Here we go again

Tan131313
Tan131313 Posts: 2 Member
in Getting Started
I've been here before, I was 2 years ago, I lost 170lbs and I just used the tracker, fast forward 2 years now and I'm up 30lbs, I lost my way and got comfortable

Now I'm back after having tried everything, even the most popular one in Internet, yes yes the points value system...

Having lost a considerable amount of weight, I already have knowledge and experience, so the 0 points of some programs was not cutting it... Everything has a caloric value... Until you meet them, then your eating too much and your calorie are UP THERE

After trying it for a while and not loosing, I knew I needed to come back here, I needed to do what I know, but this time abound I'm not on a mono diet ( beef chicken and rice oatmeal eggs and broccoli) ... Yep I did that for 2 years, now I was to loose weight while still eating normally, I'm looking forward to eating salads and vegetables and fruit !

So I'm here it's day 2 and I'm going to weight in... Let's see how the first day went and what's needing change in about a week

I'm not sure how this community works but I do hope to meet and share with people, that's the hard part for me, being alone

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,123 Member
    Welcome (back?)!

    Losing 170 pounds is an amazing accomplishment, no matter the path: Kudos! Also congratulations on getting back to it after regaining 30 . . . a lot of people just let it go on and on, but you didn't. Good show.

    Can I make a concerned comment, as a calorie-counting oldie? Maybe it's misplaced, but I worry a little when I see you say "it's day 2 and I'm going to weight in... Let's see how the first day went and what's needing change in about a week".

    For sure, tomorrow doesn't tell the story of what happened to my body fat based on what I ate/burned yesterday. Food takes as much as 50 hours for full digestive transit, so we don't really know the net effect in anything as short as a day or few. On top of that, even fast fat loss - 2 pounds a week - averages only about 4.5 ounces per day, just a nudge over a quarter pound. In that same day, water retention and waste still in the digestive tract can vary by multiple pounds. Those things are going to play peek-a-boo on the scales, and may lead a person to draw incorrect conclusions.

    For women of an age/stage to have menstrual cycles, water retention can be even weirder. Maybe you know your own patterns by now - though patterns can change with time - but there have been a few women here who said they only see a new low weight once a month at a particular point in their cycle, even when losing fat at a reasonable rate. Hormonal water weight has the potential to be that weird.

    Pretty common advice around here is to stick pretty close with a new eating-style/activity/calorie-level routine for 4-6 weeks in order to see a likely-valid trend in body weight. For women with cycles, that would be comparing body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different cycles.

    That longer experimental period should give a clearer real-world estimate of our actual calorie needs, since we may differ from the statistical averages for similar people that MFP, fitness trackers, and other calorie calculators spit out. (It's rare to find this, but my calorie needs turned out to 25-30% different from what both MFP and my good brand/model tracker estimate!)

    Tweaking tactics quickly can limit ability to figure out those kinds of things. Knowing the reality is IMO very helpful going forward, worth that 4-6 week test period.

    No matter how you proceed, I'm wishing you success. It's a good plan you're mentioning to try to find some new habits that are more enjoyable than a monotonous diet, that will keep you full, well-nourished and overall happy over the long haul. IME, finding new routine, pretty-happy eating and activity habits is a power tool not only for weight loss, but also for maintenance. (I'm in year 9, so far so good, but taking nothing for granted!)

    I think you'll make this work: Best wishes!

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