Tips on losing 100lbs

r3nee1102

Iv tried losing weight but I always seem to fail. Is there any tips, meals or exercise ideas that can help me?

concordancia

You need to build new habits. Sudden lifestyle changes can be great for seeing immediate results, but those plans rarely give you the skills you need for the long term.

Different people will succeed with different skill sets, but here are some useful ones:

pre plan: If you know what you are going to eat, you are less likely to make poor decisions spontaneously. I enter my meals in MFP ahead of time so that I know where I can fit in treats. If I am going out to run errands, I make sure I have a plan for lunch so that I don't stop for fast food. If I am meeting friends for dinner, I think about what to order ahead of time. If I am going to a party, I plan what kinds of foods I will have and how much.

eat mindfully: Serve your food on a plate, sit down, turn off the TV and put down your phone. Occasionally eat a meal alone so that you are focused on what you are eating chew thoroughly. Put the fork down once in awhile and take a few breaths. Focus on the taste, texture and smell of your food.

homemade meals: For some people this conjures up images of Julia Child spending the whole day in the kitchen, but I keep it simple. Pan seared lamb, microwave sweet potato and a salad can be ready in fifteen minutes. Rotisserie chicken and a handful of veggies. Oven baked salmon and microwaved broccoli. Falafel from a mix. Find yummy, simple meals that you (and your family) enjoy. It will be much easier to plan and much easier to track your foods. I have not figured out how to make doing dishes better, though.

exercise: This is not absolutely necessary for weightloss, but it is for overall health, which is my real goal. Exercise let's me set goals, see them achieved, distract myself when I might otherwise eat out of boredom, and, most importantly, feel strong.

identify your triggers: Few of us got to be obese by having a healthy relationship with food. Comfort food, boredom food, anger food...figure out what makes you turn to food and find new ways to cope. I am not even talking about the deep rooted issues, but the immediate "There is suddenly a chocolate bar in my hand, what was I feeling a minute ago" stuff.

TonyFitGuy

Sometimes I feel like a broken record, as much as I say this...

There is no secret "life hack" for successful weight loss. There is no quick fix for your situation. There are only the tried and true practices of mindful eating, regular exercise, proper hydration, commitment and support. If you want to lose 100 pounds, give yourself 750 days to do it.

Mindful eating is making sure you know what and when you are putting nutrition in your body and keeping track of it. Mindful eating is the opposite of mindless eating, which we have all done. Mindless eating is sitting down with a bag of chips and literally before you know it, they are all gone. Mindful is knowing what's in your food before you eat it, and making it fit into your plan for the day.

Regular exercise is whatever you do other than being stationary. Walking counts, doing laundry counts, cardio counts, mowing the lawn... etc. Do enough to maintain a calorie deficit, every day. You don't have to kill yourself in the gym and get injured, just move (MINDFULLY!) every day.

Proper hydration is drinking enough water so your body doesn't retain water and give you bloat.

Commitment is more than motivation. Commitment is action. Motivation is just words.

Support is what you are getting right now. I will support you. Send a friend request. I will tell you the truth.

My goal is 120 lbs. Since August, I am down more than 40 lbs. I use MFP to track everything I put in my face. I use a fitbit to track my activity, I drink around 90-120 ounces of water every day. My wife and I exercise together as much as possible, and alone when it's not possible. We talk the talk and walk the walk with each other for accountability.

I hope it helps. You can do it!

Panini911

mini goals. don't think of it mostly as 100lbs to loose that's a long term goal. Break it up and celebrate each small step.

make it a do-able process. don't say "i will go from not working out to working out 10hrs a week at the gym" and "I will go from eating 2500cals to eating 1200. That will make you miserable and create unsustainable goals. Put your information in MFP and select 1-2/lb loss a week. Or even start with maintenance to get used to new portions and quantity.

get a food scale and log everything. My dietician said I could start with one meal a day if needed.

Play around with macros. some feel more full eating high fat, for me i need quantity so eat lots of raw veggies and mostly low fat (though I am working to balance the fat now that I've been at it awhile and more used to reasonable portions).

one day at a time. don't let one bad meal choice or bad day ruin your week or month, just move on and get back to good habits.

For me meal preperation is key. I have good snacks around all the time, and ensure to plan ahead to have food ready to eat when hungry. this way you are not trying to make good meal decisions when you are starving. I also keep foods that are my weakness and high calories outside the home. after awhile I find i am better at ignoring what is in the house.

