best thing i've ever done to loose weight, I need to share it!

I have decided to use this app to get more active and eat healthier.

Add me: siankwhite

I've been using this to lose the last stone for a 4 and half stone loss, been using it religiously and going to the gym 3-4 times a week and the weight is slowly but surely coming off and I'm adopting healthier eating habits in general, because I'm not treating this like a 'diet'
Treat day today, cannot wait for Chinese!

Also, feel free to add me, I'm marthamagic92 🙂

I've been using this to lose the last stone for a 4 and half stone loss, been using it religiously and going to the gym 3-4 times a week and the weight is slowly but surely coming off and I'm adopting healthier eating habits in general, because I'm not treating this like a 'diet'
Treat day today, cannot wait for Chinese!

Also, feel free to add me, I'm marthamagic92 🙂

Thats brilliant, how did you loose the rest? Thats really encouraging, that its working for you. I hope i can make it work for me because i feel awful as i am.

This isn't really something I've shared out in public. I'm weirdly guarded about it. I hate being congratulated for losing weight. I have no real idea why, I just do!

That said, I've been using a Fitbit Flex pedometer to lose just under 4 and a half stone. I tried MFP and didn't like it much. It didn't give me enough of an incentive to get exercise (I'm very exercise averse!), but the encouragement to do more steps works really well for me. Now most days I'm walking 6-10 miles before starting work, but most days I have a total of around 20-28,000 steps which is about 10-17 miles, something like that. I get to eat loads (mostly healthy of course and I'm finding healthy fats I'll eat as I don't like most) and still lose 🙂

Thats amazing (congratulations) I have tried MFP unsuccessfully in the past, but i am hoping I can make it work for me this time, although i hadn't considered that it might not work for everyone lol

Thats a lot of steps and very inspirational. How long did it take you to build up to that far & How long does it take to walk that far in the morning?

I too am exercise averse & need something to get me moving, but also something i can build up to, i have lots of time at the moment, so i have no excuse really.

I've been using this to lose the last stone for a 4 and half stone loss, been using it religiously and going to the gym 3-4 times a week and the weight is slowly but surely coming off and I'm adopting healthier eating habits in general, because I'm not treating this like a 'diet'
Treat day today, cannot wait for Chinese!

Also, feel free to add me, I'm marthamagic92 🙂

Thats brilliant, how did you loose the rest? Thats really encouraging, that its working for you. I hope i can make it work for me because i feel awful as i am.

I lost the rest because I was literally too poor to eat and when I did have money I spent it on the wrong things. I was on one small meal a day at one point and desperately unhappy so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
I got down to about 11 and a half stone last year and maintained that for a year because I was cycling to and from uni/not eating much. I have a tendency to skip meals/develop unhealthy habits but MFP is really helping me to eat properly and regularly!

Thats a lot of steps and very inspirational. How long did it take you to build up to that far & How long does it take to walk that far in the morning?

It didn't take all that long, surprisingly!

I  used to work standing all day and walking a lot back and forth as well as lots of heavy lifting. I was working in fabric shops! I got a lot of exercise without any extra effort. So when I started working at home I was in for a shock lol I put on a lot of weight pretty quickly (I still have quite a lot left to go) and became very unfit.

When we moved to the house I'm in now I couldn't get to the top of the stairs without being out of breath. My legs would hurt SO much when I walked and walking up even a little incline was a bit of a nightmare.

I started trying to walk up that hill from my house a bit faster. Then a bit faster etc. I still was struggling a bit though, but I started to feel better quite quickly. So, once I got the fitbit, the 3rd day I had it we went for a 4 mile walk. Stopped for lunch. Then walked back! So 8 miles! I was in SO much pain lol

The next day I did very little, not surprisingly. I think I was doing about 10,000 steps a day for the first 2 or 3 weeks. But, on a Saturday we would go for a much longer walk which we built up a bit each week. The last one we did we walked 50,250 steps which was about 27 miles! We stopped just twice! I think that is actually what meant I could build up my daily amount now. As it's been so hot, we've stopped doing the mega walks, but I'm still averaging about the same because I'm walking more each day.

