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khanimaan8116
khanimaan8116 Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started
Heyy! I just rejoined MyFitnesspal I lost a lot of weight 2 years ago but unfortunately gained it all back but now I want to lose it again and for good this time! However starting is very difficult this time around! Any advice would be appreciated !!

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  • AusManok74
    AusManok74 Posts: 38 Member
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    Hey, glad to hear you're trying again! For me it was finding the right motivation to get the weight off in the first place. I've now got to make sure I keep it off, but so far that's going ok as I've discovered I enjoy running. So if I had any advice it would be stay consistent, set realistic goals and find something you can enjoy doing to keep yourself moving and burning those calories, good luck!
  • theabsentmindednurse
    theabsentmindednurse Posts: 405 Member
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    The first step is what you put in your mouth!
    CICO.
    Log everything you eat and stay within your daily caloric goal.
    That is by far the biggest and most important goal you can achieve- To start with.
    Weigh and measure all your food accurately.

    Just take one step at a time.
    Making small goals along the way is also great advice.
    Look after yourself and stay positive.
  • MinuitMinuet
    MinuitMinuet Posts: 156 Member
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    Don't panic for one. Easier to start if it doesn't look like an impossible task. It is EASY. So very easy. Your body didn't change much. Maintenance may be slightly less due to age and inactivity but not by the great amount people usually imagine. You are maintaining your current weight? Eat less than that.

    Find your maintenance and don't assume you HAVE to eat 500 less a day to lose a pound. You CAN choose to lose less. But if you choose to lose faster, don't think a failed day just unraveled your hard work. Go back and check maintenance to relieve your mind that your week average is still showing under it and resign yourself to a slightly less of a loss that week.

    Find maintenance and anything under it is a win, even if it isn't the great amount that you were hoping for.
  • Sharon_C
    Sharon_C Posts: 2,132 Member
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    Set your MFP goals to lose .5-1 pound a week. Weigh your food. Log your food. Stay consistent. Consistency is key. Don't give up. It will happen if you keep at it.
  • changeconsumeme
    changeconsumeme Posts: 229 Member
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    Motivation and will power are fickle and unreliable. Just stick to a plan regardless of how much you want or don't want to do it.

    CICO. Don't undereat. Keep your goals reasonable and rational (.5-1 lb weekly). Weigh your food. Channel Nike and JUST DO IT! :)
  • Roosh513
    Roosh513 Posts: 57 Member
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    Depending on how much you have to loose, you don't necessarily have to flip your current lifestyle upside down...at least not right away. As others have said, start small! Pick one thing you know is unhealthy, and change that one tiny thing first.

    If tracking food religiously every day is too much of a hassle, don't do it after tracking for the first few weeks. You can get a pretty good idea of how much food you should be eating, and where the majority of your calories are coming from after only a few weeks of tracking. I consistently dropped weight without tracking simply by picking better, whole foods. When the weight stopped coming off after a 3-week plateau, I would re-evaluate and start tracking again.
  • mandrewes
    mandrewes Posts: 24 Member
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    There are a whole host of reasons why we regain weight. Overall this is massively sensible reaction by the body to some months of what it perceives as life threatening famine.
    Some are
    Decrease in the hormone leptin due to decreased fat stores making food more attractive.
    Decrease in energy expenditure due to less body weight being hauled about.
    An extra decrease in energy expenditure over and above weighing less after weight loss. (A high percentage fat diet in maintenance may help counteract this but within maintenance cals)

    Go to national weight control registry for things successful maintainers do - http://www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm. I would also consider having a period of 4-5 weeks may be coninciding with lent etc when you aim to lose a little weight within maintenance to counteract times of indulgence such as Christmas may be at lent etc.

    Work more exercise into your daily routine so that it becomes part of your life by the time you are maintaining. Exercise needn't mean exercise! Walk some more by parking the car further away, taking the stairs at work etc. Aim to gradually increase to 10,000 steps, about 4-5 miles, a day as part of your daily routine then you will be expending a couple of hundred extra calories a day by the time you are maintaining without thinking about it.

    Personally I would consider a strict regime for 2-3 months of more than 1,000 cals deficit - setting a time limit - as in most studies weight loss tails off after this period. And faster dieters keep more weight off and it is more motivating. It is easier to say that this won't last for ever when restricting yourself. And it is easy to just slip out of dieting due to the factors above without actually taking a mental decision to stop. A defined time limit helps stop that. And then have a diet break of a month when you maintain and then go back to a weight loss diet if needed. But you should only eat less than 1200 cals in consultation with your doctor and eat at least 30g of fat a day to avoid gallstone risk. But it is what is doable for you.

    The good news is that it sounds as if you have cracked the weight loss bit by the sound of it! Essentially you only need do what you did before again! Maintenance is harder with only 20% or less keeping weight off. The body fights hard to counteract what it sees as famine - it had to in the past to avoid death!

