How important is being active with MFP friends & forums to your fitness?
BRaye325
Posts: 1,383 Member
I was just commenting to some of my MFP friends and got to thinking about this. We all have some friends on here that come and go. Many of them just are gone and we have no idea again how they are doing. I was wondering if there is a correlation between those that stay active and their continued success with their fitness goals.
It certainly isn't mandatory to stay involved and some will be successful regardless. Perhaps some of you that have a longer history here might have better perspective.
Do you think there is any connection to your fitness success and MFP friends, groups & forums?
It certainly isn't mandatory to stay involved and some will be successful regardless. Perhaps some of you that have a longer history here might have better perspective.
Do you think there is any connection to your fitness success and MFP friends, groups & forums?
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I think there is. Mind you, I have only been doing MFP for 50 days, but I find that I make better decisions more often because I am tracking food and exercise, learning all kinds of interesting stuff from the forums and now that I have this group, I have a core group of like minded people in the same age group to consult with on a more personal basis. I anticipate that this will be my most successful attempt at weight loss.0
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Hi all I joined this group a week ago ,and bill sent me a mg to welcome me to the group, I have been very busy with work and ect ,but on saying that I am down 2 lb , and I did have good days and bad day, I just want to say to bill a big thank you for welcome me to the group, and I find it great for keeping track ,I have a long way to go yet, just one day at a time I am taking it0
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Welcome Caroline!0
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I've been on Mfp for 175 days & every day without fail.. My brain is now registered to logging. Somedays I go over my calories... But I've not ignored it.. I work harder the next day..
This group also makes a difference.. It's feels like being part of a class.. Everyone working towards the same goal..
It should be called Mff ( my fitness family0 -
When I first joined MFP, I was solely focused on losing weight. I hadn't given any thought to the physical fitness piece of the puzzle. I lucked out and ended up with a lot of MFP pals who were working hard at being physically active. They inspired me to start being active. I never would have done it without their example. It was (and is) the best kind of peer pressure -- pressure to get some sort of physical activity in every day.0
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Everyone is different. Some can lose w/o support. For me, I have found my mfp peeps to be invaluable. They are a source of support, knowledge, laughter and an occasional virtual kick in the butt. Maybe, I am needy, but I push myself a little more knowing I have to log it and I love new foods and sharing recipes.0
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I've been on MFP for 3 years. Being active on here helps to keep me focused, but life can get in the way at times. But I keep with me, the knowledge I've learned along the way. This is a great free tool that is available whenever one is looking for support, opinions, and an easy food logging system.0
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I’m in maintenance now…but I still plan to stick with the plan (MFP) that got me to the “prom.”
I failed over the years at every weight-loss program I tried. From WW to Medifast to Nutrisystem yada yada yada. NEVER was I able to reign things in for more than 1-6 months and NEVER have I been so successful and lost so much weight.
So many people I know (I was once one) regained weight after “dieting.” That is why I have never used the word “diet” … I have changed my habits permanently and know I must be vigilant.
The reasons for failure were obvious in many instances. Slowly over time they began over-estimating the calories they were burning daily and grossly under-estimating what they consumed. You can’t do that “honestly” if you are active on MFP and accurately / consistently track your intake and weight.
There is also the factor of gravitating toward certain behaviors because of “the crowd you hang with.” MFP friends & forums provide the right encouragement.
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Bill - I think I've got a great case study for you on this topic. I only have one "friend" on MFP - but a very important friend (my wife)! I read the forums all the time - lurk mostly but also post a bit. I love reading the forums because I learn so much. Mainly, I have a much better understanding of myth vs. fact because of MFP forums. My wife never reads the forums and rarely the blogs. But we are both having tremendous success. We've been on our journey for about 4 months.
So my conclusion is that having support is much more important than what kind of support you have. Whether you get it from MFP friends, a relative, friends at the gym, etc., you are much better off with supportive relationships. I know you can probably get it done without support, but why would you????0 -
I agree. Humans are social animals, whether it is RL friends or mfpers, we need support. Who said "no man is an island?"0
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There is also the factor of gravitating toward certain behaviors because of “the crowd you hang with.” MFP friends & forums provide the right encouragement.
I agree as well. Reading what others have done or are doing helps keep me interested in MFP and it also challenges me to do better. MFP friends and groups truly do help in my opinion.
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I've been on MFP for 3 years, I rarely post and mostly lurk. I hate the bullies in the forums talking nonsense about starvation mode, and needing to eat more to lose, or hawking their supplements.0
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Brinasacat wrote: »I've been on MFP for 3 years, I rarely post and mostly lurk. I hate the bullies in the forums talking nonsense about starvation mode, and needing to eat more to lose, or hawking their supplements.
I agree that the rudeness shown regularly in the general forums is truly unfortunate and makes people afraid to participate. However, I enjoy the varying opinions because they challenge me to reevaluate my stance. I choose to consider it as just varying debate on the topic at hand. Yes sometimes the extreme opinions are laughable, so I just view them as entertainment.
