ONE tip from those who have been successful

Soopatt · September 2015

Get rid of denial. If you eat something you regret, log it. It will feel painful to look at it and to know others can look at it (I encourage you to have an open diary), but that feeling keeps you accountable and acts as a deterrent. I say that not as some smug perfect eater, but someone who grazed a family sized chocolate bar for lunch today.

I logged it and I am admitting to everyone, any chance I get. I will have cauliflower and broccoli for dinner tonight and still come in under calories but what I will not do is pretend it did not happen.

The more painful the mistakes, the more difficult it is to mindlessly repeat them.

karinav89 · September 2015

besdais wrote: »

There are so many good posts on here, I don't think I have anything good to add. I have dieted all my life and finally realized that I will never get anywhere by dieting. I will only get where I want to be by changing my life. Find a way of eating that works for you, that you can do for the rest of your life. A lot of the foods you like to cook now can be made healthier without really changing their tastes. If they can't, just don't eat them very often. I never bake cookies any more, but the grandkids are here spending the night, so we are going to make cookies tomorrow. I will send some home with them and some to work with my husband, but I will treat myself to one or two, and log them. Find an exercise you like doing and can stick with - I got a fitbit and it has really gotten me to move. Last - my favorite quote is: Being fat is hard; Losing weight is hard; Maintaining weight is hard. Pick your hard.

Love your favortite quote!..am going to have to steal it

karabarracuda · September 2015

Eat less

getitamb · September 2015

karabarracuda wrote: »

Eat less

This. Or more of the good stuff that nurishes you.

vicky1947mfp · September 2015

kellycasey5 wrote: »

Forgive yourself when you slip up. You will go over your calories at some point. You will make a poor food choice. You will poorly plan some day and be at the mercy of what is available. You may choose to just go hog wild and eat everything in sight. You will get the flu and not eat for a day or two. You may find your breakfast smoothie from the shop had 800 calories. A coworker might bring you your favorite donut. Life will happen. Allow yourself to be human. Do the best the you can each day and forget the rest. Do not feel bad about your choices. Find one thing in the off day that you did well, and use what you learned from the poor choices to have a better day immediately, on the same day. Remind yourself you are free to make your own choices but you are not free from the consequences of those

Great advice!

vicky1947mfp · September 2015

Steff46 wrote: »

Meal prep and food scale. A little over a year ago, I dug out my crock pot and actually bought another so I could make two meals at a time. There is always something ready in my fridge (meat and veggies/soups/chili) for after work and weekends.

michelle7673 · September 2015

dramaqueen45 wrote: »

Don't let an off day turn into an off week.

THIS.

Barocrest1 · September 2015

Barocrest1 wrote: »

When I became honest with myself, that the excess weight has caused me a lifetime of unhappiness and non social participation...then I bought a food scale, threw out or gave away any food in my house not relevant to healthy eating, started moving my body and logged into MFP EVERY MOUTHFUL, then my life begin to change for the better. I also stopped weighing myself on the scale. The obsession with that number has caused me to go off many good eating programs because I didn't feel rewarded by a particular scale loss. My sanity now comes from knowing that I am living a healthier lifestyle and I'm no longer a slave to a daily or weekly imaginary success of weight loss.

Fishdoodle wrote: »

Make healthy eating the easiest thing you do in your day and eating junk the hardest: Prepare food during your high motivation times so when your motivation is low, the choice to eat well can't be easier. Oh, look, that delicious butternut squash soup in the fridge just needs to be zapped and topped with a dollop of light sour cream and a sprinkle of toasted hazelnuts (which are also in the fridge). That's way easier than going down the hall or driving in the car for the junk or the fast food, etc. My very first post on MFP. Yay! Thanks for the opportunity to share.

Barocrest1 · September 2015

I so agree! I've never been sorry when I could reach for healthy food that was prepped and portioned. I make everything complicated in 6-8 servings and use a food savor machine to vacuum pack and freeze for later

dljones67 · September 2015

Read, read, read and educate yourself. I have learned so much from all of the MFP community postings (and if I didn't understand it I googled it, LOL). My favorite categories: getting started, exercise & fitness and general weight loss. Thank you to everyone who has asked questions and those who responded. You have helped me and so many others on our journeys. Wishing you the same success as I've had and many others here.

You can do it!!

dutchandkiwi · September 2015

dljones67 wrote: »

Read, read, read and educate yourself. I have learned so much from all of the MFP community postings (and if I didn't understand it I googled it, LOL). !

Agreed, one of the things I did was joining MOOC courses (Coursera, EdX, Futurelearn) on nutrition and wellbeing/activity. Learned so much!

rjivory · September 2015

cwolfman13 wrote: »

beth0277 wrote: »

I've been a little discouraged at my slow weight loss and need some motivation from those of you who have been successful. So, if you could only give ONE tip that helped you the most during your weight loss, what would it be? It can be anything!

understand that it's a process...a slow one...have patience and be consistent. you don't need motivation, you need discipline...discipline leads to consistency and consistency is what is necessary to achieve your goals. motivation is an overrated and fleeting emotion.

I like to use the school analogy when discussing the process. when you decide to go to school, it can be overwhelming...all of these classes to take...tests and studying and years of work ahead...when you look at it as this big thing, it is daunting to say the least...but when you break it down into process...not so much. it's one class at a time...one semester at a time...you would likely have classes you struggle with and classes you do better in...you don't have to ace everything...you can get Bs and Cs and still graduate. you're not going to ace every test and it's likely you may even fail a test here and there...but if you are disciplined and consistent in what you're doing, eventually you pass classes...semester after semester goes by, as do the years...and finally discipline and consistency will win the day and you will graduate.

weight loss and weight management in general is a similar process.

Brilliant analogy! Thanks!!

Tic150 · September 2015

elothen wrote: »

Sorry, I'll give 2.
1) Log EVERYTHING religiously
2) So long as you keep your calories above starvation mode enjoy hunger pains. Every time your stomach feels like that means your body is about to go eat some fat. Unless you're in starvation mode, then it's probably going to eat an organ.

Hahaha

rjmudlax13 · September 2015

Don't be so hard on yourself.

spookyface · September 2015

Force yourself to follow thru on exercise. Anything is better than nothing.

elbrujo53 · September 2015

You cannot control unless you measure and keep track. Weight your food, weight yourself, log on your food, control portions and calories, exercise at least 45 min/day and measure it. Measure it and keep track!

paine016 · September 2015

Be honest with yourself. When I first got going, my husband and I went out and I craved something high in calorie count. He advised me to fudge my calorie counter a little to accommodate it. But the thing is, if you do that, you're cheating no one but yourself. Likewise, if you're plateuing, reexamine what you're really eating, rather than what you think you're eating (this is one of my issues, I eye ball too much and I've seen an effect) and don't try to maneuver around it.

I work with a sweet woman who really wants to lose weight, but insists everything is to blame for her weight except her eating. Until she is honest with herself and what she actually eats, she will not lose weight.