name one habit that you feel has helped you significantly on this journey?

blukitten

Actually logging my food into MFP- it has helped me the most to realize how many calories I actually eat and how many I should be eating....

asm2014

I started using my food scale and it really gave me a good idea of how much foods weigh.
I go out to eat less, but I still go out to eat on occasion. Eating to me is a social environment, therefore it's really hard to avoid 100%, so I have had to learn how to make better choices (such as baked chicken, veggies, fish)..

Winterlover123

Preparing my lunch the night before has helped me so very much!

annas987

Giving up diet cokes and drinking 32-64 oz water a day have helped me tremendously!!

Also watching my sodium and fiber intake really seem to help as well.

Lastly, I have to weigh myself everyday to stay accountable to myself. Otherwise I fall into an ignorant spell where I think what I'm eating won't hurt my weight loss.

UnicornAmanda

kayla2388 wrote: »

Buying a scale and weighing in once a week. That was a turning point for me. Before I was scared to see the number and now I've accepted my weight and that I'm the one responsible for it. Also, getting up and going to the gym first thing was a big deal for me too. Now I love going and look forward to it even.

Same here! I never knew or wanted to know how much i weighed! I weighed myself at a friends house with her scale and i was in shock!! I bought a scale that week and it really helped keep me accountable!

cenafan

Getting two big active dogs. Sounds funny. But I hit a bad place at the end of last year added to having to take Prednisone and wound up putting on a lot of weight (that I had worked so hard to lose). They LOVE going for walks. Got me out of my funk. Got me outside and moving. I walk anywhere from 6km-8km a day with them. Doesn't matter the weather (-35 does kinda suck though). And in getting moving again I've started losing again. I just feel better all around. I finally got my food back on track (NO MORE drive thru or weekly breakfasts with friends). Love those two furry dorks!

yopeeps025

Using a food scale.

sjohnson__1

Water consumption and intermittent fasting

shellma00

This may sound silly, but I went to the Dr for some stomach issues and they have me on a Low Fat diet until we can figure out if it is Gall Bladder or not.

This has made me really watch my diet like a hawk... in turn I have been packing my lunches almost every day for work because local restaurants dont offer much in Low Fat.

So I would say, just making sure I log everything and packing my lunch has really helped.

I have lost 6 lbs in 2 months which means its working for me.

ShannonMpls

Planning.

bainsworth1a

tracking my food as honestly as I can every day I finally stopped lying to myself about how much i ate

ninavalentine

I know there are those here who vehemently disagree with doing this, but I allow myself as many water-based (lower calorie, non-starch) vegetables as I want. I used to hate veggies but I love them now and I eat them instead of other higher calorie choices. I look at it as a healthy splurge, albeit one that occurs every day. And I do leave a little "cushion" for them in my meal/calorie planning but not a whole lot. For now, it's working. It hasn't hurt me so far (I've lost 50+ pounds) but I do realize there may come a time that I need to put a limit on them.

4leighbee

seltzermint555 wrote: »

unpopular opinion but for ME - weighing daily is an absolute must or I play weird psychological games with myself like "hmm I will eat this, and this but then I won't weigh until Tuesday so I won't see the 2 lb of 'sodium weight' that it causes".

Daily weigh-ins are hugely important for me. I lapsed in doing them for a few months and even though I am close to my goal it was disturbing to see my weight plateau for a long time...back to daily weigh-ins and back to losing weight.

This is interesting to me. I have wondered about the benefits/drawbacks of doing that. I am on a loss right now, which is exciting (doesn't last long) ... so I weighed myself today just to see it again. (lol) but I was up by .5 pound which, while I'm savvy enough not to really let it get to me, was not a positive moment in my day. So you see the ups and downs and just don't assign too much emotional significance to the daily weigh-ins? Is that a fair statement?

adamitri

Not drinking immediately after I finish eating. I let it linger on my tongue and keep the full feeling in me as long as possible. Instead of feeling like it's being washed away. Slowly, I'm starting to no longer yearn for second helpings.

ldrosophila

I would say water, weighing, and forcing myself to at least take a walk. When I was actively losing

Need2Exerc1se

Regular aerobic exercise.

cwhomewood

logging in is definitely the main one, trying to keep an accurate account as I can of what I eat, used to log drink but don't bother anymore as I only drink low-cal so they are only a couple of calories each. WEighing things is perhaps one of the things I should do next, been basing my pasta around a guess of 75g weighed it today and its actually 100g, but weighed it dried, is that correct?

