top tips to loose 100lbs

libelluler

Be honest with yourself and remember you will mess up but don't ruin everything for a bump in the road. Set small goals like others have said. I have a total of 140 to lose and they don't have to be set -5lb or -10lb goals either. When I started at 317lbs my first goal was just to get to 299. I literally had one goal to get to 250 and then the next was 247. They have all been ones I feel like are attainable and I set a date.

HermioneDanger118

I figure I got big through a being a creature of habit with my food - I can get smaller that way too!

Never thought about it that way! I like it!

toscarthearmada

Never give up! That's really the best advice.

erulasse

Cut your limbs off...

misti777

I have to have a couple days a month to indulge... it was the only thing that kept me going... all the other times I failed, it was because I couldn't indulge... now 2 indulge days per month are part of my plan, so im not "cheating"...

it has worked great for me! 90 pounds lost in 10 months!

Wow, i hope i can lose as much as you have in that time period

trogalicious

Here's my copypasta wall of text that I give out allll the time:

1. don't trust the initial setup that MFP provides. If you put in the wrong/inaccurate information, it'll tell you to eat an amount that may not be applicable.
2. Make sure you eat enough.
3. Figure out what works for you and is sustainable/healthy/long term.
4. avoid fads. don't buy in to any "Hey, try the twinkie and vodka diet"
5. Don't cut out anything now that you don't plan on literally giving up forever.
6. GET A FOOD SCALE. Weigh everything. No, seriously.
7. Get an HRM with a chest strap. You'll at least have a better idea of what you're burning. It'll be more accurate than the generic info in the exercise database.. and even more than the cardio machines. This is great for steady state cardio (run/walk/etc)
8. Don't go balls out. You'll burn out. I see 300 lb people show up here, instantly start working out and cutting their intake SEVERELY... trying to cut out all of their carbs at once.. whatever. Take it slow. Figure out how much you need to eat FIRST in order to lose.. then incorporate exercise.
9. Don't cardio yourself to death.
10. Take the information on the forums with a grain of salt. A lot of people that have been here for a while.. and have been successful, may seem jaded. They give out GREAT advice day after day, only to be met with people that refuse to listen.
11. Eat real food. Not diet food. Not "low fat, sugar free, now without X." It's easier to get/find/count.
12. don't set time restrictions.
13. measure yourself weekly. Don't just weigh. Measure and take pictures.
14 BE PATIENT.
15. Avoid forum topics that have "1200" in the title. It's just full of butthurt. Lots of it.
16. This isn't a game, it's about changing your lifestyle. Do that.

pretty much that.

...and don't fall into the "1200 calorie" vertigo of suck because of:

the typical MFP users does this:
1. I wanna lose weight, let's try MFP.
2. OH! Wow, it tells me I can lose 2 lbs a WEEK? AWESOME!
3. I just sit at a desk when I'm not working out, I guess I'm sedentary.
4. MFP tells them 1200 calories, and they don't even eat that.. then they work out on top of it.. creating an even bigger deficit.
5. Lose a lot, fast, brag about 1200 calorie success.
6. Come back in a few months trying to figure out why they're dizzy, tired, not losing weight.
7. Get on the forums, ask why they aren't losing.
8. Get two responses (I eat 1200 and lose) (I eat 2200 and lose)
9. Argument ensues about who is right.

Now. That being said. These threads happen hundreds of times per day. Most times, and I mean really.. seriously.. 95% of the time.. people get the 1200 number because they don't put the right information in when they set up the account. There are a great number of people that are trying to help. I'm one of 'em.

I'm a hardcore advocate of actually finding out what works for the individual.. by means of other calculators, averages, time, practice, and patience.

Blanket prescriptions of 1200 calories "because it worked for me" is more harmful to the generic new user than the "figure out what you need to eat." Unfortunately, one is a LOT easier to type.

Find out what you need: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

happieharpie

It's much easier to lose one pound 100 times than to lose 100 pounds once. So do that.so far I've lost one pound over 50 times and it's working great!

crazybookworm

Follow these keys: Portion Control, Moderation, Substitution and Exercise

Portion Control: It's important to educate yourself on true portion sizes. When I was just starting out, I was shocked by a 'true' portion size of some foods!

