THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS!!!

Celo24
Celo24 Posts: 566 Member
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Listen people, this is a pretty simple thing: eat healthy foods and a reasonable amount of them. Exercise and burn more calories than you take in. If you do those things, you will lose weight. Period.

All these fad diets - soups and pills and this and that - DON'T WORK!!! They may help you drop weight in the short term, but you will rebound and gain it all back. Don't do it!!

Also, don't be in such a hurry. If you have a lot of weight to lose, then you can probably safely lose 2-3 pounds a week. As you get closer and closer to a maintenance weight, you will not lose weight as quickly and may have to be satisfied losing a pound or less each week. That is okay!! That is your body looking out for itself and that is healthy, maintainable weight loss!!

Every day, we all see posts from people who are looking for the "easy" way to lose weight fast. Guess what? If those "easy" ways worked, none of us would need MFP. Blood. Sweat. Tears. That's what it takes and each and every one of us can do it!!
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Replies

  • Panda_Jack
    Panda_Jack Posts: 829 Member
    AMEN Brotha!

    There is no substitute for good hard work.
  • Flyntiggr
    Flyntiggr Posts: 898 Member
    What Celo said! ;)
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    From your mouth..................:flowerforyou:
  • OnionCookie
    OnionCookie Posts: 272 Member
    This post should be required reading for anyone wanting to "diet".
  • thisis4me
    thisis4me Posts: 219 Member
    AMEN TO THAT!!!!!:)
  • andreae13
    andreae13 Posts: 239 Member
    EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • celticgirl1787
    celticgirl1787 Posts: 15
    Yes! As my mom has said, it took time to put the weight on, it'll take time to take it off too. Patience and diligence are what its all about!
  • christy_frank
    christy_frank Posts: 680 Member
    BUMP
  • AndreaWyland
    AndreaWyland Posts: 142 Member
    I like it! Well said! Needed to hear again too:) Thank you!
  • linemansgirl
    linemansgirl Posts: 152
    LOVE it!!!!!!! :bigsmile: This is the second time that I have lost over 100 pounds in the last 10 years. :blushing: I have people asking me all of the time what my "secret" to being so good at losing weight is. They are SO disappointed when I tell them that I don't have a secret, just eat less and exercise more! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • sandrahover
    sandrahover Posts: 33 Member
    Well said!! :wink:
  • DeenaSteelerGirl
    DeenaSteelerGirl Posts: 421 Member
    Great advise ! You said it !
  • velix
    velix Posts: 437 Member
    thank you!
    It really drives me crazy reading the posts you mention (or having friends tell me they are doing X or Y diet and they will lose 20lbs a month and they hardly have to do anything. When you tell them they will gain the weight back, they are always like - oh, I know, but I need to lose XX lbs by such and such a date .... really? you don't mind gaining it back!?! and have to go through it all over again. As my father always told me, if you're going to do something - do it right the first time!!

    I just wish something that seems so simple, would be easy to understand ....
  • blessedtobefit
    blessedtobefit Posts: 157 Member
    I couldn't have said it any better myself. High fives right back at ya!!

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  • christy_frank
    christy_frank Posts: 680 Member
    bump
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    Well said! I know when friends ask me how I've lost 80 lbs and I reply just good old fashioned exercise and diet there is no miracle pill, they don't like my response because most of them don't want to work at it. I've actually lost friends due to my weight loss and it took me a long time to figure out that it's their loss and their feelings of jealousy/inadequacy that caused the falling out.
  • shaunshaikh
    shaunshaikh Posts: 616 Member
    I agree with the general message, except I don't think losing weight requires blood, sweat, and tears. It just requires being a little smarter and a little more diligent about making healthy decisions every single day. I think the reason a lot of people gain the weight back is because they do make weight loss such an extreme experience. If you're doing something to lose weight that you wouldn't be able to do the rest of your life, then stop.
  • SongbirdLandy
    SongbirdLandy Posts: 188 Member
    SO SO SO true! There are definitely no quick fixes or magic pills! It just takes dedication!
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
    Agreed. There's no such thing as an "easy" way to do it. Anything that doesn't require dedication and planning has every reason to fail once the instant gratification of quick success is acquired.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    What's so sad is you have to dig through all the crap information on this site to find the good information. I've spent the last 5 months doing that and have learned so much. This is why I'm not hell bent on losing weight and more interested in becoming strong and fit. I want to lose body fat not muscle mass.

