So far, not a huge fan.

LIGHTEN UP ON YOURSELF!!!!!! Ok, this is a tool but the reality is that we have to continue to put the work into this. I started one week then didn't log in for several days. Although it forces me to think about food it also holds me accountable to take a look at what I'm putting into my system. We can provide support each other if you're interested. We can do this. Are you exercising?? That reallly is the key. I'm at 229 but plan to commit to tracking and exercising to reach my goals and at least -10 by years end. Here to support ya!

so true - it's my favorite website now!

Sounds like your setting yourself up for failure based on your comments! Good luck!

Some of us have been here for years and found it to be a great tool and a huge part of our success. Judging it in a negative way after only a few days tells me it's you attitude that needs fixing. I don't mean to sound harsh but if you don't get your head in the game, you won't win. MFP is not at fault. Good luck to you.

**high five** absolutely right!!!

I notice the OP made the one post and didn't come back...

I was just thinking the same thing...

i hope she takes the time to read all the motivational tips you guys have shared with her! wow :-) alot of support on these boards, that would be the number one reason for being a huge fan!

I despise dieting which is why I am with you on avoiding it at all costs. I look at this site not as a diet or even a way to "fix" myself. But as a way to make myself accountable to someone even if it is a total stranger to me for what I'm doing to my own body I didn't change what I ate just how much of it then fitness wise I found something I wanted to do and now I'm working towards it. In my particular case portion control was the key, your vices may vary. I have a goal now to be able to ride a 100 mile charity bicycle ride next September it's a slow start for me but I've got lots of resources at my fingertips many of them here. Give this site a week or 2 and look around chat with some people and add some as your friends I've encountered absolutely 0 negative feedback from people just constant encouragement and it has made all the difference for me. Find your niche and I'm sure you'll have great success and most of all have fun life isn't worth living if you don't enjoy it so learn your special balance and blow the negative thoughts out of the water.

It is simple - but not easy - to lose weight with this site. Just burn more cals than you consume. Use this site to track your calories in and out. Everything else is window dressing - pleasant window dressing, though.

I've been here for just under a year. When I looked at my weight graph on this site, it is a straight line, with a constant slope. It's a little bumpy, but when graphed over 6 months, the bumps look quite small, and the straightness of the down-sloping line is striking. At one point, several months ago, when I came close to goal, I reduced my weight loss goal to 0.5 lbs/week, and the line remained straight, but at a lower slope. Again, a strikingly clear result: Predictable weight loss.

So, all of the mind-games, while occasionally useful to toughen up your resolve, are just that - mind games. Just burn more cals than you consume. See? Like I said at the beginning: Simple - but not easy.

I quit using a while ago as I thought I was at goal weight. Now back up and find that there is so much encouragement on here that I dont know why I quit. I am recommitting. thanks to all of you for the great advice. i will use it even if she doesnt. sometimes we stand in our own way and the negativity surrounding us is hard to get out of. tracking works. no question.

Explore the actual website more, it will become an obsession. A healthy one though. =]

agreed!! i deactivated my facebook.. and this has taken it's place.. in a much more constructive way!!

I also deactivated facebook and replaced it with MFP. I also feel MFP is much more constructive!!!

try exercising...it gave me lots more energy than not exercising!

I started trying to lose weight in late July, but I was so afraid that I would fail that I didn't join e site until I'd already lost 10 lbs (doing what MFP does, but doing it all on paper and without friends to support me). I was scared to get on here and have it not work. But it did. So I finally joined and since I've lost an additional 13 lbs (total 23 in a little over 3 months). The first week or two it was very hard for me to keep my calories close to my goal b/c I was trying to do it while still eating the same foods, but less. I was hungry and tired b/c the old food I used to always eat was not very much food when I had to keep it under 1300 calories, and I probably felt tired b/c nutritionally that food wasn't great considering I avoided veggies like the plague. LOL. Once I started trying out different choices (more fruits and veggies, lean proteins) I found that 1200-1300 calories could be a decent amount of food. And I found that I felt more energetic. When I started exercising, that really helped my energy level and confidence, too. and I honestly have never really felt like I am 'dieting'. I'm learning how to make choices that work to help me reach my goals, and yes I have changed some of my eating habits but I don't feel like I have to avoid the things I enjoy, I just have to look at them realistically and realize that there are ways to work those things into my plan by exercising to earn extra calories or by tweaking other meals. In a way this is actually harder than 'dieting' b/c nothing is really off-limits - no one is telling you 'well since you're on this 'diet' you're not allowed to have XYZ '. This is about learning to balance things to work for you. The thing is, it's such a big change. If you didn't really think about your food before beyond whether it was delicious, it's a lot to take in. Calories, protein, etc. never thought about those things before. It's a lot to learn to balance. But it gets easier the more you do it, you get better and more confident. And it really does help to get some friends who will cheer you on on your good days and tell you don't worry, tomorrow is a new day when you've had a hard time.

