Give me your best tips on making mfp work for me!

rowdylibrarian

Make sure to fit your favorite ice cream, cupcakes, drinks, etc. in occasionally. As others have correctly predicted, going without makes one feel deprived, and tends to lead to a "treats binge". Good luck!

dutchman24

Log in daily...eveything. Get a friend list that will support and encourage you. Some exercise at least!

rizzaG

Daily logging in at the beggining was a sort of OCD for me at first then gradually it became second nature. I'm a creature of habit so it has easily become a part of my daily routine and somehow addcting in a good way. Keeps me accountable with my actions.

Understand your goal or your purpose as to why you started with MFP in the first place that reason will keep you on track just in case for some reason you fall off the wagon. Remind yourself as to what keeps you motivated, focus on your own personal goal and stick with it. Goodluck on your journey and lastly surround yourself with positive Rizza

windycitycupcake

Log Everything. EVERYTHING. LOG EVERY LITTLE STINKING THING

if you stay under your calorie goal you will lose weight and that is the end of that. but if you skip logging 20 calories here and 20 calories there, you will be left wondering why your diet isn't working.

andeey

<snip>

TL;DR
1) Eat to a reasonable deficit, comprising of a good amount of nutritionally beneficial foods but eat treats if you wish. Log everything accurately.
2) Hit your macros
3) Strength train (and do cardio if you wish)
4) Rest
5) Do not obsess over the scale
6) Stick to the plan and be patient


Ooops - just realized that I added yet another wall of text.

Bumping Sara's awesome advice!!

thr33martins

1. I have read many times that you can manually change your macro goals on MFP how do you do that?

My Home > Goals > Change Goals

ashleew1117

Pre-log your food. If its not in your diary don't eat it that day.

phxricky

Get rid of any social networking sites!!! FOCUS all your energy on this one. That has worked for me.

matchbox_girl

Like everyone else has said, log EVERYTHING. Even that one bite of pie or little piece of candy. Resisting temptation is the hardest thing when you're at the end of your calorie limit for the day and want that extra treat.....don't! It is soooo hard at first but gets better. You can do it!

Rachaelluvszipped

Best advice – keep it simple.

1) eat at a reasonable calorie deficit. You can work this out 2 ways:

a) use MFP's targets:

Set yourself at a realistic activity level. Sedentary means just that - not doing anything. I have a desk job and am a lazy bish outside the gym and I am at least lightly active. If you have kids, have an active job etc you will be higher. Note, this does not include exercise.

Select a reasonable weight loss goal. Generally a good recommendation is 1lb a week. If you have a lot to lose you can set it at 2lb a week, if only 10lb or so, set it at 1/2lb a week

Eat at least some of your exercise calories back. By not doing so you are increasing your deficit that you already have set up. I say only to eat some as these are estimates and may be over-stated.

b) Calculate your TDEE using a site such as http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and take a reasonable deficit – 20% off TDEE (the levels you will maintain at) is generally a good starting point, but should be decreased the nearer you get to goal. Note: 20% is roughly a 1lb a week. Be careful of whether these include exercise calories or not. If they do, you should not eat your exercise calories back as you will be double counting if you do. You can customize your goals to ‘force’ this number.

Note that these are estimates based on ‘averages’ so tweak accordingly based on the results you are seeing. Also, make sure you give it enough time before tweaking as water weight, especially with women can skew your results.

2) Get your macros right. MFP is set very low for fats and protein so either plan to go over these or change the percentages manually.

General recommendations are:
- Protein (minimum): 1g of protein per lb of LBM if you exercise and about 0.8g if you do not.
- Fat (minimum): 0.35g per lb of total body weight
- The rest can fall where you wish.

The settings in MFP only go in 5% increments. If you want to over-ride these settings, remember, protein and carbs have 4 cals per gram and fat has 9 cals. You can calculate the correct percentages by using these numbers.

3) Foods to eat: keep it simple. Unless you have a medical condition or a prone to binge eating or have trigger food, there is no reason to give up any food you like. Just fit it into your calorie target and macros. Make sure you get fruits, veggies and a mix of healthy fats – after that, eat what you want.

