4 years using MFP - 12 months losing 80 lb then 3 years keeping it off
Replies
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Tolstolobik wrote: »
@Tolstolobik You're so kind. How are you getting along? Anything in particular making a difference lately? And/or do you have any questions?
Also, @diannethegeek you're kind of like my science yardstick. xo I wanted you to check out this thread.
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Love this thread, such an inspiration
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Weigh yourself once a day at the most, and always at the same time and under the same circumstances (e.g. in the morning, after using the bathroom but before breakfast). Preferably use a trending weight app like Libra or Happy Scale to smooth out the inevitable lumps and bumps... for the majority of people, there won't be a consistent drop daily or even weekly, it'll be all over the place like you said.
Speaking of discouragement/disappointment when it comes to scale weight...
Please be aware Libra is not infallible and has its own set of problems. Gain weight for 10 days, even if it's "just" four lbs. gained and then lost when it's all said and done from acute contaminated injury based edema and antimicrobial use, and it just freaks the eff out. Took my expected goal date three years further out for several of those day and is currently sitting at over a year further out than it was pre-injury. Nor will a sane trend/goal date happen for the additional seven days, minimum, it will take to establish a new one.
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grinning_chick wrote: »Weigh yourself once a day at the most, and always at the same time and under the same circumstances (e.g. in the morning, after using the bathroom but before breakfast). Preferably use a trending weight app like Libra or Happy Scale to smooth out the inevitable lumps and bumps... for the majority of people, there won't be a consistent drop daily or even weekly, it'll be all over the place like you said.
Speaking of discouragement/disappointment when it comes to scale weight...
Please be aware Libra is not infallible and has its own set of problems. Gain weight for 10 days, even if it's "just" four lbs. gained and then lost when it's all said and done from acute contaminated injury based edema and antimicrobial use, and it just freaks the eff out. Took my expected goal date three years further out for several of those day and is currently sitting at over a year further out than it was pre-injury. Nor will a sane trend/goal date happen for the additional seven days, minimum, it will take to establish a new one.
Thanks for posting that warning for others.
I'll add that Happy Scale doesn't give you an estimated date to reach goal (or if it does somewhere I've never looked for it).
I also always ignore the MFP notification about 1 month loss at the end of the day. I fear it encourages extreme deficits.0 -
Woo hoo, milestone today!!
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BUMP because 1) everyone should read this and 2) you're awesome 2
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Thats true about the trending weight apps, one higher figure knocks the trend off for days and days....annoying but that seems to be how it goes. Pity it doesn't work the same way when its a nice low number thats input!2
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Eating back my exercise calories has been a game changer this time around. It's probably the best tip that I don't always read in post such as these.4
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smoofinator wrote: »BUMP because 1) everyone should read this and 2) you're awesome
Aww, thanks so much!!alondrakar wrote: »Eating back my exercise calories has been a game changer this time around. It's probably the best tip that I don't always read in post such as these.
Thanks! Yes, it really is a huge lesson to learn.
People can't seem to work out that they're burning the weight loss candle at both ends.
Plus a lot of the old advice (before fitness trackers were so accurate) was that you should only eat back half your exercise burns. Old threads get bumped, and the outdated information spreads.
Combine all that with being hung-up on being "motivated" (which can read like they're frantic), and they find it hard to stop and think things through.1 -
smoofinator wrote: »BUMP because 1) everyone should read this and 2) you're awesome
Aww, thanks so much!!alondrakar wrote: »Eating back my exercise calories has been a game changer this time around. It's probably the best tip that I don't always read in post such as these.
Thanks! Yes, it really is a huge lesson to learn.
People can't seem to work out that they're burning the weight loss candle at both ends.
Plus a lot of the old advice (before fitness trackers were so accurate) was that you should only eat back half your exercise burns. Old threads get bumped, and the outdated information spreads.
Combine all that with being hung-up on being "motivated" (which can read like they're frantic), and they find it hard to stop and think things through.
Question about eating back exercise calories. I find imputing exercise into MFP to be allll over the board. It’s also excruciatingly tedious HA! I lift. I switch things up. Sometimes I lift in a timed format, sometimes I lift according to sets/reps. Sometimes when I lift my heart is getting a workout just like cardio. Sometimes I’m sweating and working hard but my heart rate isn’t super fast.
