If I knew then what I know now....

cdennis9154

The journey is always filled with trial and error. What's something you've learned along the way that you wish you'd learned sooner or something you recently discovered.

For me...

The power of walking

Consistency is key

Embrace rest days

Allow myself grace for my diet to be imperfect sometimes

outdoorswoman81

The scale is a number. Health is a daily choice.

Corina1143

Don't undereat.

history_grrrl

Tracking food and being at a calorie deficit actually works for losing weight. In this context, you actually can control the outcome - the opposite of the mantra I’ve heard so often.

xbowhunter

I can now shop the clearance racks for Men's size small and the selection is excellent in size small! lol

cyndit1

That the scale is a tool not a happy-meter. And I make a decision to choose health every day, what I eat, move, rest, exercise. It’s within MY decision. Outside stuff is just noise.

CrazyMermaid1

I used to think that people who were overweight just weren’t trying hard enough to lose weight. In the world of mental illness, plenty of the medications that help with the symptoms of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, generalized anxiety disorder and psychosis have weight gain as a typical side effect. I now realize that I don’t know their story so I shouldn’t judge them.

Sett2023

You don't have to live bad for losing weight.

About ten years ago, I started betablockers: in three months, I went from my usual 47 kilos - I stayed there till 43 years, have a son etc etc, and there I was - to 71... added more than a third of my weight!).

But: everyone said me the only choice was eating two thirds of what I used to eat... and obviously I didn't (tried and not resisted, what a horrible life!).

Instead, there is a pleasant way: I only had to eat healthier (not "less" - in fact, I eat even more than before! - only healthier) and do some movement (not much, I only walk).
If I knew MFP then, I would know. I'm again in my range, without hunger or sadness.

AnnPT77

Different tactics work best for different people. I've seen people here succeed in a whole variety of ways. IMO, a key thing is personalization.

Once I decided I wasn't going to do anything to lose weight that I wasn't willing to continue long term to stay at a healthy weight (other than a sensibly moderate calorie deficit), things began to fall into place for me.

Also, it isn't "I have to be perfect all the time or I have failed". I needed to approach it as if it were a fun science fair project for grown-ups: Experiment, keep the things that work; drop the things that don't work or are too unpleasant; keep chipping away at improving the routine.

It's the routine habits - daily eating and activity patterns - that matter. The majority of my days determine the majority of my results . . . not that one day where I ate a whole pizza by myself (which on the rare occasion I do - still do in year 7+ of maintaining a healthy weight ).

Oh, and this was an older lesson for me, but a hugely important one: After finding the right mix of activities, getting/staying reasonably fit is actually pretty fun and feels great. I don't need to be a natural athlete (I'm not!): Patiently working on improving at something will eventually lead to accomplishing more than I'd ever thought possible.