered weight loss surgery but don't have the best insurance and the co-pays are way out of my financial bracket. Still working full time. I get about 5 thousands steps at work and I'm aware they don't really count.
My plan is log my food and get to the gym. Logging the food is the easy part but I'm so tired after working 8 hours I just want to get home, lie down and nibble on some salty chips.
Wishing success to all!2 -
Welcome aboard, @saybyebob!! Your steps do count as do your food choices and everything else in life. We are comprehensive beasts, we humans... MmmmmmmMMmmm salty chips.... What was I saying?1
-
1
-
Welcome to our group. We will support you every step of the way 0
-
Hello you all... I'm a returning member of this group (I think at least it was this group I was in a few years ago...)
I'm Ann, from Belgium, so my native language is Dutch which might explain my weird way of expressing myself. (I think my English is pretty decent, maybe better than the average knowledge of Dutch here in the group, but still....)
I'm turning 55 next month. I live with husband and 20 year old son in a small village near the Dutch border. I work in the Netherlands.
I do not have to lose much weight (6-7 lbs), but I'm more concerned about my fitness level, so my main goal is gently starting to run again, and to maintain my weight over a longer period of time.
We have a huge garden (to Belgian standards) and grow our own vegetables. I love cooking.
We are 'flexitarians'... Most day we eat vegetarian, but sometimes (often when my husband cooked) we eat fish or chicken. (I ate strictly vegetarian when I learned to cook, and I'm still not really good at preparing meat-meals.)
I'm sure I won't be able to keep myself from jumping into some of the discussions here, so you'll get to know me better over the next few weeks...4 -
Welcome @AnneTanne0 Great to hear about the garden, especially that the two you work it together. What crops grow best for you? 0
-
@RodaRose - I've a greenhouse with 35 different tomatoes (most heirlooms), we have too much zucchini to eat them all, and our green beans always give us a decent harvest. And this summer, our sweet corn is abundant...1
-
Great to have you back in the group. Maybe you could start a discussion on growing vegetables? I certainly one that would benefit from that knowledge0
-
Fabulous to have such an abundance of results.
I love heirloom tomatoes.
We had a brand I used to see called Ugly Tomatoes.
https://www.google.com/search?q=UglyRipes&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiM2r7R2OXVAhVh1oMKHby5CisQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1360&bih=705
Do you can or preserve them in some way for the winter?0 -
@RodaRose... Your 'Ugly Tomato' looks a bit like the 'Tlacolula' I'm growing this year: https://www.google.be/search?q=tlacolula+tomato
As a member of a 'LETS' community (Local Exchange and Trade System), I swap a part of my harvest for other goods/services.
And I dry part of my harvest, and cook a tomatosauce for the freezer. Haven't canned them yet.
1 -
Howdy! I'm new to the group, been on MFP a week now. Had a kick in the butt from Reality in June, by way of several blocked arteries at age 59. July 18 had two bypass grafts put in, and have been busy drastically revising my eating habits and exercise habits (formerly mostly recliner sitting interspersed with bouts of huffing and puffing).
Anyway, I'm in NE Oklahoma, originally from Georgia. Live on 20 acres of sandstone and oaks, with chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, peafowl, goats and three big dogs to guard the other critters. Currently working for a community bank as an Internal Auditor. Happily married for almost 16 years to a wonderful woman who is helping me on this quest to get healthy.
-rcr4 -
rcreynol3090 wrote: »Howdy! I'm new to the group, been on MFP a week now. Had a kick in the butt from Reality in June, by way of several blocked arteries at age 59. July 18 had two bypass grafts put in, and have been busy drastically revising my eating habits and exercise habits (formerly mostly recliner sitting interspersed with bouts of huffing and puffing).
Anyway, I'm in NE Oklahoma, originally from Georgia. Live on 20 acres of sandstone and oaks, with chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, peafowl, goats and three big dogs to guard the other critters. Currently working for a community bank as an Internal Auditor. Happily married for almost 16 years to a wonderful woman who is helping me on this quest to get healthy.
-rcr
Welcome to our group
Feel free to post any discussions
We look forward to getting to know you0 -
Hi, I've been on and off here for a few months now. I'm down 9 pounds eating twice as much food as I ate before tracking here. Apparently eating more is actually working for me. I have also had problems with the MyBlog as my friends do not appear to be able to read them. Any clue on how to get those to be visible to others?
