My best weight loss advice to you...I wish I knew starting out

ryan_powerlifter

I have had many setbacks during my fitness journey, but not once did I ever give up. Through my setbacks and experiences, I want to share the 3 biggest things that I wish I knew when I started.

1.Don’t give into the fad diets, unless you have direction from a Dr. for medical reasons stick to a balanced diet.
• I have tried every diet under the sun, believe me. The easiest “diet” to sustain by far was simply a balanced diet. I stuck with a If it fits your macros style, kept about 80% of my food clean with 20% of my foods being more of the “junk” food. This way I wasn’t depriving my body any macro nutrient and if I wanted to eat pancakes, I could eat pancakes 😊
• Of course, there are some people out there that prefer low carb, keto, vegan etc., and it’s easier for them to maintain, I understand that. Speaking to the vast majority, subjectively, balanced diet is easier to manage.

2.Focus on Calories in Vs. Calories out.
• Kind of tying in with the first point, I fell into the trap of I need to cut all carbs to lose weight, or I need to fast, or I must go low fat….Just stop. Yes some things have certain advantages but we are simply talking about losing weight. Weight loss at its core is calories in vs. calories out. You want to focus on burning more calories then what you are consuming per day (calories deficit).

3.Embrace the setbacks
• Point blank, setbacks ARE going to happen. This journey will be a big ol’ rollercoaster ride. I have overcome countless setbacks. From weight gain, sickness, injuries, you name it. The truth is, EVERYONE you see that has had a successful journey, they have had setbacks. What separates then is they never gave up. When you go through your setback, embrace it and overcome it. Not only will you grow stronger mentally, but you will be able to look back and feel that much better about your journey.

I am still on this journey and always will be. I am currently a 271 pound powerlifter with a new goal of dropping down to 240 pounds to compete in that weight class. With this new goal, I will be focusing on the exact 3 points that I mentioned above.

I hope this little forum helps a person or two. Feel free to add me as a friend on here. However, I am not very active socially on here. I mainly just use it for food tracking.

[Post edited by MFP mod]

nutmegoreo

Love it! Great work, and great attitude.

ryan_powerlifter

nutmegoreo wrote: »

Love it! Great work, and great attitude.

Thank you

ReenieHJ

Wonderful common sense advice and you're picture proof of real results! Congratulations on your weight loss and good luck getting to where you want to be. You will definitely make it!
Yours is a truly inspiring story, thanks so much for sharing!

ryan_powerlifter

ReenieHJ wrote: »

Wonderful common sense advice and you're picture proof of real results! Congratulations on your weight loss and good luck getting to where you want to be. You will definitely make it!
Yours is a truly inspiring story, thanks so much for sharing!

thank you!! That the thing though I notice a lot about people is they dont stick to the common sense concepts. People make it more complicated then it needs to be, lol.

Appreciate your kind words.