Those who have lost weight using MFP, how'd you do it?

Don't focus on Calorie goal, thats a no no, if that was the case, by the end of the day people that see the need to reach a certain number my run to Taco Bell just to get there numbers. That is not what you want to do. What you need to focus on is Protein, carbs, and fats in sizes of grams. Focusing on those three will pretty much take care of your calorie goal without you worrying about it. I dont know what your weight is so I couldn't tell you what your daily amount should be like. You want to lose fast, include weight training in your workouts. Building muclse, even just a small amount will help you burn a lot faster and lose. Like the guy i workout with who is a professional body builder always says, "You can run to death like those same people on the threadmill everyday, but they never get the results they want." Pretty much weight training is the key...Some advice...

I focus on calories only and have had great success.

I lost 75 lbs and now have gained 10 lean pounds since reaching my loss goal.

What I did is simple, if you are proficient in math. Use calories eaten and burned through exercise, and weight loss rate to solve for non-exercise daily burn. Using this infomation to set custom calorie targets and strive to hit those targets as close to exact as reasonable (and 1g protein per lb LBM when losing, per lb bodyweight when gaining). Does this mean occasionally eating a bunch of chocoalte to bring up my calories, or purosely eating a small dinner and fasting the rest of the night, you betcha..

I am not interested in gaining or losing, I strive to gain or lose at precisely the rate I plan to do so at, and I was very successful at this, and didn't have to deal with typical dieter problems like scale fear or worry if things aren't working, or use poor estimating technique like playing it safe, or not couting exercise calories. Things went and go exactly according to plan. The 3 times that I had weight loss stall, I knew for certain it was because my deficit was too big (all 3 times it happened I was expecting it to happen) and within a week I raised my calorie intake and fixed the problem.

The other thing is that this allows you to see how you metabolsim changes over time, week to week and month to month (it is NOT constant), which is interesting to watch and also useful to track so you know when it is time to take a break, that your metabolism is adapting to the deficit, something you don't want to happen.

1) 1800 calories a day on average
2) HIIT CV
3) Heavy weight lifting

As to what kind of food, I eat anything but a tendency towards chicken and fresh vegetables. My focus is on a long term plan and lifestyle rather than a quick fix.

My plan was pretty simple exercise daily (usually just simple walking/light jogging), stick to my calorie goal (2lbs per week loss), and watching my sodium intake. Cardio was the key and simple strength training to tighten up.

What was your calorie goal, what sort of exercise did you do, what did your diet include/not include? Hw much did you lose in how much time? Thanks:) I need some motivation right now.

My current calorie goal is 1700. It's a few hundred below maintenace for me because I still have 10 - 15 pounds to lose.
I run 2 - 3 miles a day and then do a Jillian Michaels DVD (30DS, RI30, KB&T, NMTZ)
My diet includes everything I ate before I got my head out of my @ss and realized how fat I was. I just eat less and move more.
I've lost 35 pounds in 7 months.

Most importantly - I have an awesome group of friends on this site that challenge me and keep me motivated every damn day. Without them I would have failed. Seeing my friends work their @sses off and make progress makes me happy so I figure I should return the favor.

The first time I lost weight counting calories I used a similar site, but not this one. I lost 50 pounds (and maintained for the last 3 years) simply by tracking calories in and calories out and starting to pay attention to nutrition.

This time around I'm here to lose a bit more and the good nutrition habits are already there. I'm tracking the calories in and out again and losing slowly but steadily. I don't worry about my carb to fat to protein ratios, but when I check over my diary, they seem to fall into a perfectly accpetable range.

I've never been bothered about having the "perfect" body, acheiving a specific fitness goal, or having defined mucle-y type goals. For me, its just about general health and feeling good.

Everyone has their own way of doing things but here is what worked for me:

My SW 179, CW 138 GW 125 I started MFP Jan 11, 2012

I started logging my food, everything.

I started walking and logging it then set a goal to walk 1,000 miles for St. Judes this year. I've reached 650 miles walked/jogged/biked and hiked so far!

I saw how poorly I was eating (calories, sodium and fat) and started eating healthier foods.

I started to see results and was even more inspired.

I started searching the forums for infor, tips and adding awesome friends on here who have supported me unconditionally! I don't know what I'd do without them getting me off my *kitten* when I dont want to move, etc.

I started water aerobics at the YWCA.

I started C25K

I got fitted for an awesome pair of Brooks running shoes.

I broke my big toe and foot and quit running.

I started biking and doing water aerobics at home.

I've lost 41lbs this way and with 13lbs left to lose, I've added the goals of eating fewer carbs, eating more protein, less sugar and to do more weight training to reach my goal.

Oops! Editing to answer your food question. I cut out fatty meats, most fried stuff because my stomach cant handle it anymore, added tons of fresh veggies to lunch and dinner ( aim for 1 part protein/2 parts veggies and a few carbs), I'm no longer eating anything canned or boxed because I'm on a sodium restricted diet (HBP) and they put me over the top. I also only eat Crunchy Fresco tacos at taco bell, turkey subs at subway and when I go out for dinner I'll ask for any sauce to be on the side. I do have unhealthy stuff (including ice cream, snickers blizzards, cake, etc) once in a while so I don't have cravings.

