Tips for Sustainability?

jnbaratta592
jnbaratta592 Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello!
Jeremy here.

Looking for advice on sustainability- both with eating and tracking eating, water intake and exercise.

Questions to ponder:
Is having friends on MFP helpful?
What’s an underutilized part of this app?
Anything else.. please help :) Thanks!

Replies

  • MaltedTea
    MaltedTea Posts: 6,286 Member
    Questions to ponder:
    Is having friends on MFP helpful? Depends on whether you're friendly, thrive on external accountability and perhaps how you habitually use other social media. These are all shots in the dark, as I have one "friend" and am introverted 🤷🏿‍♀️
    What’s an underutilized part of this app? Ability to log your own recipes, MFP blog recipes and MFP workouts
    Anything else.. The MFP forums and groups can be a great place to get information but, ultimately, it's always a better idea to run major matters by your healthcare team.
  • Iwannabeapunkrockmom
    Iwannabeapunkrockmom Posts: 61 Member
    I do not really interact or have many "friends" on mfp.

    Sustainability for me comes from setting realistic and small goals. And showing up for myself every day, which includes logging every day.
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,069 Member
    edited May 2021
    For me, sustainability comes from making the cognitive shift from "I'm on a diet" to "I eat healthy foods in moderate amounts." The "I'm on a diet" model implies that as soon as a weight loss goal is reached, one can go back to "normal" eating habits which is generally a fantasy of consequence-free overindulgence.
  • xrj22
    xrj22 Posts: 217 Member
    I am really enjoying the fat2fit teams and the habit tracker and weekly challenges that go along with it. Are you using that part of MFP? For me, vegan is more sustainable because I believe in it for reasons other than weight loss also.
  • Sara3veg
    Sara3veg Posts: 48 Member
    edited June 2021
    Anything else.. please help :) Thanks!

    From my own experience, having some sort of accountability is pretty necessary to make this whole thing work long term. I maintained my weight loss for around 7 years by being on and off of MFPs forums, and then following the parameters of my weight management plan, (which I developed after some trial and error). But, last year when the pandemic hit, I deleted my MFP account and decided to take a 'break' from my maintenance strategies, due to all of the craziness going on with life. Here I am a little over a year later, now working on losing the weight creep that happened as a consequence.

    The good of this is that I had learned a ton from hanging out on these forums and I knew what I needed to do. To be successful again I had to reincorporate the accountability piece and re-signed up for MFP last week and started logging my food again. And I pulled my floor scale out of the closet, where I had put it last March.

    I'm putting back into place the tools that make weight management possible for me, and I think as long as you have some things in place for you OP, then you'll have a good chance of long term success as well. What those look like will be individualized, but I do think the MFP forums/stickys are a really big help if you'll take the time to use them.
  • DD265
    DD265 Posts: 651 Member
    I second the Fat2Fit teams on here. When I started in January I'd take part in the weekly challenges and check in every day, but I've cut my tech time a bit so I check in more like 3-4 times a week now (though I still log daily).

    My plan feels sustainable because I'm making small changes and stacking them, rather than trying to be perfect all at once. I'm a bit of a control freak, so I frame logging in to track as a way of having control, rather than a chore, and that helps me think about it positively. I guess I'm not thinking beyond getting to a healthy weight, but in theory because I've taken it slow, I'll have built new habits and replaced a few old ones which will hopefully all stick long term.

    I write my plan out in my blog on here each month and even if nobody reads it, knowing that the plan is out there publicly helps me stick to it. I'll post smaller bits on the Fat2Fit teams, and if I have a question, I can post it on the forum and get helpful responses.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    jnbaratta592 wrote: »
    Hello!
    Jeremy here.

    Looking for advice on sustainability- both with eating and tracking eating, water intake and exercise.

    Questions to ponder:
    Is having friends on MFP helpful?
    What’s an underutilized part of this app?
    Anything else.. please help :) Thanks!

    A reasonable calorie deficit is typically pretty easy to maintain and sustainable...so keep it reasonable. Water...meh...even when I logged food, I never bothered with water. I drink plenty of fluids, including water, and keep myself well hydrated. The hydration thing has never been an issue for me.

    Exercise...do something that is active that you enjoy doing. People tend to have a very myopic view of "exercise" and try to put themselves into these boxes of things they think they should be doing but don't necessarily like very much...ultimately, if you don't like it, it's not going to be sustainable. I'm not much of a workerouter, but I'm an active person and love being outside and playing...riding my road bike or mountain bike, hiking, kayaking, scootering at the skate park with my boys, throwing around the football or frisbee or kicking the soccer ball around, etc. I hit the weight room twice per week and that's pretty much the extent of "workout" for me...everything else is pretty much play time.