4) Log everything. Make sure you weigh/measure everything you eat/drink. Also, going back to see what you could have swapped out to get a more balanced or satiating day is very useful. If you go over one day for example, see what you ate and what gave you the least ‘bang for your calorie buck’ so to speak.

5) For body composition and other benefits, I highly recommend strength training. It does not have to be anything complicated. A full body workout 3 times a week is ideal. With regard to cardio – do it if you like it and/or are training for an event/sport and/or want to cardiovascular improvement and/or want to eat more. Otherwise, it is not necessary for weight loss. I hate it so do not do it – but it does have a lot of benefits.

6) Get rest. Make sure you do not overdo it with the exercise and try to get enough sleep.

7) Do not let water weight fluctuations discourage you – our weight can vary quite a few pounds due to it. It can be impacted by sodium intake, fluid intake, how many carbohydrates eaten recently, monthly cycle, muscle repair from strength training and a host of other things. Do not obsess over the scale – take measurements and pictures.


TL;DR
1) Eat to a reasonable deficit, comprising of a good amount of nutritionally beneficial foods but eat treats if you wish. Log everything accurately.
2) Hit your macros
3) Strength train (and do cardio if you wish)
4) Rest
5) Do not obsess over the scale
6) Stick to the plan and be patient


Ooops - just realized that I added yet another wall of text.

Have I told you...your super awesome...wuv you for that!!

fun_b

Here are some of mine:

*Don't say No to any food- This may not work for everyone but this is something that helps me. If I think I can't have something, I want it more.
*Log straightaway or before you plan to eat something -If I leave it some time, I tend to forget something.
*Overestimate if calories are unknown - Sometimes I do not know the quantity of something I have eaten so I would rather guess I have eaten more than less.
*Halving everything-one bread instead of two, half the cheese etc.
*Don't make too many changes at once.
*If you mess up treat it as a learning curve and do better tomorrow.

Update: Just remembered something. I have also done this once before and the reason I failed before was that I become a bit cocky and thought I had my weight loss issue under control. It doesn't matter how much you lose, keep logging as it is very easy to think go off the rails again.

Good Luck!

QueenofScott

Log in everyday and record all food and exercise, AND find some good supportive friends. My new friends have been very helpful in motivating me and encouraging me when I'm down, or cheering me on in my success. I love to do the same for them.

04ward

BUMP!

Rosytakesoff

Log honestly, get a good mix of friends, and don't give up:-)

herblackwings39

Log everything you eat either before or after, even if you go over. If you go by the MFP set up be honest when filling it out and eat the goal it gives you plus any exercise calories. Don't under eat, fuel your body for the exercise you're starting. Search the forums if you have a question. Lots of times the same questions have been asked and answered multiple times and you'll find a great deal of advice without having to post the question. Advice...consider it all, ignore any rudeness, and take the good advice. Give any changes at least 4 weeks before you decide something just isn't working. Change takes time.

Go with baby steps. If you suddenly start doing an hour of exercise everyday, eating completely clean, etc you're more likely to burn out. Make one change and give it time to take hold before working on another aspect of your fitness or diet.

Good luck!

njconat

My best advice would be to log BEFORE you eat. It really helps me to put into perspective how much im eating.

AnderMama88

Every week, I browse the Internet for new low calorie recipes. I have a huge database of them (Pinterest has been a great tool for this purpose) and I go through and pick which meals I will make the following week. I fill out a weekly calendar with what meals I will have each day, detailed down to snacks ( I don't get as specific anymore about more than lunch and dinner, because breakfast and snacks have become very routine for me).

Every time I cook, if i haven't yet, I enter the recipe into the recipe builder, which is very helpful, that way you can just enter the recipe name next time you have the same meal. I also only make enough to have exactly the portions I need for dinner that night and leftovers for lunch the next day. If I know that the leftover food is my lunch tomorrow, I'm not tempted to have seconds at dinner.

I then go to the store and buy only what is on my list for my planned meals and snacks. I can't eat junk if I don't buy it. I only eat out once every month or two, and do have times when I go over my calorie goal. I enjoy the food, don't dwell on my overage, and workout a little harder the next day.

It takes time to really get in the swing of it, but it will become second nature to measure, log and want to get up and get moving! Good luck!