I consider it a lifestyle change and not a DIET. If you call it a diet, you feel deprived and it will seem like it's a temporary thing. I think it's all about changing habits to healthier ones and eating within your 'means'. If you don't change your habits, you'll go right back to gaining weight once you reach goal!

Good luck, I'm sure you'll do fine!

What percentage do you recommend for carbs, protein, and fat?

When I started I did 50c/30p/20f, but I have tweaked it several times and now I'm pretty much settled at 40c/30p/30f--it seems like a comfortable way to eat for me, and the slightly higher fat intake seems to keep me feeling fuller than I was previously. Unless you have some sort of medical problem, there's no reason to go drastically low-carb. Just find a reasonable macro split that appeals to you--you can always change it up later.

When I started a year ago, my calorie goal was 1690. I'm now down to 1440. I have a sedentary lifestyle which means that I work at a desk job and do not expend much energy on a daily basis doing day to day activities. When I first started I did not change anything in the way that I ate. I did that for the first week simply to see how far away from my calorie goal I was. as weeks went by I changed little things in my daily food intake. for instance. I changed from sugar in my coffee to splenda (yes I know some people will tell you to stay away from sweetners that they are bad for you, and I somewhat agree being that i'm allergic to Aspertame however, for now, for "me" Splenda works), I also cut out soft drinks, and juice.

The big thing that helped me was tracking everything.(i don't track mints, gum, or condiments like Ketchup or mustard), but everything else. I I've been doing it dilligently since the start, I haven't missed a day of tracking and for me, this is what has allowed me to become very much aware of what I was putting in my mouth and slowly I began to make better choices.

Also, what really does help, is to pay attention to the label on foods, and to the recomended portion. Stick to the recomended portion. For example, if you're having saltines with a bowl of soup. the brand that I use recomends a portion of 7 crackers for 70 calories. I count out 7 crackers and that is all I will eat. seperating your food into the appropriate portion helps you become more aware of what you a portion looks like as opposed to what we as north americans tend to think of as portions *LOL*.

I, myself, did not exercise at tall until about 6 months in my journey, but then I started walking. one hour a day. at first i was rather slow walking about 2.5 or 3MPH, but now I tend to stick around 3.5MPH and walk 90 minutes every day. But exercising is up to you. On the brightside, if you feel like you don't have enough calories in your daily tracker to feel full and not hungry, then I suggest that you do excersise at least a little as it will provide you with more calories to play with.

Also, don't put any pressure on yourself. There will be weeks where your weight will fluctuate and even go up. This is normal because there will be days where you are retaining more water then others, and if you did excersise your muscles will be inflamed and take in more water, and also, you will be building muscle and muscle is heavier then fat. So don't worry. And if you have days where you are over your goal don't panic. just keep an eye on your Weekly goal and if you are under there, chances are you've been good every other day and can afford to indulge a little.

and finally, Don't stop eating the foods that you love. it's ok to have that occasional twinkie, or Bigmac. I still have my favorite foods every once in a while. The trick is not to deprive yourself. If you feel like having something have it. Just plan in consequence. For example: If I know that tonight we're going to chinese buffet. I'll have a smaller breakfast and lunch and maybe walk a little longer to conteract the extra calories from the big meal at diner. and If i'm still over by a little bit. That's ok too because, I've been good the rest of the week. see what I mean.

OOuf. I didn't mean to ramble on so much. I hope it does help you though.

V.

I started MFP on 6/3.
Starting Weight: 185
Goal Weight: 167 (this is my first goal, I'll set a new one when I get there)
CW: 170

I set my activity level as sedentary, and my goal for 1lb loss per week.

MFP started me with 1480 cals / day.
I've been exercising on average 4 - 5 times per week, about 30 minutes at a time. I eat back about half of my exercise calories on average - some days I eat them all, some days I don't use them. I do try to net above 1200. I've had some days over calorie goal, but not too many.

When I lost 10 lbs, MFP reduced me to 1440 calories per day. This annoyed me, so I manually set it to 1500. That's comfortable for me, and I was losing a little more than 1lb per week - probably because I'm a little more active than "sedentary."

I've lost 15 lbs in 9 week.

As far as what foods make up my diet, my diary is open, so you can look, but generally:
-I cook at home most nights, some sort of lean protein, veggie, and starch.
-I love fruits and veggies, and I eat lots of them.
-I don't eat a ton of processed or convenience foods, but I do eat some - snack crackers and boxed cereals and stuff. I read labels, particularly looking out for trans fats/ hydrogenated oils.
-I'm not a huge fast food person, but it does show up on my diary once in a while. I try to look up the nutrition info before I make my selection.
-I eat pizza once per week. Not. Giving. That. Up.
-I'm trying to reduce my aspartame habit. I actually drink my coffee unsweetened now, but I can't seem to break my Crystal Light habit (probably 16 - 32 oz per day)
-I drink wine and beer, but not every night. Just because I'd rather use my calories for something else.
-I have some sort of sweet treat pretty much every night - usually it's Dove Dark Chocolate, Ice Cream, 321 Cake, or a granola bar. This keeps me from feeling deprived.

This has been the most comfortable weight loss plan I've tried. I do a lot of planning ahead and measuring, but I almost never feel hungry or deprived.