Introduce Yourself & Frequently Asked Questions
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tinkerbellang83
Posts: 9,064 Member
This thread is for Introducing Yourself & Asking Questions if you're not sure how this works.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q How does it work?
A Each week in "discussions" there is a new weekly thread, post your details in each week and then we will track the results and post up a progress post at the end of each month
Q What do the abbreviations people are using in the weight loss threads mean?
A SW: Start Weight; GW: Goal Weight; LW: Last Week; TW: This Week; OL: Overall Loss
Q Do I have to weigh in every week?
A No you don't - I keep the information in a spreadsheet, so if you're away or you fall off the wagon for a little while your details will still be there, they just won't be used in the stats if you've not weighed in with us during the current month.
Q Do I have to post all the information that everyone else does?
A No you can just post your current weight if that's what you are comfortable with, the other figures are just more helpful for the progress stats.
Q When is the best time to weigh?
A It is more consistent if you weight first thing in the morning, before you've eaten and after you've used the bathroom. Day of the week is your own preference. If like myself, you like to indulge a little on the weekend, it's probably better to weigh in Weds-Fri sometime so that you get a better sense of what you weigh once any water retention has passed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q How does it work?
A Each week in "discussions" there is a new weekly thread, post your details in each week and then we will track the results and post up a progress post at the end of each month
Q What do the abbreviations people are using in the weight loss threads mean?
A SW: Start Weight; GW: Goal Weight; LW: Last Week; TW: This Week; OL: Overall Loss
Q Do I have to weigh in every week?
A No you don't - I keep the information in a spreadsheet, so if you're away or you fall off the wagon for a little while your details will still be there, they just won't be used in the stats if you've not weighed in with us during the current month.
Q Do I have to post all the information that everyone else does?
A No you can just post your current weight if that's what you are comfortable with, the other figures are just more helpful for the progress stats.
Q When is the best time to weigh?
A It is more consistent if you weight first thing in the morning, before you've eaten and after you've used the bathroom. Day of the week is your own preference. If like myself, you like to indulge a little on the weekend, it's probably better to weigh in Weds-Fri sometime so that you get a better sense of what you weigh once any water retention has passed.
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Replies
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So my name is Angela, I am trying to lose around 20kg initially and tone up and then review after. I started using a meal planner to try and better control what and when I am eating, now on Week 6 of this and it's working a treat (Christmas threw me out a little as I was travelling and eating out a lot, but seem to have undone most of the damage now).
I do 5 strength training/cardio workouts a week from HASFIT's youtube channel (free) and walk around 6km a day, hoping to shift around 1-2kg a week, but I will be happier with the toning than the actual weight loss.6 -
Welcome to all our new members this week, good luck with your first weigh-in's1
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clairehardy77 wrote: »Jackie9003 wrote: »Hi everyone, I'm Jackie from York in the UK. I've gained steadily for years but lost 6 stone about 10 years ago and felt great. Then there was a pregnancy, 2 redundancies and a divorce which resulted in it all going back on and more.
I've lost 28lb in the last 15 months and would like to lose another 65 so her to make my dreams come true....
My aim is for another 28lb this year, I want to lose it slowly a result of a life-style change so that it really does stay off this time - I've no plans for a baby (too old), or a divorce (recently married) and if I get made redundant then so what lol.
Hi Jackie, i'm new on here (introduced myself elsewhere on here), just having I nosy though the stories and noticed you are from York, I live in Darlington! (originally from near Edinburgh). Just wanted to say hello xx
@clairehardy77 I'm originally from Durham ☺0 -
Hi everyone - a bit new to social media (Newbe I believe) , hence the name and the photo of my lovely dog
I am at last seriously seeking to change my life health wise. I am a 54 yr. old office worker and lead a rather stressful and sedentary life (no risk there then...) so thought this is it, time to take this in hand once and for all. I have a few challenges this year - a 6k swim , a 10k swim , a 60 mile walk ( over 2 days ) and a bike ride from London to Paris, so no pressure there then....
My journey starts at 15.11 (I was over 16.2 over Christmas - yikes!) and am aiming - long term for 13.7 which I think is a realistic weight for me. Hopefully I can achieve this - certainly the app says I will, but as I have actually been a member since 2013 (apparently) so far I had to increase the weight setting...
