What did you buy that helped you lose weight?

egbert2016

I found it really helpful to buy some nice smallish food storage containers. My favorite are wide mouth mason jars in the short size and the tall size. Get the plastic lids too... they work on both sizes. Also, Mason sells a plastic funnel-type thing that makes it easier to pour things into the jar. The tall Mason jars are great for soups, chilis, erc. The short jars are great for oatmeal. I also like the glass rectangular pyrex with plastic lids, but they aren't water -tight so they're better for chicken, rice, dishes. All of the Mason and Pyrex items are available at Target.

At Costco, I bought a package of reusable plastic "to go" containers. They are all the same size and come with lids and they nest easily on my shelf. I use these for freezing. When I eat the contents, I pop it out onto a dinner plate and warm it up in the microwave. (I'm paranoid about using plastic in the microwave.)

When I make something that has multiple servings, I weigh and measure out single servings and put each in a separate container and put them in my fridge or freezer. Then I know I can eat that item later and it will be easy to log because it's already in my diary. If I put the container in the freezer, I mark it with the date so it's easy to go back and find it in my diary. Dry erase markers work well for labeling.

For example, if I make soup (or chili or any recipe really), I log every ingredient into my diary as a recipe with the date in the title like: 03/14 veggie soup. I put individual servings in tall Mason jars and put them in the fridge or freezer.

I do this with lots of different things and I think it saves me time and energy. If I'm already weighing oatmeal and PB2, I weigh out 4 or 5 and put them in my pantry (dry ingredients only). When I want some peanut butter oatmeal, I just add the correct amount of almond milk to the container and heat it up. The little short mason jars are perfect for this.

Plus...another plug for a food scale. I had to force myself to make it a habit, but it's totally worth it. I used to use measuring spoons and cups, but the scale is much more accurate and it's easier than scraping peanut butter or hummus out of a measuring spoon!

dauchsmom

Hometics scale and measuring plunger. I saw the latter on Alton Brown's Good Eats show and have been sold on it!

sarabushby

A house - moving out from home gave me more control of how many calories I consumed and got me away from my parents’ unhealthy habits like wine with crisps or nuts before dinner and 3 x chocolates in the evening after dinner which was always 2-3 courses. Plus they always have cream.
I know you can say ‘no’ but it’s so much easier not to have the temptation in front of you.

kjm3579

A gym membership and running shoes!!!

limex

I'm really a numbers person that loves looking at data, so I bought a fitbit and a bathroom scale that logs wirelessly (because I'm also lazy). I find both to be very motivational.

thatjodiegirl

Smart Coffee has helped me tremendously with food cravings and gives me lots of good energy every day.

rsj7799

Digital Food Scale.

MikePTY

A good hot sauce



No, there's no special miracle weight loss properties of hot sauce. But it has been a great help for me to make bland food, like plain chicken, fish, hardboiled eggs, etc, taste a lot more interesting. It helps me keep calories in check without sacrificing flavor. It adds no calories and has minimal sodium. Plus as an added bonus, it helps me drink more water (not directly weight loss related, but still good for me).

cathysyng

I haven't bought a food scale yet but it is on my list to buy this weekend. I love my rebounder.. it is fun to jump. I do it on days it is raining and I can't make it to the gym. I also use the elliptical at home on rainy days plus my resistance bands and work out with youtube videos. I weigh myself daily too. I feel MFP in combination with Lent give me the added impetus to stick with my diet. I hope I can do MFP every Lent to knock off extra pounds. The rest of the year I will try to be in maintenance mode.

KetoZandra

A tape measure.

hroderick

planning REALLY helps me and I don't do well at it. I recommend a free trial from platejoy.com to see if it works as well for you as it does for me. After setting up your profile, it takes about 10 minutes for my wife and I to plan the week of delicious variety well suited to our likes and needs along with shopping list and recipes

Girlheidi

A food scale - mine was $12 on sale. I like my fitbit as I like to see the data of what I do. And the free Couch to 5K app.

I was losing weight just logging my food accurately but I decided to do a bit more as I got slimmer. I DO NOT like running but I like the fact that I am getting fitter and my body can do more, so I keep doing it. The program is easily doable and it is free - a decent pair of runners is what you need though I started in my son's old shoes - all do-able. If I can do it, anyone can.

Just log your food accurately, keep to the plan and essentially eat less and move more. I spoke with my doc when I was thinking about losing weight and she said modern thinking is do more (first), eat less (second) but obviously you have to do this together ideally!

I am very slow and steady on the weight loss front, but it is going, and I am not stressing about it. I also decided to stop drinking alcohol at the same time (preventing lack of willpower munching after wine/beer). It saves on calories and I sleep fantastically now. Not for everyone of course, but it works for me.

So, essentially, it is all about you and your own desires. You have done it before and succeeded, so you obviously CAN do it! So, just get back to where you were before and get going, You will succeed - you are still you!

Polydactylkat

I would say a food scale, along with measuring cups/spoons. Cooking on my own, whether that be purchasing recipe books or just going online to find recipes, and a gym membership. Not super exciting, but it works! Then, just to feel better, some things like workout clothes, good exercise shoes, weight gloves. And a human weighing scale is helpful too but not if you are going to get too obsessive. I would like one that showed body fat percentage but I don’t have one of those.

Edit - and a chest strap HRM! If exercise is a big part of your plan, I’d recommend a heart rate monitor to get the most accurate calorie burn possible.

peachie2013

Workout videos with varies intensities, a new stationery bicycle ..,

StayFocused01023

I really love to use a meal planning app, some cost money and you might be able to find some for free... apps like MFP are great for tracking but I love having an app that randomized and gives me a lineup of recipes (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack) that's been developed for variety and my personal eating goals. And it takes the guesswork and planning work out of the cooking. The one I use also develops a weekly grocery list for you to prep for all the meals lined up and to save money and cause less waste. Seems silly but I absolutely love it! I'm not a advertisement, I have one I really like, but if you just search out "meal planning" in apps you can usually try different free ones or at least a free trial period to see which ones you like and if want to spend the money to keep it.

GreenValli

A new cell phone! I had one 4 years ago but I was not able to use it to scan labels from food packages to add the calories to MFP. After I got an updated phone it made a big difference in tracking my calories throughout the day. Unfortunately, I need to get another phone now soon. My current phone has dropped some of my apps again, including MFP.

Another great tool for me was a small microwave pot from Pampered Chef. It is perfect for cooking thinks like frozen vegetables, oatmeal, leftovers, and many other things. Comes with a lid with holes so you can drain off liquid easily. I often just eat right out of the pot. I have one pot just for me and one for my husband.

Healz

Good hiking shoes

Suuzanne37

1. Food Scale
2. Gym/Fitness subscriptions
3. Fitbit/Apple Watch

33gail33

I have it all - treadmill, stationary bike, step machine, weight bench, fitbit, 12 pairs of running shoes... But I didn't start losing weight until I got a food scale.
Damn it was soooo annoying when I first came here and everyone was harping on the food scale thing ...

lnorman0888

Beachbody on demand 100 percent better than my gym