your mistakes made

Options
1235»

Replies

  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 921 Member
    Mistake: choosing to lose 2lbs/week at first and trying to eat 1200cal/day.

    I kind of thought that *sounded logical as I'm a short/petite woman - sedentary/desk job. However, truly my maintenance calories (if I actually didn't do any activity) is higher than that. My BMR is ~1300...so any activity on top of that obviously requires a bit more fuel.

    The issue at the time was, "I don't feel hungry" and was often even under 1200 when I didnt' feel like eating anymore. I also was perfectly able to muster up the energy to run for 30-45min....but otherwise was absolutely supine lol. I was either totally sloth-like or intentionally working out. So I felt like *kitten*. Slept like *kitten*. And QUICKLY read some of the threads and realized I was not eating enough. So I then used a TDEE calculator to figure my maintenance (still sedentary) and made sure to choose a calorie goal that was above my BMR but below my TDEE...logged as accurately as I could as well as my exercise cals and ate back usually 80-100% of them and boom. Consistent/sustained weight loss.
  • foreverhealthy3
    foreverhealthy3 Posts: 111 Member
    A big downfall for me, is grocery shopping. can't avoid temptations
    another one is not exercising consistently
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 2,063 Member
    foreverhealthy3 wrote: »
    A big downfall for me, is grocery shopping. can't avoid temptations
    another one is not exercising consistently

    Grocery shopping is always a hard one. The way I dealt with it was to have a fixed list of exactly what I was there to get. No wandering around the store. And if it wasn't on the list, it couldn't go in the cart.
  • refactored
    refactored Posts: 458 Member
    foreverhealthy3 wrote: »
    A big downfall for me, is grocery shopping. can't avoid temptations
    another one is not exercising consistently

    I pretend I eat all the things I know are not healthy for me while grocery shopping (in my mind not actually miming). I picture myself getting bigger and bigger with every food I pretend to stuff in to my mouth. I admit I am a little strange but it helps me. I also don't go shopping on an empty stomach.

    My mistake was belittling myself for making mistakes. As Thomas Edison once said: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Mistakes are learning opportunities so I journal my journey (in the 10 day challenge on here) and reflect on my behaviors that don't help me achieve a healthier lifestyle.
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 14,885 Member
    sollyn23l2 wrote: »
    foreverhealthy3 wrote: »
    A big downfall for me, is grocery shopping. can't avoid temptations
    another one is not exercising consistently

    Grocery shopping is always a hard one. The way I dealt with it was to have a fixed list of exactly what I was there to get. No wandering around the store. And if it wasn't on the list, it couldn't go in the cart.

    I was about to suggest the exact same thing. I also actually DO allow myself an occasional fun thing that's not on the list. Often it's a nice hunk of cheese and some crackers. It used to be I couldn't do this or I'd just eat it. After years of practice, I can leave cheese uneaten in the fridge, and I can open the cheese and eat a weighed amount and not the rest. It's taken a while to get to this though. Same thing with potato chips.

    refactored wrote: »
    I pretend I eat all the things I know are not healthy for me while grocery shopping (in my mind not actually miming). I picture myself getting bigger and bigger with every food I pretend to stuff in to my mouth. I admit I am a little strange but it helps me. I also don't go shopping on an empty stomach.

    My mistake was belittling myself for making mistakes. As Thomas Edison once said: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Mistakes are learning opportunities so I journal my journey (in the 10 day challenge on here) and reflect on my behaviors that don't help me achieve a healthier lifestyle.

    I used to do something similar at the grocery with potato chips or other salty crunchy things. I'd pick up each bag, look at the nutrition label, and decide that 140 calories for 13 chips... probably wouldn't make me happy. I'd put them back on the shelf and look at the next bag. Every now and then I'd decide to get one. Usually not.

