Advice given... and received...

TheWolf77

I just read someones post about how they have been on MFP for 1 month and after doing everything they feel to be the right way of doing it, their weight is now starting to slowly go back up.

As someone who has already been on this part of the roller coaster (and I am once again doing what I can to fight my way back to where I was at my lowest weight here... i had reached 244 by the summer, and then slacked for a few months only to find my self at 258 and in a panic) I decided I would reply to the post.

After writing (and then rewriting my post when my stupid browser bailed on me and cost me the whole thing... grumble mumble mumble stupid browser) this post I realized that this is something that I should be sharing with all of my fitness pals here. We all hit a point like this and we all need to find a new motivator to keep things going. So without further ado, here is the post that I made to help do my part in trying to inspire someone else to make their goal a successful one.

********
Hang in there, the goal is not to give up, this happens to all of us at some point or another. Sometimes sooner than others. There are a few bits of advice that I can offer however that might help you.

1) Change your workout routine. Everyone has the same problem, our body are designed to adapt and overcome adversity. If you have been putting all of your effort into your workout and you do the same or similar exercises everyday your body will identify what you are doing and it will find a way to work around it. I try to change my exercises up as often as I can. For example, if you are using walking as your exercise, instead of walking for 30 minutes try increasing the speed (even if slowly) for part of the time. Every 10 minutes you walk try to jog for 2 - 3 of those minutes. If you work out at the gym you can try my personal favorite, the elliptical. A lot of people tell me they "hate" the elliptical, but I have learned to call it my friend because of how many variables it offers and because I can use it to push myself. Try a different programmed pattern every day. To get around my issues, I did Manual settings on Monday (30 minutes of Level 17.. try it lower than that to start with, I started at level 8 and worked my way up to 17 over a course of 3 months, keeping my heart rate at 165 - 170 the entire time) Tuesday I did the Hill setting (again 30 minutes and do what you can to keep your heart rate up at about 165 , but don't try to go much above 170) Wednesday "Personal Trainer Mode" It makes you change directions and tells you to use your arms to push or pull or just use your legs. Thursday, back to manual mode, Friday "Around the world" Various hill settings. Saturday & Sunday rest. (5 days a week isn't for everyone, but it has helped me tremendously... find what works for you and go with that). No matter what kind of exercise you do, by the end of 30 minutes you should have broken enough of a sweat that it looks like you took a quick sprint outside in a downpour and back again.

2) Change your tracking info on your diary. I see that you use the default settings. Try going to Setting > Diary Info and changing what you are tracking. For me I changed mine to reflect Calories / Carbs / Protein / Sugar / Sodium. This helps because While everything looked great for a while as soon as I added "Sugar" to mine, I realized that there were days when I was going way overboard on sugars even though everything else looked good.

3) Take a multi-vitamin. It sounds like a strange suggestion, but sometimes your body resists change because it is not getting enough of one kind of vitamin, it will resist you in an effort to protect itself if its not getting something that it needs. Adding vitamins to your diet will increase the odds that your body will burn off everything that you put in and expunge everything that is excess. If you give it more nutritional supplements than it needs it won't hang on to things that it doesn't need.

4) Sleep. The hardest thing to acquire is enough sleep. Once you change your workout routine, set yourself some goals. The first kinds of goals that I find make things better are "pleasure goals" I don't know anyone that doesn't like getting extra rest. So make a plan, chart everything out so that you can accomplish the things that you need to get done, and set yourself a goal even if its only 1 night a week to start to get a full 8 - 9 hours of sleep. While this is difficult (I know I have a 3 year old that wakes up at 5:30am everyday) you can make this happen by planning it out ahead of time. No matter what find one day that you can tell yourself "I'll be in bed by 9pm and awake by 7am". Its hard to do, but if you can get at least one day of rest your body will recover better.

5) Keep in touch with MFP friends. We all have our own experiences and we are all in the same boat here. Having a strong support group to keep things going is the best motivator and help you will find. Just like you did when you posted this topic, ask for help. Ask for suggestions. Those of us that have been where you are will not hesitate to offer whatever support we can to make your journey a successful one.

Good luck, keep up the hard work. You can do this!
**********

I hope this helps everyone that reads it. I know I have said many of these things before when I have posted things and I want those of you who get the chance to read this to consider what it is that makes you successful here. What is is that poses your biggest challenge? I'd like to see as many replies to my postings a possible because the more people that read this, the more that will find inspiration, the more inspired people become the harder they try to improve, and the more effort people show the more success everyone will have!

Lets hear what you have to say!

julie204

thankyou so much for this advice really helpful and keep up the good work

TrishKennett

Thank you - very helpful advice. I am new to MFP (joined 2 weeks ago), but recognize that I, too, have my favourite gym equipment. Elliptical is also a favourite, but I have not yet added in anything other than the interval training setting. I will endeavour to be brave and branch out!

I am finding the site incredibly helpful and motivating. Relaized this morning at weigh-in (on gym scales!) that I have managed to lose 6% towards my target goal. It's a good start!

Please keep posting - this really helped.

Helenatrandom

The number one thing right now is the exercise. I was sick last week, so I didn't work out. I felt better yesterday, but didn't go to the gym without a good reason. Today I am going.

Pangea250

Thank you!