are you all new???

I'm relatively new, having been on MFP about a month now. Tracking the food I eat and my exercise has been helpful. I've lost about 6 pounds during my time here.

I've been on just over 2 months. Lost 14 pounds so far. I love the site, the people and being accountable.
Welcome. Stick around for awhile.

I think it depends on the type of person you are, i have only been here a day and so far I'm feeling alot more confident about losing weight and sticking to my weight loss plan because i can come here whenever im on the internet and get some motivation, the success stories are super inspirational and also counting calories has always worked for me so having this online diary to store it helps me remember and there is so many people on here it makes me feel like I'm not alone in this battle and I'm not the only one that struggles with loosing weight, so if those things motivate you then i think it would help you too, having said that it has onl been a day but i really want to stick to it this time, i personally feel like i can make it

Anyway good luck on your journey

I'm new too, just starting today. been on a similar site to this a couple of years ago and it was really helpful but it wasnt free like this one and it was getting costly to keep it up(I kept forgetting to put money in my account so I was getting overdraw fees all the time). The forums are a great way to keep in touch with people that are on the same journey as you are, and you will never feel alone when things get tough. Im really looking forward to getting back on track and losing this weight for good! Best of luck to you, and feel free to add me as a friend also.

I'm new, day 1. I can already see how it is going to be much more helpful than WW.

I am not new. It really does help. The people here are great and the support is what changed the tides for me when I was struggling last year.

Go TEAM!

Welcome to all newbies! I have been here since end of July. All I can say is, love it, lovie it, love it. I have had the pleasure of making great, supportive friends that keep me motivated and on track.

I have lost 71 pounds so far and I know that I could not have done this on my own without MFP.

Wishing you all great success in your weight loss journey. Remember to stay hydrated and most of all enjoy the ride!

:drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

I joined in November. I've lost a pound a week since the first of August. It's been simple. I never set a goal of losing a certain number of pounds. Nor, did I set a timetable of how long I was going to do something. Both of those things have failed in the past.

This time I just set out to walk a little bit each day or as many days per week as I could. At first it was like 20 minutes at about 2 MPH (30 minutes per mile). I just ambled along. I kept eating like normal with a slight decrease in calories but by no means was I counting calories or anything.

The walking increased to 30 minutes a day with the occassional day missed because I didn't feel like it. Same eating as before. I weighed myself each morning before showering. Dropped a few pounds the first couple of weeks. That surprised and pleased me.

Increased the walking to almost an hour at a time. Still just barely shuffling along but feeling good that I could walk non-stop for an hour. A few more weeks went by and a few more pounds lost but not as much as I had hoped. I wondered if my eating needed to improve so I purposely started watching what I ate. No tracking of food and still no specific goals. Just wanted to walk and get a little healthier.

About the first week of October I was stagnant. No weight coming off. I had lost weight which was amazingly good but for the next month nothing came off. Did I need to do something different?

I did an online search for "weight loss plateau" and found this forum. I read a few comments. People seemed to be successful and supportive so I read more about it and decided to start keeping the food diary.

I found instantly why I had not been losing for a while. I was eating way more than I thought...and more than I should to lose weight. So, the calorie counter on here in the Food diary section has been fantastic for me. I immediately started losing weight and have continued at a clip of a pound per week. And it's been easy. I don't feel like I'm depriving myself. I don't feel like I'm on a diet. And I still have not really set any goals.

For the ticker below I needed to set something so I picked 160 pounds but I'm not really thinking about that or even thinking about what tomorrow will bring. I know I'm eating right and I'm still walking so that's all I should be doing. Maybe eventually I'll up the exercise to jogging, or something in a gym but for now I'm content with what I'm doing.

So, does this site work? It's a help. You do the "work" but just go about it slowly and carefully. Don't shoot for the moon only to give up. And don't set up some unrealistic expectation. Those are sure ways to end up defeated. Just go into the profile section and fill it out honestly. Then, record every bit of food you eat and add the exercise in. Eat all the calories you are supposed to each day and don't go over. By the way, I recommend that you select the lowest normal daily lifestyle - sedentary - because that's what most of us are. Unless you really are bouncing around like crazy on your daily 8-hour job you'll be better off (more realistic for the calculations here to be accurate).

Good luck to you.

It seems very helpful. And FREE!

This site REALLY does work..3 things that make it magical..

1. You become very aware of what you are eating/should be eating/exercising

2.The incredible support and motivation from the amazing people in the MFP community ( i'd say that there are perhaps 1 or 2 ''bad '' friends to every 100 ''good friends''

3.Rewards bring confidence..you feel better and you also feel obliged to work out and eat right to inspire your friends.

You get out of MFP what you put in....right from logging all that you eat and exercise down to your level of commitment to supporting others.

You have NOTHING to lose (except weight and a ton of bad habits!)

go for it!

Sums it up perfectly. I love this site and IT WORKS IF YOU WORK IT!