New Here!

kristialr

Hello everyone! My name is Kristial, I'm new to MyFitnessPal, and I have about 57 pounds left to lose! I've lost about 115 pounds so far, but I'm stagnating, so I thought it's about time I start tracking my intake of food. I'd love to hear about your success stories and what maintenance looks like for you. I'd also be interested in recipes that have helped you lose weight over time. I don't have any "friends" or "connections" on here, but I'd love to become one to people. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this! Have a wonderful day!

AnnPT77

Hello and welcome, Kristial!

Congratulations on the 115 pound loss: That's amazing and wonderful! I'll bet you have good insights from doing that that could help others succeed, so I hope you'll participate in the Community here.

I'm an MFP oldie, joined in 2015, now in year 9 maintaining post-loss. Coincidentally, I started for similar reasons to what you mention: I hadn't lost as much as your stellar total, but had lost about half of the 50-ish pounds I needed to lose to reach a healthy weight. I'd been rough estimating calories in order to cut down, but that was getting unpredictable, so I decided to use an app to log so I could dial things in better. For me, that was a great decision. Food logging and calorie counting may not be the best route for everyone, but they're perfect for me.

Honestly, maintenance for me looks a lot like weight loss, just with a few more calories to eat. That's mostly because I decided I wasn't going to do anything to lose weight that I wasn't willing to do long-term to stay at a healthy weight, except for a manageably moderate calorie deficit until I reached goal weight. I put the focus on finding and practicing relatively happy new eating and activity habits that could continue almost on autopilot forever. I knew change was essential but hoped misery was optional. That's turned out to be the case.

If you want maintenance stories and tips, I'd suggest reading some of the threads in the Goal: Maintaining Weight part of the Community. There's good stuff in there, especially in the Most Helpful Posts subsection.

For support and such, maybe check out some of the threads/groups in the Motivation and Support or Challenges parts of the Community. There are a variety of options available, all member run, with different styles, goals, and focuses. If you read the intro posts, you'll get a feel for what's involved. That's a good way to meet people here and connect with like-minded folks.

If you have questions or challenges with using MFP or losing more weight generally, don't be afraid to post in the relevant parts of the Community. I've found that most people here truly want to help others.

Wishing you continuing success!