Jan 8 Weekly Challenge: Your Best Tips

themedalist

Theme: Sharing Your Wisdom
Challenge: Your Best Tips!

As I mentioned in the January schedule of challenges, I’m adding a new theme this year to our weekly challenges. Our group is full of members who have learned a lot about health and fitness. For some people, it’s information that has been gleaned over many years and through trial and error and daily practice. For other people, it may be more recent discoveries. Even if you’re new to our group and to My Fitness Pal, I am sure that you have knowledge that would benefit others in our group.

So this week, in our “Sharing Your Wisdom“ challenge, let’s offer tips, strategies and even hard learned lessons for getting fitter and healthier in 2018. What has been most helpful to you? What are the cornerstones of your health journey that you keep coming back to over and over again? What mistakes did you make early on, that you now avoid repeating? Do you have suggestions for new members trying to navigate MFP? Please share what has been most useful to you.

This Week’s Challenge: Whether it’s one suggestion or observation or many, let’s share what we’ve learned. I have no doubt that what you’ve learned can benefit others. Please post your best tips this week!

Make it a great week!

sandra8841

for me over the years the biggest thing I have learned is portion control at 5'2" I can not eat the same size meal as my 6'4" husband had to teach him this too as he always wanted to feed me thinking I was not eating enough

kaktuswren

I am still astounded by the weight loss I achieved with the ‘Atkins Diet’. The first two weeks (induction) were weird as I tried to change my mindset of years on the food pyramid thinking. Now, limiting my carbohydrates and sugars is simpler and it sure helped me with a partner to share issues with like what to eat now.

prgirl39mfp

Try everything and then choose what works for your. This is not a "one size, fits all" kind of thing so no matter what you choose, make sure you are getting the results you want. That has been key for me.

themedalist

What’s helped me the most to lose weight and keep it off for 5 years now was really thinking through why I was overweight and being willing to change those things permanently. It came down to two things: like @sandra8841, my portion sizes were too large and I ate junk food (mostly desserts and candy) while watching TV at night. I focused on just those two habits and the weight came off and hasn’t returned.

I’ve had a number of people ask me what I ate and what I did to lose 50 pounds and keep it off. I understand the question, but I think it’s the wrong approach. @prgirl39mfp is right, we are not all overweight for the same reasons and there’s no one plan that will work for everyone. Getting at the root causes of weight gain and addressing those with new and better habits is what will lead to long term sustained weight loss.

And whatever changes you make, they’ve got to be something you can keep doing over and over again.

MmamabearR

For me, I had to cut out the junk food, keep tabs on how much I was eating, and exercise. For a long time I was trying to get a way with not exercising, but my body needs it. I never was able to achieve the same results unless I did at least 30 mins a day, mostly cardio, some weights. I can now do as much as 60 mins, when I have the time.

That was another thing I had to learn. I have to make the time to exercise. I was never going to have a window where I could look around and say, "hmm, nothing to do. Good time to exercise." Nope - so I say, "this is my time to exercise and everything else will have to wait."

I'm really excited about this week's challenge. I have more to share, but I'll do a bit each day.

themedalist

MmamabearR wrote: »

For me, I had to cut out the junk food, keep tabs on how much I was eating, and exercise. For a long time I was trying to get a way with not exercising, but my body needs it. I never was able to achieve the same results unless I did at least 30 mins a day, mostly cardio, some weights. I can now do as much as 60 mins, when I have the time.

That was another thing I had to learn. I have to make the time to exercise. I was never going to have a window where I could look around and say, "hmm, nothing to do. Good time to exercise." Nope - so I say, "this is my time to exercise and everything else will have to wait."

I'm really excited about this week's challenge. I have more to share, but I'll do a bit each day.

I completely agree, @MmamabearR! With everything you've said, but particularly making the time to exercise. Our goals have to have time and space in our lives for anything to happen. They have to be a priority, which means reshuffling other things and making other things less of a priority.

30 minutes of exercise a day is 2% of your day. But that 2% spent exercising can dramatically improve the other 98% of your day. Exercise is one of the best investments I've ever made.

I look forward to hearing your other tips and suggestions!

prgirl39mfp

Yes @MmamabearR I agree, I too have to exercise otherwise I do not see any changes. @themedalist changes in habits are key. I was too sedentary when everyone else kept telling me I was super active. I was not. I got a Fitbit a year ago and it was an eye opener. Now I know better, do better.

melissarose4

What has worked for me is to simply stick with my plan. It is so much easier said than done sometimes! I understand what the healthy choice is in front of me, but that doesn't mean I always want to make them! Just climbing on that treadmill when unmotivated, or portioning out my food properly, or tracking my food honestly - each positive step sends me in the right direction as long as I KEEP DOING IT.

joanrollier

Log, log, log. MFP has helped me lose 65 lbs in the past year. Every morsel that crosses my lips is recorded. I also excercise as much as I have time for. My goal is 70 lbs so I am excited but also nervous about maintaining.

