What are you doing differently this time?

erienneb66

So much more water. More calories ( About 4 years ago I lost about 50lbs by eating 1600 a day which is so low for my height and I gained it all back with interest). Training for a power lifting competition next year. Cook at home more.

Italiana_xx79

I have changed things up a bit by adding a bit more healthy fat into my diet, increased my calories slightly and added two classes at my gym in addition to to weight training two days a week. The weight is now coming off a little easier. I am sure I will hit a plateau again and then at that time, I will adjust things a little bit again.

Once I hit my fitness goal, I am going to continue by using the IIFYM plan.

lpina2mi

SALT

From low-carb (and some high-fat) posters I have learned about the importance of a high quality mineral salt. Since I have already established low-glycemic eating over the years, I dropped Sugar as my 5th macro and added Sodium, and I established a 3000mg as a target. I measure out 1/4 tsp of coarse ground Celtic Sea salt or Himalayan salt into a tiny finger bowl, which represents ~1120mg sodium. I add a few grains to food and drink (usually tea and water) throughout the day. I even will let a grain dissolve on my tongue.

SURPRISE! I find that my evening appetite is moderating in response, to what I believe is my increased salt intake. Using MFP reporting function showed me that I rarely consumed more than a few hundred milligrams.

background: My macro goals currently are 25% carb-45% fat-30% protein on low kcal. I am working myself towards 20% carb-50% fat-30% protein. My fiber macro goal is 25g +/- 5g.

CoffeenSquats

Everything. In the past I've dieted without exercise, I've exercised without dieting, I've lived on water and fruit, I've lived on meat and eggs... This time I'm taking no shortcuts.

Anne_Nic

This time I have joined a medically supervised weight loss program at a local hospital. I will have regular visits with a dietitian, exercise physiologist, psychologist who specializes in weight loss, and a personal trainer. I also have group support meetings. A group of us on fb are starting a daily accountability group as well.

The biggest difference this time is that I'm refusing to give up. I have to lose this weight and hope to do so before I begin dialysis. Since I have that ticking clock in my head, I think it will motivate me not to give up. I'm also working on understanding the reasons behind my behavior when it comes to food. This component was missing in previous attempts.

MsHarryWinston

Meal prep. I've been doing my work week's worth of meals all at a time which has REALLY helped.
New gym. My gym is 2 blocks away. Being able to go home after a 10 hour graveyard shift, decompress for an hour and then walk to the gym has been invaluable for getting me there 3 days a week. I can literally see my condo from the gym's front doors.
Before, when my gym had travel time, the thought of getting off of work and going straight to the gym would get too overwhelming after a long shift so it was so easy to make excuses to not go when I was super exhausted.

indiacaitlin

I'm following IIFYM which has pretty much eliminated my cravings and therefore I'm able to stay much more consistent over the weekends (which I think is where I was slipping up before!)

deviousme7

Prepare and freeze meals
Taking breakfast and lunches to work
Eating much more protein

sosteach

Sticking to it!

JeromeBarry1

The thing I'm doing different this time is that I actually log all my food. At first I logged all my food without changing anything. After a week I reviewed my food log and saw that my habits during the weekday were to have a reasonable breakfast, a small lunch, and a reasonable dinner, while my habits during the weekend were to eat all the snacks and dine out with all the calorie bang for the bucks I spent. It was the weekends which were causing me to remain fat while the work week days were typical of a slim person. After I learned how to repeat the behaviour of a slim person on weekends, my weight started falling and continues to approach my slim person goal.

JosephPulaski

Food scale, logging everything, no excuses.

