Eat less, exercise more............

arewethereyet

I have been thinking about all the weight loss gadgets, pills, gimmicks and books.

No fat
No carbs
Your blood type
Cortisone

The one thing they have in common is you need to eat better foods and exercise more.

Not ONE of them tell you to eat more food and lay on the couch.

Someone asked the other day how they could lose weight. Which of the diets is best........nothing works for them.

I am here to tell you I was one of them 1 and a half yrs ago. I was tired, weak, had no confidence.........I actually thought my life was over and I was not even 50 yrs old yet. I can't do it,I said, nothing works me.

Then I loaded my information into MFP and decided to try it.............for ONE week........that is all. I figured it would not work, because I was post menepausal, had an injury, never ran in my life, had kids living home, my husband doesnt support me, food is the only comfort I have, I cannot lift weights, I have no time, I work too hard, I am on the road and need to eat carry out, I cant drink water because I am driving and will have to use the bathroom all the time.......on and on and on the list went. I knew this would be yet another disappointment in my life.

Then the week was over. I ate my calories1400 + my exercise cals. Down 2 pounds:noway: Why?........How?............Amazing.

I then decided I could do 1 more week. And so it went. A week, a pound, a mile at a time.

On my 1st week I could lift 1 lb weights and walk to the corner.......seriously 1 block.....every other day I added a bit more walking......bought 2 lb weights and so forth.

Now I feel like I could do anything. In just over a yrs time I have changed my life. I know that sounds corney, but if 1 person reads this and thinks..........."Dang, if she can do it so can I!" Then it will be worth the effort of writing.

I Thank God that this year I am not sitting here, crying about what could have been, but celebrating what its.

MFP has been an intrical part of this process. The support on the boards, the friends I have made, the info you all have shared...........this IS the difference!!

You can DO this!!

Jeannie

LaurelFisher

Good morning Jeanie, I too have been on that roller coaster ride. I joined MFP in June of this year and have lost 42 lbs. (a few of those pounds I have lost twice) I have tried many diets, the "Rotation Diet" "Weight Watchers" "1200 calories a day" "The Rice Diet" and just not eating take out or fried (which is extremely hard when you are married to a man who wants to eat out at least 3 or more times a week and has a passion for fried chicken and big breakfast). I too lost weight , anywhere from 25 lbs. to the 42 I have lost this time. Like you said the difference is MFP. I have found that life is not about dieting per-se. As you say you need to make a life change. My life change is logging in what I eat and staying within my calories. I'm not perfect and have those days when I want to eat everything that is not nailed down. MFP keeps me honest, so to say. When that happens, I just exercise more.
You say your calorie intake is 1400? My calories are set at 1200. Did I put something in wrong? How do they calculate your calorie intake? Is it the less you weigh the more calories you can have? I started out at 221 yours says 168. Just curious. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday, Rosemary

Amy_B

Fantastic stories!!! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

arewethereyet

Good morning Jeanie, I too have been on that roller coaster ride. I joined MFP in June of this year and have lost 42 lbs. (a few of those pounds I have lost twice) I have tried many diets, the "Rotation Diet" "Weight Watchers" "1200 calories a day" "The Rice Diet" and just not eating take out or fried (which is extremely hard when you are married to a man who wants to eat out at least 3 or more times a week and has a passion for fried chicken and big breakfast). I too lost weight , anywhere from 25 lbs. to the 42 I have lost this time. Like you said the difference is MFP. I have found that life is not about dieting per-se. As you say you need to make a life change. My life change is logging in what I eat and staying within my calories. I'm not perfect and have those days when I want to eat everything that is not nailed down. MFP keeps me honest, so to say. When that happens, I just exercise more.
You say your calorie intake is 1400? My calories are set at 1200. Did I put something in wrong? How do they calculate your calorie intake? Is it the less you weigh the more calories you can have? I started out at 221 yours says 168. Just curious. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday, Rosemary

I was referring to when I first started. I was 168 and set my weight loss goal to 1 pound a week. In the beginning I lost much more because my body was so happy to have real food!!

The less you weigh, the less you need to eat for nourishment. I am surprised your calories were 1200 at 221. Of course 1200 is the lowest anyone is supposed to eat per the AMA

I lost all 33 pound very slowly........for me this was the only way to ensure it was a change, not just a quick fix like in the past.

