MFP is NOT the holy grail

And for heaven's sake STOP WHINING about how hard it is! JUST DO IT! Obviously if you’re here, the way you have been living your life has left you feeling like there is something missing or something that needs to be changed so stop your b!tching about how hard it is. Do you want a better future than past or not?

I don't have a promblem with people stating how hard it is for them, as long as they're actually doing something about it. Venting can be therapeutic.

This true. It is going to be hard for those of us who have never really taken fitness seriously. But if we're doing something about it, then at least let us have our little rants, and just feel free not to read them!

Amen. Kick, scream and cry your way through a workout like a 5-year-old in full temper tantrum mode...as long as you do the workout.

At times I get frustrated and discouraged (in general, not at MFP) but that's just part of how it goes. Some weeks I run like a madman, watch my calories, sodium, and nothing ... some weeks I think I did worse, and I lose ... it's a marathon, not a sprint ... I just focus on me, and my journey, and just try to stay on course.

Though when I'm frustrated ... I take it out on the pavement. It won't beat me ...

i agree i go over a few times a week but so what and as for exercise calories i do eat them because its like sweating u drink water to replace water lost, so calories are ok to be eaten back but if i do i try not to go over my daily calorie intake for that day .

What?! You mean to tell me I can't just log on here, still eat my cookies and chips and NOT lose weight?! Damn, news to me!!! Bahahahahaha!! :laugh:

i get what you mean and i'm there with ya. i've introduced MFP to a few coworkers, and really, only one is sticking with it, which makes me feel like proud mama bear! but the others just stopped trying. one quit after one day...ONE DAY...because it was too hard. yet, she still complains about her weight. well, HELLO!!! but you know what they say, you can lead a horse to water......

Seems like you're more annoyed with your Facebook friends than people on MFP.

As far as MFP goes, I personally try to look at where they're coming from. It might be easy for people to stress over the numbers if they have never done calorie counting before. You're given this calorie number and then these other targets and I can see how it's easy for someone new to think that if they don't hit macro targets or go over they're doing something wrong.

I think one thing that contributes to freak outs is that many people starting out don't understand the numbers MFP gives to begin with, and then when they post everyone comes in with BMR, TDEE, don't eat below 1200, etc (yes, I understand TDEE and I don't personally follow MFP's daily recommendation anymore, but I think that just makes it harder for newbies - I think most of those starting out should follow MFP's plan, including eating back some exercise calories, and keep doing that until it no longer works). They really believe that going over their goal by 300 calories one day is going to undo their week and are not understanding the daily deficit they have, the added exercise deficit, and having to eat all that plus over maintenance to actually gain.

I dunno. I was the type of person who read A LOT of threads before posting anything. This helped me understand a lot that I didn't before. But that's generally how I work in real life too, especially when I'm learning something new or am in a new situation - I'm most often a quiet listener, I observe and listen and then contribute. Not everyone works that way.

BUT I do think that people often set their expectations too high and then come crashing down. And I find a lot of people are scared to try something different if what they are doing is no longer working. There's a great fear of gaining back a couple of pounds of whatever has been lost. I can understand that mentality, but I got over that a long, long time ago. I had a six month plateau and had to try multiple changes before my weight budged again.

A lot of this could be avoided if people actually read the stickies in the General Diet and Weight Loss section. There's a lot of great information there that explains MFP's numbers and talks about expectations and stuff. I personally think those stickies should be entirely in their own category that says "New Members Start Here to Learn More About MFP" or something like that.

Of course it's not the holy grail. It's merely a grail-shaped beacon.

BACON?? did you say BACON?

Here here!!

I was one of those who gave up when it got too hard... Now I get up & exercise 6X a week at 6am, and 3 of those days are spend doing C25K (if you had told me I would be doing C25K three months ago I would not have believed you). I do get discouraged when my numbers don't add up, but I try to keep the attitude that it's for my health, not my looks! Eventually the two will converge, but health is most important, and for that end it must go slower.