Things i wish i was told when i started my Journey.

shosh413

bump!

JudyAngelman

Thanks still learning something everyday!

Wetterdew

Awesome thread.

spramn

Thanks for the post. This will help me a lot. I won my breast cancer fight and now would like to get healthy.

Thats fantastic to hear you have recovered, all the best in your goal to be healthier for the new year

LiftAllThePizzas

I really like the OP but would add a couple things:

1- Sodium/salt isn't bad for you unless you have a heart condition. I can see how avoiding it in general would steer you toward foods that are better for you, since much fast food and processed food is not good for you regardless of sodium content. But if you like to put salt on eggs or celery or whatever in order to make it tasty do it! Avoiding your salt shaker isn't going to make you healthier or happier.

2- Be aware that a change in lifestyle can be difficult at first, but you do adapt, and it is a learning process not a single decision you can "set your mind to" and then forget about. And be aware that if your previous lifestyle was what made you fat or unhealthy, and short-term dieting and then resuming your previous way is just going to have the same result again. A long-term/permanent lifestyle change is necessary to maintain the gains you are hoping to achieve, so (the important part is) make sure to include things you do enjoy, like the occasional indulgence. If you don't, if for example you love cupcakes and tell yourself, "I will never eat another cupcake as long as I live," then you can only achieve that goal by dying! Screw that! If on the other hand you allow yourself (for example) a cupcake every other week, and you have a massive craving a week away, it is much easier to set that craving aside when you know you will be able to have one soon, just not right this moment.

3- It is easy to lose sight of the real point: to become happier/healthier. Weight loss in itself is not the point. It seems way too easy for people to become so focused on weight loss that they want to do it even if it creates a lifestyle that makes them miserable. (Why bother working hard to get from one life you don't want, to another life you hate?)

4- Changing the types of foods that you eat can change your tastes and preferences. If you love McD's cheeseburgers and think "oh no, I can't eat McD's cheeseburgers this is gonna suck" you might be surprised after a month or two of good eating that those cheeseburgers taste horrible and wonder what you ever saw in them. It also means that you will get more enjoyment out of the foods you do eat. Just because you didn't like veggies or salads while on a fast food diet, doesn't mean you will never like them.

demilade

it takes your body 48 hours to enter “Starvation mode


this is the only thing I disagree with. I have eaten 500 calories for a month and nothing happened except weight loss, and I know someone who fasts for 48 hours straight every weekend and his loss is right on track for 2+ lbs a weeks. So while I know everyone is different this statement is not true. While eating 500 caloires isn't the healthiest thing out there you can do it and still not enter "starvation mode" Remember doctors put people on this calorie restriction all the time for months and months on end. You have those who have bariatric surgery that eat this each day for months also. You have to have NO food or water for more hours than 48 for your body to believe its starving.

I was on about 500 calories a day for a month and the dietician immediately put me up to 800 a day. my weight loss jumped from just under a kilo a week to 1.5 kilos a week. you might still loose weight this low, but you can loose more if you eat a little more.

johnny2274

Great post, thank you!

AngelRobbie

Bump! Lots of good info here

Dmarisol

Wow!!! Thanks for the post

spramn

I was on about 500 calories a day for a month and the dietician immediately put me up to 800 a day. my weight loss jumped from just under a kilo a week to 1.5 kilos a week. you might still loose weight this low, but you can loose more if you eat a little more.

I found the same also, i kept dropping my calories on my diet and was still seeing plateu's. I think its important to have feed weeks or days to help metobolism recover after extended dieting with low calories.

spramn

I have re-wrote this thread here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/934555-guide-on-how-to-loose-fat-and-get-to-your-goals

Same in many ways, but expanded on some important points.

helcart01

bump