Why did you choose to join MFP?
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I joined because I was fat. I wanted my child to be proud of me. I don't want to be an embarrassment to her, as much as I am to myself. I thought this would be a great first step to changing all of me. I plan to make the other changes over the next year or two, but first my weight is a big issue. I joined because one of my clients lost 60 lbs in 8 months here just by counting his calories. He's an inspiration like so many others on this site. I'm not an exercise person, but I do get out and walk a few times a week and ride a bike even though I huff and puff and feel like I'm dying. I do it because I want to be better. I don't do it so I can eat more. Plus I am so glad I'm here now because I have some very motivating friends that I can support and who will support me.0
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I joined when I realized that I wasn't strong enough to do this "alone." I have a very black and white way of thinking. Seeing the numbers from logging helped me to understand it was time to STOP eating. When I joined, I ate until I couldn't move. I had no concept of what being "full" felt like. So, the diary got me too.
Fast forward 1 yr+ and I don't really depend on the logging aspect as much any more. I know what I should be eating and I know when I'm full. What keeps me coming back to MFP is the source of inspiration and motivation I draw from it. The camaraderie amongst my friends list is unparalleled.0 -
Initially it was only to track what i'm eating each day to get an idea of how i was doing with protein. I had never heard of MFP before but saw it mentioned in a post on a weightlifting site. I thought, ok let me give it a try....I had no idea there are forums, groups, weight-loss tickers & and all this other nifty stuff. It has been helpful in tracking my food but also quite entertaining!0
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I joined because I wanted to get fatter...jk! :laugh:
I joined because of that claim: People who track their calorie intake eat x% less than people who don't.
I tracked my food honestly for the first time in my life and it varied from 3500 to 4000 cals per day and I was not exercising at all. It was definitely a wake up call. Went a bit too far the other way for a while, but have a good balance now.0 -
I was looking for a new place to log my food because SparkPeople kept freezing up on me, which required a re-start of my computer, which required logging into SP again. This didn't work for me because I do my job on the computer, too, and all those re-starts were really cutting into my production time.
MFP works so much better. It has only glitched on me once.0 -
Hi, I just joined n Sunday. I really like how easy it is to keep a food diary. I hated looking up a calorie counter book, as it was time consuming and boring. I think this is a great tool that will help me lose the weight I need to loose (40 kgs!). Just a quick question, on some of your posts there are weight loss scales showing how much you have lost. How did you get them?0
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I came here as a way to record my food intake/calorie intake, and to syncronize it with my exercise, and record my calorie burns by syncing it with a FitBit.
Calorie intake is only one side of the equation. :-)
-David0 -
To hold myself accountable. I've always been a fan of healthy foods but had never really paid attention to things like portion size or not going back for seconds or sometimes thirds. Seeing the nutritional aspect in front of me for every snack and meal really helps.
Accountability....That's a good word. :happy:
It makes me feel so grown up!0 -
/loseit had a friend drive and I figured having a group to report to would really help, being able to support others as well. I was also ready to start my workout/dieting part of my fitness plan so it timed quite well.0
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people in Costco asked when the baby was due. This lady was over 300 pounds also. hahaha.....0
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I joined to get healthier. I want to see what I am eating and to be more accountable for what I eat. I had gastric bypass surgery almost 6 years ago which ended up being a wonderful decision for me. I have suffered from Psoriatic Arthritis since I was 13 years old and I was almost 300 pounds at the age of 25. My primary care doctor was concerned as I cannot exercise like others (arthritis is in both feet, both knees and recently, my hands) and some of the medicine side effects include weight gain. He told me I would be insulin dependent within a year and in a wheelchair by the age of 30 if we didn't do something soon. So I had gastric bypass and I am no longer borderline diabetic or hypoglycemic. My cholesterol and blood sugars are normal for the first time in at least 10 years. The joint pain has lessened since the weight loss after surgery. I had a severe arthritis flare that hit both hands a year and a half ago and ended up on a high dose of Prednisone and gained 30 pounds back. I finally got off all the medicine and the arthritis has for the most part leveled out to normal for me and I am in the process of loosing the weight I gained on the medicine. Once I get back to my lowest since the surgery I want to finish getting to my goal weight and then see if I can maintain it. I want continue my journey to a healthier me since the gastric isn't a solve it all solution like a lot of people think it is - it still takes work and exercise and being conscious of what you eat to ensure that you don't stretch your stomach back out or gain all the weight back.0
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I started the exercise part by accident, then a few weeks later I noticed my pants were falling off. I was lurking in another forum and saw mfp mentioned. Being that I was a lost lamb kind of wandering around the diet & fitness path, I joined hoping to get a handle on what I was doing. Mfp seemed like the way to get my food in check along with accounting for the exercise I was already doing. Mission accomplished.