    Of course, activity and exercise regimen can also be an ever evolving thing...I spent about 4 or 5 years really into endurance cycling and cycling events and racing and that required me to spend a lot more time training with more specific protocols. I haven't done that for a couple of years now, but there was a time I was pretty passionate about it and loved it.
  • jnbaratta592
    jnbaratta592 Posts: 9 Member
    I’m still reading through and making notes. Seriously, I really appreciate how many spoke on my questions and it makes me feel hopeful. :)
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    For me my consistency in logging and tracking is all about my attitude.

    When it felt like a punishment for all those many years I overate and abused my body, every time I opened the app, it felt like shame and it was easier to talk myself into skipping a day (or week, or 7 or 12 . . )

    When my attitude changed and logging began to feel like ritual and self-care, it lost its punitive vibes and now feels reassuring and affirming. Even on days where I go over my goal or my carbs or fats are red zoned, the self-honesty is a source of comfort instead of a source of shame.

    As to getting the most out of MFP, the recipe builder is key for me since I cook from scratch most meals. The community boards are a source of reassurance: I'm not a freak, failure or "bad" person because there are other human beings who have thoughts like mine, feelings like mine and experiences like mine. It's also a bit of an ego boost when I can look back on my experience, and think, "hey, maybe I have something to offer to this person at this point in their journey." :-)
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    Is having friends on MFP helpful?
    I'm friends with my husband so he can grab meals out of my diary, but I don't add other people because I find myself not being as honest about what I've eaten in case they look.

    What’s an underutilized part of this app?
    The stickied posts on the forums. Just about everything you need to know is in the "most helpful posts" in each section, and you can go at your own pace reading through them all.

    The MFP recipes can be pretty good, and they often focus on being lower cal and higher protein.

    You can't even see it on the app, but on the PC version there are blogs. Some very successful people have written their entire weight loss stories, all their ups and downs. It's pretty inspiring. You can write your own if you find putting your thoughts down helpful.

    Anything else..

    Log everything. Get a food scale, then weigh and measure everything, especially calorie-dense items like oil, peanut butter, pasta, etc. Don't guesstimate, at least in the beginning. You might get good enough to eyeball portions, you might not - but you'll have the troubleshooting tool in your arsenal.

    There might be days you don't want to log. At least log in - it might make you more aware of if you're making choices contrary to your goals or eating mindlessly.

    Set a reasonable calorie goal. You won't stick with it if you're starving all the time, or if you have no energy.

    It will help if you choose a way of eating that sounds appealing forever. If pasta and pie not being a part of your meal plan makes you sad, don't do keto. If you'd struggle to fit all your calories in an 8 hour window, or if you'd get really hungry in the morning/evening when you're not supposed to be eating, don't do intermittent fasting. Eat in a way that you can sustain, even if it takes a bit longer to reach your goals.

    Same thing with exercise - do things you enjoy. Do enough to be effective, but don't overdo it. If you start to lift, being so sore you can't move is not a point of pride - go lighter than you know you can lift the first couple of sessions so your body can adapt, and so you don't end up missing a session because you hurt.
  • roseym10
    roseym10 Posts: 107 Member
    @chocolate_owl
    I'm friends with my husband so he can grab meals out of my diary, but I don't add other people because I find myself not being as honest about what I've eaten in case they look.

    How do you let someone grab meals our of your diary? Me and my daughter would like to do this




  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    roseym10 wrote: »
    @chocolate_owl
    I'm friends with my husband so he can grab meals out of my diary, but I don't add other people because I find myself not being as honest about what I've eaten in case they look.

    How do you let someone grab meals our of your diary? Me and my daughter would like to do this

    Easy! Go into her diary, find the meal you want, click "..." in the bottom right of the meal, choose "Copy to Date," and pick where you want it in your diary. If it's something you eat often, you can click "Save as Meal" and it will get added to your list of foods.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,354 Member
    rosebarnalice wrote: »
    For me my consistency in logging and tracking is all about my attitude.

    When it felt like a punishment for all those many years I overate and abused my body, every time I opened the app, it felt like shame and it was easier to talk myself into skipping a day (or week, or 7 or 12 . . )

    When my attitude changed and logging began to feel like ritual and self-care, it lost its punitive vibes and now feels reassuring and affirming. Even on days where I go over my goal or my carbs or fats are red zoned, the self-honesty is a source of comfort instead of a source of shame.

    As to getting the most out of MFP, the recipe builder is key for me since I cook from scratch most meals. The community boards are a source of reassurance: I'm not a freak, failure or "bad" person because there are other human beings who have thoughts like mine, feelings like mine and experiences like mine. It's also a bit of an ego boost when I can look back on my experience, and think, "hey, maybe I have something to offer to this person at this point in their journey." :-)

    One of the best things I’ve read on MFP. We ought to have a “locked “ MFP Gold thread we could submit things to for permanent enshrinement.

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