I’m curious how other people tackle this. My “solution” so far has been to put my “daily activity level” one tick higher than it actually is + double check MFP calorie recommendations against a separate website (I have since forgotten the name but could look it up if necessary)
I had excellent results with this 2yrs ago when I was logging regularly (I’ve been pregnant/nursing/pregnat/nursing for the last 4yrs and I don’t track when I’m pregnant, my intiluitive eating has been great while growing babies). Over 9m of nursing (started 3m pp) I lost 20lbs (.5lb a week) and WOW did my body comp change! Now that I know more terminology, I was in “recomp.”
Apparently my methods work for me so far, but I’m curious how other people get around this. Especially imputing your workouts when they’re varied. I enjoy switching things up so literally every day is different in some way or I would save it or something. Plus the amount of weight I lift effects it and such.
Does anyone else find that more tedious than logging food?
How are you guys logging exercise in a way that’s efficient & accurate?0 -
smoofinator wrote: »BUMP because 1) everyone should read this and 2) you're awesome
Aww, thanks so much!!alondrakar wrote: »Eating back my exercise calories has been a game changer this time around. It's probably the best tip that I don't always read in post such as these.
Thanks! Yes, it really is a huge lesson to learn.
People can't seem to work out that they're burning the weight loss candle at both ends.
Plus a lot of the old advice (before fitness trackers were so accurate) was that you should only eat back half your exercise burns. Old threads get bumped, and the outdated information spreads.
Combine all that with being hung-up on being "motivated" (which can read like they're frantic), and they find it hard to stop and think things through.
Question about eating back exercise calories. I find imputing exercise into MFP to be allll over the board. It’s also excruciatingly tedious HA! I lift. I switch things up. Sometimes I lift in a timed format, sometimes I lift according to sets/reps. Sometimes when I lift my heart is getting a workout just like cardio. Sometimes I’m sweating and working hard but my heart rate isn’t super fast.
I’m curious how other people tackle this. My “solution” so far has been to put my “daily activity level” one tick higher than it actually is + double check MFP calorie recommendations against a separate website (I have since forgotten the name but could look it up if necessary)
I had excellent results with this 2yrs ago when I was logging regularly (I’ve been pregnant/nursing/pregnat/nursing for the last 4yrs and I don’t track when I’m pregnant, my intiluitive eating has been great while growing babies). Over 9m of nursing (started 3m pp) I lost 20lbs (.5lb a week) and WOW did my body comp change! Now that I know more terminology, I was in “recomp.”
Apparently my methods work for me so far, but I’m curious how other people get around this. Especially imputing your workouts when they’re varied. I enjoy switching things up so literally every day is different in some way or I would save it or something. Plus the amount of weight I lift effects it and such.
Does anyone else find that more tedious than logging food?
How are you guys logging exercise in a way that’s efficient & accurate?
@jaroby Excellent questions.
The general rules is that breastfeeding usually uses 500 calories a day, which might help you work out your past deficit or maintenance calories during nursing.
I've always used a smart watch with heartrate monitor to calculate my exercise burns, and they have been very accurate. Some smart watches don't record strength sessions, though.
Firstly a Fitbit Charge 2. (Didn't log any lifting with that, though, just walking and running.)
Now I use a Garmin Fenix 5.
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Bump1
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smoofinator wrote: »Bump
Thanks, @smoofinator How are you going?
Today my moving average weight AND my scale weight today (65 kg) are exactly in the middle of my goal weight range (64-66 kg). Haha, not often they all align, though they've all been within range for 3+ years.
Did some embroidery of my own design on a little black singlet dress this morning I'm so happy about I don't want to show anyone in case they say something that'll spoil my happy "secret".
Went to parkrun as usual, helped pace a friend to a post-pregnancy PB, and had a great conversation with a runner & architect.
Been doing a lot of Googling and sharing about recycling collection points and methods, and noticing that being conscientious about extra recycling and being tidy is a GREAT way to add steps and activity to your day.4 -
Bump and I'm doing alright. Slow and steady wins the race!
You're an inspiration in so many ways!2 -
smoofinator wrote: »Bump and I'm doing alright. Slow and steady wins the race!
You're an inspiration in so many ways!
@smoofinator
"Slow and steady wins the race!"
Exactly, this! So much can be said, but it boils down to that.
There's so much extremism in so many things these days, though it's part of human nature and communication to boil things down to extreme simplicities to "save time".
Luckily we can hopefully think things through, and learn as we go.1 -
Bump1
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Congratulations 0
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@Orphia
Great post thank you for sharing and being so candid!
