How does everyone make changes?

megsmom2

A few big changes at first...but the small ones just keep coming too. Logging my food and getting serious about exercise were the first big changes. That's where it all starts. But I'm still making adjustments...I just switched to a different kind of almond milk with fewer calories, and am adding some different exercise options. One step at a time--even if they are tiny steps.

icimani

Smaller changes have worked for me.

Especially with exercise, I know I have a tendency to go all in and then overdo it then I'm so stiff and sore I can't move and give up. So I started with 2-3 days a week and moved up gradually to 5-6 days a week. I also started out slowly with the exercises themselves so I didn't hurt anything. Recovering from dual knee replacement helped slow me down to be sure, but even recently I'm just getting back to working out after a 4 month hiatus and keep having to remind myself that I'm not going to be able to just jump back in at the same level I was at before.

ngyoung

I identified my worse habits first and focused on those. One of my first was regular pop and energy drinks. I kinda used Lent as a motivator to quit for 40 days. Once that was up I only drank diet. After about 2 years of that and going from maybe 1 in the morning to having 2 16oz diet energy drinks a day I thought it was time to quit that. It took a couple false starts but last month I finally got pissed and finally stopped. I had a little bit of coffee to take the edge off but overall after a week I didn't really notice any drop in energy.

At that same time I also got really strict on not eating any candy or donuts which some how started getting back in my diet more and more. I kinda blame the excessive diet drinks for those sweet cravings and stumbling on insanely good bakery that stocks my local gas station. To stave those off I got a few 85% dark chocolate bars and when I get a little craving I would break a square off (1/4 a serving) and nibble on it. With a good dose of filling fat and only 5g of sugar a serving and only eating 1/2 a serving in a day it is just enough for me.

nxd10

I started the logging of food and hitting calorie goals immediately and all at once. That was not a big change for me, though, even though I had never dieted before. My eating was pretty good. The changes I had to make was learning which foods had more calories than I thought (which I slowly eliminated) and which had less (which I started to more of).

Portion sizes I changed immediately.

Exercise has come on me slowly. I started walking more slowly (I already walked to work, but now added additional 'exercise' walking.) I have started to swim and started to feel compulsive about 'having' to exercise because I 'should'. That did take time. Exercising while traveling took time.

So I guess I'd say slowly. I've been doing this more than a year and I think I'm getting more into it, not less, even though I have hit a weight goal I never expected to see again.

KyleB65

I'm with you!

I saw success by changing one small thing at a time. Once this change became a habit (3 -4 weeks), I would then focus on something else. It does not take too many small changes to start seeing great results.

Best of all, with this I never felt deprived of anything! (There were some issues at the beginning but these past quickly)