Well week one and 4 lbs down, I know that is week one and the first weeks are the easiest so I am under no illusions here. Doing this has really made me realise that really it is more about good food choices and bad food choices - we all know that , it is not hard to understand but when it seems the whole of our consumer society is geared up to help you fail in that task boy is it hard- chocolate being a bit of a downfall for me - the popular peanut chocolate coated egg shaped chocolates in yellow packets do like me - a lot.
Anyway - I weigh in Monday morning but if there is a common weigh day I will change days
I will try and let you know ( if anyone really reads these and cares ) how I get on. I need some accountability to make sure I don't cheat ( too much)
Thank you for reading this far
best
Wobble1 -
wobblemcwobbleface wrote: »Hi everyone - a bit new to social media (Newbe I believe) , hence the name and the photo of my lovely dog
I am at last seriously seeking to change my life health wise. I am a 54 yr. old office worker and lead a rather stressful and sedentary life (no risk there then...) so thought this is it, time to take this in hand once and for all. I have a few challenges this year - a 6k swim , a 10k swim , a 60 mile walk ( over 2 days ) and a bike ride from London to Paris, so no pressure there then....
My journey starts at 15.11 (I was over 16.2 over Christmas - yikes!) and am aiming - long term for 13.7 which I think is a realistic weight for me. Hopefully I can achieve this - certainly the app says I will, but as I have actually been a member since 2013 (apparently) so far I had to increase the weight setting...
Well week one and 4 lbs down, I know that is week one and the first weeks are the easiest so I am under no illusions here. Doing this has really made me realise that really it is more about good food choices and bad food choices - we all know that , it is not hard to understand but when it seems the whole of our consumer society is geared up to help you fail in that task boy is it hard- chocolate being a bit of a downfall for me - the popular peanut chocolate coated egg shaped chocolates in yellow packets do like me - a lot.
Anyway - I weigh in Monday morning but if there is a common weigh day I will change days
I will try and let you know ( if anyone really reads these and cares ) how I get on. I need some accountability to make sure I don't cheat ( too much)
Thank you for reading this far
best
Wobble
Welcome @wobblemcwobbleface I too started using MFP a long, long time ago (2011 to be precise) but never successfully lost weight because I had exactly the mindset I am reading in the bolded above - thinking specific foods were good and bad and feeling guilty if I enjoyed chocolate, etc.
Roll on 2016 and I finally started to read through the forums and added some friends from there (having previously added real world friends who'd stick at it for 2 weeks then disappear). I realised a couple of things:- I don't need to starve to lose weight (previously I almost always ended up setting myself to 1200 calories because I chose to quick of a weight loss rate and the wrong activity level)
- I can eat all the things I like and still lose weight (I just need to eat smaller portions of them)
- Weight loss isn't linear (never really understood water weight fluctuations before so I would rage quit if I saw a gain after starving all week)
- Having a day/a couple of days/a week or even a month when I eat more than my calorie goal, isn't a failure, it's a lesson and it usually doesn't have as big of an impact in the long run as I think it's going to. I just have to work out why I felt the need to eat more and work on preventing doing the same thing again in the future.
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Tinkerbellang83
thanks for your reply - I am going to try and not beat myself up too much but I am also trying to wean myself off junk food - that is the sort of food that just cries out to me.... I am hoping my rather sweet tooth may subside but I am a bit of a sugar fiend - guess that answers a lot of why my middle is in the way it is. I did discover Aldi's low/no sugar cola sherbets - 2 cal. per sweet ( yum yum and full of essential vitamins ...) - managed to down the box, meh - only 140 odd cals. but also a few unwanted side effects - so for fast weight loss - sorbitol is the key.....
