MFP is flexible and the mental game

peterdt

I am just starting out on MFP but it's almost like I'm not on a diet. Never been on a "diet" like that before. I already exercised every day before joining MFP. What MFP did for me is to help monitor my food intake and cut back on portions. Making that small modification makes me think when I'm deciding how much I am putting on my plate. Or what to eat with a late night craving. I just think about my calories goals and wanting to lose those 1000 calories today and it has caused me to modify my behavior. But I guess sometimes all it takes is a "small" modification like I've done to start getting significant results.

I have not lost 1000's of pounds like a lot of people say. I usually start a program and get fairly easily discouraged. Why? For me its when I program is so restrictive. I still like to have some of my "bad" foods. Cheeseburgers, pizza, chips etc. Almost no worthwhile diets allows for that. Making those choice may not be good for my body in the long run and I am striving to slowly get rid of those things. I think there is some wisdom is cutting back on those things and increasing the good things. I'm still having the things I crave, but only in small portions. This in itself is a victory I think, and also I think is the main advantage for me of MFP. I still have some of those things and with exercise still losing 1000 calories a day! Everyone is different but I think my problem is probably one of the more common ones.

To get into why I crave those things still gets into the psychological aspect of weight loss and I think is a worthy topic. But I feel that most people don't like to go there. It is too personal. Too revealing. But without addressing that aspect I guess for most people even if they do lose the weight it will tend to come back on because they have not dealt with the underlying causes of why they overeat. Again, this is not everyone's problem. But I guess more than half of the people with a weight problem would be wise to tackle this and try to find out why they got overweight in the first place. I think though this is a very slippery thing to get your arms around.

Qatsi

Well stated. A lot of people fail because they try cold turkey to give up everything "bad" from their diet, all at once. Then they spend all their time thinking about how much they miss being able to have pizza, or beer, or chocolate, or whatever it was they gave up. That makes them miserable. And it's hard to stay motivated when you're in that frame of mind.

Cutting back instead of cutting out, along with gradually increasing my exercise, has been the key for me on this journey. I get to have the things I enjoy, and I still get to see the results I'm looking for.

migoi357

It's about life enhancement, not restriction.

lavieboheme1229

I completely agree. When people ask me if I'm on a diet, I say "No, I'm on a lifestyle change". This has been so different from fad diets etc. I love that I had enough calories left on the day to have ice cream last night. And I had cheese on my salad because I could, and I know I will still loose weight... because I am eating half as much as I used to. I don't need cake or cookies anymore. I got fat because I graduated college, didn't have to walk a mile to class anymore, and could afford to eat out. There was no emotional eating (besides bored eating). I just didn't realize how much I was putting in my body.

This website has helped me realize that food is fuel. And desserts are like premium gas- really expensive, but every once and a while, it isn't a bad idea to run some through the tank