After many successful months, I started posting in the forums, got me some mfp friends and the whole thing changed. I now have people that cheer me on, and people I cheer on. And The benefits of having people to "talk" with who can understand that it really is annoying to have to go buy new clothes every month, or the challenges of eating (or not) pizza and brownies, and just generally wanting to talk about getting healthier.
As for mfp being about exercising so you can eat more-well not exactly. Mfp does very much help people like me get a handle on how diet and exercise work together. Mfp does help you learn that when you burn calories through exercise, you can (should) eat more and helps you learn how those work together vs a vague "active", "lightly active" setting. I run 20-25 miles a week. I would keel over if I didn't eat the calories I "earned" from running. Mfp helped me learn that running a mile does not mean I'm in the free and clear to go to the all you can eat buffet. Eating more because you exercise isn't a bad thing, it's about learning how the two work together to help you reach your goals.0 -
Just a quick question, on some of your posts there are weight loss scales showing how much you have lost. How did you get them?
That is called a Ticker. I found the link to the Tickers, when I was on my profile page. I click on it and played with the different options, until I found the one that I liked. Some folks set it up to show just the amount that they want to lose. Others choose to show their starting weight and goal weight. There are lots of designs.
Get yourself a Ticker, Sis. It is a wonderful reminder of your goal and your progress.0 -
I came to MFP because I came across some new information that could be incorporated into my diet. Whenever I modify my diet by professional input or things I am learning about better nutrition, I like to track my food intake.
Previously, I had been using a software application that provided a full panel of panel of your diet. It had goal setting similar to MFP with ratio settings for protein, fat, carbs, plus another 3 items of your choosing. I chose water, fiber, and glycemic load. There were also menus to record measurements, exercise, and other profiles. I stuck with the nutrition.
The more I used this software the more it became customized with my recipes, my frequent foods, and additions to the inventory. This customizing as I went eventually made the program quicker to log my data, because in its native format it assumes a mostly packaged and processed is your selection. It took time to have to scroll through and it's search function was not robust enough to create short cuts to your probable items amongst thousands.
But over the years I had it to where it worked for me. Then I had computer hardware failure, and although I have data backed up I can not open the files much less initialize the program. Rather than hunt down the software developer who wrote this program for his wife, I, like you cruised the internet to find a new nutrition tracker.
Friends use one that had such a small inventory of foods before, I checked it out again. The inventory had grown as did its popularity; there were so many adds and too many screens to navigate through. I continued looking.
There were 2 top contenders. One had the full nutrition panel I liked, but it was poorly designed. I found myself getting frustrated over a test weekend logging my food. MFP has a limited nutrition panel, but a very impressive inventory. For example, I entered whole milk non-homogenized, and it even had this milk from small family farm upstate from where I live in its inventory. We drink it when we are on vacation. Although my local milk was not listed, they had a near match. Also many of the healthfood brands I use were present in the inventory. Moreover, the search system is robust to handle longer search strings in random order, so logging was relatively quick--even without customizing.
The fact MFP is an online app instead of installed software is both benefit and a danger. Personal hardware failure will not obliterate the program. On the other someone else controls apps, so things can change.
I have been using MFP for 9 days and found that the MPF Community is a strong pull as well. I was planning on ignoring the whole social aspect--but 5 days in and I have so much to express! Already I think I have more here than I do on any other social media. What gives?
Because I am a biped I do put exercise into my health picture, but it is not the focus of my MFP activity. Besides working-out bores me, I am more into working (currently shovelling snow) or recreating (walking the dog) for my daily exercise. I do aspire to get back to a little morning yoga.
