Need Motivation and words of wisdom..

jillj333
jillj333 Posts: 5 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi Everyone,

I signed up for MFP sometime last spring and have sort of gone back and forth with it. Used it for a while...then went off. Anyway, I'm finally feeling really motivated and have been doing great for the past 10 days or so. Counting every single piece of food that passes my lips (even the three goldfish I ate Friday morning when making lunch for the kids). I've even been walking a little over
3 miles on the treadmill. Anyway, not a single solitary pound lost. In fact, I've gained 2. I'm eating right around 1300 calories a
day (that's my average) and MFP always ADDS all the calories from exercise onto your totals for the day. I have NOT been eating those.

Thanks for any advice. It's been like 10 days and in the past I've at least dumped a couple pounds of water in the first few days, which helps with my motivation. This time not so, so thanks for any words of motivation you may have.

Replies

  • CaptainGordo
    CaptainGordo Posts: 4,437 Member
    Make some friends. Helps to have that support system. Check out the groups for like-minded folks, and folks with common interests.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/search?phrase=&order=1&include_mature=true
  • jmruef
    jmruef Posts: 824 Member
    What worked for me is eating my exercise calories. It seems counter-intuitive, not everyone does it, etc, but again: it worked for me to eat MORE, not less.
  • Alexagetsfit
    Alexagetsfit Posts: 313 Member
    I actually gained a few pounds the first couple of weeks, but now am on track and losing weight, but I also eat my exercise calories, otherwise, I am hungry all the time and lightheaded.
  • jbahrami
    jbahrami Posts: 206 Member
    Don't fret...I'm right there with you! I've been working hard with MFP for 3 weeks (I'm a newbie) and the couple of pounds that I managed to lose have found their way right back on my hips. As other people have encouraged me, I'll help encourage you. Don't give up and don't let the lack of "scale weight loss" sidetrack you. You're becoming healthier on the inside and that will end up making a big difference on the outside soon enough (I know...it doesn't seem like it will happen soon enough!). Keep going. I've learned that your attitude can really make a difference too...negative feelings will slow down the weightloss (I know, it sounds crazy)...I guess the positive vibes will help make you more energetic and burn more calories.
    Okay, enough with my babbling. You have a great support system on MFP and feel free to friend me...you can never have too many cheerleaders of support!!
    Jen
  • jezpakani
    jezpakani Posts: 1
    First refuse to give up and refuse to allow the numbers that appear on your scales to be the final authority on your success. Yes we are all here to loose weight but it is also about making healthy lifestyle decisions. Eating the right foods in the appropriate portions is a great start and the pounds will come off in time. Little things like not eating late and drinking lots of water will help you as well. I have noticed that my weight will vary from time to time and it depends on when I do the weight in too. I now always do my weigh in's first thing in the morning (Monday) after all my trips to the bathroom are over. This will help you to be more consistent in checking your weight. Also do not assume that your scales are accurate and you should use another set just to see how the two compare. Lastly I only weigh myself in one day a week because the constant checking can be depressing if I am not making the progress I want. Again refuse to give up and do not allow what the scales show to be the only thing you base your progress on. Commit to becoming fit, exercise, eat the right foods and let all the rest fall into place.
  • jillj333
    jillj333 Posts: 5 Member
    Wow you guys, I posted this, ran out to run a couple errands and so many great posts. :) Thank you!!!

    I need to lose about 30-35 lbs. My mini-goals are always to get below that next # that ends in 0...so if I were 155 (I wish :) my
    goal would be to just get below 150. I have not been eating the healthiest ever, but I never do well with drastic change. So at
    this point I'm just cutting my calories. I had managed to lose 37lbs before I had children and then was so healthy that I got pregnant. :) It has been a struggle ever since. I'm sure the fact that I'm not getting any younger isn't working to my advantage.

    I'm almost scared to eat the exercise calories...but I dunno. I guess it's worth a try.

    My doctor keeps harping on coffee and saying that that's what's causing me trouble. I'm not sure I believe that. Any thoughts on coffee? I did give up artificial sweetners...and where I was drinking maybe 2 diet cokes/day I now have been drinking maybe 2 per month. Oh and I am talking about plain old black coffee. Yes I do drink regular and I guess I didn't get him to clarify, but I'm not drinking starbucks mocha's. When I do go there I get a plain, skim cappucino...small (around 60 calories)....and I count it towards my daily calories. How can coffee possibly be that terrible. It's almost universal around the globe, it helps give me some extra energy through our very long, very depressing winters. Sigh.

    Anyway, thanks for the great advice guys, I'll be friending some of you guys because that probably will provide me with some motivation. I guess you guys are right, I've got to quit obsessing on the scale and just keep counting. I think I'll just keep with the program and then not weigh myself again until Saturday.

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