Newbie here!!!!

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Shayy001
Shayy001 Posts: 1 Member
edited April 2022 in Introduce Yourself
Hi everyone!

So, after weighing myself on the scale today, I decided to take some steps to lose weight and get in shape. I recently transitioned to a vegan diet, but find I am still gaining weight. After tracking one of my meals today, I can see why. My food choices and portions aren’t the best. So I’m looking to start exercising and eating better. I’m hoping this app is a good place to start on my healthy journey! I am new to working out and so I don’t even know how to start. If you have any tips that would be helpful please share! Thanks.

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  • MySeniorFitness
    MySeniorFitness Posts: 3 Member
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    Track everything. Make long term and short term goals. Be specific. Stick to a diet. I like a modified south beach. Come up with a workout plan based on your comfort level. But first get a physical. Be sure what you do meets your physical condition. I prefer a DO. Personally (I am not a doctor or nutritionist) I am looking to correct any issues through diet, exercise and sleep. I have dropped over 30 lb since January 1. Only 60 more to go.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,679 Member
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    As you've discovered, veganism isn't a guarantee of weight loss. (I say that as someone who's been vegetarian for 47+ years, thin to fat to obese and back to thin again.)

    The only guarantee of weight loss is eating fewer calories than we burn, over time. It's not even essential to count the calories, though that can be a helpful tool for some. (It was for me, for sure.)

    IMO, there's no one universal perfect eating style or eating timing. If a particular routine helps a person stay full, happy, energetic and healthy alongside managing their weight, that's a good way of eating for that person . . . whatever that eating pattern is.

    Personally, I eat the same range of foods as a thin person that I ate when I was class 1 obese (last there almost 7 years ago, and for decades before that). What's changed is portion sizes, relative proportions of particular foods in each meal, and frequencies of some foods. Although I haven't intentionally put any food I enjoy totally and permanently off limits, I'm sure there are some things that have dropped entirely out of rotation just because I don't enjoy them enough to be worth their calories. (I can't think of any offhand, though.)

    I also didn't change my exercise routine to lose weight, because I was the somewhat-rare athletically-active obese person, had been for over a decade by the time I started losing weight in 2015, having started being active after cancer treatment in my mid-40s. Exercise is good for a person, IMO, but it's neither required for weight loss, nor a guarantee of weight loss.

    You're finding out that your food diary can be a good tool for figuring out a good eating pattern personalized to you. If you keep logging, keep reviewing, you can gradually tweak your eating patterns to balance calorie appropriateness, satiation, tastiness, nutrition, practicality, and overall happiness with your eating.

    Similar thing can work for exercise/activity: Try things that involve moving more (whether formal exercise or just "doing stuff" like gardening, home remodeling, playing with kids, VR games, etc.). Find things you enjoy, do them more often. Bonus for fitness if they're manageably challenging to current strength or cardiovascular capabilities.

    Best wishes!
  • jimwaters1016
    jimwaters1016 Posts: 9 Member
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    I have been using this app since 2019, but not seriously. In 2019 I was 225. In March 2022 I was 212. Doen 8 pounds since I started back and I feel like this time will be the one. (Giving up alcohol helps too) As of March 30, my wife and I have both been devoted to logging in what we eat and encouraging each other. Perhaps, log in what you eat, whatever it is, to get a baseline of where you are at. You can change what different nutrition's you track under settings. For me, I carefully watch calories, carbs, protein and fiber. Then alter your eating according to where you are missing your marks. Most of our meals are planned out for the day, even if we are eating different things. I try not to eat breakfast too early in the AM. For some reason, I have started waking up at 4AM but don't have to start working until 6. I try to shoot for breakfast around 9AM. This keeps me fuller longer in the day until lunch time and stretches lunch out until later in the afternoon. Then I am not hungry as early as I used to be. Just a couple of beginner tips.

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