It takes me about 16 mins to walk a mile if I'm feeling energetic, 17 and a half if I'm not! Obviously, if you're working full time in an office and commute, this isn't going to work so well, but I get up at 5.30 or 6 am and walk then, so I'm still starting work at about 8am most days!

It also helps if I have an end goal to the walk. Like I take a bag and pop into Sainsbury on the way back! That makes me feel like I'm achieving more for the time spent lol

Janine you're really tempting me to buy a fitbit!

Janine you're really tempting me to buy a fitbit!

me too!!

What are the advantages of a fitbit over other pedometers? (i like that its on your wrist, so you wear it constantly)

It's hard to say as I've only used Fitbit lol

I like the dashboard, this is yesterday, My goals are 16000 steps, 7 miles (need to up that as I've changed my stride and can't get it 100% right) and 100 active minutes.

Today, I didn't walk this morning as I needed to make sure I got some work done, so my everything is pretty low and nagging me! I'll aim to make the minimums today, but it might be tough. A walk to the post office will help as that's about 3-4 miles depending on the route 🙂

It can also synch with MFP if you prefer that. But I love these dials, they encourage me to keep going for some reason and it worked way better than MFP.

The wristbands aren't wildly pretty and I've been trying to come up with something I can make the band look nicer. None of the ones I've seen online are much better.

(by the way, the 2500+ calories I ate yesterday still gave me a 500 cal deficit! If I go less than that I feel like crap, so I'd rather lose slower and feel better)

I hate talking about losses openly as well (I even ended up asking for a post to be removed because I wrote it and instantly had massive regrets) but I do use MFP very actively, considered getting a fitbit (I like how it can sync with MFP and has a nice interface) eventually and so far on more or less a third of my loss journey and half of my initial goal for maintenance.
I mostly zumba and bike though but the biggest change was in my eating... which is easy for me to follow but hardly suits most of the people out there.

The username for MFP is the same as it is here if anyone needs a cheerleader, currently on a 123 day strike which also marks the days since I started this seriously.

After hearing about your success Janineb, i have ordered a fitbit!! I like the idea of focusing on activity targets rather than diet related ones, I am off to Barcelona Tuesday so i am hoping to start using it then (when i'll be walking loads) so when i return i'll have something to gauge my activity against.

Another tool for those motivated by activity targets is Fitocracy.  I mentioned it on page 2 of this thread ... you level up as you log activities, which I personally find super motivational!

Along with my fitbit which i love  *lovestars* i joined slimming world last night.

I have been a yoyo dieter and i am an emotional eater, along with my BF having a real sweet tooth i have managed to gain 6 stone during our 10 year relationship.

I did slimming world in 2011 with success until i stopped then gained it and some.

I am looking forward to having a structure to work with as i get really confused if i try to do it alone. Plus when i am paying for a club it really focuses me, I wish i could follow the plan without paying for the club but i just haven't been as focused in the past.

And i have always intended to sort it out, just been really lazy about it, but as we are getting married now, i know i want to take action, so that when we start looking at dates i have nothing stopping me. Plus i really do owe it to myself to be happy and confident in how i look, which i don't at the moment & i can't express myself as i'd like because most of the clothing i like doesn't go up to my size.

I love the idea of fitbits/exercise bands! Today we had our lists of handsets released at work which we can get at a discounted rate and the s5 was on there. I'll be ordering one and hopefully a gear fit watch too. I don't walk much, but do workouts at the gym so would need the heart rate monitor part of it I think.
I joined the gym (a different one to where I was previously going) and I love it. I have been switching cardio up with weights, I properly love the weight machines and would happily sit there all day doing them, but I know I can't really lol.
One thing I do need is a Bluetooth headphone set. And new trainers. And new leggings haha!
Anyway I'm rambling !