I will try and post something of use . Must swim tonight as training for my Swims ( 6k and 10k ) ( need to beat my sister but she is very competitive and I am a bit lazy really hey ho ). I managed 3k swim on Saturday (120 lengths ) so was pleased with that but did get cramp so will buy some electrolytes ( the Dioralite is a cheap easy option - that has loads of salts etc. ) to help with the cramp. for the boredom of the swim I have bought some underwater headphones (finis ones that sit on your cheek bones not your ears - they are surprising good and manage to get through the extra insulation...) - the last waterproof MP3 player lot died on me as did ABBA who were stuck in a loop at the time.... I don't dislike ABBA but not over and over
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wobblemcwobbleface wrote: »Tinkerbellang83
thanks for your reply - I am going to try and not beat myself up too much but I am also trying to wean myself off junk food - that is the sort of food that just cries out to me.... I am hoping my rather sweet tooth may subside but I am a bit of a sugar fiend - guess that answers a lot of why my middle is in the way it is. I did discover Aldi's low/no sugar cola sherbets - 2 cal. per sweet ( yum yum and full of essential vitamins ...) - managed to down the box, meh - only 140 odd cals. but also a few unwanted side effects - so for fast weight loss - sorbitol is the key.....
I will try and post something of use . Must swim tonight as training for my Swims ( 6k and 10k ) ( need to beat my sister but she is very competitive and I am a bit lazy really hey ho ). I managed 3k swim on Saturday (120 lengths ) so was pleased with that but did get cramp so will buy some electrolytes ( the Dioralite is a cheap easy option - that has loads of salts etc. ) to help with the cramp. for the boredom of the swim I have bought some underwater headphones (finis ones that sit on your cheek bones not your ears - they are surprising good and manage to get through the extra insulation...) - the last waterproof MP3 player lot died on me as did ABBA who were stuck in a loop at the time.... I don't dislike ABBA but not over and over
W
When I lost my first 20lbs I was eating Domino's personal pizza with the doughballs side once per week, eating at the pub almost every saturday and I have continued to eat chocolate on pretty much a daily basis. The difference is that I either eat in the form of a protein bar (PHD or Fulfil) which I find more filling and I have a pretty balanced diet the rest of the week with plenty of fruit and veg.
MyProtein do an Electrolyte complex for about £10 for 3 month's supply has Magnesium, Sodium Chloride, Potassium & Calcium in it, just bought some myself, I normally order in Magnesium from iHerb in the states along with my Melatonin to help me sleep but sleep is much improved now and I could do with a bit more potassium in my diet so switched to the MyProtein one.
I can't think of anything worse than having Abba stuck on loop play
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well done Vikki - I am doing this for similar reasons ( I am a bit older than you and they have caught up ) - As someone who has had recent issues with his back you need to move more , stretch and find something that exercises your core etc. ( I am trying to loose weight , exercise etc. - I also do Tai chi, which despite the hippy look, is really good and is a lot harder than you think) I ended up in emergency on serious painkillers as could not move from my desk so beware it does creep up. Our modern life of sitting behind a computer is not good and I suspect in 30 years or so it will be looked back on with horror, a bit like the old workhouse0
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Hello, I'm Chris in San Diego, California. I'm feeling a surge of optimism over the last couple of weeks and have some solid short term plans, so I thought I'd pile on the goodness and join this group. In the time I've spent on MFP I've had two big weight drops. One came back and then some. The second drop was a little less dramatic and the weight regain wasn't quite so high either.
What buzzes in the back of my head is: sure doing the weightloss feels great, I know I can do it, but what oh what in the world does it look like to get to goal weight and then MAINTAIN it? As I just start this third assault on hitting a more health goal weight, that question is my northstar.2 -
For me, and math geeks out there, weight loss has been an inflection point. Where the curve drops down and then swings back up, without there actually being any bottom. It's ephemeral. I can look at the day on a graph and point to it, but IRL it is like that day never existed. I had a wild fun run of losing weight. Fingers snapped, months of mindlessly (or depressively) gaining weight.0
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there I was wondering what MFP was....
The only person I know in real life who is on MFP is my sister but so far she has been very quiet......0 -
hmmm, reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.....
I am going to try again - back to where I started on the weight ( 221 lbs ) so will weigh in properly etc2 -
This thread is great. I'm back after a big long pause. I look forward to this year being better than the last three. I hope you join along, I appreciate the inspiration and motivation of having others write about their experiences.
--Chris0 -
There are a couple new folks, please, jump in and introduce yourselves.0
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Hey guys & gals!