    But the odds are about the same as giving up smoking on any one attempt. Millions have done that but they normally take more than one attempt. Just concentrate hard when yo go on maintenance.

    Good luck!
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    khanimaan8116 wrote: »
    Heyy! I just rejoined MyFitnesspal I lost a lot of weight 2 years ago but unfortunately gained it all back but now I want to lose it again and for good this time! However starting is very difficult this time around! Any advice would be appreciated !!

    Log consistently and accurately. Learn from the good days and the bad. Don't try to change everything all at once. Don't fall into the trap of overcomplicating the process, that way lies madness. All you HAVE to do is hit your calorie goal - everything else is personal preference. Everyone has bad days where they go off plan, the only way a bad day hurts you is if you use it as an excuse to have 2 bad days or to quit. Be patient and good luck :)
  • 1974jess
    1974jess Posts: 2 Member
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    If you are Competitive and like to win get a fit bit it made a huge difference for me
  • Vkuzemchak
    Vkuzemchak Posts: 2 Member
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    Hi,

    I started a few weeks ago and I am having trouble getting all my calories in. I log consistently and completely but after dinner I sometimes ave 300 calories left and no hunger. So do I force down those calories or just forget them?
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Vkuzemchak wrote: »
    Hi,

    I started a few weeks ago and I am having trouble getting all my calories in. I log consistently and completely but after dinner I sometimes ave 300 calories left and no hunger. So do I force down those calories or just forget them?

    Peanut butter.
  • Vkuzemchak
    Vkuzemchak Posts: 2 Member
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    And if it throws me over my fat %?
  • MinuitMinuet
    MinuitMinuet Posts: 156 Member
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    Vkuzemchak wrote: »
    And if it throws me over my fat %?

    https://www.livestrong.com/article/274460-high-calorie-low-cholesterol-low-fat-foods/
  • Wrenranae
    Wrenranae Posts: 13 Member
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    I also love fitbit along with myfitnesspal. It will tell you how many more calories you burned off than took in. I shoot for 1000 calorie deficit per day. I do not always make it but any deficit is better than none. I have lost over 150 pounds since 2010. A lot of trial and error and also knowing I am an individual and have to find what works for me and NOT criticize others for their ways. We all have different metabolisms and are different weights and ages. Some have had stomach stapling and can not eat as much as others, some have tried diet pills ect. It is for us to support one another in love, and together success does come. I normally shoot for around 1200 per day, some days I am over some under depending on what I eat. If high in proteins it takes a lot longer for my body to digest it. I go to my doctor for check ups and he is a nutritionist who wrote a weight loss book and he also has groups for weight loss. I do not attend this as I do things a bit differently, but he has told me for the past 7 years just to keep doing whatever I am , as my numbers are all terrific, I have a nice slow steady weight drop each year and I am in terrific health with no medications now. I was on 5 in 2010, through eating right and exercise now on none. But moral is we are all different so number of calories for one is not always what another can have. I exercise 5 times per week at the pool 60 minutes minimum, and get a minimum of 6500 steps on my fitbit. With this and a 1200 or so intake of food I lose about 3-4 pounds per month on average. That is my two cents.
  • maryannprt
    maryannprt Posts: 152 Member
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    Vkuzemchak wrote: »
    And if it throws me over my fat %?
    Do you have health issues that require you to limit your fat? If not, recent research shows low fat isn't necessary or healthier than a higher fat diet. Throw a few nuts or a little avocado on your salad, use full fat milk, yogurt or cottage cheese rather than low/no fat. Fat helps you absorb some nutrients and is necessary for brain and nerve function. For me, fat helps me feel full longer. (Just because you aren't hungry now, doesn't mean that won't change, and probably soon!) Eggs are an easy way to add a few calories (assuming you like them) and dietary cholesterol is no longer considered the big bad it was a few years ago. If you don't like peanut butter, try almond or other nut butters. Good luck! Losing weight is about calories in, calories out. Macros can be balanced to fit what works for you.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited October 2017
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    Vkuzemchak wrote: »
    And if it throws me over my fat %?

    The macro goals are just guides. As long as your calories are in line, you will gain or lose based on that. Macros can help with satiety, and can also affect health and fitness issues, but not directly weight loss or gain,

    If you are short on calories every once and awhile it's no big deal, especially if other days you are going over. I would also suggest you double check to make sure the entries you are using in the database are accurate (many are wrong) and make sure you are accurately weighing and measuring your portions. :drinker:
  • worsthorse
    worsthorse Posts: 73 Member
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    stretchmarksaretigerstripes wrote: »
    Motivation and will power are fickle and unreliable. Just stick to a plan regardless of how much you want or don't want to do it.

    CICO. Don't undereat. Keep your goals reasonable and rational (.5-1 lb weekly). Weigh your food. Channel Nike and JUST DO IT! :)

    What she said. Can't emphasize these four enough: CICO, don't undereat, have realistic goals, weigh and log every day. It works if you stay with it. Go for it!

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