swimmchick87 Member

I am an introvert also and I hate this. Being an introvert doesn't mean you don't want to see people ever. I have been isolated since March 14th and I live alone. Thankfully I am still working from home so at least I have something to focus on and I'm still getting paid (for now). I miss the option to go out and do things…

I love mine. I have my account here on mfp set to "lightly active" because I'm a teacher, and getting the fitbit and seeing how little I walk on weekends (even if I felt like I was really "out and about"- it was nothing like a day at work) or meeting days was very eye opening. I'm not sure how many calories the extra…

I have updated my weight and the calorie goal did go down, but only by 20 calories. When I started in January it was 1710 and now it's 1690. I don't weigh/update as often as I used to but I did update about 2 weeks ago and was given the 1690 goal. I also had updated when I started again in January, so no, it wasn't use an…

It's in the "exercise" tab. I'm not sure if it will show up if you don't have any exercise logged. I have my fitbit linked so under cardiovascular it says "fitbit calorie adjustment" and there is a little blue "i" underneath that. Click on that, and it will show fitbit calories burned and mfp calories burned. Mine says…

Okay, don't call it TDEE. The number they are basing my deficit on. They estimate that my calories burned for the day based on my weight and activity level is 2048. They gave me 1690 calories. 2048-1690= 348. Do you understand that???? Simple math? I don't see why this is so hard. 3500 calorie deficit is needed to lose a…

You guys aren't getting it. It's simple math that MFP has majorly screwed up. It has nothing to do with the fitbit, that's just how I noticed it was wrong. Say I didn't have the fitbit linked at all. MFP says my TDEE is 2048. I get that the number isn't going to be perfectly accurate, but that's what they came up with.…

I'm sure a lot of it depends on how your weight is distributed, how much muscle mass you have, etc. I'm 5'4 and an "apple" shape. I wore mostly size 10 when I was 155ish pounds. At one point I was exercising a ton and wore mostly size 8 even though I was only a few pounds lighter- 150ish. So I think there are a lot of…

I've been really into the Chocolate Hummus from Trader Joe's, if you have one in your area. Keep in mind that it's not going to taste like chocolate ice cream or a tub of chocolate icing. IMO it doesn't have a weird "hummus" taste either and is a good lightly sweet taste. I've tried it with an apple and raspberries because…

I was doing this long before I heard of IF as a "thing." I used to make myself eat breakfast because I believed all of the nonsense about it revving up your metabolism and being the most important meal of the day, etc. It was very freeing to learn that it doesn't matter when you get your calories. I prefer to have most of…

I have never found an exercise that I think is "fun." However, I do like being fit and feel that I look a lot better with exercise than I do just losing weight through food. I also do find it to be stress relieving at times, and like the sense of accomplishment it gives me. That said, I stick to only 30 minutes 5 days per…

I usually go with vodka soda or rum and diet. I also like prosecco if I'm looking for something a little different- it's almost as low calorie as liquor. Also YES to the pp who mentioned that your tolerance may be lower, especially if you're used to drinking on a full stomach and/or drinking with food. My friends and I do…

I consider a rest day to be a day off from formal workouts. I do an "official workout" 5 days per week. To me, walking doesn't feel like exercise. I aim for at least 10,000 steps on my fitbit 7 days per week. On lazy weekend days, this often means I end up pacing in front of the TV to get the steps in. Like you said OP, I…

I usually put my fitbit in my pocket at the grocery store, since it won't count steps on my wrist as I'm pushing the cart. One day I didn't have any pockets, so I snapped it onto the handle of my cross body purse. Fitbit logged the whole trip as "outdoor biking."

I always eat whatever I want on vacation. I don't stuff myself- I hate that physical feeling- but I don't count anything either. Everyone is different- for me, if I did try to restrict myself I'd end up resenting it and getting even more off track later, which is harder to come back from. Vacations work for me because…

Thanks for the replies. The program already includes 2 rest days per week. I think on those days I'm going to just do whatever shorter workout they've included with the stretching (typically its 10 minutes of some sort of focused workout, and then the 30 minutes of stretching) and then just walk for the rest of the time…

Yep, been there. Except for me, it's several months at a time. I'll do really well, lose a good chunk of weight, only to gain it all back again in the next few months. This time around I am working hard to get rid of my "all or nothing" attitude. If I made one not so great choice, I'd feel that my day was "ruined" and end…

I've done cheat days in the past. They worked in the short term, but I eventually fell off the wagon with mfp and gained the weight back. Another time, I tried having a 2,000 calorie day- still sort of a "cheat" but more counted and controlled. Even though it was counted, I purposely ate nothing but junk that day- i.e.…

I kind of stepped myself down with portions, if that makes sense. For example, chips are something that I would eat huge portions of before. I started with weighing out 3 servings at once (all logged of course), then 2.5, then 2, etc. I've also worked on getting away from volume eating even in scenarios where I can fit…

This is great advice. I like to eat out and any plan that doesn't allow that is something I can't stick to. Remember that many people lose weight, but very few keep it off. IMO, planning for what you can handle long term is the most important thing. It does annoy me when restaurants don't have calorie info, but that…

I also really like Chilly Cow. I am trying to train myself to eat more regular portions, and I like that Chilly Cow is a more "normal" serving size. With Halo Top, I can fit a whole pint into my calorie day, but I don't need to be eating an entire pint of ice cream. That leads to later thinking an entire pint of Ben and…

I also just work it into my calorie day. I have learned that having an "all or nothing" mindset doesn't work for me, and I try not to see foods as "good foods" or "bad foods." If this is a regular craving of yours, I might even plan to go once or twice per week. Look at the calories ahead of time and plan what you can get.…

Did not read all 6 pages of this thread, but I agree with this. When I lost 30 pounds, a few people made comments about how I was losing weight, and I mentioned the number to one of my good friends. One day she saw me leaving work in my fitted gym clothes and said, "Wow, you really have lost 30 pounds! I can tell now that…

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm going to try it and see how it goes. I'm doing a home video program, so it's a different workout every day.

Like the others said, IF is just a way that helps some people stick to their calorie goals. I'd been doing it for awhile before I realized there was an official name for it, just because it helps me stick to my calorie goals. Most mornings I'm not hungry anyway and am satisfied with just coffee, so I never eat breakfast. I…

I personally believe in everything in moderation, so I haven't completely given any food up. What's been really easy for me though, is giving up drinking alcohol at dinners out. I figure if I'm only going to have 1-2 drinks and not even really get buzzed, why waste the calories? My friends and I go to a taco tuesday every…

I often go way over on the carbs mfp recommends for each day, but stay within my calories, and I'm still losing as expected.

Unless I've just gone crazy all day long, no more than 1-2 pounds. I actually find the biggest cause of "artificial gain" for me is lack of sleep. I struggle with insomnia, and having to be at work at 7:15 AM doesn't help. On the nights I sleep very little or not at all, I can literally weigh up to 4-5 more pounds in the…

Agree with this. Some may disagree, but I would also say that if you're really struggling already in week 1, this may not be a good long term plan for you. I would recommend upping your calories and going with a smaller rate of weight loss that is more sustainable for you. If you're white knuckling it you won't stick with…

I lost weight on the points plus program. In the beginning, it was easy because I was heavier and was therefore granted more points. When I had lost a good amount, I was only given the minimum number of points and it was much harder. At some point, I had also realized that points plus was essentially just calorie counting.…