Thank you myfitnesspal! A thousand times Thank You!

tdeckard2000 · September 2012

80bls lost in around 5 months.
Sent this to a friend, wanted to share with the world::
The best thing in the world, and I try to share it with EVERYONE because it made everything possible for me, myfitnesspal.com. I started off setting my calorie intake at 1400/day. This was right in the middle of "omg" and "I can do this!". It may be different for you depending on your current eating habits; I ate whatever whenever before my diet. After 1400 became easy for me (2 months), I set my calorie intake to 1200. You set your calorie/weight goals on myfitness pal, they have recommendations, but I found that they wouldn't have gotten me to my goal anytime soon. Myfitnesspal has a smartphone app, GET IT! and use it religiously. If you eat 5 animal crackers you have got to count them. When I was working at pts, I'd enter the calories for the lunch I made in the morning/night before. This sounds like a hassle at first, but when you see the pounds shed off, it seems too easy. You will mess up and over eat and, if you're serious about loosing, you'll hate your self for it. Don't give up! Don't give yourself "free days" every week, you'll see that suggested.The hardest part is holiday meals/candy. It's important to keep tabs on your weight, this is what helps you along. Get a good scale (i have a digital one, some aren't accurate so careful) and weigh yourself cloths off (it's extremely hard to estimate the weight of your wardrobe). They say not to weigh yourself but once a week, I found it better to weigh myself every morning/night. I actually weigh myself about every time I'm in the bathroom, but that's more of a habit I've developed I think. As for exercise, I can't say that It alone helped me along. I started going to the gym regularly (every other day) for two months or so and that helped me shed a few pounds. I ran (before the gym I couldn't sustain a half-mile jog) 2 miles every other day. With intense exercises it becomes hard to judge your calorie intake. Being a healthier person helps a lot, but regular walking and NOT eating extra food is better than GYMing and having no choice but to eat (usually over-eat). The gym promoted a lifestyle change, I learned to like nature, hiking, anything to get my *kitten* out of the house. If you have time to walk, choose that over the car. It'll seem odd at first especially if you never do things like that, but it'll become second nature. Hopefully this helps and I have plenty of info to share if you need tips/help on anything. Cheers
Then/Now (other pics upon request): http://imgur.com/tckzH

ilesol · September 2012

Well done, fellow Imgurian! Now, to the cat pics!!!! :happy:

arrawyn79 · September 2012

That's amazing! congrats on 80lbs in 5 months! and your before/after pics are awesome! Way to go! and love your post - a great way to explain MFP to someone and give general 'healthy lifestyle' advice

thanks for sharing!