What I wish I knew when I was just starting out

sharitapita · January 2016

For me, I plateaued (when I was at my lowest weight about 20 lbs ago) for several months. Cutting all processed food and sugar (aside from a weekly cheat meal) got me finally losing again.

stevepoling · January 2016

Do not regard your diet as a Moral Code to cheat or otherwise feel guilty about. It is a plan. If you drive to Florida and you take a detour to Philly, it isn't a sin-it's a delay-just get back on the freeway and continue driving south. Same with a diet when you see an irresistible temptation for pizza look it in the eye, man up, and shoulder into the fact your scale will have bad news tomorrow. If that's too painful, balance that pain against the pleasure of pizza and maybe you can resist the temptation.

stevepoling · January 2016

Habits are powerful and small habits are cumulative. It's like compound interest

markrgeary1 · January 2016

That anyone can lose weight, if you follow some simple rules.

That I didn't need to take 6 prescriptions daily.

mamadon · January 2016

IILikeToMoveItMoveIt wrote: »

CICO. This would have saved me two ish years of sheer frustration!

This, except it would have saved me around 18 years of frustration. All I had to do was count calories and weigh my food? Who would have thought?

rebeccaEsmith · January 2016

Love it!

swim777 · January 2016

luluinca wrote: »

I learned that just because I'm 65 it's not actually more difficult to lose weight than it was when I was younger, that lifting weights at my age could transform my body and make my bones healthy, that it's not a race or a competition with others, and that I really could eat what I wanted if I could make it fit into my daily calorie and macro goals, but also that the occasional over indulgent day doesn't ruin all my hard work.

Birthdays, weddings, vacations and holidays are part of life and it's more fun (and not bad) to just enjoy them and then get back on track the following day.

Logging (primarily pre-logging) every day is essential to me to maintain my loss and now that it's a habit, just like any other, it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.

I wish I knew years ago that there was a gym rat living inside of me just waiting to get out!

Love this! Hopefully, I can remember these things since I have worked so hard this past year to finally, once and for all, take control of my health again. I think I'm finally brave enough to get rid of all those "next sizes" that I've been afraid to donate.

SnazzIT · January 2016

to get rid of my big clothes as I slowly lose weight is a sign of my mindset. I used to hold on to them and when I fell off the wagon I would put them back on. A lifestyle change is forever not temporary.

suehuntsman · January 2016

Wow, this is my first day on myfitnesspal! You guys are wonderful. Thank you for all the good advice.

blossomingbutterfly · January 2016

Patience!

Honestly, if I knew just patience was all it took to get going and see benefits of CICO, I'd have been happier!

dayrae02 · January 2016

STOP thinking about where you want to be day in and day out and every once and awhile just truly appreciate how far you have come. I have caught myself obsessing over the end goal and not being proud of what I have accomplished so far. It is worth it to take a step back and realize how amazing you are.

SeriouslySta · January 2016

I wish I had known, before, how much easier it is if you don't put a date on goals!

Saying, "I want to lose X pounds by such-and-such date," is a recipe for demotivation for me. (Lots of reasons, of course, but mainly I stall on the scale then 'whoosh' several pounds off at once... It could be crazy-making!)

Now I'm happy to lose slowly and sustainably, in my own good time, which is so much more pleasant.

smh1963 · January 2016

agree with others , don't eat back your exercise calories.

Machka9 · January 2016

I wish I had realised how quick and easy it would be to lose the weight.

I had this idea that at my age it was either not going to happen at all, or that it would be a long, hard slog. So, reluctantly, I signed up, put my information in, gasped in horror at the 1250 maximum calories I was allowed, breathed a small sigh of relief that I could eat about half my exercise calories back too ... and stuck to the diet with the tenacity of a Jack Russell Terrier.

The exercise aspect helped a lot, as did thoroughly browsing through my local grocery stores and markets to find good tasting low calorie food.

And the weight fell off.

patty_36_2 · January 2016

MsJulesRenee wrote: »

The workout/diet buddy you start with, on your weight loss journey, will probably not be there at the end or even middle. Just keep going and don't let that affect your progress.

This is so true. I did find it hard at first, but then realized that it's my weight, and my responsibility, so I just kept on by myself, still on my road and am OK..

Nthabiseng259 · January 2016

yrieves wrote: »

Love your body while working toward the body you want! Take it one day at a time or else it can be overwhelming and easy to get off track. Know that you can do it by yourself and don't listen to bad advice! You know your body listen to it and do what works for you!

Preach!!!!!:)

jenovatrix · January 2016

That there's a whole wide world of produce out there. You don't have to stick to apples and carrots

I still don't like sweet potatoes though.

Bruceapple · January 2016

The most important thing portion control.

elaineamj · January 2016

Loving this- fantastic as i am just starting my journey.

KareninLux · January 2016

vrojapu wrote: »

I wish I had known...

And most of all, that MFP is my BFF...

Ha ha. Love this!

What I wish I knew when I was just starting out

Replies

Categories