Third time the charm?

Lindymae1

Hi!
I started the 1st time in March '12 and lost almost 20lbs by mid June. Went out of the country for 17 days and had a hard time getting back in gear when I got home and gained back most of it. Restarted again in Jan '13 with tracking and started C25K and promptly suffered a sesamoid stress fracture in my foot that completely threw me off balance mentally and physically and put me all the way back to the beginning. So now that it's healed and my back is not hurting from walking funny for about 3 months and I've rewrapped my brain around eating right, I'm getting going again. I'm really afraid of messing up my foot again so it's hard to get myself back into exercise mode. I still have some residual tightness in the tendon and just plain fear. I have to do this though. I'm in a weight loss competition at work and so far I'm waaaay in the lead. I always poop out at the 3 month mark and this competition is 5 weeks longer than that so hopefully it will help me retrain my brain and habits more!

trogalicious

Here ya go:

1. don't trust the initial setup that MFP provides. If you put in the wrong/inaccurate information, it'll tell you to eat an amount that may not be applicable.
2. Make sure you eat enough.
3. Figure out what works for you and is sustainable/healthy/long term.
4. avoid fads. don't buy in to any "Hey, try the twinkie and vodka diet"
5. Don't cut out anything now that you don't plan on literally giving up forever.
6. GET A FOOD SCALE. Weigh everything. No, seriously.
7. Get an HRM with a chest strap. You'll at least have a better idea of what you're burning. It'll be more accurate than the generic info in the exercise database.. and even more than the cardio machines. This is great for steady state cardio (run/walk/etc)
8. Don't go balls out. You'll burn out. I see 300 lb people show up here, instantly start working out and cutting their intake SEVERELY... trying to cut out all of their carbs at once.. whatever. Take it slow. Figure out how much you need to eat FIRST in order to lose.. then incorporate exercise.
9. Don't cardio yourself to death.
10. Take the information on the forums with a grain of salt. A lot of people that have been here for a while.. and have been successful, may seem jaded. They give out GREAT advice day after day, only to be met with people that refuse to listen.
11. Eat real food. Not diet food. Not "low fat, sugar free, now without X." It's easier to get/find/count.
12. don't set time restrictions.
13. measure yourself weekly. Don't just weigh. Measure and take pictures.
14 BE PATIENT.
15. Avoid forum topics that have "1200" in the title. It's just full of butthurt. Lots of it.
16. This isn't a game, it's about changing your lifestyle. Do that.

pretty much that.

...and don't fall into the "1200 calorie" vertigo of suck because of:

the typical MFP users does this:
1. I wanna lose weight, let's try MFP.
2. OH! Wow, it tells me I can lose 2 lbs a WEEK? AWESOME!
3. I just sit at a desk when I'm not working out, I guess I'm sedentary.
4. MFP tells them 1200 calories, and they don't even eat that.. then they work out on top of it.. creating an even bigger deficit.
5. Lose a lot, fast, brag about 1200 calorie success.
6. Come back in a few months trying to figure out why they're dizzy, tired, not losing weight.
7. Get on the forums, ask why they aren't losing.
8. Get two responses (I eat 1200 and lose) (I eat 2200 and lose)
9. Argument ensues about who is right.

Now. That being said. These threads happen hundreds of times per day. Most times, and I mean really.. seriously.. 95% of the time.. people get the 1200 number because they don't put the right information in when they set up the account. There are a great number of people that are trying to help. I'm one of 'em.

I'm a hardcore advocate of actually finding out what works for the individual.. by means of other calculators, averages, time, practice, and patience.

Blanket prescriptions of 1200 calories "because it worked for me" is more harmful to the generic new user than the "figure out what you need to eat." Unfortunately, one is a LOT easier to type.

Find out what you need: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
Take the tips, links, and info above and make the cart more manageable to stay on.

FeelinChastastic

Welcome back! You can do this! Feel Free To Add Me!

heybales

And to above excellent info, in case it doesn't stand out on it's own, the issue you were hit with.

You have to always eat appropriate to your level of activity.

Injury, sickness, temp tight schedule, ect all means you may not be able to work out, or not the level you were doing.
So you eat correctly for that level.

MariFitBody

I know exactly how u feel. The same thing happened to me with my runners knee. I hurt it really bad about two months ago. It set me back big time. Then I had surgery about 7 weeks ago which only made it worst. I just started jogging again this week. But I still have that fear of messing up my knee again. I'm basically starting all over. I have 10lbs I have to lose and its not easy.

Lindymae1

Thanks for the replies and good advice! I've lurked on the message boards for over a year now so I have a pretty good feel for lots of the differing mentalities about calories, diets fads, eating habits and exercise. Usually it makes sense, sometimes it's pretty hilarious and other times I want to punch the screen while screaming YOU IDIOT!!!

I know what I need to eat to lose and still feel healthy and not deprived while doing so. It's just a matter of making myself WANT to do it. It's the daily choice between lasagna/cheese/movie or grilled chicken and veggies/fruit/physical activity.