I think we have an excellent opportunity in this group to have perhaps more mature and educated discussion.0 -
I've been on Mfp for 175 days & every day without fail.. My brain is now registered to logging. Somedays I go over my calories... But I've not ignored it.. I work harder the next day..
This group also makes a difference.. It's feels like being part of a class.. Everyone working towards the same goal..
It should be called Mff ( my fitness family
That's Gold!
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I've been on Mfp for 175 days & every day without fail.. My brain is now registered to logging. Somedays I go over my calories... But I've not ignored it.. I work harder the next day..
This group also makes a difference.. It's feels like being part of a class.. Everyone working towards the same goal..
It should be called Mff ( my fitness family
That's Gold!
It is. The tone in this group is better than the general forums. But they can be good for interesting suggestions and ideas and, certainly, entertainment!0 -
Brinasacat wrote: »I've been on MFP for 3 years, I rarely post and mostly lurk. I hate the bullies in the forums talking nonsense about starvation mode, and needing to eat more to lose, or hawking their supplements.
I think we have an excellent opportunity in this group to have perhaps more mature and educated discussion.
Hear, hear!0 -
I log my daily food intake and go through spurts of missing. I only read forums or discussions of groups that I have joined and every now and then post. I agree we have reached an age we know what we want, don't want, like, chose to respond or ignore other posts. So although I don't post a lot I do check in from time to time. Between mfp groups, fb groups, work, exercise, I am.limited to how much time I spend wherever. But am here. And do love this group.0
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I think we tend to avoid inane chit chat here. At least we're not rating each other's appeal to kiss, date, marry or pass!0
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lol, funny nikki, I thought I was the only one that wasn't dying to rate somebody's looks.0
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I'm curious if any of you have MFP virtual friends, that you truly feel have become 'true friends' ?
I've been on for over 10 months now. I have several friends that I've been talking with several times a week for many months and I've really gotten to know them, however at the same time we have never met in person.0 -
The more time I spend on the site the better I do. I can't say that I have made any friends that I converse with on a regular basis, but that's probably because I don't really put myself out there. I do enjoy lurking on the boards as I find them equally entertaining, informative and sometimes downright frustrating. Lately there have been so many "how fast can I lose, how much weight can I drop quickly" etc threads, I just have to shake my head. I am glad to have groups like these with people in my own age group and hopefully I will get to know some of you better. Please feel free to reach out. I'm a hard person to get to know but I can be a supportive friend.0
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I have a couple that I consider real friends even though we have never met. After three years of chatting it seems like we have met. I actually have met one several times and are friends in irl.0
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I have quite a few online friends I have never met but consider good friends. I am enjoying the people in this group and some of the other friends I have made. I haven't had any offline contact with anyone on mfp, though. Although most seem like people I would like to know.0
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For me, being somewhat active on the site makes a huge difference. I was on for a year, did not make any connections, and quit for six months. I came back, joined a challenge, where I met and connected to a few people, and became 100% committed. I think being connected in some way contributes to my success.0
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I've losing weight on Mfp for 2 years and maintaining for the last year. I can say that groups and friends are really more helpful than ever for me to keep active and keep on eating right and healthy.0
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For some folks, the social aspect of MFP seems very important. If their MFP friends don't "like" or comment on every thought and/or notification, they feel unsupported. If I needed that much support, I would be talking to a mental health professional. I rarely drop my personal "stuff" onto my newsfeed and never on the forums.
I agree that knowing someone cares enough to check is beneficial. Essential? Not for me. I guess I'm an odd duck.
Jen and I have discussed this before. She raised the point that men and women process things differently. The ladies appreciate the personal touch more than the gents. As a result of that discussion, I try to be more attentive to those in my friend list... but, me being me, if no-one drops by my newfeed to say hi, I'm okay with that.0 -
For some folks, the social aspect of MFP seems very important. If their MFP friends don't "like" or comment on every thought and/or notification, they feel unsupported. If I needed that much support, I would be talking to a mental health professional. I rarely drop my personal "stuff" onto my newsfeed and never on the forums.
I agree that knowing someone cares enough to check is beneficial. Essential? Not for me. I guess I'm an odd duck.
Jen and I have discussed this before. She raised the point that men and women process things differently. The ladies appreciate the personal touch more than the gents. As a result of that discussion, I try to be more attentive to those in my friend list... but, me being me, if no-one drops by my newfeed to say hi, I'm okay with that.
That is exactly what the boyfriend says. Facebook, online friends... he doesn't get it. He also says men have different ways of being with their friends. They can go months, years, without seeing each other and it doesn't change the status of their friendship one bit. Despite being an introvert, I like a 'peopled' life but also know my limits and will retreat when I go into people overload.0
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