Hi hi! Here I go again... And again... Wait this time I mean it!

Zyphun

So this is my third time trying find that healthy body I lost as a child and just can't seem to find. I started at 370lbs, 168kg or 26 stone depending on your location. I am at about 315 so I have done alright so far. I am now 50 days into MFP and this is where I tend to falter. So that is why I am here. And since I just have to because I am who am, here is the list of rules I go by to motivate myself. I am looking for like minded people who don't mind befriending an eccentric. If that is you then please feel free to add me!

- Count the calories! Get something to track what you are eating and get accurate information on how many calories it has.

- Macros matter, but not for weight loss. Carbs, Fats, Protein. They give you your calories in different ways, but in the end they are just calories. The way macros matter is how they make you feel. Keep them in balance and your time will be much easier.

- The better the food the better you feel. Calories matter, but so does how you feel. If you feel like crap you will quit. So do yourself a favor and eat your veggies, eat the lean meats and cut out the soda and the salt. Your body will thank you in ways that comfort food never could. Which leads us to...

- Put down that donut! I know, people are always telling you to portion and it is okay to indulge. Fuhgeddaboudit! You are an addict and food is your coping mechanism. You don't tell an alcoholic that it is ok to have a beer so long as it is just one.

- Measure twice. Eat once. Get a good food scale, one that you can zero out easily. Use it on any bulk food you are going to eat. It will work on anything. Use metric, grams are a better unit of measure and on liquid measure of a milliliter equals a gram so you can weight to measure that soda you shouldn't be drinking.

- Eat enough! Find your Basil Metabolic Rate. When you do, make the calculation like you are active. Now take 1,286 calories from that. You will now lose approximately three pounds a week. But only if you stick to that. Do not eat back calories that you lose exercising. Do not go below 1200 if you were physically born female or 1500 if you were physically born male. This number is now your friend, keep close to your friends.

- Hit the sack! No, I don't mean a punching bag. I mean get enough sleep. The full eight hours! I know you can get by on six and that you get by on four with enough coffee, but do the eight! Trust me, much like eating enough, sleeping enough lets you do that extra stuff you just added to your day.

- Stay Hydrated! Again with the things that don't make you lose weight, but help you be at your best to stick to losing. Drink ten eight ounce glasses of water a day. That is five normal bottles of water. And please remember soda, coffee or anything with caffeine doesn't count. Really buck up and drink the water.
- Cardio! Get in thirty minutes of cardio a day, five days a week. And when I say that, I don't mean walking. Jog, Run, Bike, Row. What ever is the least painful and least monotonous. If you are not breathing hard and sweating by minute 8, you are doing it wrong. Starting out nothing beats a recumbent bike. And for gods' sake, set the resistance about 3.

- Go HIIT! When you can, convert your thirty minutes of cardio to twenty minutes of high intensity interval training with a five minute warm up and five minute cool down. Time to get that metabolism into overdrive.

- These shoes were made for walking. Get a good pair of walking shoes. Dr. Shoals makes a great pair that are about twenty five dollars American. Now hit the pavement! Walk at least 2 and half miles a day. It doesn't have to be all at once. Anything counts. Once you can do that go farther. Keep walking! No excuses! And if you can't walk, light cardio. Don't go full out just enough through out the day to get your heart beating a little faster. When you can do more. Not because you have to, but because how much fun it will become to do it.

- Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. Find a simple resistance program you can do without equipment. Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, burpies, planks, lunges. It is all done with nothing to do but your body. Start small and work it. If want to go for toning and beefing up your body then go find someone else's advice.

- Determination not motivation. Motivation is the voice that tells you to go to the finish when you feel like you have nothing left. Determination is a lifestyle, it is what you will build on each week and every time you don't give in.
- You can do this! Seriously, no excuses. No need to wait for the stars to align. You wouldn't be reading this if being a better you isn't what you are craving. Replace the joy of eating with a joy of pushing your limits and becoming that much harder to kill.

LinzNicholeV

I really enjoyed reading your 'rules.' I needed to hear so many of them!!!

I'm back again for the umpteenth time. I'm really good at making excuses to not work out, that's a disease all on its own!
I'd love to add you if that's okay!