What are your must do's....

IonaEllen123 · March 2017

Hi,
What are your top must do/have when it comes to losing weight e.g. A walk before a dinner, weighing food the night before, having a green tea etc....

Mycophilia · March 2017

1. Count calories
2. Track weight
3. Be patient
4. ???
5. Profit

kommodevaran · March 2017

Plan my meals and eat the portion I served myself.
Base my meals on real food, but only eat food I like, and never ban foods.
Stick to meals, wait till I'm hungry before I eat.
Don't buy large amounts of foods I find too easy to overeat.
Be flexible; break the rules when needed, but not so often that they stop being rules.

IonaEllen123 · March 2017

My top 10 must have/do -
1. Obv count calories
2. Walk before breakfast & walk after dinner
3. Set all plates, scales, cutlery out night before.
4. Have a herbal tea at 8pm (as like a way of telling myself that is the end of the day for anymore food, I used to always snack in evening.)
5. A water bottle comes everywhere with me whether I'm nipping to the shop or nipping upstairs to do some cleaning.
6. I swear by starting the day with porridge.
7. Stay away from work biscuits instead I have made a fruit bowl & tub full of mixed nuts & dried fruits
8. I take my little Calorie Counter book everywhere (as I get rubbish signal) so it's like a backup
9. I make sure I only 2 fruits then at least 6 vegetables a day
10. I have a big list of things to do (exercises, activities, chores), a list of reasons why I want to lose weight stuck to my fridge so whenever I feel the need to devour the kitchen lol!

sijomial · March 2017

Eat food I like in the right quantity. (Calorie counting optional.)
Do the exercise / training I enjoy. Set challenging goals.
Consciously be more active / less sedentary.
Be patient and realistic, think long term.
Don't set arbitrary rules and restrictions.
Take personal responsibility but forgive yourself and move on when you slip up.

LisaMoxon155 · March 2017

Plan and prepare each meal as far as in front as possible.

Altess · March 2017

1. Carrots in the fridge,my go to when cravings hit. No carrots and I can justify eating anything. Carrots= no excuses.
2. Water bottle by my bed,another 2 in the fridge filled and ready to go.
3. Wake up,go to the bathroom and weigh myself EVERY MORNING!
4. Eat breakfast, even if it is just carrots, cheese and my filled cold water, as I am running out the door late.
5. Take my multivitamin, I can tell when I have missed a couple of days now.
6. If I take a zero iced tea out of the fridge I put one back in BEFORE I shut the door, no cold iced tea in morning = cranky me till lunch.

VintageFeline · March 2017

For purely weight loss?

1. Track calories every day I'm not on vacation.

Done.

Things I do so I get more calories and for health.

1. Exercise
2. Focus primarily on protein
3. Check the calories of treats before I buy them to see if they're worth it to me on that day

rainbow198 · March 2017

The following has helped me lose and maintain:

- Plan meals in advance. This keeps me in control and help me work things I want to eat into my day.

- No snacking. I learned that eating meals keep me satisfied. Snacking and eating small meals left me hungry.

- Have my 32 oz. water bottle near by. I used to drink so many caloric calories. Now I very rarely do. This has inadvertently helped me to get rid of the mindless snacking as well.

- Slow down when eating and stop eating when I'm getting close to getting full. This meant I had to learn that I don't have to "clean the plate".

- Just because food is free, given to me or just there doesn't mean I have to eat it.

- Cook my own meals most of the time. Going out to eat is a once in a while treat.

- Close the kitchen after dinner.

goldthistime · March 2017

Keep my protein levels up
Keep my veggie/fruit consumption up
Get some cardio in (mostly for better sleep, but also for the burn)
Strength train

dustedwithsugar · March 2017

Cooking low kcal meals in batches, so on busy days I don't have to worry about preparing the dinner
Remembering that "my eyes are bigger than my belly" - I'm putting less food on my plate than I want to and I'm perfectly content and full after a meal
When I'm hungry and I don't have many calories to spend I like to drink tea
Also tea right before bed, it kind of signals to me that eating for the day is finished
Saving some calories for my midnight snack, when I'm watching movies - often it's sweets or fruit, last night it was toast with cheese
Pushing my first meal as late as possible. Eating late breakfast curbs my appetite for the day.
Doing a lot of steps, even around the house, it gives me lots of extra calories
I'm very close to my goal (around 10 pounds) so amount of calories I can eat per day is quite low. Focusing on protein and adding volume food, like vegetables helps me a lot.

Lounmoun · March 2017

Get plenty of sleep.
Every day before breakfast take a few moments to log my food for the day starting with dinner, lunch, breakfast and then snacks with whatever is left. Meet calorie goal and protein goal.
Walk 30-60 minutes a day. Try to sit less throughout the day.
Weigh myself once a week.

AnvilHead · March 2017

1) Be in a caloric deficit.

That's it.

crzycatlady1 · March 2017

AnvilHead wrote: »

1) Be in a caloric deficit.

That's it.

Yep, this pretty much sums up my weight loss phase

I did do an IF protocol, but that was just a fancy way of being in a calorie deficit. The only thing I tracked/adjusted through my 50ish pound loss was my calorie intake.

Francl27 · March 2017

Walking when I can, for me. And counting calories (also weighing my food).

bwogilvie · March 2017

Count calories to ensure that you take in less than you expend, and monitor your counting against your actual progress to ensure that you are counting accurately.

That's all that is necessary. However, that's like Hillel the Elder's response to the gentile who asked whether he could teach the entire Torah while standing on one foot: "That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study."

However, a lot of the interpretation is very helpful. Many of us have found ways to make it easier to stay on a calorie deficit. Personally I like Michael Pollan's approach to eating, as set out in In Defense of Food: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." That is, as much as possible, avoid highly processed foods that have lost so much nutritive value that it has to be enriched by adding it back in. Minimize your intake of meat and animal fat. Don't snack very much; eat real meals, slowly, and listen to your gut.

It's also important that the changes you make are ones you can sustain over the long haul. A lot of people lose weight and then gain it back because they reach their goal and then return to their old habits. So if you're not going to give up ice cream for life, don't give it up when you are losing weight: instead, figure out how you can eat less of it and still be satisfied. That's one lesson from Yoni Freedhoff's very good book The Diet Fix.