Reflection: What worked for you FIRST?

evilfairies

After you get into the swing of things, you develop tips and tricks that work for you. But what was the very first thing that made you think, yeah, I can do this? Things like how you first changed your diet, how you first started to work out, etc. And how far have you come since then?

cmriverside

Logging food.

Walking.

cmriverside

Oh, you want more info? I think all of this is a process. Trying to do everything perfectly from the get-go just leads to failure. My life/food/exercise is a complete 180 from what it was in 2007 when I joined this site. So much knowledge and skill I've gained over the years. Cooking, looking for new activities to do, etc. It takes time and it takes dedication and it takes a lot of changes - one change at a time.

I've maintained my weight loss for about ten years, so now it's habit.

sportychic87

Realizing that I was eating most of my calories in the evening. So I’ve been saving calories for that. I also love canned soup and so I have a can a day, usually it’s my evening snack. It’s a lot of sodium but it’s helping me get used to the calorie deficit. I’ve also realized that I have to do this for myself and thus I have to be my own motivator and have to ignore the food-pushers at work. I’ve lost a little over 6 pounds so far (3 weeks about).

potatowhoruns

For me, I would say it was sorting out my lunches at work. I used to grab a sandwich or similar from a local shop which often meant a meal deal too with crisps and fizzy drinks. By starting to bring my own soup or sandwiches I was able to be more flexible with what I had for dinner.
I also pre logged so I knew exactly what I was able to ‘afford’

kommodevaran

I was sitting and grazing all day, so I started by eating meals and make dinner most days, and walking. The first meals were pretty boring, but I figured things out along the way. Still finding things out, four years later and fifty pounds lighter.

88olds

I quit drinking alcohol.

As of today I’m down 112lbs from my 285 start. GW was 184. I’ve been maintaining 11yrs.

dutchandkiwi

What worked for me is not to judge myself and my diet.
I had analysed a bit head and I had determined that I had a habit of eating sweets (cakes etc), so I decided to not eat for a month. Small steps and all that. As that was January it was not considered odd at all, made it to three months that way.
But what really worked for the most part I simply logged and learned. Read the boards and went on my journey step by step.

ctrbeachy

I allow myself one cheat day a week to keep it real.
I pre-log food for breakfast/ lunch and snacks and keep my dinner open to what I can have for dinner within the calories..

lucerorojo

Initially it was just tracking my food and calories. I had NO idea how much I was eating. I was eating double what I should have. It was very easy for me to cut back because I ate so much that even cutting that in half (and having a 1000 calorie deficit) I was still eating enough to get by without hunger. The "extra" I had been eating consisted of low volume high calorie foods with little nutrients so I didn't miss them.

JeromeBarry1

Logging everything is what made me realize I could do this. I didn't even change the foods I ate. I just logged everything. I discovered that during my work week of Monday through Friday, I was in a calorie deficit, and that my Saturday and Sunday were when I ate far too much. Losing weight amounted to nothing more than learning self control on one day, Saturday, and learning to make low-cal choices at restaurants on Sunday.

mamadon

It was a true light bulb moment for me realizing all I had to do what count my calories. Knowing that I did not have to eat eliminate any foods, eat raspberry ketones, take a diet pill to stop eating after 7 o’clock was a wonderful moment.

CaffeinatedConfectionist

For me it started with incorporating consistent physical activity into my life. I started with walking at a local park. That led to me buying a treadmill and learning to run. Learning to run escalated into getting a gym membership and taking classes like Body Pump, TRX, and Kettleworx, although it took me a few weeks to work up the courage to start taking classes. That led to an interest in strength training, roller derby, biking, trail running, and martial arts. Those first tiny steps led to amazing things. I've run, climbed, lifted, biked, hiked, skated, and fought; I'm a different person than I was five years ago, and in ways I never would have anticipated.

emalethmoon

Smaller breakfasts, switched from peanutbutter to PB2, walking for 30 minutes to music, started logging food.

hyIianprincess

Cut out most liquid calories and started weighing food out (I was actually under estimating good which would lead to binging sometimes)

Wendyanneroberts

Logging everything I ate, everyday, no matter what. This gave me the information I needed, to make suitable changes to my eating habits that work for me and my life at the moment. The flexibility to lose weight, while still eating foods I like. Freedom to incorporate any foods I chose, knowing I was still on track. Enjoying these foods, without guilt.

riffraff2112

setting goals and coming up with a plan. Without that I was haphazardly doing random things, and not ever accomplishing much. Once I set goals, and made a plan to get to these goals everything fell into place.