What Other Factors (Besides Nutrition) Help You Succeed?

overw8gosk8

CrabNebula wrote: »

Self-discipline.

Taking it "one day at a time"

Make each day fun and do something different everyday. Draw faces on your lunch bag/box. Do things in a different order. Rearrange your workout routine each week. Eat something new and/or weird at least once a week. Be silly, have fun and enjoy your life. It's not just weight loss, it is you and your experience.

dahliagrower11

Let me preface this with the fact that I am two months into my journey to get healthy again. My moment of deep discouragement was when I had two days on a shopping trip and basically came out hating myself and how I looked. I then started looking into how to move more each day ... and started logging my food.

I became aware of the fitbit phenomenon. My husband and son went out to get me one at the beginning of May....and now I challenge myself every day to reach my 10,000 steps. On exceptional days I have done 17,000 steps but mostly it's 10-12k range.... I am also a lot more aware of the flights of stairs --- best day was 47 flights (some hill walking) ....

I think these three things will make me reach my goals:
1. log my food - and stick close to my 1200 calories (carefully watching my sodium -set at 1500mg day not the 2500mg)
2. get in my 10,000 steps daily .... or 70,000 per week
3. have a good support network at home and work ..... for food encouragement and activity encouragement

I have also joined the current Biggest Loser Challenge here on MFP and I think it makes me a bit more accountable and aware of the challenges in getting to healthy --- it's not without it's bumps.

AlexFlexes

Work ethic... and proving haters wrong

MRBDDB

TheChrissyT wrote: »

For me, I think the most important thing I did to lose weight, was to stop hating myself. I was in TERRIBLE emotional disarray. I was 315lbs. Depressed, stressed, angry, bitter, negative, and hopeless. I couldn't stand to look at myself! I wanted to cry every time I saw a picture of myself.

Here's what I did:

Decided that nobody was responsible for my body but me. I had to stop blaming my dudes eating habits, and own that I chose to go out to eat with him and his family. I chose to eat fast food when I was in a hurry and when I was lazy. I chose to drink soda instead of water. I chose to be fat. I can also choose NOT to make unhealthy choices.

I decided that I needed to take care of myself like I took care of everyone else. That I really couldn't keep trying to pour from an empty cup. That by loving myself too, I was providing a good example for my children (which took away the guilt I felt spending money on myself for a gym membership, spending time away from them while I was at the gym, and all of that).

I forced a positive change in perspective. I looked at my workouts as ME time. Time where I was only responsible for myself. I worked for the happy endorphins at the end of the workout, because I loved feeling happy. I thought about the food I was putting in my mouth as feeding my body what it needed/wanted. I told myself that I was beautiful. I thought about how strong I was getting and getting stronger all the time. When I was running, i would imagine I was running behind my future self and imagining how good she looks, how confident she is, how happy she is, how strong, how much endurance she has, and then told myself that I WAS her and I could keep going because I was strong, confident, happy, blah blah blah. Sounds so corny, but it really does work for me. I read tons and tons of cheesy quotes but the ones that stood out to me the most were:

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use." Earl Nightingale.. I had so much to lose that I knew it was going to take forever and that was so discouraging. This changed my mindset. The time is going to pass anyway! Do I want to feel like this in a year? In 5 years? NO! I want to feel BETTER! I'll feel better if I only lose 10lbs, I'll feel a lot better if I lose 50... and here I am 87lbs down and I feel great!

"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great" I had no illusions of grandeur, but I did choose some goals, some I've achieved and some I'm still working on.

"Always go with the choice that scares you the most, because that's the one that's going to help you grow" O.M.G. This is my favorite thing about the changes I've made!!!! I was so anxious when I walked into the gym I thought I was going faint. I KNEW everyone would be judging the fat girl that didn't belong there. I did it anyway... it wasn't true. I still sometimes feel my heart rate go up when I walk in the door, I just tell myself it's excitement. lol But I've gone 3-5x a week for 7 months. I was afraid to lift free weights because I felt like I would do it wrong and people would see me making a fool of myself.... I did it anyway, and I LOVE to feel stronger. I was super afraid to try yoga because I'm over 200lbs and every yoga girl I've ever seen in a stick figure gorgeous person... and many of them are, but they got there somehow! I did it anyway, and I love it! Same thing with Spin class! Same thing with buying my first casual every day dress.... if you feel afraid, and you do it anyway, it gives you SO MUCH CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF!

This is getting way too long... but it has been a long growing process. Changes don't happen over night. Decide that you're worth it. Dig deep and address the tough stuff that is making you feel like you need food to make you feel good. Challenge yourself to grow as a person. Forgive yourself over and over. Every day is a new day that we are BLESSED to have, and it's a great day to live like the person you know you have always been.

