Hello, new guy checking in

kstandley123

Hello all. My name is Kevin, I live in Houston TX and I've been using the MFP app for about 3-1/2 weeks now. I'm 35 and I've been watching my weight and cholesterol go up and up for about 8 years now due to some very bad food choices, eating habits and good old fashion genetics. At 6'-2'' my ideal comfortable weight is 215lbs (even though the BMI chart says 190). When I was young I watched my dad start to gain weight and he just got bigger and bigger. He's 6'-6'' but I bet he weighed close to 400lbs (if not more) before he had bariatric surgery to correct it, he also had Type 2 diabetes. I've spent the past two years promising my wife that I'd do something about it but always had excuses on why I couldn't.

Something just snapped inside of me a month ago (probable that all my 2xl shirts and size 40 jeans just felt 50 sizes too small) and I've decide come hell or high water I'm fixing this before it gets to the point where I'm like my father. My eating habits were crap! I never eat breakfast and would skip lunch most days...If I did eat lunch it was fast food. Then of course, by dinner time, I'd be so hungry I'd eat 3 plates full of mash potatoes and fried chicken...or tacos. I've never had a problem eating fresh fruits or veggies.. I love them so I just need to eat more of them. I also didn't know how many calories I was in-taking until I started using this app. I knew I was eating more than 2000 cal a day but WOW, what I was eating was super bad.

I'm the typical overweight white male, fat in the mid section (gut, butt, and thighs)...man boobs and a double chin. My starting weight on May 27th was my highest at 266lbs. I'm proud to say that I've completely changed my eating habits and the foods that I eat. No more sweets, no more fired anything. Using Brown rice, 100% whole wheat grains, lots of veggies and only fish/chicken/ground turkey to eat. The most important thing I've changed (other than my mind set) is my portion sizes. With doing nothing other than using this app and eating correctly I've lost a whopping 24.5lbs in 24 days. The fat is just melting away!!! My double chin is gone, my man boobs and 1/2 the size they were before, my wedding ring fits, my thighs aren't cramped into my jeans anymore, 2XL shirts aren't tight (still fitting snug but closer to actually fitting now) and I can tighten my belt 2 notches more than I could. My 36th birthday is coming in in 4 1/2 weeks so I've randomly picked that date as a goal to be down another 11.5lbs. At this pace I may shatter that goal!

I know I will soon hit the point where the excess fat will be gone and my weight loss will go to a more normal level where I'm only losing a pound or two a week but until then I'm loving this pound a day average. I use the mobile app so I didn't know there was even a forum section until yesterday when I goggled a weight loss question and the 1st link that popped up was the MFP forums. I wish I had taken all of my measurements in the beginning so I can keep track of that but I never thought about doing it. I also see lots of recipes on here which is great. What other cool things are available on this site?

Kevin

SpecialKitty7

welcome! my favorite part is the recipe builder. i try to eat at home (fail alot, but that's okay) and it makes it much easier for things i eat repeatedly to have a recipe built, so i don't have to always add the same ingredients over, and over.

kstandley123

My wife has been amazing; she's been using the app too and has lost 10lbs. She helps me plan my meals and packs lunches for me too. What else could a guy ask for right??? I just has knee surgery a week ago today so I've promised her that we can go walking 3 night a week once I'm up to it.

SpecialKitty7

walking is excellent exercise, my husband "walked off" 25 pounds before he really had to clean up his eating. Have at it, albeit safely!

kstandley123

Good to know. That's the part I hate is inputing the same stuff. I've noticed that my wife app (android platform) is easier to use than mine (apple platform). Most of the time my lunch for the next day is left over dinner. When I input each ingredient item by item I have to repeat it all again the next day. Lets say im adding my lunch...I hit recent foods and it shows my only the items ive recently eaten for lunch where my wife's phone show a true recent list of what you've eaten. She can just click on what she input for dinner last night and Bam...she's done imputing the left overs into her lunch settings. Not my phone, I have to input it all over again. This recipe thing will help with that.

