1 week complete!

hlg263

Hey everyone! I'm new to MFP. Ive had the app on my phone for well over a year ,however I waited until last Saturday to see how it all works. I'm 38, 5'06 and started at 262 lbs. My goal is to get back to my original pre-pregnancy weight of 150. It is a long way off, but I truly feel like MFP is going to get me there. Two years ago I had great success with the Dukan Diet. I had lost 40 lbs in 3 months and then I saw those two lines on the end of a pregnancy test. To my despair that baby was lost in miscarriage and that tragedy set me back substantially. I ended up gaining every pound back and then some. My entire life I have dreaded the thought of counting calories. I know it works and I also know deprivation diets only have a limited shelf life. As much as I lost on Dukan, I know it is not sustainable. I would eventually want to eat bread again. Strangely, I found myself recently being appealed to MFP because of my passion for keeping stats at my daughters games. I work in a very high stress job (911 fire/ems/police) and making numbers work really relaxes me. Numbers don't lie. Numbers always make sense. So, I guess that is it, I am a number girl and should embrace the calorie counting and have fun manipulating my food intake to make a more perfect pie chart! Anyway, my first week down and I have lost 4.8 lbs. Yes, I am WELL aware that most of that is water weight but it is a jumping off point and I am thrilled!!!

Canadafit79

Yes Dukan isn't sustainable. I have family that lost weight on it and swore by it to everyone. Within a year they had all gained every bit back. Keep at it. Awesome week!

carlaadkins

Awesome! You're right, counting calories is the way to do it for the long haul! I've been at it for a year but I haven't been yo-yo dieting or losing momentum... slow & steady wins the race! And makes you feel damn proud!

hlg263

Thank you ladies! I am so happy I can still eat the things I crave, I just know exactly how much I can eat now!!! It is a liberating feeling!

no2thdk

CONGRATS! Besides age I was in a similiar boat to you and me and my husband have been going strong for three weeks now. I have done multiple diets in the past (restrict this, restrict that) and then after I lose the weight and put those restrictive foods back into my diet I gain the weight back and then some. This time we are just doing low calorie and we track everything even if its going to go over our calorie amount. I have found that I work well and lose at 1500 calories a day which is way more than I have ever been used to on previous attempts. I suggest going online to a calorie calculator and putting in your stats to see what calories you need to consume a day. I lost a lot the first week and then it was coming off slower than usual. I found out I was eating too few calories. I was orignally on 1350 a day and I had to up it to 1550 to start losing again. Once you become active (exercising) then you need to go back to the calculator and input again to see what your calories need to be. I also "try" to eat my exercise calories. When I do I seem to lose more. I have also been reading a ton on weight lifting and have found out the more muscle you have the more fat you burn. If you only do cardio all the time then you will lose weight but you will lose muscle. I have started the Stronglift 5x5 program. I know this all seems overwhelming and that wasn't my intention but thought I would share what has worked for me and then you can adjust accordingly. Good luck and if you want to add me send me a message.

hlg263

Thank you for all of the information! I try to absorb everything I can and then find out what works for me. We have a gym where I work and it is encouraged to use it throughout our shift so I have been mulling the idea of hitting the weights. It will be a work out in itself just to pull the weight off of the bars that my male counterparts leave behind....lol! I did do 'The Firm' video earlier this afternoon and my legs are SCREAMING at me right now. Oddly enough I am in fairly good shape for being so overweight. It is encouraging to be reminded to eat the calories back. I hesitate to do it so often however almost every post I read says to eat them back or risk a stall in weight loss.

NinjaJinja

I happen to find the big losses in water weight at first to be great motivation, even though I expect it to slow down. I think not losing any weight or even gaining weight at first like some people do would be very discouraging, so I'm thankful my body like to drop water weight like a hot potato, lol.