I weigh myself once a week, but be wary that scales can be out. I once found I was a stone heavier than I thought because my old scales were weighing me wrong.

For me the big change is replacing my chocolate bar love with a chocolate biscuit or a graze snack.

callsitlikeiseeit

my food scale
my weight scale
mfp in general

Sam3622

riffraff2112 wrote: »

logging. When I log I succeed. When I stop, I slide.
Obviously MFP keeps me accountable but it goes beyond that.
I keep a separate journal where I log my exercise and fitness workouts. Something so rewarding about filling up those pages makes me want to get back in the gym or hit the open road.

This 100% for me too! I log my food everyday, it's become a habit for me because i've been using MFP for about 3 years altogether now. It keeps me focussed, and allows me to plan ahead for the day or even the week. I work 8-4:45 weekdays, so i plan my food the day before, prep it on the night, and take it all with me to work. If i didnt, i'd end up popping out to the supermarket and probably giving in to cravings!

Logging also allows me to see how many calories i have to use for treats, so if it's a saturday night, and ive logged my food successfully all week, i'll see how many i have to play around with and i usually like to indulge as a treat to myself for staying on track (and to boost that metabolism after being in a deficit all week.)

Sam

CupcakeCrusoe

Logging everything, just as has been said. Whenever I stall, I haven't been logging properly.

And weighing myself every day. Keeps me in touch with my weight at all times. It sucks sometimes, but that just motivates me to keep going. I use the hacker's diet's smoothing method to take some of the ick factor out of the fluctuations- there's an iphone app called fatwatch or something that uses that method. Plug in weights, it will tell you the trend of your weight.

fattofit_fritch26

Drinking plenty of water (2-3 nalgenes a day) has really helped

I write EVERYTHING down. Every week before grocery shopping I plan out meals and write them down in a notebook...there are plenty of days I don't eat exactly what I wrote down, but it really helps me to have that all written somewhere so I can see.

My husband and I also have goals and rewards taped to our door. We have one sheet with every weight from now until goal, and when we lose we get to mark a weight off (today I marked off 2 lbs!)...it's a great feeling crossing it out. We also have rewards for losing a certain amount of weight...so 10 lbs is a smaller reward, and they get bigger as my loss gets bigger...i.e. from a new sports bra, to mani/pedi, to a new dress for date night, and finally my new thigh tattoo!

I also have a goal calendar...so I put down a weight goal for the end of the month (I weigh every wednesday), as well as a fitness goal (run/walk 25 miles this month, complete the plank challenge, things of that nature)

blookabaugh

I weight & measure my food. If I eat chips or salty snacks, I actually count out the amount the bag says is a serving. This helps tremendously and sometimes it surprises my how large the serving is. Try it! Also, I don;t allow myself to get really hungry. If I do, it's a sure sign I will overeat.

SingRunTing

For me, it's about consistency.

Logging is one piece of it, but it's not the whole story. It's consistency with my exercise, steps, and water intake as well. It's about not throwing in the towel when I have a bad day. I pick my self back up and come back at it the next day. Consistency is the key for me.

ChefSteveUrso

My motto is "Eat less, but better quality food" and I've lost 102 lbs. so far. No more cheap dollar store junk, processed foods, or fast food value menu crap. Now, I eat smaller portions than before of grass fed beef, fresh seafood, anti biotic free cage free chicken, organic eggs, fresh vegetables. If it's not high quality and natural, I don't eat it.

debrakgoogins

Planning ahead. When I bring a lunch with snacks and know what I am making for dinner ahead of time, I am less likely to just buy something on the fly or eat things I shouldn't.

Yourkindagirl

Logging

guinevere96

water, water, WATER. Also im a bit of a perfectionist and I HATE when things go unfinished or streaks or broken, so that leads me to work harder to log every piece of food.

Mr_Knight

Running.

kaetmarie

Planning my week's meals on Sunday and prepping.

KCoolBeanz

I'm going to name 3, because they've been equally important. 1) Making room for the things I love to have, such as beer, pizza and chocolate almonds 2) If I'm going to eat those things, "earn it" in advance (get the gym out of the way first), and 3) learn how to forgive yourself, get over yourself, and move on.