Congratulations on your 42 lbs loss! That is amazing, keep up the good work!:flowerforyou:

mmnichol

:flowerforyou:

CasperO

People are funny.

"How much have you lost now?"

<<About 60>

"How did you do it?"

<<2000 calories a day, and 1/2 hour every morning on an elliptical machine. Plain old diet and exercise>>

And you can just see the disappointment. There's no easy way? Nope , there's no easy way.

Great job gang. :bigsmile:

arewethereyet

People are funny.

"How much have you lost now?"

<<About 60>

"How did you do it?"

<<2000 calories a day, and 1/2 hour every morning on an elliptical machine. Plain old diet and exercise>>

And you can just see the disappointment. There's no easy way? Nope , there's no easy way.

Great job gang. :bigsmile:

LOL........after about 6 months I was tired of hearing this.

One day a girl asked me how........I said , "Well I take broccoli and steam it........'

"OOOOOOOOh" she said, " I love broccoli, I can do this diet!!"

I then said " And I eat the brocolli instead of the potato chips!"

She was actually angry with me.........she thought I had found "THE" diet.

I told her I DID find the diet.......eat better, exercise more, don't eat a number 4 supersized, and you WILL lose weight too. Not only that but you will feel better, both physically and mentally.

Thank God I have been on maint. so long ppl have stopped commenting and asking. I lose about 1/2 lb a month in the process.

vhuber

Thanks for sharing pals ! Hope your day is a peaceful one!!

JoyousMaximus

Oh am I relieved. When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be on of those " I am going to eat 12 carrot sticks and exercise 5 hours a day" threads.

NWas2Fat2Fit

Good morning Jeanie, I too have been on that roller coaster ride. I joined MFP in June of this year and have lost 42 lbs. (a few of those pounds I have lost twice) I have tried many diets, the "Rotation Diet" "Weight Watchers" "1200 calories a day" "The Rice Diet" and just not eating take out or fried (which is extremely hard when you are married to a man who wants to eat out at least 3 or more times a week and has a passion for fried chicken and big breakfast). I too lost weight , anywhere from 25 lbs. to the 42 I have lost this time. Like you said the difference is MFP. I have found that life is not about dieting per-se. As you say you need to make a life change. My life change is logging in what I eat and staying within my calories. I'm not perfect and have those days when I want to eat everything that is not nailed down. MFP keeps me honest, so to say. When that happens, I just exercise more.
You say your calorie intake is 1400? My calories are set at 1200. Did I put something in wrong? How do they calculate your calorie intake? Is it the less you weigh the more calories you can have? I started out at 221 yours says 168. Just curious. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday, Rosemary

I'm not Jeanie but I joined Yesterday and they also have me a 1200 calories a day. My weight is 199 and I picked Iwanted to lose 1 1/2 a week and picked the lowest activity level (job sitting down) :laugh: Think that is one of the main reasons it is so low. The great thing is when you enter your exercise with how many calories you burned you can eat more. :drinker: They up your calories for that day. Makes me want to exercise every day so I can eat more. I picked 5x a week 30 minutes.

Norma

arewethereyet

Oh am I relieved. When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be on of those " I am going to eat 12 carrot sticks and exercise 5 hours a day" threads.

I ate thirTEEN carrots



:laugh:

JoyousMaximus

Oh am I relieved. When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be on of those " I am going to eat 12 carrot sticks and exercise 5 hours a day" threads.

I ate thirTEEN carrots

:laugh:

I'm so proud of you! 1 extra carrot has to have at least 2 calories..

arewethereyet

Oh am I relieved. When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be on of those " I am going to eat 12 carrot sticks and exercise 5 hours a day" threads.

I ate thirTEEN carrots

:laugh:

I'm so proud of you! 1 extra carrot has to have at least 2 calories..

But then I ran another 10 miles.......does that count??:laugh:

slieber

I have a similar story - eat less, exercise more. When people who haven't seen me in ages see me, they ask what diet and I say "Weight Watchers" and mention MFP, as well.

The old fashioned way, just like my doctor said "eat less, exercise more." I started on MFP at about 183 pounds and am now down to 154. When I started to try to lose weight before MFP, I was at 196. As of today, I need to lose at least 10 more to be at the top of my weight range. It's not easy - feels like I'm staying the same forever!!

But I'm toned, at least!

