Did it surprise anyone how easy it was to lose weight?
Losingthedamnweight
Posts: 535 Member
I struggled for years with crash diets and always doing the dumbest things to lose weight. Ever since I discovered my fitness pal, when I stick to it, the weight comes off without much work. It's not like I have to go kill myself in the gym for 5 hours a day and eat nothing but steamed broccoli. I just count calories, eat what I want and go for a walk (or get my exercise at work). It just amazed me how simple it has been. Wish I would've discovered fitness pal sooner!
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Yeah I still eat junk but if in small amounts with exercise the weight just falls right off VS the Master Cleanse lol!0
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Losing weight is easy... losing just fat is harder.0
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Nah. Not surprised. The math is pretty simple. Practical application is another matter.0
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It's not the fact that losing weight is easy, It's the fact that in the past, i ate over my maintenance to even gain weight in the first place.0
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Totally agree OP, in fact I feel a bit of a fraud. People are impressed at the amount of weight I've lost but it has indeed been simple. I don't think I've ever been hungry, except when missing a meal due to travel but even then it's not that gnawing pain, just looking forward to having smething to eat. I get very few temptations and when I do and work out if I can afford the calories, I usually overcome the temptation. I eat what I want within my calorie allowance and six months of doing this has lost me a regular 10 lbs + a month. I have done almost no exercise over this period, though I'm becoming more energetic as the weight comes off. I only wish I had realised years before how easy this could be, I would have saved myself a lot of worry, pain and health issues!0
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I don't find it that easy to lose weight, so maybe surprised isn't the word. However, it was a HUGE revelation to me how few calories I actually needed! I thought I need about the same as an average woman and couldn't understand how I'd got so big. When I worked out my TDEE I found that I'd needed a lot less than average. This should have been obvious to me years ago, but for some reason it didn't click and I'd been coming up with all sorts of theories as to why I'd gained weight on such a moderate, healthy diet! Now that I know the truth (that because I'm older and shorter, I really need to eat a lot less than moderately), dieting is pretty much just a case of sticking at it. For ever, unfortunately.0
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Yes. Before I joined MFP I was so cluelesss - I literally had no idea how calories worked or anything like that. Once I learned that you simply have to burn more than you consume, I couldn't believe it was that simple! But the proof was right there on the scale
Now that I've spent such a long time educating myself in this community, I'm embarrassed by how ignorant about weight loss I used to be :blushing:0 -
I must say that it was simpler in my pre-MFP days when I cut to 1500 and left it at that. I was losing 2lb a week easily (too much for someone who started with only 30lb to lose).
Of course I drifted into disordered eating, and I joined MFP having regained 10lb from my low weight; with an aim to monitor my eating and exercise habits and regain a 'normal' relationship with food. Of course when you measure anything you inadvertently change it...was that Heisenberg or Schrodinger?
This site has been in equal measure a lifesaver, educational, hilarious and aggravating! I have some great virtual friends, I can have indepth conversations and make silly comments on chit-chat and more importantly there's no experience I've been through that hasn't been covered somewhere on the forums. It's remarkable :laugh:
So no, it hasn't been easy. I've 'only' lost 7lb in the 8 months I've been on here but I've gained so much more, and I wouldn't change it for my previous habits.0 -
The thing that surprised me was how easy it was to count calories... Granted, I'm not perfect but I always heard people saying how much they hate it and how horrible counting calories is... I don't get it! I LOVE it! It makes me feel like I'm in control of my body.0
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What makes it easy is that (if you do it properly) you log everything that goes into your mouth. Yes, I do eat 'normally' but I now make informed choices based on how many calories I have spare. It is a lifestyle for me rather than a diet - eg today I had a full English breakfast and will have a roast dinner tonight - well within my allowance - and still getting my 5 a day. I lose about 1lb a week and I'm very happy with that 0
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Absolutely.
What took me 8 years to put on... took 11 MONTHS to take off. WHAT? I always assumed it'd take a painstakingly long time, yet in a matter of less than a year, I lost 75 lbs. My goal.
Amazing what eating properly can do.0 -
It's simple, but it's not always easy, especially long-term. I do find myself wanting to shake people at my work doing these weird diets and workouts and not losing any weight, because they refuse to count calories (or adopt a sustainable lifestyle).0
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I was amazed at how easy it is as well. Counting calories ftw!0
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I agree, MyfitnessPal makes loosing weight seem so simple. The other day I couldn't log on, since all of their changing around I have had trouble, and I was like at a loss. I just so desperately wanted to log in my food for the day. I DO think it is a lifestyle and I can see myself using this tool for the rest of my life. But it is not a burden.....it is a joy!!!!0
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It's like running a marathon. Sure, given the the time, preparation, determination and dedication, nearly anyone can do it. However, the challenge is to summon all that dedication and determination. Not everyone finds that part easy, every day, for months on end.0
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that. ^It's simple, but it's not always easy
simple for sure. easy? only sometimes. its still a challenge to decide "one serving of ice cream" instead of "i'm getting 3 pints because i cant decide on a flavor"0 -
To me it's so frustrating...the process is very slow. I have these few kilos to lose but just because it's not much weight is so so difficult to get rid of it. Every time I step on the scale I found out that I've lost nothing but 100 or 200 grams...even if I've been exercising everyday and counting the calories right etc...I guess I have no choice but stick to the plan and trust this SUPER SLOW PROCESS. I don't wanna make other people mad saying that but it is true that it's easier to lose the weight when you are more overweight. I've been dieting and exercise with my cousin and by the time I lost 2 kg she lost 10 doing my exactly same routine ç__ç I just get depressed since I cannot see the results I want...0
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Losing weight was easy.