I also keep foods I LIKE in my daily life. I still eat dessert and chocolate. But they are more carefully picked and fit in my daily calorie goal.

CindyJNC1963

I started about 2 months ago with 138 pounds to lose. I've lost 25 lbs so far. What works for others may not necessarily work for you. You have to want it and you have to be willing to work at it like you have never worked at it before in your life. I hit rock bottom when a passenger on an airline asked to move because I was so big....I was totally embarrassed. She was hateful and mean......but I'm so grateful for her. She prompted me to change my life.

How I do it:

1. I track everything I eat in MFP. Every bite. I'm not a big food weigher...but I do weigh fruits because they are calorie dense and weigh much more than what I think just by looking at them. The pear I chose for a snack today weighs 270 grams....3 times the size of an "average" pear. I will log it.
2. I can't do heavy exercises yet because of my weight and I have low back pain but I walk. I get up from my desk at work every hour and I walk. Last weekend I walked an entire mile at once. A huge accomplishment. I wear a fitbit watch and it keeps track of my steps and imports them to MFP. I have a recumbent bike that I use if I don't get my 7000 steps in per day. I hate it so that motivates me to get those steps in.
3. I joined a challenge group here for accountability. I log in every day and post how I am doing and whether I tracked and stayed within my goals.

I absolutely hate cooking so I cook very little. I buy Atkins lunches and cook them in the microwave for lunch. They are low carb and high protein, which is why I choose them. I want to start bringing salads to lunch sometimes. There are tons of pre-cooked things you can guy at the grocery store that are great. I love it when I get home from work and I can relax in front of the TV and enjoy my dinner. This works for me. It might not work for you.

A final thing is if there is something that you absolutely enjoy, fit it into your diet plan. I like to eat 2 reduced calorie cheese sticks before I go to bed at night. The only thing I permanently gave up was Dr. Pepper. The reason it is permanent is because I am like an alcoholic for Dr. Pepper. If I drink one I'm afraid it will start that ball rolling again. I tried diet DP....yuck...no thanks.

Anyway, good luck. I hope you stick with it.

cheryldumais

I lost 100 lbs. It took me two years. I have maintained for a year. Here's what I did. I found a way of eating I could live with for life. I started walking daily. I tried different foods and substituted slowly. In time I have changed some things and other things I save calories for. One example is full fat sour cream, I still use it. Other people might use greek yogurt. I may substitute something else that others wouldn't. Find the plan you can live with for the rest of your life. You will never be able to eat what you used to in the quantities you used to. Nothing is off limits for me but some things I stay away from because I just plain can't limit it. Everyone is different. Be patient! It takes time and as time goes by you will learn how much food your body needs.

Danp

My tip for losing 100 lbs would be not to try and lose 100 lbs. Rather, successfully lose 5lbs and do that 20 times.

As the saying goes, the only way to eat an elephant is 1 bite at a time.

RAinWA

You have gotten really great advice above. So, everything they said AND don't get too hung up on how much you have to lose, just start.

I lost 127 pounds. I randomly picked a goal weight and never thought about it much after that. I just wanted to lose some weight. So as long as the scale was going down over time I was good to go. Of course, as I got closer to a normal weight I started thinking about where to stop - which was 20 pounds lower than my randomly picked "goal weight."

leanjogreen18

Everyone is different. Whats working for me so far...

Continue to eat the foods you normally eat and log everything that contains a calories.

After a period of time begin playing with your macros (protien, carb, fat) and find out if increasing one helps you stay satiated longer.

Slowly incorporate more nutricious recepies while contining to eat the things you like to eat. Log everything. I still have pizza and wine night:) within my calorie limit.

Start walking (not necessary for weight loss but for mental health for me) start to the mail box and back if thats all you can do. Over a period of time you'll increase your time and distance. Walk everyday just a bit.

I constantly tell myself that I don't have unlimited calories or food. This is a lifestyle that I will need to maintain in some way for the rest of my life. This isn't temporary for weight loss it's a lifetime of eating less than I used to eat.

Form a habit of logging your food (even if you go over), weighing your food, and walking so that even when you don't want to do it you'll do it out of habit like brushing your teeth you don't even have to think about doing it. You just do.

Take pictures and measurements. Sometimes looking in the mirror or seeing weight go down on the scale doesn't register but seeing before and after pictures will work.

Become active here in the message boards, read the threads and learn from others, studys show when you have a support system folks tend to stick to their plan better.

These are my tips that are working for me right now. I will adjust as time goes on and as I read and learn from others who have walked in my path and are on maintenance.

You can do this.