Wow! Eat back exercise calories? Seems so taboo! I know you know what your talking about but wow this would be a game changer for me. I've never done that
@Ketch_22 Cool username! Thanks!
Tell me more about yourself, and your eating/activity/deficit/fitness tracker etc. Have you been a "serial regainer"?
My zest for life motivates me" is an attitude that sounds promising. And always remember that habits help on the inevitable down days.0 -
Bump1
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I loved this post and read it thoroughly. Thank you!1
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sarabellem0 wrote: »I loved this post and read it thoroughly. Thank you!
@sarabellem0 Thank you! It's very nice of you to comment.
I see you joined nearly a year ago. What are you working on weight-wise at the moment? Any recent insights for you?0 -
Amazing post @Orphia. I'm relatively new (3 months) to MFP and Fitbit, & still finding my way round the sites. I haven't yet linked my Fitbit to MFP - I'm assuming this is a good idea? Also, though I do occasionally eat back the exercise calories, I feel like I'm 'stealing' them! My journey on MFP began after I was diagnosed with T2 Diabetes on May 17th. Thankfully, I've just been told that I've gone into remission, so no medication/injections for me, yay! As of today, I've lost 36 lbs in that time. After years of being a 'couch potato', I now walk/dance/swim every day. I eat healthily, resisting cakes/chocolates/sweets - but still eat 2 ginger snaps each day, as a little treat. Last Sunday, after a gap of over 34 years, I went roller skating again. it was fantastic - though scary!! (After having two total knee replacements, my Consultant had said 'no', my husband had said 'no', and my children did too. I'm a bit of a rebel though....
) If I do half as well as you have, ie losing weight, keeping it off, AND becoming fitter, I'll be delighted.
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Lindyloo54321 wrote: »Amazing post @Orphia. I'm relatively new (3 months) to MFP and Fitbit, & still finding my way round the sites. I haven't yet linked my Fitbit to MFP - I'm assuming this is a good idea? Also, though I do occasionally eat back the exercise calories, I feel like I'm 'stealing' them! My journey on MFP began after I was diagnosed with T2 Diabetes on May 17th. Thankfully, I've just been told that I've gone into remission, so no medication/injections for me, yay! As of today, I've lost 36 lbs in that time. After years of being a 'couch potato', I now walk/dance/swim every day. I eat healthily, resisting cakes/chocolates/sweets - but still eat 2 ginger snaps each day, as a little treat. Last Sunday, after a gap of over 34 years, I went roller skating again. it was fantastic - though scary!! (After having two total knee replacements, my Consultant had said 'no', my husband had said 'no', and my children did too. I'm a bit of a rebel though.... ) If I do half as well as you have, ie losing weight, keeping it off, AND becoming fitter, I'll be delighted.
@Lindyloo54321 Hi, nice to meet you!
It's funny, it takes us soooo long to process things we read. You've read my post, but you still wonder if you should eat back exercise calories.
And I said, it also took ME months to eat back exercise calories, even though I knew I should and had read it often enough.
We forget that once we put in our data and goal weight, MFP tells us how many calories we need to eat.
MFP is not telling us to eat less than that (our daily calorie allowance).
If you eat less than that and/or you also don't eat the calories you burn as exercise on top of your normal daily activity, you're burning a candle at/with multiple ends.
That's what so many people do, and why they don't last long enough.
Learn to recognise yourself feeling guilty when you do this, and don't do things that make you feel guilty!
Also, don't feel guilty about those ginger snaps! Love it.
You mustn't punish yourself while trying to lose weight. That's also why people who follow extreme diet/exercise plans can't stick to it.3 -
Well done you, reading threads in MFP Community! This community has been a huge part of my success.
Here’s a bunch of things I’ve learnt here that have been very important and helpful.
Make friends with and learn from successful people.
Use the Help Section and the Most Helpful Posts in General Weight Loss, Getting Started, and Fitness. These are the Announcement threads stickied at the top of those forums in Community.
Learn how to log accurately and quickly using advice given in those posts. A digital food scale is a great addition to your kitchen. Log solid food in grams, and liquids in millilitres. Don’t just log “1 cup of pasta” or “1 medium avocado”. These things can be out by hundreds of calories, especially if you’re not honest with yourself.
You MUST be honest with yourself! Try to log food before or as soon as you eat it, or, as many studies have shown, you won’t let yourself remember. Logging is very quick once you have your regular foods entered once.
