Success-Forward Thinking
NovusDies
Posts: 8,940 Member
My idea of success-forward thinking as it relates to weight loss is to get rid of anything unnecessary. Most of this is popular misinformation about what a person needs to do to lose weight.
What it means to ONLY need a calorie deficit to lose weight:
1) You can eat what you want - no need to cut carbs or avoid tasty food. They type of calories don't matter only the total.
2) You can eat when you want - Since only the calorie totals matter how you distribute them makes no difference. Some people want to graze all day and others like me enjoy really big meals so we eat less often.
3) You don't need exercise - exercise IS a good idea but being miserable doing it is not. Misery is a bad bedfellow for weight loss so until you find something you might enjoy doing keep experimenting.
4) You can be as boring as you need - you don't need a diet/method with a popular name unless it helps you.
5) You don't need perfection - If you are just starting off on this journey you have about 1000 calorie deficit each day. This means if you go over your calories by 250 on a day you are still losing weight you are just losing slightly less.
6) You don't have to lose weight everyday you just have to lose weight most days - If you want to celebrate a special event or go on vacation and eat your maintenance calories it doesn't mean you have stopped you just slowed down for a moment.
What it means to NEVER stop:
1) Weight management not just weight loss - If you think of things in terms of forever (or for a very long time) you have a better chance of doing things you can live with.
2) There is no blowing your diet - Even if you eat way too many calories on any given day that is no reason to keep eating the next day and day after.
3) Life is messy - it is very likely you will have messy periods in your life. You may find yourself needing to switch to maintenance mode for awhile while you deal with a situation.
What if you looked at success a different way?
People lose weight all the time but they seldom lose all the weight they want. They stop for many different reasons. I think success shouldn't be measured by losing the next pound. It should be measured by how easy it is to stay on the path to lose the next pound. Easy means that we are feeling happy(ish) and somewhat normal. If we focus on sustainability the pounds will take care of themselves. You only need a calorie deficit to lose weight so how can you make the rest easy on yourself? How can you be happy now?
The overall point here is that you shouldn't burden yourself with anything you don't absolutely need. If "eating healthier" makes it harder to sustain your weight loss you don't need it. If you do need to balance your nutrition better make that a secondary goal and try to implement small changes over time to accomplish it. If going to the gym for cardio makes you miserable you don't need it. Look for alternative methods of getting your heart pumping that you enjoy more.
Think of weight loss as walking up a really steep hill. Take only what you need and don't stuff bricks in your backpack.
What it means to ONLY need a calorie deficit to lose weight:
1) You can eat what you want - no need to cut carbs or avoid tasty food. They type of calories don't matter only the total.
2) You can eat when you want - Since only the calorie totals matter how you distribute them makes no difference. Some people want to graze all day and others like me enjoy really big meals so we eat less often.
3) You don't need exercise - exercise IS a good idea but being miserable doing it is not. Misery is a bad bedfellow for weight loss so until you find something you might enjoy doing keep experimenting.
4) You can be as boring as you need - you don't need a diet/method with a popular name unless it helps you.
5) You don't need perfection - If you are just starting off on this journey you have about 1000 calorie deficit each day. This means if you go over your calories by 250 on a day you are still losing weight you are just losing slightly less.
6) You don't have to lose weight everyday you just have to lose weight most days - If you want to celebrate a special event or go on vacation and eat your maintenance calories it doesn't mean you have stopped you just slowed down for a moment.
What it means to NEVER stop:
1) Weight management not just weight loss - If you think of things in terms of forever (or for a very long time) you have a better chance of doing things you can live with.
2) There is no blowing your diet - Even if you eat way too many calories on any given day that is no reason to keep eating the next day and day after.
3) Life is messy - it is very likely you will have messy periods in your life. You may find yourself needing to switch to maintenance mode for awhile while you deal with a situation.
What if you looked at success a different way?
People lose weight all the time but they seldom lose all the weight they want. They stop for many different reasons. I think success shouldn't be measured by losing the next pound. It should be measured by how easy it is to stay on the path to lose the next pound. Easy means that we are feeling happy(ish) and somewhat normal. If we focus on sustainability the pounds will take care of themselves. You only need a calorie deficit to lose weight so how can you make the rest easy on yourself? How can you be happy now?
The overall point here is that you shouldn't burden yourself with anything you don't absolutely need. If "eating healthier" makes it harder to sustain your weight loss you don't need it. If you do need to balance your nutrition better make that a secondary goal and try to implement small changes over time to accomplish it. If going to the gym for cardio makes you miserable you don't need it. Look for alternative methods of getting your heart pumping that you enjoy more.
Think of weight loss as walking up a really steep hill. Take only what you need and don't stuff bricks in your backpack.