Georg

Oh am I relieved. When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be on of those " I am going to eat 12 carrot sticks and exercise 5 hours a day" threads.

I ate thirTEEN carrots

:laugh:

I'm so proud of you! 1 extra carrot has to have at least 2 calories..

:bigsmile:
Oh dear, I really like celery better.

pdxmomof2

Thanks for the post Jeannie!
:smooched:

JoyousMaximus

But then I ran another 10 miles.......does that count??:laugh:

10 miles? You should have another carrot stick. 1 carrot stick for every 5 miles. It's the rule of thumb. For our celery stick friends, it's 2 celery sticks for every 5 miles. We have to be smart here people.

LittleEva44

I weigh myself "monthly" :happy:

10/15/2009 169.4
09/16/2009 172.8
08/13/2009 171.8
07/15/2009 177.5
06/11/2009 177.0
05/14/2009 180.5
04/15/2009 182.0
02/02/2009 186.5
01/03/2009 189.0 :noway:

I have LOST 20 pounds. Accoridng to my height/weight chart for 5'8" woman should be:
146-167 pounds. So my 2nd goal is to weigh 159 pounds BEFORE my birthday March 2010.

Blessings! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Eva

jlbay

thanks for the post. I think I'll go run!

nolachick

I have been thinking about all the weight loss gadgets, pills, gimmicks and books.

No fat
No carbs
Your blood type
Cortisone

The one thing they have in common is you need to eat better foods and exercise more.

Not ONE of them tell you to eat more food and lay on the couch.

Someone asked the other day how they could lose weight. Which of the diets is best........nothing works for them.

I am here to tell you I was one of them 1 and a half yrs ago. I was tired, weak, had no confidence.........I actually thought my life was over and I was not even 50 yrs old yet. I can't do it,I said, nothing works me.

Then I loaded my information into MFP and decided to try it.............for ONE week........that is all. I figured it would not work, because I was post menepausal, had an injury, never ran in my life, had kids living home, my husband doesnt support me, food is the only comfort I have, I cannot lift weights, I have no time, I work too hard, I am on the road and need to eat carry out, I cant drink water because I am driving and will have to use the bathroom all the time.......on and on and on the list went. I knew this would be yet another disappointment in my life.

Then the week was over. I ate my calories1400 + my exercise cals. Down 2 pounds:noway: Why?........How?............Amazing.

I then decided I could do 1 more week. And so it went. A week, a pound, a mile at a time.

On my 1st week I could lift 1 lb weights and walk to the corner.......seriously 1 block.....every other day I added a bit more walking......bought 2 lb weights and so forth.

Now I feel like I could do anything. In just over a yrs time I have changed my life. I know that sounds corney, but if 1 person reads this and thinks..........."Dang, if she can do it so can I!" Then it will be worth the effort of writing.

I Thank God that this year I am not sitting here, crying about what could have been, but celebrating what its.

MFP has been an intrical part of this process. The support on the boards, the friends I have made, the info you all have shared...........this IS the difference!!

You can DO this!!

Jeannie

Very inspirational, thnx so much for sharing. I am such a softie, it brought a tear to my eye. So many of us think its impossible and you are right, you just have to stop making excuses and just DO IT! Not Monday, not next month, but today!

Great job on all the loss, but more importantly great job on improving urself inside and out. I am so happy for you, and hope to one day look back and feel the same.

staceyw37

jeannie, thanks for the sharing your experience. i enjoy reading your posts. congratulations on your success (so far)--nice biceps!

retrobaby

Great post. Been there done that diet (s). I'm done "dieting". I just know I have to get my butt up and exercise and make better food choices. Hope I can make my goal weight by Christmas.:happy:

lotusfromthemud

People are funny.

"How much have you lost now?"

<<About 60>

"How did you do it?"

<<2000 calories a day, and 1/2 hour every morning on an elliptical machine. Plain old diet and exercise>>

And you can just see the disappointment. There's no easy way? Nope , there's no easy way.

Great job gang. :bigsmile:

This is SOOOO true! Everybody wants to know my "secret".

My secret: I stopped eating crap (almost all the time!) and started moving. And vowed to do it every day as long as I live. The end.

People want the weight loss process to be both fast and temporary, with permanent results. Not gonna happen.

The secret is. . .there is no secret.