Moderation: It's a lifestyle change, which means it's pretty unlikely that you'll go the rest of your life without some guilty pleasures(Chocolate, pizza, etc) All is fair in moderation(and again portion control)

Substitution: The best part of my journey was learning how to cook and prepare meals. I also discovered new ways to recreate some of my favourite meals to make them healthier. Substitution was a big part of my success!

Exercise: Pretty much a no brainer, but 30 minutes minimum of exercise is great. And it's important to change up your routine frequently. About every 3-4 workouts. You don't want that body of yours to fall into a routine. Keep it guessing, and you will always have a great burn. And Strength train!

judyde

Bump

eazy_

weigh and log all your food and drink

be patient

peggymdellinger

If you "fall off", get back on. I do well with letting myself eat whatever I want on the weekend now. I didn't in the beginning. I've found, though, that "whatever I want" is what I normally eat all week plus some junk food. Like this weekend I had a huge cupcake. It was so good! I'm also an ice cream lover so I make room on most days for a skinny cow ice cream sandwich. Know yourself, what you like and don't, then make those things fit into your calorie goals.

Mcgrawhaha

take a break and TRUELY induldge every now and then... its like a mental reset for many!

TheFitHooker

Make small goals

Take photo's because it's hard to see progress in the mirror and sometimes the scale lies.

Measure yourself, don't rely on the scale.

Remember you did not put on 100+ pounds over night, it's not going to fall off over night.

You might lose weight pretty fast at first, but the first to go is water weight.

Don't lie, this isn't a place to impress people with what you really didn't eat. You're only lying to yourself if you do that.

LOG EVERYTHING! Even water, this way you can go back when things might not be working and you can try to pin point the issue.

Don't let negative comments get to you, people will try to bring you down the further you get. Most the time it's people who don't want it as bad as you so they don't reach for it, instead they are miserable and hate to make themselves feel better.

One of my key's to my weight loss, I had to learn to love myself, I couldn't do this if I didn't first learn how to love myself first. I did this by finding 1 thing I liked about myself, focused on it and turned it into love, for me it was my eyes, I made an appoint to dress them up daily because I was focusing on that. So learn to focus on something that you love.

This is a commitment not an interest, if you really want to succeed, commit to it, no excuses!

And lastly, motivation doesn't last forever, make it a habit to workout and eat right. It's a life style!

judyde

Bumping this up.

I just noticed I already bumped this up. Bumping again, since it's so awesome!

AquabearGO

BUMP

mygnsac

So much great advice in this post! I wish you much success in reaching and maintaining your goal weight.

I had so much emotion tied in to eating (sad eat, happy eat, upset eat, etc.), that I had to learn to drop the excuses for why I ate too much and just become accountable for whatever I consume. 200 to lose, and a little over halfway there.

drepublic

MASTER THE MUNDANE.

Here's is what I believe is the easiest way to lose 100 lbs:

Daily Cardio where your heart rate goes into the fat burning zone. I recommend an inclnie cardio regimen on a treadmill 6 days per week. Do it twice a day for 20-30 minutes per session as this is low impact. Better to do it fasted in the morning and possible before your last meal in the day. Eat healthy whole foods at a caloric deficit and stay consistent.

As the weight comes off slowly work in resistance training.

MASTER THE MUNDANE.

lighteningjeanne855

I lost 50 pounds in 6 months but removing all carbohydrate-ridden foods
from my life, except for the ones found in fruits and vegetables.

jamie610811

I got told by my Dr, eat less and move more it's that simple :-) and I guess he was right

cincysweetheart

Start.

Then don't stop.

The rest is just details.

THIS^^^ x 100. Couldn't have said better myself! Just don't quit. There is no one diet (eating plan) or calorie goal that will be the answer for everybody. Just start. Find what works for you…. change it up as you see the need. And then just keep going. And never quit.

amos481

bump

Chevy_Quest

So much great advice in this post! I wish you much success in reaching and maintaining your goal weight.