LyssaRonnell

I'm starting over again as well. I've been so close to my goal multiple times, but when classes roll around I don't have the time. Here are some things I'm currently doing this time around. Hopefully when classes roll around late August I can stick to it this time.
1. Don't eat when I'm not hungry.
2. Only buy healthy snacks at the store
3. Making a healthy cook book.
4. Sweat every day.
5. Make a step goal for everyday.
6. Eat salad for lunch
7. Don't weigh every day, try once a week or even month.
8. Sleep!
9. PRELOGGING MOST OF MY MEALS WHEN I WAKE UP.
10. Don't set unrealistic goals. Mine was my calorie intake before, I had to bump it up because I was starving.
11. Don't drink your calories!

dlm5975

Eating as clean as I can and not diet food. Feel so much better! And the weight just falls off.

healthyrich50

I just started AGAIN, and I've decided to do something simpler this time: log every bite. I'm hoping that logging consistently will help me become more aware and make better choices. Thanks for the topic :-)

Evamutt

during seasons when I feel like I need more food, I go to .5 lb/wk instead of 1 lb loss. I've also eaten in maintenance mode for a week at a time, that way I'm not eating over my calories & at the same time keep my eating change the same. I've also started eating breakfast (gross for me) I either make a smoothie or PB2 on a waffle. I eat bigger meal for dinner around 6 or 7 so I won't be hungry at night & have yogurt at 8pm. all this seems to work for me

junodog1

OP - you have great responses here. This quoted one is my favorite. I can add nothing to this except that I bought a fitbit and for me it really helps tracking my activity, which is at this time still limited pretty much to cardio - walking and jogging, and is also helping my determination to reach goals.

kommodevaran wrote: »

I've been concerned about my weight for almost 30 years. Most of the time half-arsedly, but also in bouts of serious "lifestyle changes". That never lasted. It felt different, and like "this is it!" every time, but of course it wasn't. This time, with MFP, it also feels different, but not like much. I'm wary. Time will tell, and in the meantime, I'm taking it one day at a time. So far, 2 1/2 years maintaining my weight, virtually effortlessly, has told me that I'm doing it right.

This time, I'm
working hard to expose myths and propaganda, to think for myself and pay attention to real life experience.
Not demonizing any foods, food groups or nutrients.
Not deeming any food off limits, but at the same time reducing the temptation load by not keeping overeating-foods at home, and shopping purposefully.
Regulating sleep better.
Not exercising, but moving more every day.
Planning meals I actually want to eat, and stick to those meals.
Never force myself to eat anything I don't like. I will try new foods occasionally, and some of them will end up as part of my diet, while others won't.
More flexible. I change things up when needed, and sometimes I challenge myself to just do things a bit different.
I eat a much more varied diet.
I taught myself to drink unsweetened tea and coffee. No calories between meals is a good rule for me.
I learnt to recognize and am working on respecting my appetite, hunger and satiety.
I cook more, and more regularly.
I eat more appropriate portions of everything.
I weigh myself every day and have a weight range, instead of having a point and then start to be afraid of the scale and stopping weighing myself and eat more because weight maintenance felt miserable/hopeless/useless.
I feel relaxed around food and in charge of my food intake. Others may want to feed me, but I can say yes and no as I please.
I distinguish between normal days and special occasions. Normal days I eat normally, and they outweigh special occasions by an order of magnitude.
I don't want or expect to be "thin". At a normal weight, I have the body I'm supposed to have.
I accept and like my body.
I don't expect my life to be perfect and every problem disappear just because I have a normal body weight.

I was tired of being overweight, struggle with clothes, etc, but cravings and lack of healthy appetite was what annoyed me most. All this is completely different now.

dhbookee53

I have taken the taboo out of my food. I decide what I want and plan accordingly. I'm working out again but no rush. I started with walking. Goal is 4 miles per hour. Once I get there, then I'm going to incorporate weights.

Cute_White_Pink_Purple_Foxxx

For me, weighing every single day is a big factor in my success and generally how motivated I am. If I don't weigh consistently, I tend to go into denial mode and be like, "oh it's not THAT bad, I haven't gained that much" and blah blah blah, excuses excuses. If I have the cold, hard truth and the numbers staring up at me when I look down, it makes it more "real" in my mind if that makes sense, like "I need to do something about this now" instead of continuing to be in denial.

And I know that numbers aren't everything and it's more important how you look and feel, but for me the scale is a very important and very real way of keeping myself in check. I also know some people don't like to weigh every day either, which is fine. This is just what personally works for me and prevents me from making excuses or denying how much weight I have really put on.