KatWood

Great post! I can definitely relate.
Sometimes I wish I could convince my overweight family member and friends that simply eating right and exercising works. I mean I would love to save them the struggle that I went through and shouldn't my success be evidence enough to convince them? It is so frustrating to watch them try and fail on diets. It seems like such a waste of their time and energy. I feel so bad for them because I know what they are going through. But I guess we all have to come to the realization on our own.

burbuja

Congratulations Jeannie!

I understand what you mean the same thing happened to me after years and years of yo yo dieting I finally found the ''secret'' be conscious of what you eat by this... I mean make good and healthy choices and exercise at least 30 minutes 5 x a week.

I think your doing an awesome job not only losing the weight in a healthy way but because you took the time to post this.

Have a great week!

jklm

nolachick - Totally agree with you!

Congratulations, Jeannie! You made my day.
I'm recommitted to MFP and know I just have to do it today and everyday. Thanks! :flowerforyou:

iplayoutside19

I agree with everything said.

I also get frustrated with those around me who need to make a lifestyle change. But it takes such an inner drive to be successful at this that the only thing I can do is show them the tools.

The other problem is people are so ingorant about the food they eat. And I'm not even talking about chemicals, just calories. We have huge education gap when comes to nutrition education. When I started this life style change I spent two weeks just researching what I was eating, before I made any real changes.

I used to love going out to eat. Now I cringe when I here ads on the radio. Not that I don't get out every once in a while. But when I know anything on the "healthy" menu is 'just' 1000 calories I get pissed off that said establishment is taking advantage of people's ignorance.

JoyousMaximus

I used to love going out to eat. Now I cringe when I here ads on the radio. Not that I don't get out every once in a while. But when I know anything on the "healthy" menu is 'just' 1000 calories I get pissed off that said establishment is taking advantage of people's ignorance.

I saw a commercial trying to pass Nutella off as healthy. It was a mom talking about hhow her kids love it and she uses it to get them to eat healthy food like WHEAT BREAD!!!!!

I was really upset... if that isn't completely obvious.

Tri_Dad

Words of wisdom and inspiration from out beloved Jeannie. Love you to bits my dear. Been reading a bit lately and in my reading I found one thing that is absolutley true.

Losing weight is simple but it's not easy.

Alot of people think simple and easy are the same. but there not.
Saying something is simple implies that it is not complicated. And losing weight is not complicated. Eat a moderate amount of healthy food and excersise.

Saying something is easy implies that it requires little to no effort. And most of us here know that when it comes to losing weight, no part of ithe process requires little to no effort.

People who ask "how you did it" are never looking for a simple way. They are always looking for an easy way. There is no easy way. They usually find that dissapointing.

Hall of fame football coach Vince Lombardi said it best- "The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work."

Those of us who realize that have found the true weight loss secret.

:flowerforyou:

bretharpe

So we as American's eat WAY to much. I was one of these people. I fixed my plate and if I wanted more.....I went back and fixed more. I finally reached a point where I was tired of being over weight and started to do something about it. This is silly and may sound stupid, but it has worked for me. I have co-workers who do the same now! When I fix my plate I fix it like the "old me" , then I take a knife and cut each portion in half and the other goes back in to the pot or pan.(That was how I started).

I now fix a plate like the "new me" 1/2 the portion!!! You may somtimes be a little hungry after that is when you fix a large glass of water and after that you will be full. I think a lot has to do with a mental thing. I do not drink carbonated beverages ( coke, sprite, etc). I cannot tell you how much better I feel since I cut them out of my life!!!!!! I feel sooooooo much better. The first week sucks- really badly! You then start to feel so much better!

My one weakness is growing up in the south- we love our " Sweet Tea". I am not sure that this is an addiction that I can break. I have tried. I would rather not eat than to not have my "Sweet Tea"!

Breanna

arewethereyet

I used to love going out to eat. Now I cringe when I here ads on the radio. Not that I don't get out every once in a while. But when I know anything on the "healthy" menu is 'just' 1000 calories I get pissed off that said establishment is taking advantage of people's ignorance.

I saw a commercial trying to pass Nutella off as healthy. It was a mom talking about hhow her kids love it and she uses it to get them to eat healthy food like WHEAT BREAD!!!!!

I was really upset... if that isn't completely obvious.

OMG I HATE that commercial!!

"I use Nutella to get my kids to eat healthy foods" she says, as she slaths it on a peice of white bread.

Talk about generating ignorance:grumble: