Coming here after plateauing on Mayo and Noom

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t8fwzzvmp8
t8fwzzvmp8 Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself

Any tips on how to use MFP for better results?

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  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,221 Member

    I'm really not sure how those other 2 sites work, but I can tell you MFP works if you follow the system.

    First, put in your stats and your goals. MFP will calculate a calorie goal for you based upon your activity level and and goals. You do NOT need to count steps and add them in as exercise, if you chose the correct daily activity level it is figuring that for you already. Speaking of exercise, I would only count/track INTENTIONAL exercise, not just moving around/doing chores/steps/yardwork/etc. If you workout, run, exercise on purpose, then yes. Most people only eat back a portion of their exercise calories (if any at all) since trackers and calculators (including MFP) are known to be WILDLY off base for calories burned. This is how a lot of people mess up their journey by over-estimating their exercise calories and overeating.

    Speaking of eating, in the beginning, I would not eat anything that you have not measured or weighed yourself. It is a lot of work in the beginning, having to create foods/recipes/meals, measuring everything out, weighing everything you eat. Not gonna lie, the data entry can be overwhelming for some in the beginning. Most people here fail because they just use other peoples entries in MFP that look close and they run with it. The entries in the database here are crowd sourced, they are not "official", or "certified", or anything else. It's a lot in the beginning, but after a while you will start eating the same things and you can just duplicate your entries.

    Get a good food scale and learn how to use it. This will be your best friend in the beginning. After a while you will learn what 4 oz of chicken looks like, etc, but in the beginning, some calories dense foods can put you WAY off if you are not careful!

    Some people like weighing themselves every day, other people freak out seeing the day to day weight fluctuations and opt to weigh every couple of days, once a week, or even once a month. No right or wrong way.

    You can eat anything you want with MFP, but you will learn that certain foods are just not worth the calories associated with them. Carbs are fine unless you want or need to go keto. You wanna do carnivore diet? Great! Intermitent fasting? No problem. It doesn't really matter as long as you stay within your calorie goal. It's all about CICO (calories in, calories out).

    There's a lot of very smart and helpful people here that I am sure will chime in as well. Feel free to post with questions anytime.

    Good luck on your journey! Let us know how it goes!

  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,675 Member

    You have my sympathies about your plateau! It sucks! Search on my frustrated posts about plateauing this spring by clicking on my icon on the left then "Discussions." It drove me nuts! But, I persisted and lost about 10lbs more, which is what I needed.

    Whatever platform you use (Noom, MFP, etc.), the problem is always the same: your bod adapts to your eating level and decides it's doing just fine. You may feel a bit lethargic and get cold easily. It's happened more to me as I've aged. What you can do is 1) increase activity level and/or 2) further decrease intake. Of course, 2) is horrible, as you've probably already reduced your intake and further reductions are really hard!

    As for increasing activity: it doesn't need to be particularly high intensity. Walking a bit every hour, standing at your desk, walking in the morning, all that sort of thing is in scope. Higher intensity helps, too, but I know not everyone is into that.

    Best of luck!

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