51
Replies
-
I read this a lot....it helps3
-
It really does help!2
-
Stop it ! ..., This was a fabulous read ! Thank you for posting it. I loved it. A lot of things made sense. 🙌🏼
I’ll be sure to come back and read it again when things seem to be difficult.2 -
Thank you for this.....it makes perfect sense and can be applied to daily life easily.1
-
I view it as medical. I already can't eat the way everyone else does (intolerances and allergies). I don't get to a certain point and get to start eating broccoli again, or get strawberries. (I wish!) I'm going to have to avoid them for the rest of my life, and I'm obviously going to have to pay attention to portion control and general calories in vs energy spent for the rest of my life. It's apparently not something that comes natural to me, so I'm going to have to do it consciously. I'm okay with this.2
-
This post helps when I regress and start mentally beating myself up a bit. Thank you 🙏3
-
That is a great way to think about it.2
-
My idea of success-forward thinking as it relates to weight loss is to get rid of anything unnecessary. Most of this is popular misinformation about what a person needs to do to lose weight.
What it means to ONLY need a calorie deficit to lose weight:
1) You can eat what you want - no need to cut carbs or avoid tasty food. They type of calories don't matter only the total.
2) You can eat when you want - Since only the calorie totals matter how you distribute them makes no difference. Some people want to graze all day and others like me enjoy really big meals so we eat less often.
3) You don't need exercise - exercise IS a good idea but being miserable doing it is not. Misery is a bad bedfellow for weight loss so until you find something you might enjoy doing keep experimenting.
4) You can be as boring as you need - you don't need a diet/method with a popular name unless it helps you.
5) You don't need perfection - If you are just starting off on this journey you have about 1000 calorie deficit each day. This means if you go over your calories by 250 on a day you are still losing weight you are just losing slightly less.
6) You don't have to lose weight everyday you just have to lose weight most days - If you want to celebrate a special event or go on vacation and eat your maintenance calories it doesn't mean you have stopped you just slowed down for a moment.
What it means to NEVER stop:
1) Weight management not just weight loss - If you think of things in terms of forever (or for a very long time) you have a better chance of doing things you can live with.
2) There is no blowing your diet - Even if you eat way too many calories on any given day that is no reason to keep eating the next day and day after.
3) Life is messy - it is very likely you will have messy periods in your life. You may find yourself needing to switch to maintenance mode for awhile while you deal with a situation.
What if you looked at success a different way?
People lose weight all the time but they seldom lose all the weight they want. They stop for many different reasons. I think success shouldn't be measured by losing the next pound. It should be measured by how easy it is to stay on the path to lose the next pound. Easy means that we are feeling happy(ish) and somewhat normal. If we focus on sustainability the pounds will take care of themselves. You only need a calorie deficit to lose weight so how can you make the rest easy on yourself? How can you be happy now?
The overall point here is that you shouldn't burden yourself with anything you don't absolutely need. If "eating healthier" makes it harder to sustain your weight loss you don't need it. If you do need to balance your nutrition better make that a secondary goal and try to implement small changes over time to accomplish it. If going to the gym for cardio makes you miserable you don't need it. Look for alternative methods of getting your heart pumping that you enjoy more.
Think of weight loss as walking up a really steep hill. Take only what you need and don't stuff bricks in your backpack.
Since Novus isn’t with us right now, I decided to repost one of his posts!...I think it is something we all need to remember!...it is a very good post...6 -
Thank you, Connie! I needed it!2
-
This really is a very helpful post.....5
-
Really great post
0 -
Bump - excellent reminder of 😘 KISS3
-
I'm pulling lots of energy from your "Success Forward Thinking" post today, @NovusDies . Despite all my recent "blips" I am honestly starting to feel like I'm doing well It's taken awhile to hit this point. It is a long journey, with many different phases. And that is all okay and they are all worthy of being pleased with when they are part of the greater whole.
I didn't even come to this thread to read that post...this is why I was looking around:
Over the past few days I've been thinking that maybe I need a shorter term goal that matches my current weight loss rate. I've been wanting to get to my final goal of 150lbs (about 25 pounds away) for awhile now. Last year - losing 25 pounds was eezy-peezy. Not now. So, I'm going to recognize and respect that and set a new, short-term goal of reaching 165lbs. Which is somewhere around a ten pounds away (not weighing myself for a few days because of that kilo of nan bread that found its way mostly into my belly not the bellys of the rest of my family who I bought it for...lol). I was thinking that might be a way to get me through the weird barrier I keep hitting around 168 pounds. Maybe if I only had 3 more pounds to go beyond that, it will feel so tantalizingly close I will be able to power through that wall???
But, when I was looking for a place to write that "new goal post" I found my way here again, and I honestly think this is where I needed to be today. I read Novus's post from a different place this time. And it felt really good.
Missed everyone the past few days....really glad to be back here.4 -
I just bookmarked this. I think every time I start my old "diet" habits I am going to come back and read this again. What stuck with me today is that I need to think in terms of "weight management" and not "weight loss". I need a healthy lifestyle that is sustainable and realistic vs my roller coaster yo-yo diets I do.
Thank you for this post!4 -
Bumping this!3
-
Bumper cars for post Christmas peops.
