What was the main thing you did to help you lose the weight?

jax_006

What was the main contributor that helped you lose the weight you did? I am looking to readjust things for myself. I would love to hear some insight from the MFP community thanks!

quiksylver296

Buy and religiously use a food scale. Log everything.

ETA: Oh, and cutting out alcohol was big for me, personally, too.

cityruss

Trusting in the irrefutable laws of the universe.

koreangurl

Stick to the basics which is calories in vs out

42firm03

In addition to sticking to a calorie deficit and weighing my food?

Finally grasping that it takes time. Allowing it to take time and getting over the fact that it wasn't going to be fast. This finally allowed me to do the first part long enough to get 60lbs off myself.

I have more to lose but not being morbidly obese is awesome and well worth the patience.

Citycat2015

As above. Keep it simple and just focus on maintaining a calorie deficit. It's all that counts.

Serah87

Digital food scale, once I got that the weight fell off.

ETA: Eating anything I wanted within my calories, etc.

sijomial

Finding a way to adhere to the correct calorie balance over an extended period of time.

For me that was 5:2 intermittent fasting on the Calories In part and a whole load of exercise on the Calories Out part so I could maintain a reasonable deficit whilst still eating plenty of food over the course of a week.

kommodevaran

Keeping it simple, and at the same time not counting on one thing to be the solution to all my problems - instead making lots and lots of small adjustments to habits, attitude and environment that together created a "lifestyle change" (I hate that expression lol).

KateTii

Learnt about calorie counting and how I could eat foods I liked without needing to guess if I was doing "ok". I never, ever would have started if I had to give up pizza.

Shells918

Measuring my food and significantly lowering my carb intake for medical reasons. I'd never had to eat low carb before, but once I realized they were the X factor in my struggle to lose, it changed everything.

kgirlhart

I started counting calories and eating at a deficit. I have not restricted anything except calories. I sometimes choose not to eat certain things if the calorie count is too high, but if I really want something I make it fit. I do measure almost all of my food but I also eat out usually once or twice a week and so I have to guesstimate on that. I have also started walking every day. But that is more because I am trying to be more fit and not just lose weight. Eating at a deficit has been the key for me.

rsclause

I found MFP and because I was counting and logging I ate less, ate better quality food, upped my exercise & fitness. That's more than one thing so I will say MFP!

rbfdac

42firm03 wrote: »

In addition to sticking to a calorie deficit and weighing my food?

Finally grasping that it takes time. Allowing it to take time and getting over the fact that it wasn't going to be fast. This finally allowed me to do the first part long enough to get 60lbs off myself.

I have more to lose but not being morbidly obese is awesome and well worth the patience.

This, exactly. I stick to a calorie deficit and weigh all food in addition to working out for a cardio health and a little additional deficit.

In the past I was entirely too impatient. I have(had) a lot of weight to lose (100 pounds) and starting from the beginning was scary. I have been up and down for years because when I didn't see the weight coming off "fast enough" I would become frustrated and give up. I've also finally just kept on trucking, knowing that my diligence would pay off. And 60 pounds later, it sure has. I've got 40 more to go, and I'm well aware it's going to take some more time, so I'll just stick with it!

DejahVoodoo

Weighing my food. Everything else (like exercise, steering clear of certain foods I didn't NEED, but wanted) was a bonus. Weighing the food was the number one contributor to weight loss. It just made it so much more accurate.

jellio98

Taking it slow and steady. I'm eating 1700 calories a day, which is enough to be able to still enjoy sweets/treats and not feel deprived. I've lost 57 lbs in a bit over a year. In times past, I'd exercise like crazy and restrict to 1200 calories. Never lasted more than a couple months. This time, these are changes I can live with for the rest of my life.

cavia

Weighed all of my caloric solids on a food scale. Began measuring caloric liquids with cups and measuring spoons. Double checked mfp entries in the beginning against the usda or the product packaging to make sure I was picking an accurate entry. Logged everything and logged every day. Only focused on losing the *next* pound as opposed to all the pounds still to go.

brb_2013

My biggest strategy is to not make it complicated. I don't need new food, I don't need anything fancy or expensive.
And of course patience and a dash of self acceptance. I accept that this is my body but it has control of how it lets the weight go, it decides when. I can control what goes into my body and how much I move but I don't get to decide how quickly the fat goes away. That helps.

faramelee

Changed up my food to more nutrient dense options, moved more and cut out Starbucks Caramel Macchiatos.....

SezxyStef

bought and used a food scale with correct entries.

I went from losing 1/2lb a week to 1lb a week instantly after using the food scale...

even now I use it...3 years later.

kristen6350

Plan what I'd eat each day and stick to it. Avoid "extra" food. Our office is a pitfall of extra goodies so my main rule was "no work free food".