Does anyone else that uses the IOS platform know of a way to copy and paste items from one day to the next?

battink

Hi Kevin, I'm Lindsay, 36, in the uk. Welcome! Good luck on your journey.
The forums are great for inspiration and support, as are the friends you will start to get as you get used to the site. feel free to add me as a friend if you like x

juanlh

Hey man, big congrats on the tremendous loss. i too share the same eating habits, the same feeling on shirts pants ect. I have to wear suit and tie, and like you may 17 I finally said ENOUGH!!! and got out and started walking and logging in my info. and man it feels great, I am 5"10 266 when i started. down to 252 right now. pants fit better, shirts and ties don’t fell like a noose around my neck. it's a great feeling. i have my 1yr anniversary coming up in July, and I am going to be at 240. Again Congrats very happy that you found the secret. if you want you can add me, don’t have many friends on here but i would welcome your request.

battink

Yep, re iOS platform, if you have same version of me, tap the pencil icon at the bottom of the diary, check the foods you want to duplicate and click the copy icon (on the left at the bottom)

dfranch

Sounds like you're where I was about a year ago. I was 262 and my size 42's were too tight, I had no energy and I was miserable. The initial weight loss is great, I lost 10-12 lbs a month for several months. You're right it will slow way down as you approach your goal. Keep at it, it has taken a year, but I'm 180 lbs and my waist size had gone from 42-44 to 34-36, my 2x shirts are either large or medium, and I feel 10 years younger.

The key for me was logging every day. 1500 cals per day for about 10 months. I eventually added exercise after the new year. If there's one thing I wish I did differently, I wish I started exercising sooner.

Good luck!!

SpecialKitty7

i don't know if the app has it, but i log my food, then on my husband's diary, he looks at mine (i leave it open so he can see my diary) and clicks the quick tools and he can copy my log. That way, we both don't have to put the recipe in.

dfranch

One word of advice, get ready to spend a ton of money on new clothes. Don't be afraid to buy something a little snug, you'll shrink to fit it. I bought new clothes after losing 40 lbs and they were lose within a month.

SpecialKitty7

One word of advice, get ready to spend a ton of money on new clothes. Don't be afraid to buy something a little snug, you'll shrink to fit it. I bought new clothes after losing 40 lbs and they were lose within a month.

true! we also haunt our local goodwill.

kstandley123

Sounds like you're where I was about a year ago. I was 262 and my size 42's were too tight, I had no energy and I was miserable. The initial weight loss is great, I lost 10-12 lbs a month for several months. You're right it will slow way down as you approach your goal. Keep at it, it has taken a year, but I'm 180 lbs and my waist size had gone from 42-44 to 34-36, my 2x shirts are either large or medium, and I feel 10 years younger.

The key for me was logging every day. 1500 cals per day for about 10 months. I eventually added exercise after the new year. If there's one thing I wish I did differently, I wish I started exercising sooner.

Good luck!!

Im trying to keep my cals at 1500 a day too. I'm in-between the settings where it aks how active you are. The lowest setting was not active at all (desk job) the next setting was standing on your feet 8hr a day (bank teller). Im right smack in the middle of that. I work as Project manager and superintendent for a construction company. One day im wearing a suit and sitting on my butt all day in the office and the next day im out on a job site for 8 hours. I check my calorie goals for both settings and saw the lowest setting was 1400 a day and 2030 for the next setting so I've set up my account as Standing on my feet all day but limit myself to 1500 cals a day. It mentally helps me see that Im allowed to eat 2000cal a day and I only eat 1200-1500..seeing that 400 to 500 cals under goal trick my mind vs setting it up where im only allowed 1500 and eat all 1500. Its a mental thing for me and helps my will power. I just hope I can keep at this. I know there will be points where my weight will continue to go up and down but I think I will have enough will power to not gain it all back.

kstandley123

Yep, re iOS platform, if you have same version of me, tap the pencil icon at the bottom of the diary, check the foods you want to duplicate and click the copy icon (on the left at the bottom)

Thanks, I'll try that tonight!

kstandley123

FYI. I found in the settings where I can change my recent foods from only displaying a particular meal, such as only showing me my recent lunches, to a true recent food list. That will make it easier for me to add my left over dinners into my next days lunch diary.

kstandley123

Thanks for all the help. I've already changed some of settings and built my first recipe... Mango salsa for my fish!

kstandley123

i don't know if the app has it, but i log my food, then on my husband's diary, he looks at mine (i leave it open so he can see my diary) and clicks the quick tools and he can copy my log. That way, we both don't have to put the recipe in.

