anyone recommend MFP to a friend trying to lose weight?

13

Replies

  • My oldest adult daughter was talked into it, by me, her mom.
    She is 24, going on 25 June 6th.
    She never really gained the traditional "freshmen 15" in her early post HS years, until NOW, in a nice stable relationship with her boyfriend, which she is calling "love pound-age"......
    She is loving MFP & is into tracking her food & exercise daily now - & ME TOO!!
  • 123cat
    123cat Posts: 16 Member
    This is easy....I love it,and it works.
  • Testosterone
    Testosterone Posts: 236 Member
    I have been asked "what have you been doing to lose the weight?" I start in with MFP and how easy it is and how much better I feel. Standard comeback " I can't afford diet food, that would be to expensive." Seriously I lose it when they say that. How is eating what you eat everyday but less cost you any more? Usually the ones that really want to lose weight will do it. Others will just keep finding execues not to. :flowerforyou:

    lol. diet is food. diet is what you eat, every day. carry a dictionary with you to refer them to it lol.
  • pturski2
    pturski2 Posts: 1
    I'm on here because a friend recommended it. I never understood the importance of food journaling. Now I do! I love how I can put entire recipes in and it tells me the breakdown. I am planning my meals around my daily caloric goal. I was able to see exactly where I was sabotaging myself. And, I am able to make sure I have 1200 net calories per day. I think before I may have eating too few calories and went into starvation mode.

    I also have a lot of my co-workers hooked on it. Great too! And the food journaling. Yeah, it takes some time. But, it's worth it in the end.

    Oh and Blessedmommy -- FANTASTIC JOB! Keep up the good work!
  • Blessedmommy_2x
    Blessedmommy_2x Posts: 419 Member
    I'm on here because a friend recommended it. I never understood the importance of food journaling. Now I do! I love how I can put entire recipes in and it tells me the breakdown. I am planning my meals around my daily caloric goal. I was able to see exactly where I was sabotaging myself. And, I am able to make sure I have 1200 net calories per day. I think before I may have eating too few calories and went into starvation mode.

    I also have a lot of my co-workers hooked on it. Great too! And the food journaling. Yeah, it takes some time. But, it's worth it in the end.

    Oh and Blessedmommy -- FANTASTIC JOB! Keep up the good work!

    THANK YOU!:smile:
  • msdominique1
    msdominique1 Posts: 65 Member
    I did and most of them don't use it for many of the reasons listed... lol... I use the mobile site more esp when I am away on the computer... but it does take some getting use to.
  • rileamoyer
    rileamoyer Posts: 2,412 Member
    I recommend to anyone who is interested in how I did it or how they can do it (get healthier, not just lose weight). A few have signed up and left but several have stayed on and at least one (my cousin) has met their goal!!!!!!
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    I have told only 2 people that I am on this site.(and only when I knew they wouldn't join) I like it that I am not friends with any of my "real life" friends on here. I don't know if anyone else feels that way, but that's me!
    I tell people about the site, but I don't tell them my username.
  • ChasingSweatandTears
    ChasingSweatandTears Posts: 504 Member
    I have been asked "what have you been doing to lose the weight?" I start in with MFP and how easy it is and how much better I feel. Standard comeback " I can't afford diet food, that would be to expensive." Seriously I lose it when they say that. How is eating what you eat everyday but less cost you any more? Usually the ones that really want to lose weight will do it. Others will just keep finding execues not to. :flowerforyou:

    lol. diet is food. diet is what you eat, every day. carry a dictionary with you to refer them to it lol.

    Exactly. I get that it can cost more to eat healthy food. It can. But it's an investment in you. The same people that tell me they can't afford to eat healthy and they don't have time to track calories spend tons of money at the bar, eating out and some are even smokers. They are also on Facebook 24/7. And I wonder why I'm losing friends lol. Sorry but my social life isnt that important to me right now to sabotage my efforts! I haven't drank hardly any alcohol for the past 6 weeks and for the first time in years I'm starting to see my muscles :) coincidence? I think not.
  • Qatsi
    Qatsi Posts: 2,191 Member
    I've told a number of people about this site, but as far as I know none of them have followed up.

    I don't find it that much of a hassle to track everything. If anything, I love the fact that it makes me accountable to myself. And about a month ago I discovered the bar code scanning feature on the iPhone app. It doesn't get much easier than THAT!
  • shannypoo21
    shannypoo21 Posts: 329 Member
    Yes!!! I even had one friend who said she doesn't get it. Like she didn't understand the correlation of calories allotted to her and exercise.
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,923 Member
    I think most people who WANT to lose weight feel all of us that ARE actually losing weight have a magical spell and we just waved a magic wand and "wal-ah" skinny. No people. It doesn't work like that. I count how many beers I have, I only eat half of my restaurant order and I pass on appetizers. Every time. I work at this it's not magic, it's logic.