PackerFanInGB

Last year I yo-yo dieted and ended up gaining weight, and I now weigh more than ever before. So...one lesson I have learned is that I need to stop trying crazy fad diets because for me they are not sustainable.

I also have realized what a horrible emotional eater I am! I always knew I was, but this past couple of years have been extremely stressful and I now see just how MUCH of an emotional eater I am.

So, for me, I have to take care of the whole package...Mind, Body & Spirit. If one is out of whack, the others will be out of whack. I have started taking time out for me every evening. I either meditate, read, listen to podcasts or just take time alone in a room away from everyone and do something like declutter a drawer or put away laundry. I just need to be left alone to recharge. I've never really done this before...I am always the "fixer" for my family and friends, and I was always the go-to person at work. One really big thing I did to get away from the stress is that after 24 years with the same company, I took a leap of faith and changed jobs. Scary as heck but the best thing I could have done! I have little to no stress on the job now, which is absolutely amazing! Scary thing to do but so worth it in my particular case. I feel like a new person and my friends and family tell me that I seem like a whole new person. I must've been horrible to be around!

In 2018, I am really focusing on keeping the Mind & Spirit rejuvenation going and adding in baby steps to work on the physical health. Tracking all my food, increasing water intake, eating more mindfully, putting down my fork between bites and eating slower. I just started this weekend, so we'll see. I have to somehow find an exercise that doesn't hurt my knees, and that's going to be a lot of trial and error I think.

I'm really looking forward to hearing more tips from you all! Lord knows I need them! You all have such a wealth of wisdom!

PinkyPan1

Joining MFP was the first step to me losing the weight. Logging my calories and learning about portion control was essential to my success. I can not imagine not logging my food. Finding support on here was the next step. I had no support at home but I sure found a wonderful group of ladies on here

Ah, exercise. I hated to even work up a sweat. I now wake up every day and within and hour of rising I get a workout in. The saying " a body in motion tends to stay in motion" rings true in my life. I have gone from dealing with my chronic pain by sitting all day to managing my pain with exercise and activity.

Finding an exercise or activity you enjoy is a must. I have found yoga and golf and can not wait to do either. Spring will be here soon...thank goodness. I already have cabin fever and I am looking forward to getting back outdoors. I do love to hike too. Oh by the way...I have found that nothing feels better than being healthy and strong. If I had only learned this lesson 20 or 30 years ago.

Surprisingly, I eat foods I would never have put in my mouth before. It use to be fast food and junk food day in and day out. I now enjoy a healthier lifestyle and food choices. Eating out or fast food...I would rather not. Offer me grilled veggies or a salad you better hope there is enough for you too. LOL I do indulge for special occasions and holidays...life is too short not to.

MmamabearR

You're absolutely right @OConnell5483 taking time for yourself is very important. It reduces stress and less stress can lead to less weight

@prgirl39mfp I also bought a fitness tracker. I can't believe how much time I spend sitting. That actually leads to my next piece of advice - invest in a fitness tracker. If you're like me, on a budget, there are several good ones online. I bought a LETSCOM fitness tracker at Amazon. It's a great tool for exactly the reason @prgirl39mfp said, it can be a real eye opener. Mine reminds me to get up and move if I'm sitting too long. Walking is great, but not always necessary. I stand up and raise my arms up and down or I'll do standing alternating leg lifts. Just for a minute or so, enough to raise my heart rate.

SassyCookieMe

Lots of great insights have been shared here, and the first thing that become clear to me is a healthier, leaner body is not a one size fits all thing. Clearly different things work for different people, but each person had to first decide to make a change in there life. In my case it became clear that I needed to address the real issues, mach like someone who has any harmful addiction. The real cause to years of abusing my health and body by letting it grow fat far from the athletic one of my youth. Much like putting aside my smoking habit a little over a year ago, it started with the decision to stop making excuses. I am very thankful to be able to reach out and benefit from the experiences and insights of others who share my pain (so to speak). So being able to share your pain, doubts, challenges with others with like problems has been beneficial to me. For me it was a matter of making life style changes including joining the local gym to keeping me moving during the cold winter months..(and yes I still must force myself to go when its freezing outside). I can't quit, and by honest journal-ling and posting regularly on fitnesspal I can't hide.

MmamabearR

So true @SassyCookieMe it does seem that everyone who has found success in improving their health did it by finding what worked for them. What worked for me in the beginning was starting slowly. This helped me develop self-discipline, too. I used to start every weight-loss plan the same. I was determined to workout 30 mins or more a day, 5 days a week, and cut out everything that was bad for me. But like @SassyCookieMe said, this is like breaking an addiction. Cold turkey doesn't work for everyone and the results can be worse than before.

