What is the best advice you can give others?

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1235

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  • Andh_19
    Andh_19 Posts: 14
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    Don't drink your calories!
  • irisheyez718
    irisheyez718 Posts: 677 Member
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    Don't make it harder than it needs to be.
  • invictus8
    invictus8 Posts: 258 Member
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    As far as necessities go:

    Create a sustainable energy deficit
    Exercise. You should probably incorporate some resistance training.
    Rest
    Repeat
    Do NOT complicate things.


    As far as other notes:

    I would eat "mostly" whole foods for both satiety and nutrient sufficiency.
    I would prioritize protein and fat over carbohydrate but provided you are not doing a low-carb program, carbs can still be your friend and you should eat enough of them to train with intensity.
    I would not eliminate foods that you enjoy. Instead, eat them in moderation and fit them into your daily nutrition goals.


    For research, I would very much recommend anything from the following sites:
    www.alanaragon.com
    www.weightology.net
    www.bodyrecomposition.com
    www.leangains.com
    www.body-improvements.com

    I would absolutely not recommend:
    Gary Taubes

    ^ THIS

    I tried Taubes' diet the first week on MFP. I was over-eating, hungry, and felt like crap. Then I switched to in essence what he is recommending above. Fat is melting off, I'm not losing lean body mass, not as hungry (usually satisfied), and feeling good.
  • jonwv
    jonwv Posts: 362 Member
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    Don't forget to breathe...Tony Horton
  • DefyGravity1977
    DefyGravity1977 Posts: 300 Member
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    My motto for myself over the past few weeks/months has become...One day, one step at a time! I have had to learn not to be so hard on myself and to be consistent, to stop making excuses, and to stop letting people and their comments affect me so much.
  • jmelyan23
    jmelyan23 Posts: 1,664 Member
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    Be patient and be consistent.
  • spikefoot
    spikefoot Posts: 419
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    Be honest...


    sounds so cliche but it is so easy to lie to yourself and cut corners.
  • WickedPixie1
    WickedPixie1 Posts: 111 Member
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    Fairies aren't real, hence, there is no such thing as magic wands. It took time to gain weight, it takes time to lose it.
    DO THIS FOR YOURSELF AND NOBODY ELSE!
    Make sure you really want this...it's just as hard as something like quitting smoking and needs the same kind of dedication.
    Set realistic goals. Make long term and short term ones. Short term goals help you achieve the long term ones.
    Get off your @ss and move. If you can't do sustainable exercise, take stairs, park further away, pace your living room...anything until it gets easier to do more and harder.
    Eat smart. You know veggies are good and cookies are bad.
    Educate yourself. The internet is good tool, but use common sense...refer to point the point about fairies.
    Invest in a good set of scales...for your kitchen. Weigh and measure all your food. If you are smart about what you eat, you'll be very surprised at how much you can actually eat...the odd treat included.
    Bathroom scales can and do lie...consult them sparingly.
    The tape measure can be your best friend, measure about once a month.
    It's not a diet, it's improving your health.
    You WILL fail...we all do and sometimes we know in advance. If you know you are going to fail, fail smart. If you can't avoid that restaraunt...baked potato over deep fried, lean meats, sauce on side or none at all...even salads...garden over caesar, or see if there is a low fat dressing or have it on the side. Skip the starter and dessert. Night out? Make every other drink a water or see if they serve low cal drinks. DO NOT PUNISH YOURSELF, ENJOY YOUR TIME OUT! One night is no excuse to pack it in, even if it's a 2 week holiday, as long as you use common sense, you can keep any gain to a minimum, get some exercise and pick up when you get back home.
  • opuntia
    opuntia Posts: 860 Member
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    Find out, through trial and error, what works best for you and your body - and remember that everyone is different, and that's okay. Listen first and foremost to your body.
  • Cliffslosinit
    Cliffslosinit Posts: 5,044 Member
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    As far as necessities go:

    Create a sustainable energy deficit
    Exercise. You should probably incorporate some resistance training.
    Rest
    Repeat
    Do NOT complicate things.


    As far as other notes:

    I would eat "mostly" whole foods for both satiety and nutrient sufficiency.
    I would prioritize protein and fat over carbohydrate but provided you are not doing a low-carb program, carbs can still be your friend and you should eat enough of them to train with intensity.
    I would not eliminate foods that you enjoy. Instead, eat them in moderation and fit them into your daily nutrition goals.


    For research, I would very much recommend anything from the following sites:
    www.alanaragon.com
    www.weightology.net
    www.bodyrecomposition.com
    www.leangains.com
    www.body-improvements.com

    I would absolutely not recommend:
    Gary Taubes


    ^^This^^ and PATIENCE
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    Don't quit.

    Failing to plan is planning to fail.

