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mooresusan1976
mooresusan1976 Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi I'm new to this app and on my way to a healthier me so any pointer and recipes and tips would be greatly appreciated

Replies

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 13,052 Member
    Welcome, Susan!

    First tip: you'll get more specific answers if you ask more specific questions. "Any recipes" may get ignored, but "any gluten-free recipes" will often draw the attention of somebody for whom that subject resonates.

    First rule: if there's a conflict between advice you read here vs advice from your doctor, your personal trainer, or any actual professionally certified and trained person in your life, follow the pro. We have a large collective wisdom here based on personal experience, but few of us are actually certified and none of us know you personally, your unique physical needs and chemistry and history. We can open a lot of doors and show a lot of methods, most of which are well-intentioned and often quite good. But your doc and your family come before us.

    As a general rule, take things S..L..O..W. Lose weight slowly, make changes to your routine only one or two at a time, increase exercise intensity slowly. This gives your body time to adapt to changes, lets you make the change a permanent part of your daily life routine. We do not encourage short-term miracle fixes which you do for a time, leave to return to your old habits and gain the weight back; we want you to change the rest of your life, for the better.

    If you went through the motions of setting up MFP to monitor your calories and tell you you how much to take in (calories, protein-fat-carbs, etc), realize these are starting-point guides, NOT hard rule limits. Life happens; you will be above some numbers one day, below another. It's virtually impossible to pick out a food plan which meets EVERY number EVERY day, and if you did, how boring would the lack of variety be? Aim to be close most of the time, and you'll keep moving towards your goals.

    Along the same lines, a single day is not going to make a difference. If you eat perfectly, exercise perfectly for a single day, are you suddenly in great shape? No? Then why would a single day of laziness or eating over target derail all your progress? It's the average day, taken over months and years, which will determine your weight, your fitness. One day is a blip, a single pebble dropped into a stream, barely noticed and quickly forgotten; it takes hundreds of pebbles built up over years to divert the stream to a new course.

    My final piece of generic advice: your weight, your shape, your success in changing both, does NOT in any way determine the value of YOU. Failing to lose weight does not make YOU a failure; not adhering to target goals does not make YOU less valuable. YOU, Susan, are special; we are lucky to have met you. We hope your time with us in these forums helps, and we want nothing but success for you.

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