Tell it like it is Wednesday

Work_toward_goals

I know I just recently got restarted on getting back in shape. But there's no quick fix/magic pill out there. It's just putting in the work and effort. Good news tho, it's not extremely difficult...It's mostly doing what others won't do and making more good decisions than bad. Candy bar or protein bar/veggie snack/something healthy for a snack. Are you going to watch a game or show?....can you walk/jog in place while you do it?

It may seem hard at the beginning, but your body will quickly adjust. You may feel worn out at the start, but shortly you will feel like you have more energy every day. Then you are able to push yourself, and find out what use to feel difficult is your warm-up. It's only really difficult to start, if you are really looking for a reason not to.

You know while you're chasing a goal weight it can be a little easier, don't get letdown by a bad day or a setback. Even after you arrive at a goal weight, you can still continue that lifestyle and keep making yourself better. The biggest room, is the room for improvement!

What's your 'Tell it like it is' advice and tips?

MostlyWater

There will always be people thinner than you are, and more fit than you are.

snowflake954

Motivation is fleeting. Making new habits will serve you better and longer.

Indee19

Weight loss is at least 80% diet. Focus on what you're putting in your body before you buy that gym membership.

isumner170

Don't expect to feel like you have cracked it after week two. I think it takes a good 2 months of good decisions and determination to get to the point where it becomes a more natural routine and just a way of life but once you are there it becomes a lot easier to maintain your progress

AnnPT77

Your body consists of bones, meat, water, fat. The scale measures all of that. Mostly, when losing weight, we care about fat. But the body is 60-65% water on average, and can be much more.

If you think the scale measures fat, and that fat changes account for multi-pound short-term swings in body weight, major frustration and misdirection will ensue.

Significant changes over a day or few are mostly water (or digestive contents on the way to being waste). Fat changes show up in weight trends over multiple weeks (over whole menstrual cycles for premenopausal women, one to the next, perhaps), and longer. (Corrollary: People who drastically and repeatedly revamp their plans based on a few days' scale results are fairly likely to fail, sooner or later, I suspect.)

Muscle-mass changes are slow and effortful, in that context: Multi weeks to months and years. If you think you gained enough muscle in your first month at the gym to mask fat loss on the scale . . . well, sadly, no. I wish. No realistic rate of muscle gain (especially in a calorie deficit) will outpace any meaningful rate of fat loss.

If you strength train sensibly, you'll gain strength much faster than you gain muscle mass, especially at first. Don't let that deceive you into thinking you've added mass. (It's neuromuscular adaptation, NMA, essentially better recruiting and using muscle fibers you already have. Strength is pretty wonderful, so this is not a diss.)

Fitness trackers don't measure calorie burn. They estimate it. They're great, in various ways, but don't mistake an estimate for a measurement. (They're really pretty bad at measuring some things, like HIIT, any intervals, any high intensity training even HISS; if they use heart rate to estimate strength training calories, or calories for very low intensity exercise like slow walking . . . that can be a problem, too.)

Heart rate monitors/trackers usually assume your maximum heart rate is age-based (often 220-age). It's not at all unusual for that age formula to be quite wrong, and it can throw off calorie estimates or fitness training.

Maximum heart rate is not a number you *shouldn't* exceed, it's a number you *can't* exceed physiologically (when in a state of health - certain health crises can send your heart rate above your healthy HR max). A healthy person, feeling good, going over age-estimated maximum heart rate with no worrisome symptoms . . . probably fine. Get your doctor's approval to exercise intensely anyway, OK?

There's a honeymoon period in weight loss: Not hungry, high energy, very motivated. Anyone with a meaningful amount of weight to lose is going to run out of honeymoon before they run out of excess fat. Plan accordingly.

Weight loss may be temporary, but for those of us (like me) with a tendency toward overweight, weight management is a lifelong endeavor. Failing to plan for that is the on-ramp to repeated weight yo-yos. Sooner or later, find sustainable habits, habits you can life with fairly happily forever. That's boring, but IMO important.

I could rant a long time here. That's long enough; I'll spare you. 🤣

wunderkindking

This boards are full of the very good advice to experiment and find out what works for you.

My addendum is to find out what works for you *today*. That plan that's working for you great right now? The IF, the Keto, the no added sugar, the OMAD, the 6 small meals a day, the high protein, the - whatever? It might stop working. It probably will stop working at some point.

When that point happens don't panic, just experiment some more and finds out what works NOW.

Eltriste73

The scale is not just a number. It means something. I have only been able to lose weight by weighing myself every day (same time) Improving my eating habits so that the numbers go down. All this while continuing a lifting/cardio routine. I followed bad advice fo years “don’t pay attention to the scale”… not really true.

gorple76

Most people who are ‘naturally thin’ are mindful about what they eat and often keep active. It’s not magic.