MFP two years on... is it worth it?

I put this on my blog but thought I would share it with the wider MFP community.....


It dawned on me this morning that it's been two years since I 'found' MFP. I had my wedding to slim down for and the six months to go mark hit me like a brick wall, and I realised I wanted to try and make a real effort for the first time in my life to lose a bit of weight and tone up for those all important wedding photos.

I started off with Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, stuck to my 1400 cals, ate back my exercise cals, and hey presto! I actually did manage to lose 2 stone by my wedding in May 2012. All credit due to MFP being able to track my calories and exercise and build up a network of supportive friends who gave me daily encouragement.

Since then, I have floated around on and off MFP and been on the '1 stone lost' club for the past 18 months, and I ask myself 'is MFP worth it? Is all the logging, obsessing, keeping up with another network, worth it?'

The answer is YES. Because although I may not have lost any more weight since the wedding, I have learned some valuable lessons, and know the MFP is NOT just about that 'XX pounds lost' ticker as I was once so focussed on. Here are a few things I have learnt:

1. I learnt that you don't actually need to eat 1200 cals to lose weight. You can eat MORE and can still lose weight.

2. I learnt that it's not just about the number on the scale. It's about losing inches, changing body shape, improving skin condition through healthy eating. I may still be as 'heavy' as I was a year ago, but I definitely see a difference in my body shape and my clothes sizes.

3. I've met a lot of lovely, supportive people who aren't just 'social networks'. Through MFP I have made some great friends and have also met up with some of them in REAL LIFE! Even a few who I have only virtually 'met' I would consider friends, and I feel really lucky to have 'found' these people and love having another circle of friends that are supportive, encouraging and not just about fitness and diet, I can confide in them for other things that isn't such a public outlook as Facebook for example. It's good to have another supportive network that you have things in common with.

4. I learnt to trust myself. Yes I've falled on and off the wagon more than I can count but the point is, MFP has taught me how to reign that behaviour back in, and I can trust that eventually I will get back on track so I don't just completely let go and put loads of weight on. I will always have that MFP mentality and that little alarm in my head that says 'OK, you need to sort yourself out, get logging again' then that helps me keep my weight in check.

5. I learnt how to be happy with my body. Nobody's perfect. Everybody has hang ups about their body, I hear about them everyday on MFP. It doesn't matter that I'm not a size 10, and I don't call my hang ups 'flaws' I think of them as 'areas for improvement'. And I will never get to the 'perfect body' (who will?) but as long as I am doing something to improve myself, I know I am putting some kind of effort in, no matter how slowly I get there I am doing SOMETHING.

6. I learnt that it's not just about the physical. Initially I joined MFP because I wanted to improve my physical appearance. Who doesn't? Do it for long enough and you realise that it's not just about how you feel physically. Improving my exercise and food does so much for me mentally. Last week I was on holiday and did no exercise, ate a lot of naughty foods, and that's fine, it was a holiday, but I feel so much better this week for getting back into my exercise and eating healthier. I feel more in control, more confident, and my mood is happier. I am such a grump if I'm not able or just not in the mood to do a workout. I need to try and REMEMBER the feeling once I have done a workout, the sense of achievement, that I have done something for me, and I genuinely see exercise as a treat for my body. A few years ago I would've thought 'who is this weird girls who ENJOYS exercise?!' but I can thank MFP for that gift that I now consider exercise as a hobby and something to enjoy that will make me feel better mentally and physically.

I think that's enough of my ramblings, but hopefully this will also remind others on those days that you think 'urgh, I really can't be bothered logging/keeping up with my mfp friends/exercising/eating right' think about all the things that MFP actually gives you.

Happy 2nd Anniversary to me and MFP and many more to come!!