I told myself, workout 15 mins a day 3 times a week. I hated it at first. I kept telling myself this was going to take too long. But it was either start slow or face another failure. So i set my mind to this pace and kept at it for at least 2-3 weeks. Little by little I did more. Five mins more, then ten. I slowly eased up to a half hour, 45 mins. And I was seeing results.

As for my diet, the first full week, I let myself eat whatever I normally would and tracked it all. The end of day numbers were scary. I had a real view of what i was doing to myself and why my health was so poor. It made my decision to eat better much easier than a fad diet. I was able to immediately cut out fast food and snack machine food. Everything else (soda, cookies, chips) I would enjoy in moderation. Slowly, they, too, faded from my diet.

Little by little made the difference between success and failure for me.

prgirl39mfp

Great points everyone. This year I want to concentrate on my determination to get healthy for good. I lost 33 pounds last year by June and gained 27 back. I sound like a broken record and I am tired. Looking back at my posts and diaries one thing struck me: I am super hyped and motivated the first half of the year and then lose motivation completely. I want to change that. Want to make conscious decisions not based on motivation but on determination.

Back to what works for me:

Hydrate
Sleep well
Eat 90/20
Exercise everyday
Meditate
Practice gratitude and mindfulness
Enjoy the holidays
Work on me from the inside out.

koslowkj

Make a meal plan for the week and stick to it.

Although I love cooking, I always hated grocery shopping. Growing up, my mom always packed the fridge and cabinets, and I always knew that whatever I suggested for dinner, we would have what we needed to make it. Fast forward to when I moved out and had no idea how to grocery shop like that. I would want something and not have everything to make it (or make much of anything). I would go to the grocery store a few times a week, only buying a few things at a time or, more often, I would just ignore it and eat macaroni and cheese or tuna helper or order in/eat out.

A few months ago, I started sitting down with my boyfriend once a week and plan out what we were going to eat for the week. We make a list of meals and put it on the fridge so we always see it. We go through the fridge, freezer, and cabinets and make a list of what we need to buy for the week. Not only do I know that I will have everything I'm planning on using that week, but I also don't have macaroni and cheese or tuna helper in my kitchen to turn to. It makes it much easier to make my own meals than when I first started cooking for myself.

Side note: I never did learn how to grocery shop like my mother.

Zulu87

You all have some amazing insights I just wanted to say Thanks!!! I will post my own lessons learnt this week, I just wanted to quickly say yay!! Glad I joined this group

77tes

These are all golden! I think my bit of advice that I can add is that I stopped dieting. I just changed the way I eat, but I eat real food (not special diet foods). I used to have the "starting a new diet" mentality. And, really, I had pretty much tried them all.

I kind of took a "one thing" approach. When I first started taking myself in hand, I determined to not take second helpings. My next "one thing" was to find active things to do for fun. After a while, my one things had piled up and I had a whole bunch of things to fuel my healthy way of living. I still do the first 3 of my one things. 1) no second helpings 2) English Country dancing,and 3) meet my sister for a workout 3 times a week. I didn't find MFP and start tracking my food until later in my journey to health and fitness, but that was the final basic component.

Also, not going it alone was an important lesson I had to learn. I was always secretly dieting, hoping to surprise everyone with my success. That is a really bad plan. At first my sister was my buddy, and she helped a lot, but I also made friends at Curves and then here on MFP, and that mutual support has been so great!

themedalist

These are terrific suggestions!

I’ll add to it, make every effort to infuse your day with as much movement as possible. Not just exercise, but light activity that’s easy to think “Oh, that doesn’t matter”....but it does! Sitting for long periods of time is not only horrible for your health, but it works against your weight loss goals. We hardly burn any calories at all sitting in a chair. Get up out of the chair frequently, but at least for a minute or two every 30 minutes or so. Any and all activity “counts” and taken together, this extra movement can burn several hundred more calories a day.

I’ve had my treadmill since 2003 and for most of those early years, I used it only to exercise. Not anymore! Turning the speed way down, I read books on my iPad, watch videos, answer emails, and yes....every single weekly challenge that I’ve written for this group, I “wrote” using the microphone feature on my iPad while walking slowly on my treadmill. It’s been a game changer for me.

Look for every opportunity to sit less and move more!


One more thing: Use caution with the calorie estimates from activities in the MFP exercise database. In my experience, they are way too averaged to be reliable. An activity tracker such as a Fitbit will give you a much better estimate.

Ming1951

Well this week I'm finally back at it after a large weight gain. In the beginning even though I tracked my food I went back to my old eating habits, sweets sweets n carbs. I was on nutrisystem but when I went back to regular food I found I could not handle portion control. I still can't seem too. So for now I will eat pre packed albeit lean cruise, weight watchers or some left over nutrisystem. I then need to find some way to handle portion control . My whole household needs this so when I do cook I am starting with only cooking just enough without leftovers (I'm like my mom was cook a bunch you never know if someone will stop by and you want to have enough, but no one does so you keep eating) ugh