So eloquently written and really inspired me. Thank you so very much!

tmshank18

1. Love yourself no matter what!!!
2. Keeping a food log.
3. Exercising...got a FitBit which motivates me to move more.
4. Drinking water...I try to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
5. Making better food choices...such as less carbs per meal. I eat no more than 30 carbs per meal and 15 carbs per snack and I always eat protein with my carbs.
6. I don't obsess over the scale.... I try to only weigh myself once a month.
7. Have a good support system....love my fitness pal for that.

drpsamin

Working out....it makes me want to eat less crap and burns calories.
Keep trigger food out of the house
If I want to eat something unhealthy, really question myself
If I have a bad day, then just move on and try to be better the next day
Not be disappointed with the number on the scale, but try to be proactive into how I can change that

Weight loss is 100 percent mental

Vossii

consistency

RR0817

Someone asking me if I had gained weight or if I was pregnant...that motivated me to succeed.

LivingtheLeanDream

Being consistently active and moving as much as possible each day.

Weigh in regularly to ensure I stay within goal range.

leighkennon

Tracking calories and replacing most drinks with sparkling seltzer water - makes me feel full and I do not eat near as much!

pagey231

, If in a hurry to loose weight HFLC "High fat low carb" ..and keep h/rate above resting rate for as much of the day as possible ...Can drop a kg a fortnight at will and the converse ;-)

Moxie42

* Believing in myself. Browsing the Success forum helped a LOT because I could see others with the same struggles as me and with similar goals, succeed.
* Being active on MFP- the support from my"MFP friends helps, but so does supporting them and others on the site. Supporting others helps get my mind off my own struggles, and also reminds me to be kinder to myself- why should I be so hard on myself when I would never treat others that way?
* Being reasonable. I stopped trying to be perfect and started by simply staying under my calorie allotment every day. Then I added exercise (I committed to only 3 days a week to start and will be increasing that to 4 days soon). Now I'm starting to pay attention to sodium and water intake, and trying to eat cleaner (but without banning certain foods).
* Commitment- I make reasonable "rules" for myself so that I have no excuse to not follow them, and I no longer give myself a choice. If I say I'm going to the gym on Monday then that's what I'm doing. I treat it like work- whether I feel like going is irrelevant. Because my commitment is reasonable (3 days a week right now) I'm not expecting anything unrealistic out of myself, so it's something maintainable.
* Swimming- it's such an incredible whole-body workout and easy on the joints.
* Accepting imperfection- this time around (after many "failed" attempts) I accepted from the beginning that there will be times I want to give up, times I will gain even if I did everything right, and times I will make horrible choices. I just need to keep going and not dwell on that negativity. I remind myself that the most successful people went through the same kinds of ups and downs (this is one reason the Success forum and having MFP friends can be so helpful).
* Doing it for myself. This time around I started because I wanted to lose weight and get in shape so that I could go backpacking and tackle some pretty strenuous hikes. I wanted to enjoy things like that, which I love to do but it's so much harder (and sometimes miserable) than it should be, because of my weight. All my other attempts to lose weight started from pressure, whether from myself ("needing" to lose for my wedding, "needing" to lose because I hated myself) or from others (family pointing out my gains and offering crazy fad diet advice). Doing it for myself and for goals other than to just look better makes the process so much more enjoyable.
* Enjoying it! Every time I start to feel negative about the process I stop and say "hey, you're going to lose weight, get healthy, and feel great! This is a good thing- be excited!"

KareninLux

1. Logging everythigng. Everything.
2. Not having to give up wine - although I have switched to champagne as it is very low in cals, lol. I log every ml.
3. Realizing that the goal is a goal but the timeline to achieve it can be/is fluid. For years I would say to myself ... 'just lose 5 lbs by Christmas, or 10 lbs before my birthday'. What horse@#)$*#(). No wonder it never worked!
4. Also - some thing mentioned by another poster in this thread... I like measuring. I measure lots and lots of different things.
5. Dress shopping!!! I have bought six dresses in the last three weeks!! I still have some weight to lose but most of it will come off my hips so these dresses should still fit well after that weight is gone.

traceyc83

My faith and love for God. I've been able to lose weight before, but I can never keep it off. This time I have God on my side and its all been so much easier. I've lost almost 50 pounds since last summer. I've stopped eating junk food and I love working out. I'm happy and healthy and I don't miss my old lifestyle at all. I wont let Him down the way that I've let myself down so many times before. Keep up the good work everyone, you've all been very inspiring and I've learned a lot from reading people's posts.

theresafama

JustSomeEm wrote: »

Being honest with myself - i.e. recording everything in my food diary even when it makes me cringe. Forgiving myself if I don't 'nutrition' as well as I should and moving on. And remembering that this is a lifestyle, not a diet.

theresafama

All great points I also share. I remember when I start MFP logging not wanting to record everything I ate, as it to often made me cringe, and I was embarrassed, it made me feel like I was weak to have given in to some of these foods. Then I thought if I don't record everything I'm only hurting myself. As no one sees my diary except me. So even though I still often eat items that bring my calorie intake over what it should be, I do record everything I eat and drink.