Long story short after some hectic years I neglected my health and found myself on a verge of obesity. Need to loose some 30 kg and then go into maintenance mode afterwards. I started very aggressively with keto, calorie deficit and daily hour+ workouts. Lost approx. 7 kilos as of now over a period of little less than a month, and I'm trying to watch myself to not overdo it.
Age 42, height 183cm, SW: 102.6kg GW: 72kg and maintain that. See you Friday!0 -
Hey guys & gals!
Long story short after some hectic years I neglected my health and found myself on a verge of obesity. Need to loose some 30 kg and then go into maintenance mode afterwards. I started very aggressively with keto, calorie deficit and daily hour+ workouts. Lost approx. 7 kilos as of now over a period of little less than a month, and I'm trying to watch myself to not overdo it.
Age 42, height 183cm, SW: 102.6kg GW: 72kg and maintain that. See you Friday!
A MONTH!!!! Wow.
I'm glad you are here, I want to go along for the ride.1 -
_Crackers_ wrote: »So I have been saving quite a few calories all week from my daily allowance and from exercise so I could enjoy a piece of ice-cream cake today.
Well after all the suspense and build up when I finally got too have some, I feel so let down and very anticlimax.
Yeah it was nice and I enjoyed it while I was having it. I don't have the guilt of going over my cals as I made adjustments for it. I just don't feel I got good bang for my buck.
Sort of feel like the kid who spent his hard earnt pocket money on the wrong thing. Anyone else get like that? I know I won't be making that mistake again.
I remember this feeling with WW. They let you save point for a treat or night out ( love how they LET you) and yet it just never seemed to be worth it. I kind of felt like I wanted something more!!!0 -
I don't think I've introduced myself yet! I'm Shawn and my goal is to lose 100 pounds. The first 15 pounds were easy and now I'm slowing down. Time to go for more walks! I wasn't exercising much during the first 15 pounds but now I'm motivated and just unfroze my gym membership! Feel free to add me as a friend! I need as much support as I can get! I'm hoping to be a success story so I can inspire others to meet their goals!1
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Hi @shawnstevennelson1988! Congratulations on unfreezing your gym membership
It sounds like you're doing a great job 0 -
Tinker Bell!!!! I have returned!!!
I am hoping to join up with the pack and march on down to the new year and beyond.
LOTS has happened good and bad since I left MFP after over 20 years on Sept 2021 (10th anniversary of 9/11 when I lost my 3,300 plus day consistent logging streak on MFP got pissed off and left)
Moved NY/Long Island to Osprey FL (South of Sarasota and North of Venice FL on the Gulf) went from 185 July 2021 to 205 a few weeks ago / Thanksgiving (aptly NOT named) . Stress of caring for MIL down here and her home and work etc etc. all kinds of excuses. Some reasonable explanations I suspect???!!!
MIL is now deceased (July) and we just spent months clearing, cleaning, repairing, selling, giving away, shipping 40 years of 'stuff' and are selling the house.
Lost my best friend in PA in May to cancer my BF (his wife was my wife's roommate in college and we introduced them) , my 'baby' 2 year old daughter graduated college on May 19th the day after his funeral.
My wife's sister died the week before my best friend so we flew back up to PA for that funeral as well and my wife had put that all together.
Fortunately my weight is my biggest concern. Been cycling 50 to 100 miles a week, swimming 1,000 yards to a mile or more a week. Walk at LEAST 5,000 steps a day (yesterday 16,000)
My diet/nutrition/food is pretty good BUT the quantity and frequency is the challenge. Many of my steps are to and past the refrigerator and kitchen just FEET away from my home office!!!!!
SOOOO been bantering about with Chris here and while I have seen him over the years on Garmin Connect and Strava........
I need you guys, and want BACK IN THE GAME!!!!! I am trudging down a bit to 197 lbs today but just like in cycling (I ride with 4 to 10 riders sometimes, and pull the pace line for a mile) I need to draft and take their air and be with the pack to PULL me but also PUSH me to keep up!!!
Sign me up Coach Tinger Bell Angie 83 > 867 5309 90210 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[edited by MFP staff]
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