Find an exercise you love. If you love it, you’ll keep exercising.
Eat back exercise calories! Fast weight loss is bad! Fast weight loss messes with your leptin (satiety hormone) and ghrelin (hunger hormone) which are part of our metabolism. When those are out of whack, that is when people can’t control their hunger and binge and yo-yo. All those “serial starters” probably crash diet, then overeat, repeatedly and repeatedly. Learning not to crash diet is very, very important!
Once I’d had a talking-to and learned I must eat back my exercise calories, I discovered I had more energy and really got into running. My Fitbit Charge HR (and now my Garmin Fenix 5) both measured my walking/running exercise burns very accurately. I ate/eat back 95% of the calories.
MFP sets your calorie limit according to your weight loss goal.
So if you eat back the extra calories you earn, it’s still going to mean you will lose weight.
If you don’t eat exercise calories back, that’s when you lose muscle, get weaker, move less, get really hungry, and can end up with an eating disorder, or crashing and burning and failing to reach goal weight.
Stick to your weekly calorie limit. Have some days or weeks where you eat at maintenance, to help regulate your metabolism/hormones.
The idea is to eat in a way that will teach you habits you can stick to for life.
There’s no point doing a crazy diet then going back to eating the way you used to. Hello yo-yo!
Reduce your weekly weight loss goal when you lose weight along the way.
Volume Eating. Fruit and veg have fibre which makes you feel full, and they bulk up the size of your meal without adding many calories. Protein, fat, and fibre can make you feel fuller. My macronutrients are usually around 50% carbohydrates, 30% fat, 20% protein, and that keeps me very healthy, active, and happy. Please talk regularly to a doctor and/or dietitian about your health and dietary requirements.
Better health through technology. MFP of course! Strava! I love this app! Lots of health apps. Daybreak for alcohol regulation.
Happy Scale app, iPeriod app! Daily weight fluctuations are normal! Most successful people seem to weigh themselves daily and record it. It gives you an idea how sodium, hormone cycles, exercise, and stress can mean you hold more water some days. Eating a “forbidden food” (I don’t have any) will not make you gain 2 lb in one day. The human body can’t convert an additional 7,000 calories over your calorie limit into 2 lb of fat in one day! (1 lb of fat = 3,500 calories.) The “weight gain” has got to have been a big workout, ovulation/menstruation, a few thousand milligrams of salt, a little bit more waste in the digestive tract, or something like that.
Body Recomposition. It’s hard to get your weightloss mindset switched to a maintenance mindset. I went 2 kg lower than what turned out to be my perfect weight. But by exercising daily I’ve added that 2 kg back in muscle. Even though I weigh a little more now, I’m more defined.
Make friends with successful people! Join some Challenges in the Challenges forum. I’ve learned so much from my friends in the Running, Less Alcohol, and Self-care challenge threads, and we’ve done some amazing things together.
Decluttering. Letting go. Have your life filled with things you love. Don’t give space or time to things or behaviour that drag you down.
Get regular health checks by doctors, psychologists, dieticians. I don’t need any medication anymore.
Medical and mental health advice are awesome!
Thanks for reading, and thank you, My Fitness Pal!
Finally, some of my favourite mantras:
You might as well keep trying because the time will pass anyway.
Don’t wait around for motivation. Just do it.
Don’t believe everything you think.
Have you any before pics. Xxx1 -
Lindyloo54321 wrote: »Amazing post @Orphia. I'm relatively new (3 months) to MFP and Fitbit, & still finding my way round the sites. I haven't yet linked my Fitbit to MFP - I'm assuming this is a good idea? Also, though I do occasionally eat back the exercise calories, I feel like I'm 'stealing' them! My journey on MFP began after I was diagnosed with T2 Diabetes on May 17th. Thankfully, I've just been told that I've gone into remission, so no medication/injections for me, yay! As of today, I've lost 36 lbs in that time. After years of being a 'couch potato', I now walk/dance/swim every day. I eat healthily, resisting cakes/chocolates/sweets - but still eat 2 ginger snaps each day, as a little treat. Last Sunday, after a gap of over 34 years, I went roller skating again. it was fantastic - though scary!! (After having two total knee replacements, my Consultant had said 'no', my husband had said 'no', and my children did too. I'm a bit of a rebel though.... ) If I do half as well as you have, ie losing weight, keeping it off, AND becoming fitter, I'll be delighted.
