How Many Do-Overs Do We Get?

eclecticpixxie
eclecticpixxie Posts: 56 Member
in Motivation and Support
Remember when we were kids playing kick ball and if someone scratched they could call for a "do-over?" We could have 1 do-over.

So how many do-overs do we get doing myfitnesspal?

I started out at 245. Then all kinds of stuff happened and I quickly lost track of tracking my food and now I sit at 250. Ugh! Is it okay on here to restart?

Also, I decided that the gym thing is no longer for me. Ever since the cardio gym I went to closed out (and then we moved anyway) I've lacked motivation. So what about just a nice 1/2 hour walk every day? I love the sidewalks here. And I've started a crusade to keep our neighborhoods clean (whats with the kids and their juice cartons? lol)

Another question: has anyone been into TOPS? They have a local group here at the seniors' center. Nice ladies, all older. I get the impression its more for socialization than anything but thats cool too. If you've tried TOPS please let me know- good or bad- what you think.

So those are the three questions:

1- Are do-overs or restarts okay?
2- Is a half hour walk good enough to start out with?
3- And what does anyone know about TOPS?

Thanks ya'all!

Replies

  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    You get as many as you need. Half hour walk is a great place to start! Never heard of TOPS, but good luck!
  • Go_Deskercise
    Go_Deskercise Posts: 1,630 Member
    1 - I start over every week because I eat/drink too much on the weekends (currently trying to fix this)

    2 - I work a desk job and only workout on my lunch break most days for around 15-20 minutes

    3 - Had to google it lol. Weight loss support groups are great! If you have to pay for it, that's up to you though.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    1- Don't think of it as a restart, just think of it as all part of the process, you tried some things and/or made some changes that didn't stick. Figure out why and/or what you need to do different and keep going.

    2- Exercise isn't mandatory to lose weight, though any increase in activity, whether it intentional (like going for a walk) or incidental as part of your daily routine (parking farther away from the door, taking stairs instead of elevator, etc.) are steps (quite literally) in the right direction.

    3- Also had to google TOPS; having a support/accountability system can definitely be beneficial, and will look different for the needs of each individual. Per my googling, it looks like the first visit is free and the annual price seems fairly reasonable. If it's something you think you'd benefit from there's no harm in going to the free visit to get a feel for the program.

    Good luck!
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    1- Are do-overs or restarts okay?
    Every day is a new day with new choices. We all start over every day even when you get to your goal. You can change your goals/diet to something less restrictive/agressive if what you were doing before was unsustainable. Maybe just get in the habit of logging before you start reducing calories. MFP is a tool for you to use however you want really.

    2- Is a half hour walk good enough to start out with?
    Depends on your goals and condition. You can lose weight without exercise. If 30 minutes of walking is more than you were doing then it is a good goal to shoot for. If it is much less activity then maybe it is not enough. Moving more is generally healthier than being sedentary. There are lots of ways to be active. Lots of people walk. Some people ride bikes. Some people dance. Find something you like.
    There are lots of free workout videos on You Tube if you want to try other things at home.

    3- And what does anyone know about TOPS?
    I don't know much about this. I know there is a group meeting in my town but I have never explored it. I think it is something like weight watchers but not the same with points and stuff.
    On their site they say your first visit to a chapter is free.
    http://www.tops.org/tops/TOPS/About_TOPS.aspx
  • eclecticpixxie
    eclecticpixxie Posts: 56 Member
    Thank you all so much! Well, here we go! :)
  • mfpfreedomnow
    mfpfreedomnow Posts: 52 Member
    edited February 2018
    As long as we're breathing and our mental faculties are still in tact, we get a do over.
  • eclecticpixxie
    eclecticpixxie Posts: 56 Member
    mfpfreedomnow wrote: »
    As long as we're breathing and our mental faculties are still in tact, we get a do over.

    I like this!!! :)
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,532 Member
    If you make your food diary the center of your program, you will never need another reboot. Track everything every day, good, bad and ugly. Eventually you will make a mistake, or lose concentration or get tired, and eat too much. Track it anyway. The process is more important than the numbers.

    If you forget to record a meal, go back and do your best to fill it in. No idea how many calories were in something? Make a good faith guess. Just get everything down with a good faith number. It doesn’t need to be perfect. The only way to mess it up is quit.

    Btw, I tracked for years with pen and paper. I thought the computer was a pain.
  • franklin5280
    franklin5280 Posts: 80 Member
    mfpfreedomnow wrote: »
    As long as we're breathing and our mental faculties are still in tact, we get a do over.