I had so much emotion tied in to eating (sad eat, happy eat, upset eat, etc.), that I had to learn to drop the excuses for why I ate too much and just become accountable for whatever I consume. 200 to lose, and a little over halfway there.

+1 great job!

TheSatinPumpkin

Wow i remember reading this when i started last August (joined a month later). Year later and still inspired by the suggestion posts here.

mom2my4boys

Wow! There are some awesome tips and people in this thread! :flowerforyou: One of the only things i can add would be switch the high calorie coffee drinks and pepsi's for tea and water. Also, loosing weight is just like doing anything in life that you want to do but don't "want" to do. Want nice teeth? You have to brush/floss/regularly go to the dentist. Want a good job? You have to make the sacrifice and go back to school. Want to be healthy? You have to learn portion control/eat healthier options/exercise ect.

Keep killing it everyday everyone! :drinker:

mythopoeic

Figure out the bare minimum that's required to lose 2 pounds per week for you.
Work up a sweat every day when working out.
If you run or use a treadmill, if you can work up to 45 min. at 5 mph, you will greatly enhance your metabolism.

katharineshalia

An old thread - bump for others who have not read.

hthr1969

I found healthy recipes for things I already liked to eat such as pizza and Mexican food. I also stocked up on fresh, frozen and canned vegetables. When I am still hungry that's what I eat. Tell myself every day that I am stronger than I think I am!

Mamahick12

bump

nlevesque11887

Understand that the changes you make must be permanent to succeed. I've lost 194 pounds as of today. It's taken about 16 months to do it but the changes I've made are life-long. I still want to lose another 50 lbs but I know I'll get there. My only goal is to lose the next 1 pound on the scale. My long term goal is to be healthier.

I eat out 4 - 5 nights a week. I didn't want to give that up so I made sure to find a way to incorporate that into my new lifestyle. I'll order chicken cacciatore but instead of having it with pasta, I have it served over broccoli or other veggies. I'll split the meal in half and bring it home for lunch the next day. I'll split a baked potato with my hubby rather than eat the whole potato. I'll have a french onion soup appetizer, but I eat only half of it or just take a couple of bites of my husband's soup. I'll have a Philly steak sub but I have it served on a plate minus the sub roll. Small changes go a long way. Just make better choices and don't fool yourself.

When I first started, I hated to exercise. I had to start very slowly and although I would get discouraged, I kept at it, at my own pace. I would walk, walk, walk. Baby steps but I kept increasing it as I felt I could. Even on days that I said "nope, not walking today," the guilt got to me and it was easier to just get up and walk than to suffer the guilt lol. Now I walk a minimum of 3 miles a day and I'm going to start adding strength training to try to tone up a bit. And, I'm in my mid-50's so it's not like I'm a spring chicken lol.

Understand that others can walk with you on this journey but ultimately, YOU have to want it and YOU have to do the work. There are no short cuts, no magic bullets and no secrets to losing weight and maintaining the weight loss. A healthy diet, basic exercise and smaller portions (other wise known as CICO) are the real key.

Wishing you the best of luck on your journey!!

IremiaRe

1) Exercise - first, most important - much more important than what you eat.
2) SLLLLLOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW and steady wins the race. Plan on 1 lb per week/2 yrs to lose 100 lbs.
3) Log/know what you are putting into your body. When I started logging again, recently, I was pleasantly surprised at how close to being in goal I was BEFORE I made any changes
4) more protein, less processed carbohydrates.
5) lots of liquids - stay hydrated - it helps everything
6) NOTHING is forbidden. This is you making changes to your life. If you are eating in such a way that you feel you have to "Go off of it" when you are "done" then you are doomed to fail. While you can't eat a cinnabon every day - you CAN have one if you save up the calories on a day when you exercise - a lot.
7) Exercise...yeah, it bears repeating.

Good Luck. 367 sucked. I like 244 a lot better. I will like 150 better still.

**My exercise secret? I have a tablet loaded with books. I read on the elliptical machine - and hardly notice the time passing as my legs chug away.