@Lindyloo54321 Hi, nice to meet you!
It's funny, it takes us soooo long to process things we read. You've read my post, but you still wonder if you should eat back exercise calories.
And I said, it also took ME months to eat back exercise calories, even though I knew I should and had read it often enough.
We forget that once we put in our data and goal weight, MFP tells us how many calories we need to eat.
MFP is not telling us to eat less than that (our daily calorie allowance).
If you eat less than that and/or you also don't eat the calories you burn as exercise on top of your normal daily activity, you're burning a candle at/with multiple ends.
That's what so many people do, and why they don't last long enough.
Learn to recognise yourself feeling guilty when you do this, and don't do things that make you feel guilty!
Also, don't feel guilty about those ginger snaps! Love it.
You mustn't punish yourself while trying to lose weight. That's also why people who follow extreme diet/exercise plans can't stick to it.
@Orphia Thanks for your reply. You're spot on - I need to get over the guilt of eating back exercise calories. Starting tomorrow, I'll do just that. (Having a slightly lazy day today, after a bit too much exertion yesterday!).
I keep expecting my weight loss to slow right down, but equally, I'm delighted when yet another lb drops off. I love the positivity of your OP, and I'm sure it'll inspire me to stay on this journey. It's many years since I've felt this positive, so thank you again.
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donnadee1984 wrote: »Well done you, reading threads in MFP Community! This community has been a huge part of my success.
Here’s a bunch of things I’ve learnt here that have been very important and helpful.
Make friends with and learn from successful people.
Use the Help Section and the Most Helpful Posts in General Weight Loss, Getting Started, and Fitness. These are the Announcement threads stickied at the top of those forums in Community.
Learn how to log accurately and quickly using advice given in those posts. A digital food scale is a great addition to your kitchen. Log solid food in grams, and liquids in millilitres. Don’t just log “1 cup of pasta” or “1 medium avocado”. These things can be out by hundreds of calories, especially if you’re not honest with yourself.
You MUST be honest with yourself! Try to log food before or as soon as you eat it, or, as many studies have shown, you won’t let yourself remember. Logging is very quick once you have your regular foods entered once.
Find an exercise you love. If you love it, you’ll keep exercising.
Eat back exercise calories! Fast weight loss is bad! Fast weight loss messes with your leptin (satiety hormone) and ghrelin (hunger hormone) which are part of our metabolism. When those are out of whack, that is when people can’t control their hunger and binge and yo-yo. All those “serial starters” probably crash diet, then overeat, repeatedly and repeatedly. Learning not to crash diet is very, very important!
Once I’d had a talking-to and learned I must eat back my exercise calories, I discovered I had more energy and really got into running. My Fitbit Charge HR (and now my Garmin Fenix 5) both measured my walking/running exercise burns very accurately. I ate/eat back 95% of the calories.
MFP sets your calorie limit according to your weight loss goal.
So if you eat back the extra calories you earn, it’s still going to mean you will lose weight.
If you don’t eat exercise calories back, that’s when you lose muscle, get weaker, move less, get really hungry, and can end up with an eating disorder, or crashing and burning and failing to reach goal weight.
Stick to your weekly calorie limit. Have some days or weeks where you eat at maintenance, to help regulate your metabolism/hormones.
The idea is to eat in a way that will teach you habits you can stick to for life.
There’s no point doing a crazy diet then going back to eating the way you used to. Hello yo-yo!
Reduce your weekly weight loss goal when you lose weight along the way.
Volume Eating. Fruit and veg have fibre which makes you feel full, and they bulk up the size of your meal without adding many calories. Protein, fat, and fibre can make you feel fuller. My macronutrients are usually around 50% carbohydrates, 30% fat, 20% protein, and that keeps me very healthy, active, and happy. Please talk regularly to a doctor and/or dietitian about your health and dietary requirements.
Better health through technology. MFP of course! Strava! I love this app! Lots of health apps. Daybreak for alcohol regulation.
Happy Scale app, iPeriod app! Daily weight fluctuations are normal! Most successful people seem to weigh themselves daily and record it. It gives you an idea how sodium, hormone cycles, exercise, and stress can mean you hold more water some days. Eating a “forbidden food” (I don’t have any) will not make you gain 2 lb in one day. The human body can’t convert an additional 7,000 calories over your calorie limit into 2 lb of fat in one day! (1 lb of fat = 3,500 calories.) The “weight gain” has got to have been a big workout, ovulation/menstruation, a few thousand milligrams of salt, a little bit more waste in the digestive tract, or something like that.