    I'm 5'11 and 159. I have a very good friend that is 5'2 and 165. When I met her she was tiny, like 120 tiny. She is constantly complaining how fat she feels but when I told her how should could feel good again she said "it's not that easy, if it was I wouldn't be fat". No, really, it is that easy, it just takes willpower and the want to feel good again. She's a counselor too, which amazes me how she can counsel people into making the right decisions and she can't do the same for herself.

    Ok, enough of that rant. Every one of us has a reason that we "let ourselves go". MPF'ers though made the decision to fix it. Everyone else just hasn't made it there yet, they will in time...
  • Testosterone
    Testosterone Posts: 236 Member
    I have been asked "what have you been doing to lose the weight?" I start in with MFP and how easy it is and how much better I feel. Standard comeback " I can't afford diet food, that would be to expensive." Seriously I lose it when they say that. How is eating what you eat everyday but less cost you any more? Usually the ones that really want to lose weight will do it. Others will just keep finding execues not to. :flowerforyou:

    lol. diet is food. diet is what you eat, every day. carry a dictionary with you to refer them to it lol.

    Exactly. I get that it can cost more to eat healthy food. It can. But it's an investment in you. The same people that tell me they can't afford to eat healthy and they don't have time to track calories spend tons of money at the bar, eating out and some are even smokers. They are also on Facebook 24/7. And I wonder why I'm losing friends lol. Sorry but my social life isnt that important to me right now to sabotage my efforts! I haven't drank hardly any alcohol for the past 6 weeks and for the first time in years I'm starting to see my muscles :) coincidence? I think not.


    eating right costs a lot less than a heart attack.
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    And they thought that tracking their calories was just "too time consuming"?
    People are always looking for a reason to not succeed.
  • Testosterone
    Testosterone Posts: 236 Member
    I think most people who WANT to lose weight feel all of us that ARE actually losing weight have a magical spell and we just waved a magic wand and "wal-ah" skinny. No people. It doesn't work like that. I count how many beers I have, I only eat half of my restaurant order and I pass on appetizers. Every time. I work at this it's not magic, it's logic.

    I'm 5'11 and 159. I have a very good friend that is 5'2 and 165. When I met her she was tiny, like 120 tiny. She is constantly complaining how fat she feels but when I told her how should could feel good again she said "it's not that easy, if it was I wouldn't be fat". No, really, it is that easy, it just takes willpower and the want to feel good again. She's a counselor too, which amazes me how she can counsel people into making the right decisions and she can't do the same for herself.

    Ok, enough of that rant. Every one of us has a reason that we "let ourselves go". MPF'ers though made the decision to fix it. Everyone else just hasn't made it there yet, they will in time...


    It's honestly like knowing about diet and exercise is being part of a secret club.
  • gurganuss
    gurganuss Posts: 78 Member
    I have recommended it to a lot of people. In fact it was a recommendation that got me on here. LOL. But my friend said it was too time consuming and her way was working fine for her.

    But she, like a lot of others i see on here, are not eating enough and will throw her body into starvation mode. Well you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink. :ohwell:
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    Yes!!! I even had one friend who said she doesn't get it. Like she didn't understand the correlation of calories allotted to her and exercise.

    That's funny
  • I recommend MFP to tons of people, not just people trying to lose weight. I'm not actively trying to lose weight but just to maintain weight that I have lost. I've found when people think it is tedious or odd to count all of your calories I will point out how many calories they are currently eating (especially disturbing in burger joints) and then they tend to re-think their take on the situation. Even it they decide it still isn't for them they at least agree that it can be helpful information to have in order to make healthy choices.
  • cyclerjenn
    cyclerjenn Posts: 833 Member
    Yes, my best friend tracked for one day and then gave up.
  • Yes. My sister's bf, two of my co-workers and a close family friend. And as far as I know, none of them have joined/signed up yet. But yet everyone of them continue to ask me how I am going about losing my weight. One co-worker I work with asks me just about every day what I am doing to lose weight and I tell her, but she is still looking for that short cut or magic bullet that is going to make her the size and weight she wants to be. Oh well, I guess that's the problem with some people, they want the short cut or magic pills instead hard work and dedication to lose the weight.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    Someone laughed at me a few weeks ago when I was telling them about it. I said it's really easy, but they thought it was stupid. This was after they told me that they were diagnosed with high blood pressure and borderline diabetes and really high cholestral. I mentioned it as a solution rather than taking pills and such. I just think they're a total dumbsh*t now. Easy solution was handed to them on a silver platter and they laughed in my face. Fu*k 'em.

    Told another friend that look good (or sexy), but could lose just a few, maybe 10 or 15 lbs. It was unsoliticted, so I was in the danger zone. She totally signed up and told me later that she can't figure out how to control her sodium. Funny how some people get it and some dont.
  • Testosterone
    Testosterone Posts: 236 Member
    Someone laughed at me a few weeks ago when I was telling them about it. I said it's really easy, but they thought it was stupid. This was after they told me that they were diagnosed with high blood pressure and borderline diabetes and really high cholestral. I mentioned it as a solution rather than taking pills and such. I just think they're a total dumbsh*t now. Easy solution was handed to them on a silver platter and they laughed in my face. Fu*k 'em.