Suck it up, babe.

MFP is great if you truly commit to using it and get involved with the community. There are so many wonderful people and resources here. No one ever said this was an easy journey - but we are all on it with you, and it will be WORTH IT in the end.

My therapist is constantly after me to focus on what I WANT, not on what I don't want. That is my advice to you. Focus on what you want, and keep it forefront in your thoughts.

You CAN do this! We are all on your side!

I hate tracking calories so I dont.. I mostly use this site to gain support , make friends and support others.
I could care less about tracking calories; I just use my brain.. dont eat crap, and dont eat so much. Its not that hard. I dont need numbers for common sense.

I get what you are saying, i really do. I hated the idea of logging ALWAYS....i've never been a very organized or consistant person in general and I've also struggled with the idea of "thinking about food all the time".

Logging food everyday, however, is not just a fly by night idea Over and over again it has been proven that people that lose weight and keep it off for a long period/forever have a few things in common. I don't remember them all, but logging what they eat and exercising are absolutely there.

A lot depends upon how you think about it. I would tend to think like you - feeling guilty because i either was over calories, or felt like i was eating junk (i still don't have the best veg/fruit habits!) but i started to realize what it is really about is being aware. If i have a crappy day, if i'm 1000 calories over, i log it. Why, because it is to make me aware of what i'm doing. I can run reports on it, i can ask other people what they do when they are falling off the wagon, etc...you have to let go of the "i'm bad or i'm good" mentality because it just is not about that. So many of us have emotional connections with food, or the idea of being fat or thing, good or bad. When you log food, log it with the perspective of figuring out how you eat now. Matter of fact, you don't even have to "try" to be losing weight or anything, just do what you do, and log the food you eat. I don't log at each meal, i usually log breafast and lunch and snacks all at once during work because i've brought it with me. Then i don't touch this site again oftentimes until either after dinner, or the next morning when I add dinner. Yes, i know that's not how a lot of people would want to do it, but it works for me. If i'm worried that i won't remember what i ate, or i'm out, i can always jot it down somewhere (cocktail napkin anyone? lol) and keep it until i get a chance to do it. I will likely never have logged in "100 days in a row" (though i love that people can be so consistant!) but i've realized that this journey is only for me, and i'm not "bad or good", i'm perfectly me, whichever way that ends up being.

I'm 43 and a couple years ago started really feeling the effects of the weight with bad blood pressure, knees that can't stop aching, a back that kept me inactive. I realized that i want to be healthy. Thin would be a bonus, but feeling good at whatever weight i end up is my goal. The power that i've gotten from understanding what i eat, whether or not i'm trying to "diet" or change my lifestyle, is amazing. I was able to look at my diet and see the pieces of it that weren't doing so well for me. Like making a sandwich....sounds like no big deal. Thought i was even being healthy....good whole grain bread, tomatoes, lettuce, turkey, cheese, little bit of mayo, little bit of avocado.....now i understand that if i put mayo, avocado and cheese on a sandwich, i've made an 800 calorie sandwich...and then of course i still had breakfast and dinner....now i know that i can distribute the things i love and mix and match so that each meal is good and i'm not overeating. I'm more careful about choosing the products i'm using (sodium and fat and cals and nutrition) and I know that i can't layer fats on top of each other because they add up and if i had known that a long time ago, i probably wouldn't have hit over 300 lbs!

So don't beat yourself up, stick around a while. There are many amazing people here, many who have had various struggles, whether with mental things, giving up, physical disabilities, you name it. And they are encouraging and have advice and experiences to give if you want it.

I personally think that tackling the mental part is essential. For some of us, there indeed is a little voice that tells us this sucks because we're gonna fail anyway, or "we just aren't that kind of person" or "everyone is going to look and judge me" etc...learning to answer that voice with reminding yourself that you are just fine. If you wish you had eaten healthier today at dinner, see if you can make a good choice at breakfast. Every single meal is a new opportunity to choose and strengthen the positive. Whether it's on this site or not, logging food is important to successful weight loss and it really might serve you well to sit still with the part of you that is hating it, and see if underneath that feeling, there is something else going on...

Good luck to you, i hope you stick around :-)