Anyone feel like you're in on a big secret with MFP?
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Yes! I so agree with you. But, when people ask me "how" I'm losing weight, the majority are very disappointed I'm not doing some woo-woo plan and generally those who ask for details end up getting glassy-eyed after just a couple sentences of my details about MFP.
So, I don't say too much anymore unless someone is seriously interested.
I don't either. But I did finally have one of the people who pooh-pooh'd it in the beginning (oh, I could never do that - we don't have calorie counts on our homemade meals) come back around and start asking serious questions.
It's been about a year and a half since she first asked. I guess she figured that if I could drop the weight and keep it off as long as I have, it was worth the work after all.
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This is exactly why I didn't bring up MFP to a family member that asked how I lost weight. There's someone I know that MIGHT start logging here but they assured me they'd want nothing to do with my account.Secret for me because I've frankly not really told anyone about it. I tell people that I count calories, but I don't want them to think that I'm obsessive because I weigh my food and log everything in a diary (plus let's be honest... I'm not sure I want people to read my posts here LOL).
I told a friend's parent about MFP a while back. She told me she knew about it but couldn't keep up with it. She was more interested in what I did for exercise.0 -
It's all just common sense really, most people have a rough idea what to do in the real world. Dieting and fitness is not witch craft or a black art. Applying it everyday in a way that's sustainable is the real deal breaker for people though. For that, every individual that is having success has to take full credit for it and this website is just a helpful tool.0
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Everything that needed to be known about losing weight has been known for 100's of years. There is no secret here or anywhere else.0
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I did not know about it till I joined a support group on facebook for a weight loss pill I am on. I was told about it there. For the last 30 years I knew I should lose weight I knew the principals of losing weight. However until you really decide to lose weight it does not matter I love this site0
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when people ask me what i'm doing and i say mfp, they go oh, that's so much work and then ask me if I have any 'tricks' : (0
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Secret for me because I've frankly not really told anyone about it. I tell people that I count calories, but I don't want them to think that I'm obsessive because I weigh my food and log everything in a diary (plus let's be honest... I'm not sure I want people to read my posts here LOL).
i will tell people about MFP, but i dont want anyone i know in real life to be my friend on here LOLOLOLOL0 -
I totally agree with OP. I'm learning that most people don't even want to hear it though. they are hoping for a magic weight loss cure where they don't have to do any of the work to get there.
Yep. On point... I don't tell people about it unless they specifically ask what I am doing to lose weight, and once they find out that is just plain old calorie deficit and excercise, they zone off uninterested. Oh well, go spend a fortune you can't afford on Isogenix, and starve yourself into losing weight at a stupidly rapid pace, then you can put it all back on with extra, once you start eating actual, real food again.0 -
when people ask me what i'm doing and i say mfp, they go oh, that's so much work and then ask me if I have any 'tricks' : (
QFT.
Also I have told people how massive I used to be. They really can't wrap their minds around the fact that it took 18 months of consistent logging, either on MFP or elsewhere, to get down to my current healthy weight. It didn't happen overnight. If it doesn't happen overnight, it just isn't worth it to some people. Everyone wants a quick fix. No one wants to work for anything.0 -
Yep, everyone thinks I have been successful because I run, because they see the occasional race photo or a Nike run posted on Facebook. What they don't know is that I had already lost the initial weight just counting calories, and that I also do strength training and HIIT workouts three days a week, in addition to those 2-4 mile runs I do three days a week at the most.
Drives me bonkers when people see me eating dessert or something, and say, "oh you can eat that because you run!". No, I can eat that because it fits into my daily goals! Yeah, running and other exercises allow me to have a higher calorie intake, but bottom line is it's calories in, calories out - no one wants to believe that!0 -
AmyRhubarb wrote: »Yep, everyone thinks I have been successful because I run, because they see the occasional race photo or a Nike run posted on Facebook. What they don't know is that I had already lost the initial weight just counting calories, and that I also do strength training and HIIT workouts three days a week, in addition to those 2-4 mile runs I do three days a week at the most.
Drives me bonkers when people see me eating dessert or something, and say, "oh you can eat that because you run!". No, I can eat that because it fits into my daily goals! Yeah, running and other exercises allow me to have a higher calorie intake, but bottom line is it's calories in, calories out - no one wants to believe that!
I watched this documentary on PBS that followed a group of people training for the NY marathon. They were all first timers. None lost any weight except for one woman who was dieting. She was pretty big to start with, too.0 -
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I think everyone knows about it, they just don't want to do it. I have a particular friend who is overweight because she eats really badly and she constantly says she'd "do anything to lose the weight". So I'll say, well, I stay in shape by counting calories, and she's like, "oh no, I don't want to do that."
People are lazy.0 -
holly55555 wrote: »I think everyone knows about it, they just don't want to do it. I have a particular friend who is overweight because she eats really badly and she constantly says she'd "do anything to lose the weight". So I'll say, well, I stay in shape by counting calories, and she's like, "oh no, I don't want to do that."
People are lazy.
that really is what it boils down to. I used to be, too (I would bet, many of us were)0 -
For me, it was more that MFP let me in on a secret - calorie counting, nutrition and how simple weight loss really is (not easy, simple). It changed everything. I had some misconceptions about weight loss before that prevented me from actually trying. So yeah, I get it.0
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I have to admit - for the longest time I resisted the whole idea of counting cals, thinking I could just exercise more and still eat what I wanted like I did when I was much younger. Pride? Laziness? I dunno, but i didn't lose anything until I finally started tracking food.