    No excuses.
  • slim_photographer
    slim_photographer Posts: 310 Member
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    1) Get the heart involved. The mind is already there. we already know what things are good and bad for us. Until you take it to heart and make it emotional, inject passion you will probably give up after a while.
    2) Make failing close to impossible (don't keep junk food around, etc), make succeeding as easy as possible (leave gym bag ready since the night before, you won't have time in the morning, etc.)
    3) Layout the change you want to make until it becomes uncomfortable, then back it down a notch. If you're not uncomfortable, at least for a while you're not doing a significant change. And at the same time you don't want it to be too hard which leads me to
    4) Gotta find a balance, usually by trial and error. Not too slow or the bike won't even move, you will lose balance, nor too fast or you won't be able to make that sharp turn at the bottom of the hill. You gotta find balance and stick to it.

    I also agree will a lot of other pals' advices.
  • rach41413
    rach41413 Posts: 82 Member
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    Eat to live, don't live to eat!
  • kakklespakkle
    kakklespakkle Posts: 118 Member
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    Fantastic messages and all inspiring and motivating (you know, except the toilet roll one lol!). Thank you all so much, this has been amazing to read x
  • dhakiyya
    dhakiyya Posts: 481 Member
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    Understand that most people out there want to buy gimmicks and quick fixes, and there are many, many people out there willing to peddle gimmicks and quick fixes. However gimmicks are just gimmicks and there are no quick fixes (if there were, doctors the world over would be prescribing them and there'd be no more obesity epidemic). Ditto fads, scams, gurus and even nutritional "cults".

    Then do what you can to educate yourself about human physiology and nutrition from reliable sources. Keep your gimmick/quick fix/dodgy science radar on at all times. Double check everything.

    Then remember that your body follows the laws of physics and while there are various things like medical issues and individual differences that mean one approach may be better for some while another approach may be better for others, your body will not break the laws of physics and most of human physiology is the same for everyone.

    Undereating screws up your results as much as overeating does, but in fundamentally different ways. Overeating makes you gain fat, that's pretty straight forward (or when you're aiming to lose fat, overeating will make you fail to lose). Undereating (for prolonged periods, not just the odd day here and there) will slowly do over your metabolism, because you are descended from generation upon generation of famine survivors, and if your body, metabolism and psychology wasn't able to adapt to food shortages, the human race simply would not have survived. These changes are not purely physical, they affect your mind too, such as making you obsess about food and go on binges. These psychological changes are part of your body's ways to survive food shortages. So, given that you have to walk a fairly fine line between not overeating and not undereating, it pays to really read up on human physiology and nutrition, and learn what BMR, TDEE and so on means, and learn how to calculate them for you, and how to figure out the right number of calories for you to lose weight slowly and steadily without triggering physiological or psychological responses to undereating. The number of calories you need each day is individual to you, though it can be estimated reasonably well with formulas, and you can fine tune it based on your results.

    Understanding why exercise, especially weight training, will help you to not only lose weight but also improve your health and body composition is very important - that comes under understanding human physiology.

    Learn how to feed your body properly, not only the overall number of calories (as above) but also all of nutrition, i.e. what nutrients your body needs, and focus on feeding your body properly *before* you start cutting things out of your diet. If you're feeding your body properly, most people find that a lot of desire for junk food actually goes away. Your body craves what it's not getting enough of. (although there's also a separate issue of psychological cravings, e.g. comfort eating)

    Find out what motivates you - it pays to study the psychology of motivation to help you to stay motivated.

    If you have other issues that are getting in the way, find ways that work to deal with them. If it's mental health issues, see a counsellor. If it's medical issues see a dietician and/or physio about how to eat and exercise right for your condition. If it's lifestyle issues, change what you can and find ways to work around what you can't change. Do what it takes to set your life up so you can do this.
  • true35
    true35 Posts: 43
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    Be honest... sounds so cliche but it is so easy to lie to yourself and cut corners.

    The TRUTH!
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    Don't take random advice from strangers on the internet.
  • A_Valerie
    A_Valerie Posts: 129 Member
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    Don't take random advice from strangers on the internet.

    :laugh: :laugh:
  • stagknight
    stagknight Posts: 130 Member
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    Don't try to lose weight, there is no try. You lose weight or you don't lose weight. If you try to lose weight you don't have your heart in in it. You have to want to lose weight. So don't try. DO IT!
  • clairyfairy247
    clairyfairy247 Posts: 425 Member
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    1. Educate yourself ... about how weight gain/loss happens (i.e. BMR, calories in vs. calories out, etc.), about macronutrient ratios, about the pros and cons of strength training and cardio, etc. Read and question, read and question, read and question.

    2. Don't confuse planning with the actual doing of things. Planning is important, but don't spend so much time planning and talking about what you're going to do that you have no time or energy to actually do it.

    3. Don't assume ANYONE, especially your doctor or any doctor on TV, is an expert on weight loss. Verify everything, even if it's by trial and error.

    4. Record EVERYTHING. Your meals, your workouts, your water intake, even your thoughts and feelings about what you are doing. Continually review, evaluate, and adjust where necessary. Don't be afraid to change things up. It makes more sense to try something new than to continue doing something that has not worked.

    5. Recovery is more than half of the equation. Your body needs rest, food, and therapy (foam rolling, massage, ice baths, joint mobility work). It cannot do what you ask it to do if you don't fuel it properly.

    This pretty much sums it up for me :smile: Also every accomplishment starts with the decision to try - so don't give up and be better than you were yesterday :heart:

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