That's what my wife and I did tonight. I put the recipe in and she just input the data into hers.

susieque25

HI There,
My name is Susan. I'm 58 and have been chubby all my life. I'd be really obese if I didn't love to exercise so much.

My problem is eating too large portions, consuming too much sweet foods and alcohol/wine. Basically, I eat good food, just too much and again, the snacking.

I need to lose 40=48 pounds to be really healthy again.
Tonight I started to login in to this site again for the 4th year, plus I usually exercise only in the a.m. but tonight after dinner I took my dog to the park. Think I'll make that a habit.

A few years ago I lost a small amount by using this site for recording eating. It is really a helpful tool.

Take care and good luck.

lisatrish

Wow - that is awesome that you have chosen to make the change! The fact that both you and your wife are doing it together is amazing! That extra support is always so helpful. Good luck to both of you - it sounds like you are off to a very good start!

Adaniel65

Welcome to the journey! So nice that your wife is supporting you in this! Here is to much success for us all.

runbyme

Welcome Kevin and congrats on the weight loss! Having a supportive spouse is amazing! Good luck to her as well! Remember, this isn't a sprint...it's a marathon!

Cerakoala

Welcome! Nice to meet you

Army_Of_One

Hey New Guy!
I felt the same way about loosing weight. When my fishing shirts stopped fitting, it was time for a change. I also started using a Fitbit in the end of April to help track my walking and swimming activities. I average 11.25 miles a day and I lost 12 pounds since then. Good Luck!

petecassa

Welcome mate. We're the same age and weight although you're taller and I've only lost 11lbs in two weeks so you're doing really well.

Grenon

Awesome work man, those first few weeks/months are absolutely amazing with the weight being shed. It is definitely a huge driving force for the rest of your goal when it starts to slow down. Great job on reconstructing your whole diet, I found by just switching to better foods before using this app/website I started to shed lots of weight and then when I started using MFP and learning a lot more about appropriate foods/macros I continued to lose weight rather quickly as well. I've went from XXL down to fitting into a Large and that was one of the most amazing progress points, also dropping in the pant size is huge just realizing all your clothes are too big, but that gets experience haha. Are you also doing any sort of exercise? I found when I started doing cardio or weight lifting and noticing all of the progress such as shortness of breath starting to disappear it drove me harder.

Anyways I just started back up after a few months break, I put on a bit of weight over that time. But now I am going to get dedicated and try to stick with it for one full year and hope by next summer I will be at the point I want to be! I sent you a friend request and hope to learn from each other!

kstandley123

Awesome work man, those first few weeks/months are absolutely amazing with the weight being shed. It is definitely a huge driving force for the rest of your goal when it starts to slow down. Great job on reconstructing your whole diet, I found by just switching to better foods before using this app/website I started to shed lots of weight and then when I started using MFP and learning a lot more about appropriate foods/macros I continued to lose weight rather quickly as well. I've went from XXL down to fitting into a Large and that was one of the most amazing progress points, also dropping in the pant size is huge just realizing all your clothes are too big, but that gets experience haha. Are you also doing any sort of exercise? I found when I started doing cardio or weight lifting and noticing all of the progress such as shortness of breath starting to disappear it drove me harder.

Anyways I just started back up after a few months break, I put on a bit of weight over that time. But now I am going to get dedicated and try to stick with it for one full year and hope by next summer I will be at the point I want to be! I sent you a friend request and hope to learn from each other!

Me an exercise don't get along. I was in a really bad motorcycle accident 7 yrs ago and broke almost everything (to include my back). 5 months flat on my back in a hospital bed and the surgery I had last week on my knee was surgery #24. Every exercise I've ever tried (even just walking) hurts me so I never did it. I started walking at night when I started this app but haven't done anything for a week because of my knee. Once it's healty again I'll walk more. I promised my wife that I'd exercise through the pain.