Body Recomposition. It’s hard to get your weightloss mindset switched to a maintenance mindset. I went 2 kg lower than what turned out to be my perfect weight. But by exercising daily I’ve added that 2 kg back in muscle. Even though I weigh a little more now, I’m more defined.
Make friends with successful people! Join some Challenges in the Challenges forum. I’ve learned so much from my friends in the Running, Less Alcohol, and Self-care challenge threads, and we’ve done some amazing things together.
Decluttering. Letting go. Have your life filled with things you love. Don’t give space or time to things or behaviour that drag you down.
Get regular health checks by doctors, psychologists, dieticians. I don’t need any medication anymore.
Medical and mental health advice are awesome!
Thanks for reading, and thank you, My Fitness Pal!
Finally, some of my favourite mantras:
You might as well keep trying because the time will pass anyway.
Don’t wait around for motivation. Just do it.
Don’t believe everything you think.
Have you any before pics. Xxx
@donnadee1984
Hi! How are you?
Here are some pics. I had fun with making sure I wore the same or similar outfits when taking them.
6 months progress pic:
At goal weight:
And hahaha, I'll post this video from March 2019 for all those who think their before or after stomachs are supposed to look like 1990s supermodel photoshop jobs:
(1 pregnancy & childbirth 25 years ago.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFe38UVC_0Y
Even the girls in those photos don't look like those girls in the photos.2 -
donnadee1984 wrote: »Well done you, reading threads in MFP Community! This community has been a huge part of my success.
Here’s a bunch of things I’ve learnt here that have been very important and helpful.
Make friends with and learn from successful people.
Use the Help Section and the Most Helpful Posts in General Weight Loss, Getting Started, and Fitness. These are the Announcement threads stickied at the top of those forums in Community.
Learn how to log accurately and quickly using advice given in those posts. A digital food scale is a great addition to your kitchen. Log solid food in grams, and liquids in millilitres. Don’t just log “1 cup of pasta” or “1 medium avocado”. These things can be out by hundreds of calories, especially if you’re not honest with yourself.
You MUST be honest with yourself! Try to log food before or as soon as you eat it, or, as many studies have shown, you won’t let yourself remember. Logging is very quick once you have your regular foods entered once.
Find an exercise you love. If you love it, you’ll keep exercising.
Eat back exercise calories! Fast weight loss is bad! Fast weight loss messes with your leptin (satiety hormone) and ghrelin (hunger hormone) which are part of our metabolism. When those are out of whack, that is when people can’t control their hunger and binge and yo-yo. All those “serial starters” probably crash diet, then overeat, repeatedly and repeatedly. Learning not to crash diet is very, very important!
Once I’d had a talking-to and learned I must eat back my exercise calories, I discovered I had more energy and really got into running. My Fitbit Charge HR (and now my Garmin Fenix 5) both measured my walking/running exercise burns very accurately. I ate/eat back 95% of the calories.
MFP sets your calorie limit according to your weight loss goal.
So if you eat back the extra calories you earn, it’s still going to mean you will lose weight.
If you don’t eat exercise calories back, that’s when you lose muscle, get weaker, move less, get really hungry, and can end up with an eating disorder, or crashing and burning and failing to reach goal weight.
Stick to your weekly calorie limit. Have some days or weeks where you eat at maintenance, to help regulate your metabolism/hormones.
The idea is to eat in a way that will teach you habits you can stick to for life.
There’s no point doing a crazy diet then going back to eating the way you used to. Hello yo-yo!
Reduce your weekly weight loss goal when you lose weight along the way.
Volume Eating. Fruit and veg have fibre which makes you feel full, and they bulk up the size of your meal without adding many calories. Protein, fat, and fibre can make you feel fuller. My macronutrients are usually around 50% carbohydrates, 30% fat, 20% protein, and that keeps me very healthy, active, and happy. Please talk regularly to a doctor and/or dietitian about your health and dietary requirements.
Better health through technology. MFP of course! Strava! I love this app! Lots of health apps. Daybreak for alcohol regulation.