    I love the Edison quote, too, and use it frequently. The greatest scientific discoveries were usually not accompanied by a shout of "Eureka!" They were usually accompanied by a soft-spoken, "Hmmm. Well that's odd."
  • Lark13
    Lark13 Posts: 27 Member

    Not drinking my calories was a big help for me. Other than the occasional glass of a good wine, which I will intentionally savor, beverage calories are just not worth it to me. Also importance in maintenance (30ish pounds/5 years) was getting rid of all of my larger size clothes. In the past, having them in my closet had allowed me to pull them out as I gradually regained weight, thereby avoiding facing the fact that it was happening.

  • anxietyfairy
    anxietyfairy Posts: 169 Member

    I made a sugar free brownie. The website said it was 112 calories. When I weighed and tracked the ingredients it was closer to 500… opps. Never again.

  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 2,063 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48701985#Comment_48701985

    Yep, I had to learn that lesson the hard way. Sugar free doesn't equal low calorie.

  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 2,063 Member

    My mistake was with coffee creamers. Didn't used to measure it because hey "it's only 30 calories per serving". Can't be that bad, right? Except I was using 2-3 servings per cup, drinking at least 3 cups per day. That becomes, like, up to 270 calories per day. Sometimes more. That made up most of the weight I kept gaining alone.

  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,415 Member

    not doing what know works. why do I do that? why do I always look for a new way just because it is different? It is so destructive.

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,847 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48701985#Comment_48701985

    I learned early on that nutrition info posted on recipe websites is total fantasy. Even recipes I’ve found on MFP have been wildly inaccurate.


    But what really frosts my goat is when I get suckered into checking out a recipe, and the writer posts a picture of a brownie or a piece of cake, claiming it’s low cal, and does not include the thick frosting, sprinkles, nut or streusel topping pictured in the calorie count.

    nope. They only include the calories for the cake like part, and it’s like 1/24 of a pan, and it’s likely still inaccurate.

    And then often they picture it with some calorie laden coffee concoction next to it.

    So my mistake(s) made were trusting recipes at the beginning of my loss.

  • yakkystuff
    yakkystuff Posts: 1,346 Member

    Fascinating discussion. & thought provoking.

    We are guided in our eaing by adults in childhood, so I grew up with yoyo crash diets.

    I wish I had tackled finding a stable 'everyday, regular meals' eating approach, much earlier... Diet theory has significantly changed through the decades.

    I just wish I had asked - is this ok for me, for everyday eating... emotionally satisfying + helpful for the body.

  • anxietyfairy
    anxietyfairy Posts: 169 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48703632#Comment_48703632

    Yikes, that sounds dangerous. Would be better off buying a brought one!

  • msmithstarcross
    msmithstarcross Posts: 1 Member

    I avoided the mistake of believing facebook reels which said recipe had "no sugar", when it should have said "no added sugar".

    But I did recently make the mistake of buying a 500g pack of omega seed mix without reading the calories/fat/protein details! Will have to be very careful weighing this as I add it to my breakfast oats or fruit and yoghurt.

  • davidcolosi
    davidcolosi Posts: 5 Member

    At my heaviest I was 236 lbs. Once I got married my wife was always a home cooked, take your lunch type of person so just doing that helped me drop down to 206 lbs. So lesson 1 was, eating food you make your self is better in the long run.

    Lesson 2: I got more serious in my 40's and did P90x, and got into running and doing more low carb. Got me down to my my lowest weight at 176 lbs. I stopped running and picked up more carbs and settled in around 185 lbs for a few years. Didn't track and when COVID hit, I started snacking more and working from home wasn't getting the activity level and ended up getting to 192 lbs. The lesson is over time bad habits can sneak back in and you won't notice it.

    Lesson 3: Back at it and started tracking about 45 days ago. Down to 181 lbs and this time all I'm doing is walking about 2 miles each day, eating what I want but tracking and staying in my 250 to 500 calorie deficit. The lesson here is you can still enjoy the foods you like (in moderation) and loose weight and you don't have to be a gym rat either. I still do a Pizza and Beer Friday night, I still have had ice cream but I measure out my food with a scale so that I am getting accurate tracking.

    My observations as someone whos been an on/off again person is that you can enjoy the foods you like and still make progress.

Categories