Four months on

weirdfiction
weirdfiction Posts: 2 Member
in Getting Started
MFP tells me that I've been logging food for 130 days, so I decided to check what has changed since I started, what has been working well, what hasn't. It might be helpful for someone just starting out:
  1. During the first month I didn't drop any weight whatsoever. I made small changes to my food intake, but mostly just waited for something to happen.
  2. Following the first month I've lost 6 kg (13 lbs) in 100 days, roughly 0.5 kg (1 pound) per week. That's 7% of my original body weight, consuming between 1,800 and 1,900 calories per day.
  3. My plan is to lose 3 more kg (6.5 lbs) and then stay there.
  4. Some weeks I don't drop any weight, some weeks I do.
  5. I've been running 3 times a week (30-35 minutes) but I do not include any activities in MFP; so I don't eat those calories back. 3 times a week I also stretch and do some exercise at home, mostly to improve my running balance.
  6. I started being very careful, logging even the smallest thing possible. Now I am more relaxed about it: I assume that all reported calories for food are an approximation, so why would I fret about small things? I ignore Mustard, BBQ sauce, ketchup, any spices, because it washes off in the average. Unless you consume industrial amounts of the stuff, of course.

The biggest challenge was resetting my appetite and figuring out decent portion sizes. I am still eating too many snacks, but the weight is slowly coming off.

Motivation: I told myself that I would not buy any new clothes until I dropped 5 kg. It was great to buy a new pair of jeans when that happened, as I only had one pair that was falling to pieces. Running with less weight is also great, and much better on my knees and feet.

That's all for now.

Replies

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,283 Member
    @weirdfiction id give you an insightful, inspiring like and hug all at once, if I could.

    I wish everyone here would read your post and realize the weight doesn’t start dropping within a few hours of starting. And that it’s not a “diet”, it’s a lifestyle change.

    Good for you! Excellent job. And so refreshing versus the usual woe-is-me posts.
  • Corina1143
    Corina1143 Posts: 3,480 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    @weirdfiction id give you an insightful, inspiring like and hug all at once, if I could.

    I wish everyone here would read your post and realize the weight doesn’t start dropping within a few hours of starting. And that it’s not a “diet”, it’s a lifestyle change.

    Good for you! Excellent job. And so refreshing versus the usual woe-is-me posts.

    Ditto

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