What Works for You

annamtrx

In the introduction section, someone was asking about how to successfully get results. They were looking for 'something sustainable', not a diet or '30-day Shred' that would jump start the process but be an almost guaranteed burn-out. So I wondered if it might be a good topic for a separate thread.

What works for you? Maybe suggesting little changes that we can stick with might be a way to help each other?

JojoInTheForks

I decided to not eat at designated times. I'd eat breakfast when I was hungry for it; not first thing in the morning. I'd eat lunch when I was hungry for it; not at noon. etc. Turns out I'm someone that isn't hungry until late morning, so I eat breakfast then. Making lunch late afternoon and dinner late evening. Which means I don't go crazy snacking at night...which has helped immensely. I know everyone is different, but that's what has been helping me so far!

Pomodori

The main changes I made to my lifestyle were:

~Drinking lots of water~
I never used to drink much water and I never realised how much it affected my appetite! Now I take a 0.75cl water bottle with me everywhere and drink around 3 litres everyday.

~Cutting down on "treats"~
I feel much fuller and content when I eat whole foods (like lean proteins and veggies) and limit the "processed treat foods" (For me 300 calories of McMuffin is not the same bellyful as 300 calories of steak and veggies) I assign myself a quota of "treats" and work it into my calories for the day.

~Increasing the amount I move~
Not just in the terms of exercise (because I am very sedentary) but just setting a timer of my computer at work (or mobile) to remind me to get up and move. That can be walking upstairs to the water machine or doing 10 squats at my desk.

annamtrx

Limiting food is working for me, too. This summer, a friend started losing weight (successfully!), with her only exercise being walking. I couldn't believe it... but she was doing something called 'intermittent fasting' - there's an article explaining how not eating from dinner to lunchtime puts the body in a fat-burning cycle. [ http://jamesclear.com/the-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting ] It's not a hardship, either.

But it works far better with *some* form of exercise, which can even be walking around the parking lot before and after work. So there's that.

I'm NOT an unhealthy person - I swim, do karate, Tae Bo, hike, bike... but the intermittent fasting has helped me (so far) to kick up the weight loss. I just hope to add other ideas to it, too.