Maintaining is difficult.
I love to stuff my face and lay about so exercising willpower and willing myself to exercise are the real challenges.0 -
I like the way you sum this up. I don't find it easy to lose weight. In fact when I am doing well I get obsessed with calories and exercise. Then I slip in my old ways and beat myself up and gain more weight. I trying to break this cycle.It's like running a marathon. Sure, given the the time, preparation, determination and dedication, nearly anyone can do it. However, the challenge is to summon all that dedication and determination. Not everyone finds that part easy, every day, for months on end.0 -
It was a lot easier than I thought it would be after 3 long years of weight watchers never really losing weight now I have lost a person. in just a little over a year It has been 15+ years since I weighed what I weigh now I love seeing the #'s come down I started my journey here as a last resort wish I would have started here first!! I have 119 more lbs to get to my goal I am confident I can do it0
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*nodnod* I'm doing TDEE-%, and I was BAFFLED by how quickly and how easily the weight began to just melt off. in February of this year I weighed over 240 pounds. Today I'm just over 217, and that's actually a bit of regain. Got lazy in June & July & didn't log much, so I got back up to about 220 from the low of 210 in early June. But I started logging carefully again, and the weight started coming off again. Not as fast as before, but I'm still figuring out my body's changing needs as my toddler gets older and goes through phases of nursing all night because he's cutting teeth, vs sleeping straight through and skipping two feeds! And while the *weight* isn't melting away like before (though still dropping .2-.5 pounds a week), I checked my measurements today and got a lovely surprise.
Since the last time I did them (in April, when I was last at 217), I've dropped 2.25" all over, including half an inch each from forearm, ankle, and hips!0 -
Yes, actually, it did. In the past I've lost weight before and it came off with the effort I put in. One diet I used in particular was hard to get started because it required quitting sugar completely and cold turkey.
This time I went back to the first method and using this site to count my calories since they are an important part of that plan. It was not just surprising to me but also to my walking buddies who I walked separately with. They BOTH were surprised why I was losing so much more weight so much faster than them during the school year since they both had gym memberships and went separately from our walks/hikes and one of them even worked with a trainer. Both women complained here and there about not being able to "quit bread" or "being confused" about how many calories would work "for me".
I informed the "quit bread" lady ONE TIME simply put "I have not quit bread or carbs this time". I informed the calories confused one of this site and how it would help her make a cal goal that was right for her to which she replied "I already know what cals my body loses on" and then proceeded to find it hard to construct a diet to match that goal or stick to it. Instead of ever reassessing her cal goal she just sought out (and found) new information which she incorporated and which made her diet even more restrictive and even harder to come up with an eating plan that was easy to execute.
By the end of the school year one had only lost 1/3 of the amount I did, while the other had actually regained some of her loss which she never shared the actual amount but she showed me where she'd regained it and I could see that she was right as her scale had told her.
I went into the summer with solidly looser clothing, results obvious enough to elicit compliments, a plan that was easy to stick to and can resume in fall and the confidence that this works and can easily be relied upon again once I'm able to workout regularly again. For the time being I focused on maintenance thru the summer and that has been easy as well.0 -
I agree, I've lost 42lb - exactly 3 stone for my English friends - in 4 months with MFP counting calories and exercising. It makes you think about what you eat and make choices - losing has been so much easier this way. Thank you MFP, nearly ready to progress to Maintainance and determined to keep to my goal weight, feel sooooooo much better x0
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I feel the same way. And actually I feel in control of my weight for the first time in my life. Before it always just seemed haphazard-- I'd try to "eat less" but it was kind of vague and didn't work well.0
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To me it's so frustrating...the process is very slow. I have these few kilos to lose but just because it's not much weight is so so difficult to get rid of it. Every time I step on the scale I found out that I've lost nothing but 100 or 200 grams...even if I've been exercising everyday and counting the calories right etc...I guess I have no choice but stick to the plan and trust this SUPER SLOW PROCESS. I don't wanna make other people mad saying that but it is true that it's easier to lose the weight when you are more overweight. I've been dieting and exercise with my cousin and by the time I lost 2 kg she lost 10 doing my exactly same routine ç__ç I just get depressed since I cannot see the results I want...
This is me right now.
I lost 8lb in the first 3 weeks then nothing at all, even though I've stuck to the calorie goal, done a lot more exercise than before, but seeing little to no results0 -
Losing 20+ pounds 10 years ago was easy. Losing 5LBS now is ridiculously hard. But then...I'm 48, female, and "changing". Glad it's coming off for you. Keep it off, it doesn't get easier! it only gets harder. 0
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I find it "easy" after about 3 days. Unfortunately, I then had a cheat night (date night with my hubs), so that made the next day very NOT EASY.
Yes, the formula for losing weight IS simple. Despite what anyone says, it's a simple equation- calories in vs calories out. In my case, I have to take into account salt bloat, but eh...my point is, some people apparently "eat under or at 1200, exercise like demons, WHY arent they losing weight?" I wasn't because i was seriously underestimating my food portions.0 -
I agree, I lost my weight very easily in about 4 months. Just eating right and exercising. People are amazed when I tell them that is how I did it. They expect some magic pill or something. It is all about the determination for me.0
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Yes! This is my first real try, and i cant believe i didn't do it sooner. My diet is mostly unchanged, but i gave up alcohol and added an exercise routine and that seems to be the formula for me cause im losing about 1.5 pounds a week steadily.0
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Yes loosing is easy
Keeping it off is hard!0
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