I do a meal replacement shake for breakfast because I like the taste, it pretty much holds me until lunch and it's convenient when I'm flying around to get out the door and go to work. Of course there are a thousand theories on that idea but I've been doing it for 2 years and feel comfortable with it. I also take a free day on Fridays. (I talked about that on the Cheat Day thread that's currently going on). And at the risk of incurring wrath of those who think it's the most horrible idea in the world, I take an appetite suppressant at the moment. Another brain re-train idea to help me start to not think about food 24/7. So far I'm very happy with that too. I will gradually wean off of that in a few months and see how it goes. Definitely NOT my plan to take it forever. I pack a healthy lunch and try to make sure we eat a decent supper most nights. It all stays within 1200. Not just because MFP recommends that number but because that number works for me. With my Free Friday approach I do tend to make up for it in the next week with a couple days of below 1000. Dropped too low a couple times and felt wiped out. That happened over 2 weeks and I learned from it.

Eating to the level of activity is spot on! I started doing that and then depression over the whole injury mess kicked in and I shut down and stopped caring. Gained 18 lbs in 4 months. It didn't even taste good and I felt gross all the time. Hopefully it's a lesson learned for the next time something happens to kick my butt.

Tedebearduff

Hi!
I started the 1st time in March '12 and lost almost 20lbs by mid June. Went out of the country for 17 days and had a hard time getting back in gear when I got home and gained back most of it. Restarted again in Jan '13 with tracking and started C25K and promptly suffered a sesamoid stress fracture in my foot that completely threw me off balance mentally and physically and put me all the way back to the beginning. So now that it's healed and my back is not hurting from walking funny for about 3 months and I've rewrapped my brain around eating right, I'm getting going again. I'm really afraid of messing up my foot again so it's hard to get myself back into exercise mode. I still have some residual tightness in the tendon and just plain fear. I have to do this though. I'm in a weight loss competition at work and so far I'm waaaay in the lead. I always poop out at the 3 month mark and this competition is 5 weeks longer than that so hopefully it will help me retrain my brain and habits more!

Think of where you would be if you had started a year ago today.

trogalicious

And at the risk of incurring wrath of those who think it's the most horrible idea in the world, I take an appetite suppressant at the moment. Another brain re-train idea to help me start to not think about food 24/7. So far I'm very happy with that too. I will gradually wean off of that in a few months and see how it goes. Definitely NOT my plan to take it forever. I pack a healthy lunch and try to make sure we eat a decent supper most nights. It all stays within 1200. Not just because MFP recommends that number but because that number works for me.

Taking an appetite suppressant to stay under 1200 calories is just a bad idea. No wrath, but you may be doing it wrong. Have you calculated your TDEE?

Lindymae1

Yeah, I do think about that a bit. I'd only put on about 2 lbs on my trip to S Africa so if I'd picked up where I left off I'd be in a pretty good place today. However... no time like the present! I can't afford to dwell on "if only" and moving forward from here is where my focus is now.

Lindymae1

No, I've not calculated that. I had intended to awhile back but forgot about it. I should do that sometime.
The appetite suppressant wasn't intended as an effort to stay under 1200. My impetus for taking it is to help me not think about food constantly. I freely admit that I have food addiction issues going back as far as I can remember. It just never affected my weight until after I had kids and started getting older. Normally not a moment goes by that I'm not thinking about what I can eat next. I'll sit down with a bowl of frozen blueberries with milk (kind of like blueberry ice cream, yum!) and when my dh comes in with a hot fudge sundae I'm all upset because I can't have that too. I've always been a fast eater so when we'll be enjoying a nice dinner out and I'll get done eating first and have to watch him finish his meal. I always wish I had more to eat too but no, I already scarfed all mine down 10 minutes ago! I can tell you it's been an amazing thing to be able to be in those situations in the last few weeks and be able to just look at food and just think, meh, because I'm not the slightest bit fazed by whether someone else has food and I don't. Or that there's yet another box of donuts at work. I just don't crave it or care. That's HUGE for me! I never can just watch tv or be on the computer or reading a book and not have snacks on hand the entire time. I don't even think about needing or wanting those snacks now. I'm hoping that this will help me get out of those habits. I know I'll have to face those demons when I'm not taking it anymore but I hope that I'll have broken a habit by then and can stand up better under the pressure. :happy:

trogalicious

No, I've not calculated that. I had intended to awhile back but forgot about it. I should do that sometime.
The appetite suppressant wasn't intended as an effort to stay under 1200. My impetus for taking it is to help me not think about food constantly.

I'd consider calculating it. You aren't supposed to stay UNDER the 1200 to start with. You're probably, and I'm being serious .. not snarky, hungry because you're not getting all the nutrition that you NEED.

Calculate your TDEE. Eat at a deficit. If you're eating less than 1200 calories, working out, and taking some pill to tell yourself that you're not hungry, you're just doing it wrong.

It isn't sustainable and if you don't manage it now, then it's just gonna come back again.