Thanks,
-Tasia1 -
rcreynol3090 wrote: »Howdy! I'm new to the group, been on MFP a week now. Had a kick in the butt from Reality in June, by way of several blocked arteries at age 59. July 18 had two bypass grafts put in, and have been busy drastically revising my eating habits and exercise habits (formerly mostly recliner sitting interspersed with bouts of huffing and puffing).
Anyway, I'm in NE Oklahoma, originally from Georgia. Live on 20 acres of sandstone and oaks, with chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, peafowl, goats and three big dogs to guard the other critters. Currently working for a community bank as an Internal Auditor. Happily married for almost 16 years to a wonderful woman who is helping me on this quest to get healthy.
-rcr
I am in NW Arkansas, so we are practically neighbors!
Welcome!1 -
rcreynol3090 wrote: »Howdy! I'm new to the group, been on MFP a week now. Had a kick in the butt from Reality in June, by way of several blocked arteries at age 59. July 18 had two bypass grafts put in, and have been busy drastically revising my eating habits and exercise habits (formerly mostly recliner sitting interspersed with bouts of huffing and puffing).
Anyway, I'm in NE Oklahoma, originally from Georgia. Live on 20 acres of sandstone and oaks, with chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, peafowl, goats and three big dogs to guard the other critters. Currently working for a community bank as an Internal Auditor. Happily married for almost 16 years to a wonderful woman who is helping me on this quest to get healthy.
-rcr
Welcome to the group. Several of us here are heart attack survivors, and are going through the same road to recovery.
0 -
@lady_tasia
I believe you can get help via technical support
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10183745/looking-for-tech-support-need-help-using-myfitnesspal#latest
1 -
Hi there. New to the group, fairly new to MFP. Nice to meet you! I'm a retired librarian/Navy veteran from Asheville NC. Started out my journey at just under 220 lbs. This morning I hit 179. At 58 years young, I think of my weight loss as a minor miracle. I look forward to hearing about your health goals, your successes, and the way that all this has changed your outlook for the future. 2
-
Hi there. New to the group, fairly new to MFP. Nice to meet you! I'm a retired librarian/Navy veteran from Asheville NC. Started out my journey at just under 220 lbs. This morning I hit 179. At 58 years young, I think of my weight loss as a minor miracle. I look forward to hearing about your health goals, your successes, and the way that all this has changed your outlook for the future.
Welcome to our group. We look forward to to getting to know you x1 -
@lrhudgins Welcome. Congrats on your weight loss
0 -
Hi! New here and looking for any support (and to give support). Been battling my weight most of my life. Tired of being fat and tired, blah blah blah 1
-
2
-
Welcome to the group. We all float down here. No, wait, that's from something else. Anyway, that's the sort of humour you can expect.4
-
CaterpillartoButterfly65 wrote: »Hi! New here and looking for any support (and to give support). Been battling my weight most of my life. Tired of being fat and tired, blah blah blah
Welcome aboard 1 -
Greetings! I have been all over the internet looking for a support group that is active. I had gastric bypass surgery in 2007 and did really well - mostly because of an online support group. Well, the group fell apart and three years ago I was overwhelmed by many stressors and put back on some of the weight. My life has settled down, and I would like to see if I can get this extra weight off. Hope this can be my new home! 2
-
eastbaygal wrote: »Greetings! I have been all over the internet looking for a support group that is active. I had gastric bypass surgery in 2007 and did really well - mostly because of an online support group. Well, the group fell apart and three years ago I was overwhelmed by many stressors and put back on some of the weight. My life has settled down, and I would like to see if I can get this extra weight off. Hope this can be my new home!
Welcome to our group. This will definitely be your new support group.
We look forward to getting to know you better xx0 -
Hi @eastbaygal ! Wishing you well 0
-
I'm new, Just a little sheep, looking to shed a few pounds of wool. I am not really fat, I'm just wooly I live in NH. I am doing the Diet Free Life, 21 day challenge, only lost half a pound this week. Its not my fault, it was that Turkey that did it. He said he was good for me, but forgot to tell me about his pals, potato, stuffing and pumpkin pie. Oh well now I am off to a new start, with tracking this time. Have a great day. 2
