What Are Some Things You Wish You Had Known Before You Started?

Weight loss is achievable. It requires discipline and effort. Initial and ongoing day-to-day results are not huge, but week-to-week and month-to-month results are quite measurable.

Collect a daily weight value at a consistent point during your routine, i.e. after walking up and going to the bathroom but before consuming anything, even water. Take a monthly picture and body measurements. You may find the month-to-month progress great motivation as it is hopefully providing positive feedback.

Buy, and use a food scale. In a pinch, use the MFP online food database, but create your own food database to ensure accuracy of food data. USDA has a great database at http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods.

Don't significantly and immediately change your eating habits including eating at restaurants. Start by logging the foods you're consuming at each meal. You'll realize how many calories you're currently and most likely have been consuming day in, day out for months or years. Obtain the nutrition information for the foods at the restaurant(s) you're going to at or from. If they don't have nutrition information published then don't eat their foods anymore.

Business travel and weight loss is achievable, even with eating at/from restaurants -- just evaluate their published nutrition information prior to ordering. Take the food scale and other measuring instruments on the road with you. Search out a grocery store nearby your destination before departing, and attempt to your best ability, to duplicate your eating routine(s) while at home.

Exercise such as riding a stationary bike is not easy after two decades of couch-potato existence and growing up obese. Your legs, your heart, and your lungs will all suggest you stop the activity as you're not in a condition to participate. Unless your doctor directs you to not exercise, ignore your body's discomfort and push through it. 150 lb + later, exercise is easier and somewhat enjoyable -- I look forward to it every day. Maybe exercise is addictive, maybe not -- I know it helped me and will continue to help me with overall better health. I ride two 30 minute sessions five days a week, but started off riding for only one 30 minute session for the first two to three months.

A calorie deficit is required to lose weight. Achieve that deficit through consuming fewer calories than your body requires on a daily basis. The key is to understand how many calories your body requires on a daily basis.

You may become frustrated with progress every now and then especially if your weight doesn't decrease after 7-10 days. You'll obsess over it and read anything and everything about weight loss and plateaus. I won't convince you to not waste your time; you've got to check into the information for yourself. Just re-evaluate your current eating habits. Have you accurately recorded all foods? Anything that goes into your mouth except water ought to be logged -- even those low calorie items like a single pickle, tomatoes, or packet of ketchup -- the accumulation of all those items does add up.

Weight loss is not rocket science, but it's not horseshoes and hand grenades either -- accuracy matters. You're only accountable to yourself.

There are many ways of assessing progress and weight is only one of them. Measurements, going down sizes in clothes, how I feel, lifting heavier weights, improving my running times, having to run harder/longer to get my HR up, meeting my macros, getting in fruits and veggies.

That being consistent is the most important thing. Bad days are going to happen, but as long as there are more good ones than bad ones the scale will move in the direction you want. Small goals worked the best for me. For me it was first losing 7% of my weight as I read that provides great long-term health benefits, and then everything else has been in five pound increments. I didn't even think about the big picture. Its been much more manageable.

I also would encourage you not to get too discouraged if other people don't notice the weight loss. Some people will never comment not because they don't notice but because they don't want to say the wrong thing. it took me losing almost 30% of my body weight before I started getting regular comments.

Oh, and finally, start saving your penny's now. I've had to buy an entire new wardrobe down to underwear, because nothing fits anymore.

That I didn't have to be miserable to lose weight.

That people outside of MFP really just DO NOT GET IT
Constantly trying to explain to friends or family how this really works. As in calorie counting, perseverance, commitment, support.
Not stupid fad diets, pills, crash diets or starving themselves.
It's like you join MFP, start reading the forums and absorbing all of info, myth busting and advice and suddenly it just makes sense. It becomes easy to know how to do it, but they can only find out for themselves.

isulo_kura wrote: »

How easy it actually was

Well, this is what I was going to type, so I'll just quote you.

DeWoSa wrote: »

I've basically been eating nothing but candy since Christmas and am maintaining a 15 pound weight loss.

I love you.

Robertus wrote: »

DebzNuDa wrote: »

1) Wish I had done this many years earlier. Now I'm 58 (well tomorrow) and I sure wish I had done it 20 years ago
2) Wish I learned that new buying clothes would cost me so much money!
3) Wish I wouldn't have lost my bum!
4) Wish I had learned how to use a kitchen scale by gram (preferably) or ounce. NO CUPS.
5) Wish I would have known how easily I can feel cold all the time (no fat to keep me warm LOL).
6) Wish I had started with MFP sooner.
7) Stay with it!

GOOD LUCK ALL.

Happy birthday, DebzNuDa!

Thank you so much

That regular exercise would not only help in weight loss, but genuinely makes you feel better physically and mentally.

You hear this all the time, but somehow I thought it was a cliché. It isn't.

That ur suppose to eat at a deficit to lose weight
That u dont only have to eat fruits and veggies
That theres a point where ur suppose to maintain weight
That u dont have to starve and be miserable to lose weight
That it does'nt matter where ur cals come from as long as ur in a deficit thats *key*
That you dont need to exercise to lose weight
That weight loss progress is slower than ya thought

Take before and during pics because the scale doesn't always tell the truth:)

Everyone has hit the highlights. The other big lesson I learned that not all calories are created equal. I was eating under my calorie limits, but once I started adding a moderate cardio regime, I found myself always drained and lacking energy. Or I would eat junk, though staying under calorie counts, I would wonder why I would be hungry later on. Changing up my food intake and making better choices fueled my body better and kept me more satiated throughout the day. (Whole grain bread vs white, protiens vs sugars, etc)

Most importantly, just have patience. Everyone will hit a plateu along the way. Just push through it, maybe change up your routine. Just keep moving. When you are really losing motivation, come here for support and or advice. Chances are there are hundreds if not thousands of members who have gone through the same circumstances as you.

I wish I had known how beneficial strength training would be. And that no one would particularly care that I was in that section of the gym.

I only started in November, when I started MFP.

..that the after-Easter sales of Cadberry Eggs would no longer be fun!