If I can't be honest with at least myself the only person I am hurting is myself.

cjefferson0885

MOM OF3 trying too takoff 40POUNDS

kingrat2014

1. Controlling stress

2. Good quality Sleep

MRBDDB

traceyc83 wrote: »

My faith and love for God. I've been able to lose weight before, but I can never keep it off. This time I have God on my side and its all been so much easier. I've lost almost 50 pounds since last summer. I've stopped eating junk food and I love working out. I'm happy and healthy and I don't miss my old lifestyle at all. I wont let Him down the way that I've let myself down so many times before. Keep up the good work everyone, you've all been very inspiring and I've learned a lot from reading people's posts.

I really liked this. I lost 55 lbs over 10 years ago without having God in my life. I've since of course gained most of that weight back. This time in my life I have a relationship with Him and I feel like something has shifted in me. My struggle with food for so many years doesn't seem so much like a struggle anymore and it's been nothing short of God's grace.

vegasnova

Chargunshow wrote: »

Figuring out that stress makes me an emotional eater.


I'm a stress eater also. Learning to work through my stress without food or alcohol. I found a natural anti-stress formula. It helps mellow and improved my focus. As a teacher the year end is insane and it was the only way I was able to hold it together. I even lost 2 pounds!

It's a struggle and we need to support one another!

tmoneyag99

Hard and fast rules. This doesn't work for everyone but I am extremely rules oriented. It is easier for me to say absolutely *no* than it is to be balanced and say yes occasionally. When I ever say "yes" is exactly when I fall off of the wagon.

KareninLux

tmoneyag99 wrote: »

Hard and fast rules. This doesn't work for everyone but I am extremely rules oriented. It is easier for me to say absolutely *no* than it is to be balanced and say yes occasionally. When I ever say "yes" is exactly when I fall off of the wagon.

I completely relate. Although I am mellowing slowly. Even admitting that is risky, lol.

ZZDMom

Reminding myself that this is not a DIET...its a lifestyle. So for it to be sustainable, I have to LOVE how and what I eat. Weightloss is slower this way, but the scale is going in the right direction again and I've been trying it all the wrong way the last two years. I feel like with MFP and my Fitbit, I've finally GOT it and I can totally do this. Using MFP allows me to feel like I don't have any food restrictions at all...I can have anything I want as long as I'm watching portions and tracking calories correctly. The trick of course, is to make sure I get LOTS of veggies. Gives my the volume I'm looking for to feel satisfied and take in little calories.

RodaRose

1. Clearing off the kitchen counters of appliances that were part of my old life in order to have room to buy new
ones like a scale.
2. A home work out plan for when I do not make it to the gym
3. Good sleep.

BubbyChunny

Small changes, like using the stairs instead of the elevator, measuring the amount of cereal I put into my bowl, eating one crepe instead of two, etc. Sustainable differences.

KiwiLifter

Consistency and education.

quietandmildspirit

Listen to music. It will get you moving a little more if you have a beat.

mwjessica

1) Support system--my co-workers are involved and rooting me on.
2) I do try to get 10,000 steps per day (we have a "move challenge" going on at work right now, so that helps).
3) Accountability. I have a personal trainer that I check in with remotely once per week. He keeps me going!
4) Having goals. If I have something to train for (like walking a 10K in July), it helps motivate me.
5) Forgiving myself if I don't have a perfect day. Understanding that this is part of the process helps stave off the urge to give up.

kathrine90

Calorie counting (you wont loose without a calorie deficit that's the end of it).

Logging everything and weighing foods (i have had 3000 calorie days yesss that bad).

Zumba or finding an exercise you like (i look forward to my zumba class everyday).

My instagram page (roxyfat2fit) follow me which i started using to log pictures of progress.

My fitbit which i have only had for about 3 week but helps me log all my stats in one place.

Taking pictures (I never notice if i don't take pictures well apart from reading the scales).

Self-praise (actually taking the time to tell myself i'm doing well no matter if i have struggles).

Trying new food and looking up low calorie foods. Incorporating alot more vegetables into my meals.

Treating myself with materialistic things and not food (im not a dog dont need food as a treat).

Buying new kitchen gadgets every now and then most recent was an Phillips air fryer and a vegetable spirializer.

shinycrazy

I've lost 113 lbs. For me, the ah ha moment was realizing that this isn't a diet, but it's a new way of eating. I still eat the things I love, I just make them fit into my calories.