How important is it to know what worked??

emmab0902
emmab0902 Posts: 2,338 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
There are so many different ideas about weight loss, and most of us probably use several strategies at once. How important is it to know what made the difference?

For myself, I have made a lot of changes in the past 3 months - cut down on sugar and carbs, increased protein, doing IF, increased strength training AND halved my beta blocker medication.

Saw no progress for the first 2.5 months but now things are starting to slowly shift.

Does it really matter what part of the puzzle made the difference, or are we sometimes too obsessed with looking for the magic bullet?

Replies

  • dez_yaoichan
    dez_yaoichan Posts: 454
    i think it's important to know what works for us so we can keep doing it. nothing to do with a "magic bullet" just learning how our bodies work. if its a combo of things helping me, ill keep doing them all. if its just one thing, ill take that thing and try some others with it. but knowing what is helping me also means knowing what is harming me.
  • anetap2000
    anetap2000 Posts: 116 Member
    I think we all want to have quick results.
    You are right, what works for one person, doesn't have to work for the other. Everyone is different.
    If 2 different people would eat exactly the same foodm they would never have the same results!
  • johnlms
    johnlms Posts: 15
    I needed to lose about 40 lbs and I have already lost 30 of them since June (4 months) simply by only watching my caloric intake every day with the site.

    I still drink my beer.
    I still eat what I like, but watch portions instead.
    I stopped exercising and will pick that back up pretty hard once I lose 10 more pounds to focus on getting in shape while at the proper starting point for myself.

    I just got my latest bloodwork from my doctor last week and my cholesterol is normalizing (was having issues getting my HDL raised to normal levels). I've been on medication for nearly three years (Simcor) to try to get my cholesterol in check.


    So.. for me, it's been easier than anything I've ever done to drop weight and it's pretty awesome for me to see that my cholesterol is actually improving more due to the weight loss than anything I've done before.
  • Amo_Angelus
    Amo_Angelus Posts: 604 Member
    It's nothing to do with a magic bullet >_< The reason knowing what works is important is because you're undertanding your body.
  • kaetra
    kaetra Posts: 442 Member
    Aren't beta blockers just a pain in the *kitten*! I HATE that I have to take them. I HATE that they make me retain so much water and I SWEAR they slow my metabolism to a crawl even though everyone says it's the oxygen factor, not heart rate factor that burns calories. It's like the treatment for the high blood pressure problem is majorly deterring the solution to the problem and in a round about way making the problem even worse.

  • DannyNovela
    DannyNovela Posts: 39 Member
    and sometimes your body has to have time to adjust to the new changes before it starts doing what you want it to do. keep it up and you'll see.
  • emmab0902
    emmab0902 Posts: 2,338 Member
    Aren't beta blockers just a pain in the *kitten*! I HATE that I have to take them. I HATE that they make me retain so much water and I SWEAR they slow my metabolism to a crawl even though everyone says it's the oxygen factor, not heart rate factor that burns calories. It's like the treatment for the high blood pressure problem is majorly deterring the solution to the problem and in a round about way making the problem even worse.


    Yes they suck! They absolutely lower metabolism and decrease fat oxidation - double suck!
  • kaetra
    kaetra Posts: 442 Member
    We're gonna get off of these things! One way or another, they're goin' DOWN!
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    If you don't know what has been working, then how will you know what to continue with going forward? Will you continue with a combination of all of these things? For me, a calorie deficit lets me lose weight and a calorie surplus lets me gain. I think that is the case for the vast majority of people; yet a lot of people, for whatever reason, try various strange things instead of keeping things simple. Exceptions where the calories in vs calories out wouldn't work are potentially those peeple with insulin or thyroid issues, or who are on certain medications.
  • emmab0902
    emmab0902 Posts: 2,338 Member
    Exceptions where the calories in vs calories out wouldn't work are potentially those peeple with insulin or thyroid issues, or who are on certain medications.
    which is me. And which is why a deficit for me is less calories than the "regular" person needs.
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
    I instituted a series of changes one at a time and tracked all the results. Granted it's not a perfect experiment by any means, but what I've found is that most changes that sound logical have helped. Whether it was reducing grains, increasing lean protein, reducing alcohol, introducing healthy fats, reducing dairy, whatever, it has all yielded positive results. The ones that seemed to have no effect or an adverse effect were minor changes. So minor that I can't even remember them. XD

    All I know is that I'm glad I track everything. At the very least, it gives me peace of mind. :)

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