    1. Every day you wake up breathing can be a do over day.
    2. Walking is great as a beginner. The mitochondria in your large muscles which are the power plants of your cells, some switch off if a person doesn’t move enough. 20-30 minutes a day is enough to kick these babies back to work raising your metabolism.
    3. Accountability structures are really important. Find successful people. Learn not only their successes but what mistakes did they make along the way.

    Make friends ask questions.

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    TOPS the weight loss group thing?

    I have a funny story about TOPS. I used to work at TGIFridays. If you've been there you know they have big portions and a lot of fried stuff.

    On Wednesday night a group of 4-10 women would come in at 10PM and have potato skins, fries, burgers, onion rings, fried mozzarella, poppers, basically a smorgasboard of appetizers. Then they'd have desserts.

    They were all large ladies.


    Turns out weigh-in was on Wednesday and then they came to TGIF. :neutral:


    I don't think it was working for them.


    So maybe skip the after-meeting meetings. (?) Just a thought.
  • onematch
    onematch Posts: 241 Member
    As many as it takes. I probably first joined MFP more than ten years ago, and never lost a significant amount of weight until this year. I don't even know why, but something just clicked this time and I've lost 65 pounds - with about 20 more to go. If I have a bad day, I tell myself that no matter how many Oreos I just ate I surely haven't regained all I've lost so far. So I pick myself up, dust myself off, and get back on track.
    I'm not perfect. I still overeat, but less often than I used to.
    There is no deadline and no finish line. Just keep living and doing your best each day.
  • StarvingDiva
    StarvingDiva Posts: 1,107 Member
    1- Every meal is a chance to do better
    2- Any movement even if it's just a stroll around the block is better than nothing
    3- I don't know much about TOPS a friend of mine from High School used to go, she currently is around 360, I think like anything else you get out of it what you put into it.
  • gjfredrick
    gjfredrick Posts: 5 Member
    Today is my start over day, so I've been there done that. As long as you keep trying and don't give up you can do it.

    Walking is great exercise, do what works for you.

    I actually did go to TOPS many years ago. It did work for me. I was the youngest member (a teenager) and didn't really fit in with all of the older ladies but they were a nice group. I'm not sure how other tops groups did their motivation but the one I went to..you weighed in and at the beginning of the meeting they would tell the group who had lost weight and how much...everyone would applaud their loss....but heaven forbid if you gained an ounce...they would say your name and tell how much you gained and dead silence....wow talk about motivation to not be the one in the group to gain weight that week. We did not just socialize, there were a lot of weight loss tips, cooking/menu suggestions, etc. I am considering rejoining because I need motivation.
  • Jo25369
    Jo25369 Posts: 39 Member
    As many as we need. Every day, every meal, every minute is a new time to start again, if needed

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  • eclecticpixxie
    eclecticpixxie Posts: 56 Member
    edited February 2018
    cmriverside wrote: »
    TOPS the weight loss group thing?

    I have a funny story about TOPS. I used to work at TGIFridays. If you've been there you know they have big portions and a lot of fried stuff.

    On Wednesday night a group of 4-10 women would come in at 10PM and have potato skins, fries, burgers, onion rings, fried mozzarella, poppers, basically a smorgasboard of appetizers. Then they'd have desserts.

    They were all large ladies.


    Turns out weigh-in was on Wednesday and then they came to TGIF. :neutral:


    I don't think it was working for them.


    So maybe skip the after-meeting meetings. (?) Just a thought.

    LOL okay thats funny! lol.

    Well I went to the one yesterday after my daily trash pick up (what I'm doing for exercise is walking my neighborhood area and picking up trash). Anyway, there was a mound of fruit in the middle of the table. I thought: huh?

    I was the baby of the bunch and I'm over 60. Anyway, they did a weigh in and one woman lost 1/4 pound that week (its a weekly weigh in) and she got all the fruit. Everyone else gained.

    They also had an attendance contest where in every week they each put in .10 and at the end of the month the winner gets all the money. In all fairness, these are mostly widowed older women on fixed incomes. So the concept was a good one for them.

    The thing is that all the other ladies gained weight. There was no discussion about nutrition, etc. and mostly it was talking about the foods they like to eat. No recipe swaps, nothing. So I think its more of a socialization outlet for these very nice ladies. Not sure it would work other than I would have to be the "inspiration" and, honestly, I think it would be too easy to make the same excuses.

