Weight loss and exercise

donna77744

Hi Everyone
I am Donna77744. I am new to this app. How are you? Any weight loss tips?

ginadacat

Hi Donna. I’m Gina. I’m semi new. It’s been a long time since I was here the 1st time (2011). I’ve been lurking around for 2 weeks now, just reading posts. I’m back on my weight loss journey because my dr told me I was headed to being a type 2 diabetic if I didn’t do something. I’m determined not to let that happen. The one thing my dr told me after I told her I was limiting myself to 60 carbs a day during the 1st week is that’s way to low. She told me I could lose weight but I wouldn’t be able to maintain it. She suggested at least 150. After choosing to limit my calories to 1200 a day here on the app, (about 2 pounds a week weight loss) it actually put me at 150 carbs a day. There have been days I’m still way under that tho. I’ve cut out white bread, went to 35 calories a slice whole wheat. No pasta, sweets, chips, etc. No sugary drinks, which that wasn’t really a problem for me because I pretty much drink only water. And I’ve noticed a lot of fruit I love are high in carbs, so I try to limit myself on them. I’m not eating out at restaurants as much as I have, but when I do, I research on what’s the healthiest food item before I go. It helps me stay within 1200 calories a day. I hope this helps you some.

springlering62

Hi @donna77744 Welcome to MFP!

Several tips:

* weighing and logging is an art and will take some practice to master. Try practicing by logging a “regular” day or two or a week, to get an idea of what you’re consuming on a normal day. That was eye opening for me. With my sweet tooth (aka every bone in my body is sweet!) I was consuming five or six times what MFP calculated I needed just to maintain. I had no stinkin’ idea and that helped establish there was a problem and the size of it, too.

* get a fitness tracker. This was golden for me because it did all the work of recording my exercise burn and recording it to the MFP app. That was when I made the connection that “gulp! A three mile walk does not burn off an entire family pack of Double Stuff Oreos. I honestly had no concept of how hard it was to burn calories.

* read the community boards. Read the stickies at the top of each subsection. Learn to recognize experienced users who give good advice. Don’t be put off by what may come across as a snarky answer. Many people here give valuable advice but keep it short and sweet. Some of the ….errrrr….others (me!) will write a wordy epistle. Bookmark really excellent threads so updates are sent to you. Find the NSV (Non-Scale Victories) thread over on Success Stories and delve into it for those periods when you’re frustrated or ready to quit.

* get some comfy walking shoes. Walking is your best bet to start out with

* persevere If you don’t get results in two days don’t quit. If you haven’t gotten results in two months, come here and ask for help.

* Temper Your Expectations. You, Donna, and I, Mel, are not going to be the woman on the front of the tabloid who Lost Seventy Pounds In Two Months!!!!!!!!. We’re going to be the women who lost five, gained two or three, lost one, lost two more, gained a couple back. That’s normal. I swear my weight is like barometric pressure. It bounces every which was, but as long as the ultimate trend is down, it’s all good.

And finally, no offense, but judging from your photo, you’re an old grey possum like me. Do Not Let People Tell You You’re Too Old To Lose Weight. i want to slap people when I hear them spout that. Anyone can lose weight. Eat less than. You burn but fuel your body- and make sure you enjoy that fuel.