Happy Scale app, iPeriod app! Daily weight fluctuations are normal! Most successful people seem to weigh themselves daily and record it. It gives you an idea how sodium, hormone cycles, exercise, and stress can mean you hold more water some days. Eating a “forbidden food” (I don’t have any) will not make you gain 2 lb in one day. The human body can’t convert an additional 7,000 calories over your calorie limit into 2 lb of fat in one day! (1 lb of fat = 3,500 calories.) The “weight gain” has got to have been a big workout, ovulation/menstruation, a few thousand milligrams of salt, a little bit more waste in the digestive tract, or something like that.
Body Recomposition. It’s hard to get your weightloss mindset switched to a maintenance mindset. I went 2 kg lower than what turned out to be my perfect weight. But by exercising daily I’ve added that 2 kg back in muscle. Even though I weigh a little more now, I’m more defined.
Make friends with successful people! Join some Challenges in the Challenges forum. I’ve learned so much from my friends in the Running, Less Alcohol, and Self-care challenge threads, and we’ve done some amazing things together.
Decluttering. Letting go. Have your life filled with things you love. Don’t give space or time to things or behaviour that drag you down.
Get regular health checks by doctors, psychologists, dieticians. I don’t need any medication anymore.
Medical and mental health advice are awesome!
Thanks for reading, and thank you, My Fitness Pal!
Finally, some of my favourite mantras:
You might as well keep trying because the time will pass anyway.
Don’t wait around for motivation. Just do it.
Don’t believe everything you think.
Have you any before pics. Xxx
@donnadee1984
Hi! How are you?
Here are some pics. I had fun with making sure I wore the same or similar outfits when taking them.
6 months progress pic:
At goal weight:
And hahaha, I'll post this video from March 2019 for all those who think their before or after stomachs are supposed to look like 1990s supermodel photoshop jobs:
(1 pregnancy & childbirth 25 years ago.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFe38UVC_0Y
Even the girls in those photos don't look like those girls in the photos.
Still trying to figure how to work this. What was youre start weight? X0 -
donnadee1984 wrote: »donnadee1984 wrote: »Well done you, reading threads in MFP Community! This community has been a huge part of my success.
Here’s a bunch of things I’ve learnt here that have been very important and helpful.
Make friends with and learn from successful people.
Use the Help Section and the Most Helpful Posts in General Weight Loss, Getting Started, and Fitness. These are the Announcement threads stickied at the top of those forums in Community.
Learn how to log accurately and quickly using advice given in those posts. A digital food scale is a great addition to your kitchen. Log solid food in grams, and liquids in millilitres. Don’t just log “1 cup of pasta” or “1 medium avocado”. These things can be out by hundreds of calories, especially if you’re not honest with yourself.
You MUST be honest with yourself! Try to log food before or as soon as you eat it, or, as many studies have shown, you won’t let yourself remember. Logging is very quick once you have your regular foods entered once.
Find an exercise you love. If you love it, you’ll keep exercising.
Eat back exercise calories! Fast weight loss is bad! Fast weight loss messes with your leptin (satiety hormone) and ghrelin (hunger hormone) which are part of our metabolism. When those are out of whack, that is when people can’t control their hunger and binge and yo-yo. All those “serial starters” probably crash diet, then overeat, repeatedly and repeatedly. Learning not to crash diet is very, very important!
Once I’d had a talking-to and learned I must eat back my exercise calories, I discovered I had more energy and really got into running. My Fitbit Charge HR (and now my Garmin Fenix 5) both measured my walking/running exercise burns very accurately. I ate/eat back 95% of the calories.
MFP sets your calorie limit according to your weight loss goal.
So if you eat back the extra calories you earn, it’s still going to mean you will lose weight.
If you don’t eat exercise calories back, that’s when you lose muscle, get weaker, move less, get really hungry, and can end up with an eating disorder, or crashing and burning and failing to reach goal weight.
Stick to your weekly calorie limit. Have some days or weeks where you eat at maintenance, to help regulate your metabolism/hormones.
The idea is to eat in a way that will teach you habits you can stick to for life.
There’s no point doing a crazy diet then going back to eating the way you used to. Hello yo-yo!
Reduce your weekly weight loss goal when you lose weight along the way.
Volume Eating. Fruit and veg have fibre which makes you feel full, and they bulk up the size of your meal without adding many calories. Protein, fat, and fibre can make you feel fuller. My macronutrients are usually around 50% carbohydrates, 30% fat, 20% protein, and that keeps me very healthy, active, and happy. Please talk regularly to a doctor and/or dietitian about your health and dietary requirements.