    I actually read something today: the lady is doing maybe 10 minutes a day of walking and isn't losing weight and someone told her she is building muscle!!
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    thank you!
    It really drives me crazy reading the posts you mention (or having friends tell me they are doing X or Y diet and they will lose 20lbs a month and they hardly have to do anything. When you tell them they will gain the weight back, they are always like - oh, I know, but I need to lose XX lbs by such and such a date .... really? you don't mind gaining it back!?! and have to go through it all over again. As my father always told me, if you're going to do something - do it right the first time!!

    I just wish something that seems so simple, would be easy to understand ....

    and all that yo-yo dieting will just screw up the metabolism.
  • SongbirdLandy
    SongbirdLandy Posts: 188 Member
    Well said! I know when friends ask me how I've lost 80 lbs and I reply just good old fashioned exercise and diet there is no miracle pill, they don't like my response because most of them don't want to work at it. I've actually lost friends due to my weight loss and it took me a long time to figure out that it's their loss and their feelings of jealousy/inadequacy that caused the falling out.

    I know what you mean here! I get asked ALL the time how I have lost so much weight and no one ever likes my response! People do get very jealous even tho I make it a point to not even discuss my weight loss unless I am asked. I am not a superwoman! I am just a normal person who made a very smart decision and stuck by it!
  • velix
    velix Posts: 437 Member
    If you're doing something to lose weight that you wouldn't be able to do the rest of your life, then stop.

    this is why i still drink beer/wine (in moderation now) and accept that my weight loss might be slower than simply if I would give it up completely "while I lose weight" ;-)

    re: hpsnickers - it seems that people will always find an article or a link to something somewhere that says what they want to here - indeed - there is so much misinformation - and not just on MFP .... but people stop when they get the answer they want.... (in general - and not all people - there are some great people on this site that do their best to clear up myths and misconceptions)
  • CoachsWife4
    CoachsWife4 Posts: 79 Member
    I did Weight Watchers after my first baby and lost 40 pounds in about 5 months; I took Phentermine after my second baby and lost that amount PLUS MORE in less than 3 months. Guess which one I kept off longer -- the Weight Watchers weight because I had worked for it and had changed my lifestyle. I'm not back on here to lose that much, but to get off what I've lazily put back on after my crash diet burned out. The best way to lose it and keep it off is to do it a pound or two at a time and to change all those bad habits that helped you put it on in the first place.

    As always, Celo, GREAT POST!
  • mishelnkiki
    mishelnkiki Posts: 775 Member
    LOVE THIS!! i was sitting here just now thinking man... i really dont wanna go to my classes tonight! then i read this, and now im actually WANTING to go. ur abosuletly right! u want it, u gotta go and get it! thanks !
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
    Amen, brother, indeed and I wish more would just suck it up and make the changes instead of b**ching about it.
  • dragonflydi
    dragonflydi Posts: 665 Member
    Well said! I know when friends ask me how I've lost 80 lbs and I reply just good old fashioned exercise and diet there is no miracle pill, they don't like my response because most of them don't want to work at it. I've actually lost friends due to my weight loss and it took me a long time to figure out that it's their loss and their feelings of jealousy/inadequacy that caused the falling out.

    I know what you mean here! I get asked ALL the time how I have lost so much weight and no one ever likes my response! People do get very jealous even tho I make it a point to not even discuss my weight loss unless I am asked. I am not a superwoman! I am just a normal person who made a very smart decision and stuck by it!

    DITTO! I too get asked as well and it seems there are some people who really just want to be told "blink three times, snap your fingers and sneeze and voila! The weight will just fall off" Sorry folks, it just does not work like that and just because you reach a target weight/goal doesn't mean it won't take effort to stay there. They also don't like to hear "the slower it comes off, the better your chances of keeping it off" ... but a lifestyle change takes time.
  • TaushasJourney
    TaushasJourney Posts: 143
    Hear hear!
  • loopyloui
    loopyloui Posts: 2 Member
    Thank you all for the motivation I'm now going for a run with my wii fit as my kids are in bed.

    There are no short cuts!! I will be a better improved me!! I will just have to work at it that bit longer!!

    :smile:
  • SabrinaJL
    SabrinaJL Posts: 1,579 Member
    I've tried the cabbage soup diet, cutting calories drastically, cutting out all junk food, etc... Now all I'm doing is logging what I eat so I can stay at or under my calorie goal (trying to make healthier choices) and working out most days. This is the first time I'm having real success. I still have fast food every now and then. I still have chocolate when I want it. I still go out to eat with friends. It's only been 8 week and I've already lost 16 lbs and was able to reduce my bp meds by half. Honestly, for me, this has been the easiest way I've ever tried to lose weight.
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