Advice from an old fart

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Yanicka1
Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
in Getting Started
Well I am not that old but since I have been doing this for almost 3 years, I've learned a thing or 2 so gather round and let me share my wisdom.

Consider your first week as an experiment
It is time to find what work for you or what does not. Pasta leave you hungry? You like having a big lunch? 6 meals a day leave you frustrated? There is that many calories in that small amount of food? Try and change things to make this work for you.

Don't change everything at the same time
2 hours of cardio on the first day is not a good idea. Small gradual changes has a better chance to stick around.

1200 calories a day is probably not a good idea.
I know, I know, you want the weight gone yesterday. I am a strong believer of a smaller, more sustainable deficit. Around MFP , I have noticed that long term successful people are eathing a lot more than 1200.

Life happen even when you are trying to lose weight
You will have birthdays and other occasions where food is involved. Do not panic!!!!! Eat and enjoy moderately, get back on it the next meal.

Question everything you think you know
That one is a big one. The numbers of myth about weight loss are incredible. And if someone say that what you believe true is really a myth, please don't take it as a personal insult.

Good luck and keep smiling

Replies

  • SkinnyMsFitness
    SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
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    Niiice wisdom! =)) I have to agree with everything you said.

    Added = Google is a great place to obtain info, but try to keep the sources credible. If impossible, compare non-credible sources to ensure accuracy.
  • laurenellenmarie
    laurenellenmarie Posts: 331 Member
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    Well said!
  • ladybirdaz
    ladybirdaz Posts: 2
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    Thanks! I'm trying to figure what works for me and just haven't found it. I need to take a step back and do something that I can do... so I will need to think on it. Thanks for the great advice
  • roote13
    roote13 Posts: 8 Member
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    I agree with others, well said. And I'll ad my own little bit of advice.

    Keep logging your food. You may think that you've been doing it long enough that you can guesstimate. It's not that easy. Also, logging keeps you honest. If you log in everything, you might think twice about having a piece of cake in the evening if you see you had that donut at work.

    Also, measure, and preferably weigh, everything. A little bit off in measuring can lead to being a lot off in calories.

    And did I mention to keep logging? I was doing so well last year. I was down 35 lbs. Then holidays and cookie making and being over confident that I was about to estimate since I'd been doing so well. I gained 45 lbs. Now I'm back at it again...logging every day. Down 13 again, but so disappointed that I gave up the progress I'd made.
  • lewandt
    lewandt Posts: 566
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    I personally feel there are a lot of successful 1200 cal a day people, we just don't usually chime in because we get a tongue lashing by people who seem to know better than us.

    just saying...
  • Flawlesscube
    Flawlesscube Posts: 4 Member
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    Sound advice thank you for the pointers. This is my first week here so TY and well said
  • trimedit
    trimedit Posts: 2
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    Great advice, and love the reminder about taking it slowly. Patience is a tough thing to develop, and the most frustrating thing about being out of shape is the feeling that it is something that I can't fix in a week.
  • ehorn625
    ehorn625 Posts: 144
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    I personally feel there are a lot of successful 1200 cal a day people, we just don't usually chime in because we get a tongue lashing by people who seem to know better than us.

    just saying...

    I agree. You need to do what works for you!
  • icandiane
    icandiane Posts: 6 Member
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    Interesting... I just changed my profile settings from desiring to lose 2 lb's. a week to 1, which bumped my calories per day from 1200 to 1420. Maybe this will work better for me, as I haven't been very successful so far.
  • alexveksler
    alexveksler Posts: 409 Member
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    Interesting... I just changed my profile settings from desiring to lose 2 lb's. a week to 1, which bumped my calories per day from 1200 to 1420. Maybe this will work better for me, as I haven't been very successful so far.

    I lost additional 40 lbs after increasing my calories from 1350 to 1900. Amazing, but it worked. :)
  • hogsrgr8
    hogsrgr8 Posts: 3 Member
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    While I used to try to lose weight. I have been stuck at 247 for 6 weeks now. burning almost 4000/week, calories through exercise and keeping my diet at 2000 calories. I can tell a lot of difference in my body appearance which makes me happy. I have totally quit worrying about weight and concentrating of feeling better. Takes a lot of pressure off of me. I have heard that worry makes your body go into fat store mode. Anyways good luck.
  • hogsrgr8
    hogsrgr8 Posts: 3 Member
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    I agree with what Alex below wrote. I did the same thing as Alex did. Play around with it. Try 1400 and then perhaps 1500. If you are doing weight training you will certainly need to increase.
  • PaulHalicki
    PaulHalicki Posts: 576 Member
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    And did I mention to keep logging? I was doing so well last year. I was down 35 lbs. Then holidays and cookie making and being over confident that I was about to estimate since I'd been doing so well. I gained 45 lbs. Now I'm back at it again...logging every day. Down 13 again, but so disappointed that I gave up the progress I'd made.

    I totally hear ya. I have a theory that in areas where food availability is highly variable (feast-famine cycles), people with "fat genes" survived the rough times because they acquired fat in times of plenty. It helped our ancestors, but now we're in a time of perpetual plenty, so many of us are just fat and getting fatter without any lean times. My ancestors were all Polish, and they knew their share of famine.

    Going on that (totally untested) theory, I think that maybe yo-yoing isn't necessarily as bad as the experts think; it is part of the normal cycle of a certain portion of people. So don't feel bad about the Christmas cookies, just keep enforcing your "time of lean" to get back to where you were, and maybe a little more :D
  • alexveksler
    alexveksler Posts: 409 Member
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    Also, to add - I used to be on a low carb diet and it seems to work better for weight loss. In addition to upping my calories, I have altered my diet. Why? Because I have increased my workouts and was (still am) burning good 1200 calories per day during my cardio and weight lifting training. Anyway, I have reduced animal protein (which reduced my overall fat numbers) and increased plant-based foods (which gave me all the missing proteins needed for weight lifting) and also increased fresh fruits for my carbs.

    I will always be a meat eater, but I am noticing how much my body DOES NOT want it. After cooking good 12oz steak, I am totally satisfied after 3-5 OZ and can't really eat anymore.

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