IIFYM/CleanISH Eating Friends!
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theEffingPanda
Posts: 17
(I apologize for the length of this.)
I rejoined MFP a few days ago and have been debating the idea of adding friends. When I began tracking my calories again yesterday, I thought to myself that it would be really helpful to have friends who were eating in a similar way to help and support each other.
So this is a brief backstory before I get into why I feel the need to be a bit picky when choosing MFP friends:
About three and a half years ago, I joined MFP for the first time. I began moving around more at work and lost about 10 pounds without even trying which prompted me to actually try. I lost almost 50 pounds in about 6 months eating around 1400-1500 calories a day and doing cardio 4-5 times a week. In that entire span of time I said no to all cakes, cookies, fried things, alcohol, etc. (Just anything cheat/treat like.) BUT I was eating a bunch of lowfat and packaged "health" foods. I wouldn't say it was a good or bad diet (everyone has their preference and different things work for different people) but for me, it definitely wasn't sustainable. In the months following this, I started drinking about 2-5 times a week. I went to the gym a lot less and started making bad choices when it came to food. I gained about 25 pounds back in the next four months or so. It was as if I was too overwhelmed with making "good" choices ALL THE TIME that something in my brain switched and I went on a long binge of all things bad.
Since then, I've been trying out almost everything to finally get to a weight that makes me feel good. I've occasionally tried things I can't stick with and my weight has fluctuated a lot in the last 3 years. I do more weight training than cardio these days and have been trying to eat in a "cleaner" way. Just a lot of fruits and vegetables and foods that if they are processed, it's minimal. I definitely don't do a perfect job at it but I'm slowly but surely finding new foods to eat that fit this lifestyle better. I definitely have the occasional "treat" meal maybe once or twice a week. I've been attempting to track macros as well. I'm VERY new to this. I'm looking to lose at least 30 pounds in a gradual and healthy way. My main goal is to find a healthy lifestyle that I can stick with.
So, I signed up for MFP again and I'm looking for friends who eat in a similar way and have similar goals that I do. I don't necessarily need people to motivate me to workout or congratulate me when I do. (I mean... it doesn't hurt.) I'd love to have friends with food diaries I can see to give me ideas about things I should try eating that I may not have thought of. I think seeing diaries of users who eat the way I once did (packaged/low-calorie/etc.) it might stress me out a bit. And I don't want that to sound like I'm hating on anyone for it. Like I mentioned above, everyone's journey and way of eating/exercising etc. is going to be different and you have to do what suits you best.
I've seen a lot of negative comments on these message boards when reading through them in the last couple days which I don't think is fair to people in a weight loss community, most of whom are just starting out and learning and searching for ADVICE not CRITICISM. My thoughts are pretty much eat the way you want to eat, workout the way you want to work out, and try not to have an eating disorder. I personally feel better when I eat more whole foods and less packaged and processed things.
I've been shooting for around 1700 calories a day. 30% protein, 45% carbs, and 25% fat. I'm also trying to get around 45 grams of fiber per day. These are definitely things I will tweak later if I need to.
Please feel free to add me if you're following a clean and/or iifym style diet or if you're attempting something like it!
I rejoined MFP a few days ago and have been debating the idea of adding friends. When I began tracking my calories again yesterday, I thought to myself that it would be really helpful to have friends who were eating in a similar way to help and support each other.
So this is a brief backstory before I get into why I feel the need to be a bit picky when choosing MFP friends:
About three and a half years ago, I joined MFP for the first time. I began moving around more at work and lost about 10 pounds without even trying which prompted me to actually try. I lost almost 50 pounds in about 6 months eating around 1400-1500 calories a day and doing cardio 4-5 times a week. In that entire span of time I said no to all cakes, cookies, fried things, alcohol, etc. (Just anything cheat/treat like.) BUT I was eating a bunch of lowfat and packaged "health" foods. I wouldn't say it was a good or bad diet (everyone has their preference and different things work for different people) but for me, it definitely wasn't sustainable. In the months following this, I started drinking about 2-5 times a week. I went to the gym a lot less and started making bad choices when it came to food. I gained about 25 pounds back in the next four months or so. It was as if I was too overwhelmed with making "good" choices ALL THE TIME that something in my brain switched and I went on a long binge of all things bad.
Since then, I've been trying out almost everything to finally get to a weight that makes me feel good. I've occasionally tried things I can't stick with and my weight has fluctuated a lot in the last 3 years. I do more weight training than cardio these days and have been trying to eat in a "cleaner" way. Just a lot of fruits and vegetables and foods that if they are processed, it's minimal. I definitely don't do a perfect job at it but I'm slowly but surely finding new foods to eat that fit this lifestyle better. I definitely have the occasional "treat" meal maybe once or twice a week. I've been attempting to track macros as well. I'm VERY new to this. I'm looking to lose at least 30 pounds in a gradual and healthy way. My main goal is to find a healthy lifestyle that I can stick with.
So, I signed up for MFP again and I'm looking for friends who eat in a similar way and have similar goals that I do. I don't necessarily need people to motivate me to workout or congratulate me when I do. (I mean... it doesn't hurt.) I'd love to have friends with food diaries I can see to give me ideas about things I should try eating that I may not have thought of. I think seeing diaries of users who eat the way I once did (packaged/low-calorie/etc.) it might stress me out a bit. And I don't want that to sound like I'm hating on anyone for it. Like I mentioned above, everyone's journey and way of eating/exercising etc. is going to be different and you have to do what suits you best.
I've seen a lot of negative comments on these message boards when reading through them in the last couple days which I don't think is fair to people in a weight loss community, most of whom are just starting out and learning and searching for ADVICE not CRITICISM. My thoughts are pretty much eat the way you want to eat, workout the way you want to work out, and try not to have an eating disorder. I personally feel better when I eat more whole foods and less packaged and processed things.
I've been shooting for around 1700 calories a day. 30% protein, 45% carbs, and 25% fat. I'm also trying to get around 45 grams of fiber per day. These are definitely things I will tweak later if I need to.
Please feel free to add me if you're following a clean and/or iifym style diet or if you're attempting something like it!
0
Replies
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Attempting to track "macros" as well...
Gotta admit, I have no clue what that is (those are?) and am curious?
I've probably just missed something very simple and obvious lol0 -
I just watched this playlist and it was super helpful! http://goo.gl/zqIv6H0
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