My brother-in-law was a C4 and a variety of professionals designed a phys-ed routine for him with free-weights and even rowing in a specially rigged scull, with the neck and shoulder muscles he did have. It does require a menu of arm bands and sometimes helpers or a dog. He did every day, so that he could keep on driving his van. Sorry to go on about Jeff. I miss him.0 -
Well I just joined last week after hearing a friend talk about it. I'm not really trying to lose weight at the moment, although I HAVE lost 7 lbs. I was put on a GERD diet two weeks ago, and I wanted an easy way to track the food I was eating to see which were my triggers. I'm also trying to lower my sodium intake bc my blood pressure was too high for my age.
I really like the notes section on here, I like that I can add foods from my work computer and my phone. It's made it a lot easier than carrying a notepad around, since my phone is always with me anyway. Whenever I've attempted to lose weight in the past it did help me to write everything down, a way of keeping myself accountable. But this makes it much easier bc all of the extras (protein, sodium) are already logged in the system for a lot of foods, so I don't have to jot down every little element of the food I eat. I can just log it in MFP and go about my day.0 -
I started the Primal Blueprint lifestyle. Well, at least the diet, not so much the exercise as it got cold. I lost some weight, and lost some annoying pains that had been bothering me, apparently from eating wheat. But, I really wanted to lose even more weight and feel even better, and I realized that my portion control really sucks when I am not tracking. Someone at Mark's Daily Apple mentioned MFP and since it seems pretty easy, I went with it.
I really don't like how mean some of the people here can be though. People ask an honest question, and then get slammed because they are not doing the diet that works for someone else. It makes me feel bad - I know most people tend to be nice, but they are not always the ones speaking up.0 -
As for mfp being about exercising so you can eat more-well not exactly. Mfp does very much help people like me get a handle on how diet and exercise work together. Mfp does help you learn that when you burn calories through exercise, you can (should) eat more and helps you learn how those work together vs a vague "active", "lightly active" setting. I run 20-25 miles a week. I would keel over if I didn't eat the calories I "earned" from running. Mfp helped me learn that running a mile does not mean I'm in the free and clear to go to the all you can eat buffet. Eating more because you exercise isn't a bad thing, it's about learning how the two work together to help you reach your goals.
There you go, Sis. That is a much more realistic attitude...a balance of food and exercise without a goal to eat junk food as a reward.0 -
Just a quick question, on some of your posts there are weight loss scales showing how much you have lost. How did you get them?
That is called a Ticker. I found the link to the Tickers, when I was on my profile page. I click on it and played with the different options, until I found the one that I liked. Some folks set it up to show just the amount that they want to lose. Others choose to show their starting weight and goal weight. There are lots of designs.
Get yourself a Ticker, Sis. It is a wonderful reminder of your goal and your progress.0 -
I joined for moral support. It's hard doing it all alone. I started just logging food but then was encouraged to join a martial arts class. Lately I've been struggling, but ready to get back in the game again!0
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Thanks for that. I'll have a look.0
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I joined because I wanted to get a handle on how much I was really eating throughout the day. I work from home and realized that I was heading to the kitchen at every little pause in my day. I didn't add exercise until 3 months and 30 lbs later and while I do eat back my exercise calories, that's not why I do it. I exercise because I really enjoy it but my workouts are intense and I find that I feel better when I fuel my body sufficiently. I am also not willing to give up certain foods that I really enjoy. Different methods work for different people and once we find what works for us, no one's opinion can get in the way of that success. Congrats on your loss so far and and for finding what works for you!0
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100% honesty - I had had this myfitnesspal account for 5 years easy - never ever looked at it past the 1st day i signed up. And then I'm sure the thought process then was that it was too much and I just "wasn't feeling it" - that's a magic keyword I used to use a lot for, "I'm feeling too lazy, why bother trying?" lol
Fast forward to present end of 2012, late december, my office announces they're going to start a fitness inititive for 2013 - and that we will be allowed to make and log into a myfitnesspal account while on the clock.
I work at an answering service 14 hours a day - I welcome the opportunity to do something else sometimes lol.
