What Other Factors (Besides Nutrition) Help You Succeed?

StealthHealth

• Making my health a priority
• Taking personal responsibility
• Researching what works for other people but tailoring that to me

malibu927

Taking the time to read and learn what needed to be done to be successful. It's not about fad diets, quick tricks, or restricting everything I love. The simplest approach works just fine, and I'm thankful for the many people who have shown me this.

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

Personal responsibility and taking ownership of my actions which led me to where I was, and realizing that I had all the power to fix it in the palm of my hand.

That and my trusty digital food scale, of course.

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

snickerscharlie wrote: »

My personal key to losing 75 lbs was finding people here who actually knew what they were talking about.

Without their help, I would have had a much harder time of it, sorting through all the 'noise' to get down to the basic truth which is this:

Different diets or ways of eating are only vehicles you can use to get into a calorie deficit which is the one and only key to weight loss, and which applies regardless. You can eat in any trendy manner you like, if that's your thing, but unless you're also eating less of it than you burn, you won't lose weight. Conversely, if you lose weight on your diet-du-jour, there's really no magic involved - it just means that you were also in a calorie deficit.

Realizing this is the key to success and cuts through all of the derp and woo.

So much this, too.

If it hadn't have been for certain posters on thelse forums, I would've never learned how to be successful. I'm not at my ultimate goal weight, yet, but I'm over halfway there, and I have those very knowledgeable people to thank for giving me the tools to get started.

auddii

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt wrote: »

Personal responsibility and taking ownership of my actions which led me to where I was, and realizing that I had all the power to fix it in the palm of my hand.

That and my trusty digital food scale, of course.

This.

malibu927 wrote: »

Taking the time to read and learn what needed to be done to be successful. It's not about fad diets, quick tricks, or restricting everything I love. The simplest approach works just fine, and I'm thankful for the many people who have shown me this.

And this.

usmcmp wrote: »

Simplifying the process was the biggest one to me. As soon as I stopped worrying about eating the right foods or doing the right exercises I was able to make it work. I ate things I enjoyed that kept me full and did exercises I enjoyed.

Second biggest was to stop trying to lose weight so fast. Two pounds per week didn't give me nearly enough calories and once I decided on slower weight loss I was able to stick to it.

And this.

Chargunshow

Figuring out that stress makes me an emotional eater.

Taking the focus off of a certain number on the scale and putting it more on achieving in the gym or the running trail.

Understanding the connection between how I fuel my body (what I eat) and how I perform in my workouts.

amymeagen

Having a wonderful partner at home that goes to the gym with you and helps you make awesome, healthy meals. Support at home is #1.

ASKyle

CICO.

Not eating breakfast.

Planning ahead for meals out/events by banking calories.

Sleep.

10k steps a day.

nutmegoreo

Realizing that if I wanted to have some reasonable expectation of a normal life while losing this weight I needed to stop lying to myself about how the choices I was making was influencing not just my weight, but my emotional well-being. I needed to accept that the weight was a symptom of so many other issues and that, while I could take the weight off without fixing those, I would still be a miserable cuss, just a thinner one.

Following the no nonsense approaches to weight loss that were sometimes less than gently explained here allowed me to get my head around all the lies and misrepresentations that are spouted by the diet industry and get to the heart of the fact that I have the control, I needed to learn to use it. While doing this, I worked on other aspects of my life that were out of balance.

While I'm only half way to goal, I am much happier with my life and I have confidence that I will get there and be better balanced for it. The friends I have made along the way are amazing and regularly make me smile. They also keep me focused and accountable, and send me hugs (not the creepy kind though) when I need them.

Orphia

I've lost 34 kg since April 2015.

How?

CI<CO... eating the foods I love within my calorie limit.

Not waiting for motivation... just doing it.

No excuses.

Science-based advice from Community unicorns.

DanSTL82

My computer wallpaper is a rotation of guys who have the body I am striving to have myself. When I get the craving for ordering a pizza, then I see the six-pack guy on my desktop and think maybe I shouldn't. Google "Ryan Reynolds body" and see the kind of images I'm talking about. Sounds corny but it's good motivation.

Lovee_Dove7

Measuring things....food scale, body measurements, fitness tracker, blood tests, LBM, anything I could reasonably measure, I did. I wanted to know what worked to give me the results I was looking for.

Penthesilea514

usmcmp wrote: »

Simplifying the process was the biggest one to me. As soon as I stopped worrying about eating the right foods or doing the right exercises I was able to make it work. I ate things I enjoyed that kept me full and did exercises I enjoyed.

Second biggest was to stop trying to lose weight so fast. Two pounds per week didn't give me nearly enough calories and once I decided on slower weight loss I was able to stick to it.

This is really it for me. This journey is about what fitness and nutrition adds to my life, not what I have to lose. New foods and spices, new classes and friends, renewed energy and interest in exploring- these all have been making this click for me recently. I don't miss the old ways when the new ones are exciting, fun, and delicious!

smsthomas

Exercise! Started with 1 mile on the elliptical and now up to 6.5 in 65 minutes + 30 minutes on the treadmill. I do that 3-4 times a week. On non-gym days I try to get 10,000 steps.

EvgeniZyntx

Improving my level of activity from low exercise to 4-5 activities a week, while eating reasonably.

cwolfman13

When I dusted off my old bike in the garage I discovered that I really love cycling and exercise became something I looked forward to rather than a chore that just needed to get done. That, and throwing some iron around.

Mycophilia

My special IIFYM Hotdog Diet™.

jlmonaha

1) Having the support from my family, primarily my wife. Although she doesn't work out or eat the same meals with me everyday, she knows how important my life style change and does what she can to help me be successful.

2) Looking at my dietary change as a long-term method to help me be healthy.

3) Being patient. Accepting that as long as my weight isn't going up, I'm being successful.

powered85

1. Support of those around you.
2. Be honest and hold yourself accountable.
3. A lot of this is a numbers game. Knowing your bmr/activity level and which bmr formula works best to determine your baseline is a critical part.
4. Food scale and weighing things in grams (and ensure nutrition info is accurate on your diary entries)
5. Taking progress pictures and measurements
6. Set short term and long term goals
7. Reflect on your progress often.
8. Used to think exercise was the biggest key to losing weight. Now realize it's food calories that play the biggest part in the equation.
9. Fitness tracker. Great measurement tool in itself.
10. Making foods and meals from scratch instead of buying processed foods.

MIGHTYMOUSE187

Being able to set your goals and being discipline