    People say you have to find what works for you. Well, counting out my calories using MFP works pretty well. Seeing what I consume every day and being able to say: "ok, you're at the max, stop now", seems to help. I just have to remember to do it for every meal every day.

    As to exercise, except on cold days (ITP makes being out in the cold very uncomfortable, actually physically painful for me) the concept of walking the neighborhood, picking up trash, actually works. I did it twice yesterday (before it got cold) once in the morning for 45 mins and once in the early evening for 30. Trash in the morning, evening was just for the pleasure of the sunset.

    Anyway, thank you all so much for your help, ideas and suggestions. Mostly the encouragement to keep-a-goin, as my late Mom said.


  • Sofia_Aleman
    Sofia_Aleman Posts: 17 Member
    edited February 2018
    1. I feel like you need do-overs, as you learn/adopt healthier habits and behaviors. I've gained some weight back, but in losing it again I've been more "efficient" and less likely to do or eat something that is a fad

    Wish you success on your do-over.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    Yeah, I think that's the trick. One day at a time, one meal at a time. Accept that some days are better than others and always always keep swimming.
  • AlMonkey
    AlMonkey Posts: 258 Member
    I was in TOPS a few years ago with my mom and grandma. I definitely got the idea it was more social and I left when the leader there discredited exercise (she had health condition that caused her not to be able to do much but she also encouraged my mom and I to not do what we could)

    My mom still goes but I was younger than everyone by a good 20 years so there wasn’t much social for me.
  • mca90guitar
    mca90guitar Posts: 289 Member
    Giving up isn't going to help, get back in the game and try the best you can. Think alot of people fall of the wagon along the way. Life happens, injuries happen, when things are back to normal came back and keep going.

  • ACanadian22
    ACanadian22 Posts: 377 Member
    I know 3 people who do TOPS. All have lost unbelievable amounts of weight. One actually won a trip for the most weight lost in the group.
    You aren't giving up cause you are here :)
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    I just restarted again today after three poor days.

    I use Google fit to track steps. I just upped my goal another 500 for this week. I will keep it there until I am consistent. I am doing this to avoid injuries.
  • mxchana
    mxchana Posts: 666 Member
    How many do-overs? As many as it takes to reach your current goals! And then you can set new goals. :)
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,342 Member
    edited February 2018
    I don't look at it as a do over, I look at it as getting back to the way I eat most of the time as quickly as I can. I've decided my norm is healthier eating(which I do most of the time) therefore if splurge I just go back to my norm of healthier eating as quickly as possible. If you look at it as a do over then it might just highlight them as failures, and they aren't, it's all part of normal living. Another thing is don't wait until the next day, start as soon as you realize it. That way you won't spend the rest of the day feeling like you have a free pass because you already ate badly.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    You get as many do-overs as it takes.
  • KeepRunningFatboy
    KeepRunningFatboy Posts: 3,055 Member
    I lost count after I passed 7000 or so do overs
  • eclecticpixxie
    eclecticpixxie Posts: 56 Member
    AlMonkey wrote: »
    I was in TOPS a few years ago with my mom and grandma. I definitely got the idea it was more social and I left when the leader there discredited exercise (she had health condition that caused her not to be able to do much but she also encouraged my mom and I to not do what we could)

    My mom still goes but I was younger than everyone by a good 20 years so there wasn’t much social for me.

    Yeah. I have some health issues that inhibit the types of exercise but not all exercise. I found out years ago that I like walking if there's sidewalks. Don't like walking in the street, peoples yards or drainage gutters. But this neighborhood has sidewalks. When it rains I can hit a nearby large store like Wally World or Lowes and walk the parameter.

    I got the impression from the ladies at the tops meeting that they were not all that serious about diet and so can figure they're not about exercise, either. Hubby suggests that I go anyway and "be the example" and I might- later. But while Ive not fully developed my own weight loss I think I don't need the negative influence.

    Thank you so much for sharing, AlMonkey. Made me realize my assessment was right!
  • eclecticpixxie
    eclecticpixxie Posts: 56 Member
    mca90guitar wrote: »
    Giving up isn't going to help, get back in the game and try the best you can. Think alot of people fall of the wagon along the way. Life happens, injuries happen, when things are back to normal came back and keep going.

    Thanks! Part of the issue was a move. We moved from one location where I lived 20 years to a new place and didn't even have a home to move to, yet! So anxiety set in. We stayed in a mini-apartment and I did cook but to be honest, I gave myself permission to fall off the wagon, rationalizing I needed to treat this like a vacation with food perks. Not a good idea!

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