Better health through technology. MFP of course! Strava! I love this app! Lots of health apps. Daybreak for alcohol regulation.
Happy Scale app, iPeriod app! Daily weight fluctuations are normal! Most successful people seem to weigh themselves daily and record it. It gives you an idea how sodium, hormone cycles, exercise, and stress can mean you hold more water some days. Eating a “forbidden food” (I don’t have any) will not make you gain 2 lb in one day. The human body can’t convert an additional 7,000 calories over your calorie limit into 2 lb of fat in one day! (1 lb of fat = 3,500 calories.) The “weight gain” has got to have been a big workout, ovulation/menstruation, a few thousand milligrams of salt, a little bit more waste in the digestive tract, or something like that.
Body Recomposition. It’s hard to get your weightloss mindset switched to a maintenance mindset. I went 2 kg lower than what turned out to be my perfect weight. But by exercising daily I’ve added that 2 kg back in muscle. Even though I weigh a little more now, I’m more defined.
Make friends with successful people! Join some Challenges in the Challenges forum. I’ve learned so much from my friends in the Running, Less Alcohol, and Self-care challenge threads, and we’ve done some amazing things together.
Decluttering. Letting go. Have your life filled with things you love. Don’t give space or time to things or behaviour that drag you down.
Get regular health checks by doctors, psychologists, dieticians. I don’t need any medication anymore.
Medical and mental health advice are awesome!
Thanks for reading, and thank you, My Fitness Pal!
Finally, some of my favourite mantras:
You might as well keep trying because the time will pass anyway.
Don’t wait around for motivation. Just do it.
Don’t believe everything you think.
Have you any before pics. Xxx
@donnadee1984
Hi! How are you?
Here are some pics. I had fun with making sure I wore the same or similar outfits when taking them.
6 months progress pic:
At goal weight:
And hahaha, I'll post this video from March 2019 for all those who think their before or after stomachs are supposed to look like 1990s supermodel photoshop jobs:
(1 pregnancy & childbirth 25 years ago.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFe38UVC_0Y
Even the girls in those photos don't look like those girls in the photos.
Still trying to figure how to work this. What was youre start weight? X
98.9 kg
I use kg (metric measurements). Let me know if you're in the US, Burma, or Liberia which are the only countries to officially use Imperial measurements.
Name: Orphia
Starting Age: 49
Height: 176 cm
Total Weight lost: 36 kg
Time it took to lose: 12 months
Started logging in MFP daily April 2015
Began maintenance: April 2016
How long in maintenance: 3 years 5 months
Maintenance weight range: 63-65 kg
Current weight: 64.4 kg
Don't worry if you can't do the maths in your head.
My Fitness Pal works things out for you if you tell it what your measurements are. Just don't tell it you want to lose too much a week.
You do need an understanding of the body’s general “Energy Equation”. (A calorie is a unit of energy.)
Small men less than 15 lb overweight should eat at least 1500 calories a day when dieting, plus what they burn in exercise;
Small women less than 15 lb overweight should eat a minimum of 1200 calories, plus what they burn in exercise.
If you’re taller and/or heavier, you need to eat more because you need more energy to move yourself around.
These calorie figures are the bare minimum you need to function normally while still losing weight.
There are a couple of other general guidelines about weight loss rates.
One is not to lose more than 1% of your body weight a week.
Or:
If you are around 10 kg or 20 lb overweight:
To lose 1 kg = 28,000 kilojoule deficit: Should not take less than 4 weeks. E.g. 1000 kj or one Mars bar less a day than if you’re maintaining.
To lose 1 lb = 3,500 calorie deficit: Should not take less than 2 weeks. E.g. 250 kcal a day less.
If you try to lose it faster, you’ll gain it back fast!
I’ve seen this too:
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal (1,000 calorie daily deficit)
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal (750 calorie daily deficit)
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal (500 calorie daily deficit)
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal (250-500 calorie daily deficit)
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal (250 calorie daily deficit)
Plus, eat exercise back.
If I walk 30 minutes briskly, about 3 km, I burn 600 kilojoules (143 kcal). (5 foot 9.5 inches tall; weight 142 lb)
If I run 30 minutes not too hard, I burn around 1200 kilojoules.
That's probably confused you more. Just follow the MFP setup, and check the MFP Help section and the Community.
Getting started MFP Help topics:
https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/topics/455841-general-questions-getting-started/articles4 -
Thanks for your thoughtful tips1
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