Give me your best tips on making mfp work for me!

log EVERYTHING

establish your TDEE

set SMALL goals

stay persistent

have patience

I'm giving this another shot. I'm going to count my calories again and get serious with exercising. Tell me what you do to make things easier. Give me your best tips.

1. Log everything; 2. Scan around on the boards to see where you find people that are like minded and seem to have valuable info to offer, and friend them. (there are people on here that really know their stuff, but we all have a different approach and goal, so be selective); 3. The default nutrition goals are based on FDA requirements, which I personally believe are designed to keep people fat. (no fault of MFP, they have to provide the most widely agreed-upon model, I get that) However, you can change your goals and track more nutrients than the defaults, so once you figure out how you want to eat on this journey, change your defaults to make it easier for you to track your personal needs. (i.e., personally, I am doing a low-carb plan, so I changed my nutrient percentages, and in addition to the defaults I am also tracking fiber and sugar).

AND most important - ignore the mean people. There are a lot of them on here, I don't know why so many people feel the need to be so rude to total strangers, but they are on here. Their crappiness speaks volumes about them, and says nothing about you.

Read the recipe board frequently...so many good ideas!

log EVERYTHING

establish your TDEE

set SMALL goals

stay persistent

have patience

Pretty much this.

Also, don't make anything overly complicated than it needs to be. Just eat at a reasonable deficit, get your macros in check and then just be patient.

Add to this that food & a diet are not things worth stressing over. The people who freak out over every little scale fluctuation and diet mishap are the ones who seem to not have lasting success. Have a zen like approach, know there will be ups and downs (literally) and don't create a crisis where none exists.

A few weeks ago i posted my "before" and "so far" pictures on the success forum. I also posted my thoughts on how to use MFP. As someone above said, a "zen approach" seems to work for most folks who have a long way to go, and who stick with it. Here is a link to my other post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/770615-75-lbs-down-50-to-75-more-to-go-with-pics

Good luck!! Just don't stop logging in here, even if you have a few weeks of imperfection or off the wagon-ness. If you don't stop, you'll eventually get back on it!

find a friend to work with you. the internet is great, but a real person can make a big differance..you don't even have to talk diet or fitness all the time, because they already know where you're at and how you're doing. My daughter is my" buddy" and it's great. a computer can't hear your tummy growling, and somtimes you can cheat a little bit together.. It's easier for me if we can make it a little fun too.

Do you log everything even when you go over your goals? These are great tips thank you for your support!

log EVERYTHING so you can look at later

EVERYTHING

I'm giving this another shot. I'm going to count my calories again and get serious with exercising. Tell me what you do to make things easier. Give me your best tips.

There is no mystery to weight loss, everyone thinks something is wrong, their metabolism is broken, they have low thyroid, they have menopause or whatever issue, they are as unique as a snowflake, whatever. I thought a lot of these things once too but once the doctor helped resolve the health issues for me I learned there is still no magic pill. Most people eat more than they need to and are not at good at estimating calories as they think they are. Most people have a lower BMR than they think they do. The only way to know for sure is to go to a lab and have it tested. It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.

All I can do is share what worked for me. I achieved my goal at age 50 after beating my head against the wall for 15 years. Yeah anyone can do it, but I can tell you that you are up against a lot when you are older and I believe females have some unique issue to face with hormones and such. The sooner you can get a handle on it the better. DO NOT GIVE UP. As I got older and the weight piled on (and I didn't feel I was eating too much!) everyone kept telling me to give up, this is what happens when you get older. I'm small, and I didn't realize how small I was until I lost the weight. Everyone said I had big bones. I looked hefty because I worked out. Once I lost the weight I realized how small I really was and that small people don't need to eat as much as big people. HINT: If you are short you are probably small.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

To say eat more is wrong.

To say eat less is wrong.

To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.

All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. Don't make it complicated.


Also people play mental accounting games with calories just like with finances. Make steps to make sure you are making accurate measurements. Packaged foods can have MORE than they say but not less (they get in trouble if less so they would rather error with MORE).

If you typically intake sodium at a certain rate your body adjusts, but if you make a sudden change then you will see a spike.

Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

It really is about calories. I tell people this all the time and they say "Well if calories are all that matter why do you eat so clean???!!" Well, because it makes me feel better, sleep better, and perform better at my sports.

Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.

What is the exact number of calories for you?

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban (The Body Centric Calorie Guide from the Venus Index and Adonis Index Manuals)

The good thing is you don't have to worry about the starvation mode myth if you are fat. Only skinny people have to worry about starvation mode. It does not mean you have the capability to eat at a large calorie deficit if you have emotional eating disorders or other issues going on, but at least you don't have to be afraid of it anymore.

The Theory of Fat Availability:
•There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
•The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

-Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)

Lifting weights is KEY. I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am.

Start lifting now, lift heavy and change it up often, find a lot of weight routines with free weights, make it fun, embrace it, make it part of your life. Only 3 days a week is all it would take. Crank up your tunes and learn to love it, because your body will love it and it will make your quality of life better in many ways, especially when you get older like me.

Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, and you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

If you are female you don't have the hormones to get big naturally. I lift heavy and I'm still really tiny. My lean body mass is only 104 lbs and that is fairly heavy for a 5'1" female, and quite a bit of this is due to my having very dense bones from 30 years of lifting, not all muscle, and I'm still quite tiny.

My muscles really are not that big, but they show a lot of definition because I'm quite lean. If I gained some fat then I would have a softer more toned look (which is OKAY too!). Then if I gained more fat I would look bulky and hefty like I did most of my life until last year. YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER YOU WANT. Lean and ripped, soft and toned, or hefty, it all depends on how much fat you leave on your body. Calories are the only thing that changes fat. Exercise is for changing or maintaining your lean body mass only. Lifting weights will give you the best bang for your buck for shaping your body. I finally changed my shape by putting lifting first and cardio 2nd. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

Simple but serious committment. Daily weigh-ins, planning and prepping meals...no exercise needed until you get this down consistently everyday. Scale reading are lower after a few days, you are making excellent progress. If cheating, start all over the next day and see where you are making progress.Have a great adventure at MFP:flowerforyou:

Log everything, even if it's not healthy, even if you're over goal, even if you can't find an exact match. Your best guess is better than nothing. Give yourself permission to start slow. An "all or nothing" attitude is just setting yourself up for failure because no one can be perfect with eating/exercise all the time. Don't feel like you have to go from lots of junk to only fruits/veggies. Reducing the junk to be within your calorie goal is a perfectly good start. The healthier choices will come with time as your calories go down and you have to make healthier choices so you can eat enough to be satisfied. Most importantly, remember that what works for some might not work for you and what works for you is what counts.