    Told another friend that look good (or sexy), but could lose just a few, maybe 10 or 15 lbs. It was unsoliticted, so I was in the danger zone. She totally signed up and told me later that she can't figure out how to control her sodium. Funny how some people get it and some dont.

    sodium isnt a really big issue if shes sweating her *kitten* off working out. im always like 2500-3500 mg. i dont bloat. but then again i leave the gym with my clothes sticking to me every time.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    Someone laughed at me a few weeks ago when I was telling them about it. I said it's really easy, but they thought it was stupid. This was after they told me that they were diagnosed with high blood pressure and borderline diabetes and really high cholestral. I mentioned it as a solution rather than taking pills and such. I just think they're a total dumbsh*t now. Easy solution was handed to them on a silver platter and they laughed in my face. Fu*k 'em.

    Told another friend that look good (or sexy), but could lose just a few, maybe 10 or 15 lbs. It was unsoliticted, so I was in the danger zone. She totally signed up and told me later that she can't figure out how to control her sodium. Funny how some people get it and some dont.

    sodium isnt a really big issue if shes sweating her *kitten* off working out. im always like 2500-3500 mg. i dont bloat. but then again i leave the gym with my clothes sticking to me every time.

    I don't think it's a big problem either. Sorry I wasn't clear about why I said that. I was just expressing the fact that because she said that, meant she took my advice and was using the site, which is cool. I like when people listen to me. LOL.
  • angelina2585
    angelina2585 Posts: 273 Member
    If I've been asked how I'm losing weight then yes I've mentioned MFP and counting calories. I've had a colleague look all excited when she was asking me to share my secret only for her the smile to drop when I told her. As other posters have mentioned, what on earth was she expecting? That I tap my heels 3 times and the weight magically drops off??

    One friend has been doing the Lighterlife diet - I don't know if you have have it in the US but no doubt there will be something similar. It's a 3 shakes a day diet. Around 500 calories a day. I know. You know. She hospitalised 4 weeks into the 'diet' and is waiting for an operation to have her gall bladder removed. She's since stopped using it but because she's not had any pain for the last few weeks is thinking of starting it again. She's a great girl but it's so frustrating that she'd rather do that than log & scan her foods on her phone. She's seeing that I'm eating loads and eating well but wants to not have to think about it - the shakes take preparing and thinking of food out of the equation and of course result in great weight losses :( I also really worry about her health if she starts it again.

    Rant over!
  • donyellemoniquex3
    donyellemoniquex3 Posts: 2,384 Member
    If you have a smart phone, its ridiculously easy.

    I actually prefer the app to the website xD
  • Testosterone
    Testosterone Posts: 236 Member
    If you have a smart phone, its ridiculously easy.

    I actually prefer the app to the website xD

    the most i do on the website with my diary is tweak my calorie needs.
  • Gosser
    Gosser Posts: 178 Member
    if losing .5 has been easy enough for you, set yourself up to lose a whole lb. ive been running at 2 lb loss per week for almost 6 months. its been difficult on some days, but its its own reward. if i overeat, i make sure i burn it off.

    I only have a few pounds to go and slow and steady helps me get used to the new portion control that I lacked before. I am now happy that I will be able to maintain my eating style for the rest of my life and not over eat like I used to.
  • jenbooks
    jenbooks Posts: 55 Member
    So I haven't posted anything on facebook about trying to lose weight or anything, but I do let mfp post my losses. Last week a friend of mine (I've known her forever) asked: "How in the *heck* are you doing this? I'm so frustrated about not losing weight."

    So I excitedly (because I kinda am excited about this and how I've been feeling since I started this journey) replied: "Portion sizes, trying (not necessarily succeeding) to eat healthier foods, and *religiously* logging what I eat. I'm using {mfp link} which is *very* helpful. I'm also trying to be more active, walking more, using my fitness video games, and I joined a gym. I'm still very sporadic on exercise, but I've been pretty good at staying near my calorie goal. I've found mfp to be very motivating, plus I use a pedometer (fitbit, actually, which is a pedometer+) and a heart rate monitor (because I don't want to die). I'll send you an invite to mfp if you'd like to check it out! It'd be awesome to see you there!"

    Her response? "I'm glad you've found something that works. Idk if I'm ready to commit to all of that. Just being honest!"

    I was sad. :brokenheart: It's kinda weird though, because she seems way more active than I am, and I *know* she cooks better (healthier) meals than I do. I dunno.
  • Totally easy and becomes as much of your healthy habit as exercise/eating right! I love it!
  • pinkhu13
    pinkhu13 Posts: 133
    I recommended MFP to my sister who is obese and talks about wanting to be healthier and losing weight. That's the only reason I said anything because I didn't want to make her feel bad or anything. I showed her my profile and she was like "oh.." So I never said anything else. She grossly underestimates her calories consumed so I think this would be a good thing for her but she's got to want it for herself.

    Edited to say I also recommended this to my friend who keeps complaining to me about she thinks she's gaining weight and all that and she pretty much said that this would be too much work so i left it at that.