I've learned a LOT since then, and I think the more you educate yourself, the easier the whole process becomes - no more of the grasping at the latest workout or fad diet, hoping the "experts" have found the magic formula - yeah, the formula for getting your money! If you understand how it works and experience how simple it can be, it's just so much easier!0 -
I agree. The amount of misinformation out there about dieting seriously annoys me.0
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I think it's 'kind of' a secret, but I agree with so many of you who have said that folks eyes glaze over when you tell them how you're losing. When I explain that I am targeting a 1 - 1.5 pound loss a week, people just can't believe it. They think that's not enough, not fast enough. I'm in this for the long haul and the (hopefully) longer life, not for a fly-by-night diet plan and a short walk four or five times a week.
And I STILL get...'lifting those weights will make you bulky'. Pet Peeve Extraordinaire!0 -
My favorite comment this week from someone who "doesn't have time" for this site:
"Wait, you're eating a banana?"
"Yup"
"You can't have that can you?"
"Actually, I need it, my potassium has been low so I'm adding more bananas, tomatoes, and stuff"
"Aren't you scared you're gonna gain weight back?"
"Mm...no?"
"I saw a video on Facebook and you should never eat bananas if you wanna lose weight"
You have time to watch a video full Of junk advice on Facebook, but not a few minutes a day to log your food.
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Also hilarious that they believe the bogus video ads on facebook about not eating bananas, but can't believe the success of their friend standing right in front of them.
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Even when people know about it many still don't lose weight because they don't use it properly, don't track food fully, weigh their food, etc. I think many people don't realize the whole calories in/calories out concept.0
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Haha +10
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Everything that needed to be known about losing weight has been known for 100's of years. There is no secret here or anywhere else.
EXACTLY! And that is why so many people don't want to hear it. It's not shiny and new and controversial. Who wants to lose weight just like our grandmothers did??
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I feel quite grateful to the girl who mentioned MFP to me when we were making polite conversation at an awkward work thing.
I guess I was ready: 'When the student is ready, the master will appear' type of thing.0 -
tinascar2015 wrote: »10 million Android downloads, who knows how many from the App Store. Not really a secret.
Sigh.0 -
My mum has got back on her diet this week but she won't do MFP, she's doing Lighter Life where you virtually starve yourself on milkshakes that cost an arm and a leg. I'm not going to put her off it since she needs to lose a lot of weight but it's daft she'd do that when she could just eat healthy portions of normal food.0
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lewispwest wrote: »My mum has got back on her diet this week but she won't do MFP, she's doing Lighter Life where you virtually starve yourself on milkshakes that cost an arm and a leg. I'm not going to put her off it since she needs to lose a lot of weight but it's daft she'd do that when she could just eat healthy portions of normal food.
Totally agree with you OP. I think a lot of people associate calorie counting with obsessive behaviour and going round with a little calorie counting book like our mums did in the 1970s!
I keep quiet about MFP to most people mainly because I don't see myself as being on a diet, I prefer to think of it as knowing what my intake should be to lose and to maintain and using MFP to keep within those limits (or know how much I'm blowing the limits if I go out and let my hair down!).
Lighter Life is a bit of a bugbear of mine because I have a good friend who isn't very overweight but keeps yo-yoing back to it whenever she feels her weight has got out of hand. Not the intended target audience for a VLCD. She'll do LL for a few weeks and lose a stone or so then go back to her old way of eating and put it back on, rinse and repeat. It's her choice of course but I can't help thinking life would be easier without constantly veering between the two extremes.0 -
dammitjanet0161 wrote: »lewispwest wrote: »My mum has got back on her diet this week but she won't do MFP, she's doing Lighter Life where you virtually starve yourself on milkshakes that cost an arm and a leg. I'm not going to put her off it since she needs to lose a lot of weight but it's daft she'd do that when she could just eat healthy portions of normal food.
Totally agree with you OP. I think a lot of people associate calorie counting with obsessive behaviour and going round with a little calorie counting book like our mums did in the 1970s!
I keep quiet about MFP to most people mainly because I don't see myself as being on a diet, I prefer to think of it as knowing what my intake should be to lose and to maintain and using MFP to keep within those limits (or know how much I'm blowing the limits if I go out and let my hair down!).
Lighter Life is a bit of a bugbear of mine because I have a good friend who isn't very overweight but keeps yo-yoing back to it whenever she feels her weight has got out of hand. Not the intended target audience for a VLCD. She'll do LL for a few weeks and lose a stone or so then go back to her old way of eating and put it back on, rinse and repeat. It's her choice of course but I can't help thinking life would be easier without constantly veering between the two extremes.
Yeah I asked her why she wasn't using MFP and she said "this way is quicker". That is a giant red flag right there. It's taken you years of bad behaviour to get yourself in this position so you aren't going to fix it all by starving yourself for three months.
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I have a higher opinion of the general population. I don't think people are generally lazy and stupid. I mean I am one of them. Calorie counting for a day or so isn't so bad. Anyone can do it. But the prospect of recording for months on end? That's daunting. It's a major habit change and people are habitual creatures.
Take humour for instance. The best jokes aren't explained. The teller assumes a level of intelligence in the audience. We are generally smart people. We get it.
Even so, I don't share my weight loss knowledge unless specifically asked. Beat. Head. Wall.0 -
MFP reinforces what we all know about weight loss. Absent medical issues, people don't need a map for weight loss. But sometimes they don't want to put in the effort. MFP helps in that they see others succeeding, can get menus from others diaries to fit into their calorie goals, can get an idea of calorie burns for various activities, and get support from their MFP friends. That's what makes so many of us succeed, whereas if we didn't have MFP we might not be as motivated. ......the pill poppers, celulite erasing cream appliers, laxative lovers, and the one day diet wonders may not have found MFP yet? Or don't want to?0
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