Give this another, really SLOW and CAREFUL read even if you've read it before❣️
How much of it are you implementing?0 -
Good to read again. And we can all find something that fits our own particular stage. I'm really trying to focus on being healthier and fitter - rather than simply losing weight - so some of it doesn't feel like it fits right now - but other parts are so very very perfectly timed. Thank you for the bumps.3
-
My idea of success-forward thinking as it relates to weight loss is to get rid of anything unnecessary. Most of this is popular misinformation about what a person needs to do to lose weight.
What it means to ONLY need a calorie deficit to lose weight:
1) You can eat what you want - no need to cut carbs or avoid tasty food. They type of calories don't matter only the total.
2) You can eat when you want - Since only the calorie totals matter how you distribute them makes no difference. Some people want to graze all day and others like me enjoy really big meals so we eat less often.
3) You don't need exercise - exercise IS a good idea but being miserable doing it is not. Misery is a bad bedfellow for weight loss so until you find something you might enjoy doing keep experimenting.
4) You can be as boring as you need - you don't need a diet/method with a popular name unless it helps you.
5) You don't need perfection - If you are just starting off on this journey you have about 1000 calorie deficit each day. This means if you go over your calories by 250 on a day you are still losing weight you are just losing slightly less.
6) You don't have to lose weight everyday you just have to lose weight most days - If you want to celebrate a special event or go on vacation and eat your maintenance calories it doesn't mean you have stopped you just slowed down for a moment.
What it means to NEVER stop:
1) Weight management not just weight loss - If you think of things in terms of forever (or for a very long time) you have a better chance of doing things you can live with.
2) There is no blowing your diet - Even if you eat way too many calories on any given day that is no reason to keep eating the next day and day after.
3) Life is messy - it is very likely you will have messy periods in your life. You may find yourself needing to switch to maintenance mode for awhile while you deal with a situation.
What if you looked at success a different way?
People lose weight all the time but they seldom lose all the weight they want. They stop for many different reasons. I think success shouldn't be measured by losing the next pound. It should be measured by how easy it is to stay on the path to lose the next pound. Easy means that we are feeling happy(ish) and somewhat normal. If we focus on sustainability the pounds will take care of themselves. You only need a calorie deficit to lose weight so how can you make the rest easy on yourself? How can you be happy now?
The overall point here is that you shouldn't burden yourself with anything you don't absolutely need. If "eating healthier" makes it harder to sustain your weight loss you don't need it. If you do need to balance your nutrition better make that a secondary goal and try to implement small changes over time to accomplish it. If going to the gym for cardio makes you miserable you don't need it. Look for alternative methods of getting your heart pumping that you enjoy more.
Think of weight loss as walking up a really steep hill. Take only what you need and don't stuff bricks in your backpack.
Everyone should read this post that Novus wrote….I think it is very helpful!
4 -
NovusDies sums it all up so well. We’ve all learned from his wisdom. Wonder where he is and how he’s doing?2
-
-
Bella! Miss her too. And our bride-to-be Alexandra has been missing for a while. I do get attached to my online friends!2
-
-
Are we talking Bella_Figura?? So worried about her sister (and missing her).
@NovusDies stopped posting right around when I started, would've loved to "meet" him, have read & benefitted from many of his posts - including this one - thanks for the bump!4 -
Garrrrrrfieeeeeeeeld!!!!!!!!!
Alexandra!!!!!!!!!!!!!!2 -
@Bella_Figura - thinking of you....we all are....looking foward to hearing from you again
2 -
@AlexandraFindsHerself1971 - hope you are having the grandest of times. Come tell us all about it when things settle. 2
-
Many of the posts from Novus are still available here…he was an extremely private individual with the exception of sharing his weight loss journey….we should thank Pav for so graciously picking up the reins for this small unruly bunch of us…if it were not for MFP and this group I would most likely be hitting the scales at over 400 pounds….3
-
Actually Connie....ta da da: you my friend are the leader in the group!
I'm just hanging out and sharing that: There is hope for what I believe to be fairly good outcomes. I went through many phases where I didn't believe that to be the case (i.e. that longer term success was possible). internalizing that something can actually be done can be useful! MFP and forums helped me.
Getting there does entail making the commitment to make some incremental changes that ARE possible. (For many years was not willing to contemplate change because A was too far away from Z. But A to B to C --little things added up-- actually works!)
It is not necessarily something most of us can autopilot through; but it is also not unmitigated white knuckle hang in by fingernails hard work all the time. Or rather it doesn't have to be and probably success rates will be higher if it isn't!!!!
And random other musings 🙀 😘
(When I was in high school I once spent an hour unable to write a three page double spaced essay on any subject of my choosing!!!! 🤣😹😂 The monsters we create!!!!🤣)3 -
I don’t think I am the leader but I knew this small but mighty group had to keep going after Novus abandoned us!…people that need to lose or have lost a significant amount of weight do have unique obstacles to overcome that someone who needs to lose 10 or 15 pounds can never understand!4
