Having MFP "friends"... does it help?

Hey Heather!

Trouble times during the day happen to a lot of us! Really what you will have to do is get busy during these times. Grab the kids and go ice skating (indoor areana), go for a walk, play tag (I do this as flash light tag inside with my kids in the winter) or some other activity... Do the laundry, don't even enter the kitchen. Life style changes are hard! But you're motivated and that's good. Also, you could start a journal when you get home and want to start grazing write down how you fee right then and there. You may be surpirsed what comes out. That helped me a lot. Jotting things down... When I enter my comfort zone, which is at home or other specific places it becomes easy to shadow food. Anyway. My friends on here have helped a lot! It's worth a try

Ami

I call this my Facebook for weightloss! It helps me having a bunch of people as friends so I can look at statuses and then get a little extra motivation when everyone writes and says woo hoo or hang in there. It can't hurt and it makes it fun and keeps this task in the forefront of my mind!

I friended you! I'm open to whoever wants to friend me also! Keeps it interesting!

I am totally on the same boat! I'm married and have two kids (17 yr old daughter and 2 1/2 yr old son). I find I have the same problems when I'm at home and with my busy schedule of work and going home and taking care of EVERYONE, dinner, homework, little one, clean up, etc....I feel my biggest challenge is at home where the fridge is . . . when I pack my stuff for work, I stick to that stuff, but when I get home, another story. It's also hard to come up with dinners that I can actually enjoy as well as the others who aren't really watching so much. My hubby could stand to lose some weight and seems to be somewhat encouraging to me but what would really encourage me the most if he would join me in my journey. My daughter also could get involved as she is a little overweight as well (I don't tell her that) but I've changed what I keep in the house, so if it's not there, people can't eat it! . . . . I also am with you on the excersice after coming home, I have the DVDs, etc. but find after taking care of all the other stuff, it's so late that I can't motivate myself to even begin to exercise so I go to bed 'cause i'm so damn tired! I don't know what you do for living but I get my workouts at lunch at work (fortunate to have a small gym downstairs that is always empty) and on the weekends, taking kids for a walk. I've been stuck on 7 lbs for over a week . . . Maybe we are on the same boat....but I do feel that having friends is some help especially if ppl in similar situations. Even though I don't know the others very well, I see their progress and look at their menus, and see others commenting on their progress and that helps to motivate me. When I see everyone else doing so well, it helps me to reconsider stuffing my face, or to exercise just a little bit more. A little bit winded and maybe TMI foryou but if you would like to add me feel free to do so . . .

I would love to be your friend (and anyone else's too!)!!!! I don't have quite the same goals as you do, but I find that ANY motivation and encouragement from others really helps. I've been on MFP for few months now as well, and really started "buckling down" this past month and a half or so. I find that it really motivates me when I see friends on my homepage that are doing well. Like, when I have a day when I just don't feel like working out, my homepage tells me everyone else is so I should just do it! People on MFP are so kind and encouraging that it's really hard NOT to be motivated! Good luck!

I wasn't into the friend aspect of the site at all when I first came here. I wouldn't ever reject a friend request, but I never sent them to anyone. But the more I posted, and the more weight I lost, the more people asked to be my friend (awwwww. :laugh:). I have nearly 100 friends on MFP now and I think I've only asked to friend ONE of them -- the rest have asked me! And I'm glad they did! With the changes to MFP (the site changed about 2 months ago to incorporate more of the friend features), I really enjoy reading about my friends' days & encouraging and being encouraged by them.

So, yes, I think friends do help here -- a lot. And feel free to friend me.

I think the short answer to your question is; yes it does help. I think it helps when you have people to prop you up when you need it and hold you accountable when you need it. If all you get is positive, or all you get is negative, neither will work. It's all about having people who are struggling with you. I've lost about 50lbs, got away and gained about 10 back. Now I'm back and ready to finish my goals. I couldn't do it without my friends here. It's all about surrounding yourself with good people who are trying hard and are there for you. That's true in real life and on MFP.

I agree, it helps knowing you can ask questions, and peek in on how our MFP friends are doing. I have so much just from reading their posts and gotten awesome feedback and motivation from them.
Keep up the great work!
I am Sam, so feel free to add me too!:flowerforyou:

It does help. The first dozen or so people, I friended and since then many have friend requested me. Presumably they've seen my posts and thought they brought something to the table.

That said, while I leave many encouraging comments, I don't get much feedback. I guess it's nice to just know someone appreciates you. :-)

I added you as a friend (only second time i've added someone lol) I find the friends i have help a LOT. I'm also a before dinner grazer lol. I am finding an instant pack of regular oatmeal, made with extra water so its a bit less thick (no need for milk) with a tbsp of lite pb stirred in, helps me stay FULL on 200 calories and i get thru the before dinner munchie stage. I started at 186 in June09. I am down to 156.6 as of today!! I want to lose 11.6 more for sure (my current goal) and will then re-evaluate what i think a realistic goal for me will be. I was tiny in high school but that was a long time ago!

I never sought out having freinds until a couple people asked me and I accepted. Once I found out how much help it was to get encouraging words and see what others were doing I started asking other people. I think it is definitely an asset to my efforts.