Patterns of success

ELesyshyn
ELesyshyn Posts: 9 Member
edited November 2023 in Getting Started
After a couple years of watching others journeys, I just wanted to share my observations of patterns that I’ve seen. I typically see two types of behaviors:

1. Successful & steady losers: When I review their journals, you can see that aren’t cutting back drastically on their calories. They’ve determined their daily caloric needs and are cutting back about 10-20% calories. They aren’t shocking their body and so it is easy to maintain the healthy lifestyle and still have room for treats. The weight just comes off slow and steady because the body doesn’t think it is starving.

2. Inconsistent journaling: I often see that people haven’t logged in for a few days or had a large break. When you look back at their journals before the “break” happened, I’ve noticed that the amount of caloric restriction is too low. I’m assuming that the dramatic cut in calories eventually caused them to overeat and slip for a few days. I’ve also noticed that they don’t want to log the “bad” meals.

When I first started my own journey, I definitely fell into category #2. But at some point I made the commitment to ALWAYS log everything, even the bad days. I have days where I record over 5,000 calories in my journal! Recording those moments is extremely empowering, enabling you to accurately see the big picture and guide your next choice.

I wish you all good luck in your own journey!!!

Replies

  • mtnhiker1
    mtnhiker1 Posts: 114 Member
    Judging from my own actions you pretty much hit it. I made up a few additional rules when I started on MFP.
    1. Do not log any exercise - maybe I will get to that point but for now I am only interested in food and calorie count from food (been that way for 14 weeks)

    2. Save up calories - if under for a day - add to unused calories total, if over subtract - BUT at the end of the week take away 30% from the running total (so far over 10,000 calories I have not used and cannot use).

    3. Never EVER use calories in advance!

    That came in handy the other day when I went to a buffet and wiped out not only my daily calorie total but also all but 200 calories of my backlog (one of those 5000 calorie days you mentioned - and this was close). Fortunately my calorie backlog is up over 1000 calories (just in case)
  • helena_jj
    helena_jj Posts: 200 Member
    And what are the patterns of keeping the weight? It is much more difficult for me.
  • ELesyshyn
    ELesyshyn Posts: 9 Member
    I've written about my personal experiences with maintenance on my blog: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ELesyshyn/view/the-long-haul-514749

    For me, maintenance feels a lot like weight loss except I eat far more calories. :D
  • helena_jj
    helena_jj Posts: 200 Member
    This is not what I wanted to hear. :)

    But I am afraid this is inevitable.
  • dlbaron
    dlbaron Posts: 79 Member
    I've only been on here for less than a year, so I'm not at a point where I can really talk about patterns of success, especially concerning maintenance mode. But I do want to share a tip for new people about logging days when you go way over. I always log EVERYTHING and my diary is open to my friends. When I have a terrible day, I don't hit the "complete this entry" button. Then it doesn't pop up in my friends' news feeds and they're less likely to look. Of course, they can still see it if they want, but it's more hidden and very unlikely that they'll comment on what you ate. So for anyone who's just starting on here, it's ok to not "complete" the entry. Then you don't need to see a scary predicted weight (you're not gong to eat like that every day for 5 weeks anyway) and you still get credit for logging in so it won't break your logging streak if you have one going.
  • helena_jj
    helena_jj Posts: 200 Member
    Yes, I am new to this app but not new to losing weight. And it has always been my business. When I had a good day (I weigh daily), I was glad, of course, could even tell some people about it, but it was my choice. If I had a bad day, I was not happy, of course, but it still was my business. Then I started here and soon decided that it would be fun to have friends here. And now I am much more anxious about weighting, I just don't want to post bad results, though to cheat myself is not a possibility for me. I never had a bad day still, and due to my unwillingness to post bad results also. I just thought that I had to report, that I wouldn't see the loss tomorrow morning, and it would pop in the news, and till now I always made a good choice. :)
  • ELesyshyn
    ELesyshyn Posts: 9 Member
    HAHAH! "scary predicted weight"... In the years I've used MFP, I've never completed my journal entry.. I guess I never understood the point of that feature..
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