So I thought what the hey - wonder if I remember my username and password? - as it turned out after 5 years - i still did. Fate? lol
So I said what the heck - we'll give it 1 honest week - the good ol' "college try" lol - and guess what....after 1 week, I was down 3lbs and staying very full and not feeling hungry and still getting some treats and w/o much exercise at all.
2nd week in I said well let's try it another week - that week only down 1lb - but expected it - the eating was "as good as" the 1st week's "college try"
Coming up on Wednesday as my 3rd weigh in - *fingers crossed* - been eating so much spinach on my sandwiches I think I'm going to turn into one, or, move my computer at work into the bathroom haha.0 -
I really don't like how mean some of the people here can be though. People ask an honest question, and then get slammed because they are not doing the diet that works for someone else. It makes me feel bad - I know most people tend to be nice, but they are not always the ones speaking up.
You're right. There are some folks who just don't know how to speak...kindly. It is one thing to be concerned; it is quite another thing to think that you are here to criticize people. If someone asks for your opinion...your advice, they are saying..."I am ready to hear your opinion." not "Okay, tear me apart...make me feel foolish and wish that I never said anything at all."
Most of us can find enough critics in our life offline without being attacked here on MFP. I tend to just ignore the critics...the rude remarks, though I wish sometimes that I could 'delete' those posts from an otherwise friendly and helpful posts.
I have got to the point that I just pray for them and move on.
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Fast forward to present end of 2012, late december, my office announces they're going to start a fitness inititive for 2013 - and that we will be allowed to make and log into a myfitnesspal account while on the clock.
I work at an answering service 14 hours a day - I welcome the opportunity to do something else sometimes lol.
Wow! What a great company! Putting their employees health ahead of the company time clock.Coming up on Wednesday as my 3rd weigh in - *fingers crossed* - been eating so much spinach on my sandwiches I think I'm going to turn into one, or, move my computer at work into the bathroom haha.
Good luck with your next weigh in. :happy:0 -
I found MFP while searching for MyPlate apps on my Android phone but MyPlate isn't free so I decided to install MFP instead. I like it right away. I stopped logging in to MyPlate.com since. Now that I join some awesome groups and having a bunch of awesome friends, I love MFP even more.0
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I joined because I saw MFP mentioned in the newspaper. I had just read a book that finally cleared up a lot of things about diet and exercise for me, and I was ready to get on with it. I had tried some software previously, but this is so much better. I've stayed because it is working for me, and I think a big part of that is the social aspect. Hurray for a good friends list!0
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I joined after taking some courses from the Alberta Health Services, Chronic disease management and talking to a dietician. I have been working with a dietician for awhile. Over Christmas I put on 8 pounds. and I have had a hard time taking it off plus I want to lose another 15 pounds. I was hoping to do so before I go on Vacation in March.
I also like the encouragement from other members.0 -
I joined mfp to be held accountable for what i eat and drink on a day to day basis. I never in my adulthood exercised or watched what I ate. I have had 3 children and been a sahm for 11 years and packing on the pounds. At 220lbs and only 5ft tall i was really starting to feel uncomfortable in my own skin. So I decided to change. I found mfp while browsing exercise apps on google play but never gave it a try until a friend asked me to try it. Now im hooked and have lost 10lbs by counting calories and exercising! The positive support I get here really helps.0
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Just a quick question, on some of your posts there are weight loss scales showing how much you have lost. How did you get them?
That is called a Ticker. I found the link to the Tickers, when I was on my profile page. I click on it and played with the different options, until I found the one that I liked. Some folks set it up to show just the amount that they want to lose. Others choose to show their starting weight and goal weight. There are lots of designs.
Get yourself a Ticker, Sis. It is a wonderful reminder of your goal and your progress.0 -
I joined because a friend was losing weight using this site. I have stayed because it is working.
I have RA so, like you, I do not burn hundreds of calories a day like most others here.
I am a FIRM believer in doing what works for you so......
I am set to 1280 calories a day and am at or under most days so I can eat on Fat Fridays and go out once in a while etc.Yes ( gasp) I have cheat days ( which I log) and it works for me.
I like your honest approach . Good luck with your weight loss and your new knees.0
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