Best 5 decisions

Huge1993

1. Make long term decisions.

Don't go for the easy route with short term success (a nice meal), but instead invest in the long term by skipping and working out instead. In the end, you will always regret picking the easy route.

2. Know that an excuse today will be an excuse tomorrow, next week and the rest of your life.

If you decide to drop your discipline for a day for whatever reason, that same reason will keep you from reaching success tomorrow. Stay disciplined, no matter what.

3. Log what you eat.

You don't even have to be within your calorie goal. Even when you are having a positive deficit, just keep logging. Being aware of what you eat is the most important thing.

4. Track progress.

Weekly pictures are an awesome way to keep track and motivate yourself in challenging times.

5. Do not forbid youself from anything. Just eat in moderation. People who are forbidding themselves certain foods are usually looking for a quick fix, not a change of life. Forbidding yourself from certain foods is not a durable method. Allow yourself every kind of food you want, just know what you are eating by logging it exactly and eat it in moderation.

FitRoberta

These are all great, and very similar to mine.

My 5 best decisions:

1. I won't give up. A setback becomes ancient history if you get back on track and keep going.
2. I'm making lifestyle changes, I'm not on a diet.
3. I won't get too hungry (I eat lots of fruits and vegetables to stay under calorie limit without getting hungry.)
4. I will strength train.
5. I will at least MOVE my body 20-30 minutes a day. For example, a "rest day" still includes walking the dog for 20 minutes.

Oh, one more!
6. Bringing my water bottle with me everywhere has been a key habit.

LoveToRead91

This is my second time around here and probably hundredth of just trying to lose weight, but I feel like I'm doing a lot better this time.

1. I'm also a very all or nothing person, so learning that moderation is key has worked really well. If I really want pizza, I'll have it. Just a normal portion.
2. Using the food scale. Not only is it the most accurate, I like knowing I'm accurately tracking rather than guessing.
3. Use the boards for inspiration/motivation. I'm a big lurker on here, but do reply occasionally. I find it helpful to hear others stories/their trails/tribulations as well as successes.
4. Set mini goals.
5. Think of it as a lifestyle, not as a temporary fix.

50extra

Only 20 or so pounds out of 50 to go but here's mine

1. This truly isn't a diet, you cant look at it that way, if you do, once you lose the weight and stop "dieting" you will go right back to where you were before you started, look around MFP and you will see how true this is. This HAS to be a lifestyle change. That goes hand in hand with cheat days, if you aren't on a diet that means there's nothing to cheat on. If you feel like eating something unhealthy go for it, just don't blow a weeks worth of progress because you decided to live and eat the same way that put you here in the first place. In times that you have a huge calorie surplus, do everything in your power to be at 0 net calories within a week.
2. Don't listen to MFP calories for burn for most things, typically they aren't even close. "So and So burned 741 calories doing 35 minutes of cleaning" - Nope, no they didn't. A light 30 minute walk typically doesn't burn 400 calories even if this app says it does. When you want to burn calories, burn them, that means elevated heart rate and sweat. A heart rate monitor and a good app is vital for this. Always underestimate your burn, never over estimate it.
3. If the weight loss stalls there is typically a reason for it. Usually it comes down to not measuring or recording food good enough. Did you use butter to top of the veggies you had for lunch? Olive oil to fry eggs? How bout that glob of chipotle mayo on that wrap? Can you really eyeball one serving (30 grams) of shredded cheese??? Everything needs to be recorded correct when weight loss comes to a halt. When picking foods off of the list, make sure they are exactly what you are eating. Don't guess.
4. At times when the binge comes on for me is usually at night while I am watching TV. I can't satisfy a binge, I can eat and eat and eat and eat and by the time I realize what I am doing, I've eaten 1000 extra calories (minimum) and I'm still not full. Its happened before and it will probably happen again. Best way to get over those nasty cravings, hop on the treadmill for 20 minutes. Work up a good sweat and it changes my whole mentality, hop in the shower, have a cold protein shake for 150 calories to resupply from the treadmill and be done with it.
5. Make zero excuses as to why you are where you and, and make zero excuses as to why you "can't" lose weight. Unless someone has literally force fed you for however many years you have been old enough to make your own decisions, there is only one person that has put the spoon into your mouth. Its really easy to say that I'm big because I eat when..... Or I'm big because 2 years ago this happened... The truth is I'm big because for the last 10 years or more I haven't shown enough self control to not shove too much food down my throat and haven't worked out enough. It took me coming to this realization before I could even think about jumping into this with two feet and changing my life. I can't blame someone or something else for how I treat my own body.

Like I said above I'm only around 20 pounds down and just over 60 days into this. There are days where I have a deficit and days that I have a surplus. There are days when I just don't have the energy to work out and days where I do an hour and half of cardio. This is a journey of life and it needs to be a permanent change. These five things are the most important for me. If I had to add a 6th it would be all about how important meal preparation is.