What small changes have helped you lose weight?

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Replies

  • Viktoria2022
    Viktoria2022 Posts: 16 Member
    I am 46 and realized I can't eat the food I used to. So:
    1. Organized my kitchen, keeping kid's trigger foods in basement storage if I can, or in one cabinet that I don't open unless I prep for them.
    2. I drink two liters of cranberry infused water everyday.
    3. Only one cup of coffee with a splash of oatly
    3. Cut out alcohol and instead smoke weed if I need to relax.
    4. I basically took out dairy from my life. Sometimes I have a little yoghurt in the shake or use cottage cheese and perhaps parmesan in a dish. I drink hot lemon water before breakfast.
    5. I eat shakes in the morning, and realize I can't eat unlimited fruits. I think in servings of fruit for the day. My shake has protein powder, frozen fruit, kale, a splash of cranberry water, ground flaxseed, spices and a little peanut butter or coconut fat. Sometime I toast nuts and make it a smoothie bowl with seeds and nuts.
    6. I try to never ever eat gluten. Like no white flour, ever, hardly . I eat crisp breads, very sparingly.
    7. I don't eat potatoes, rice or any other starch. Except for my
    8. I don't eat sweets, if it is not fruit. No processed sugar. A couple of cherries is a huge indulgence, that is my sweet thing. I eat a few and savor them, rather than many.
    9. I don't use butter. I use healthy fats such as coconut oil, olive oil etc. I bought sprays instead of bottles.
    10. Avocado is my friend. Healthy fat, filling.
    11. I eat seafood, chicken, eggs for protein.
    12. I stopped eating to help my emotions. Trying to disconnect the two. I actually don't feel deprived. The food industry has created so much unhealthy foods for us and I don't want to buy into it any longer.
    13. I don't cheat, like have an unhealthy meal or sweets, ever. I know it will break my diet. The only snack I allow is the occasional popcorn (no butter).
    14. I usually don't eat out, unless it is Japanese (no mayo Poke bowls, sashimi.)

    At my pandemic worst, my weight was in the mid 150s, now I am at 126 lbs at 5,5. 8 lbs away from my weight at age 20. I track my weight but not calorie intake, as I feel I know what my body needs: lean proteins, vegetables, healthy fats, small portions, water. I have not exercised, but starting now, hoping to firm up.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    [snip]
    Think through your day. Be aware. What habits have you developed that you can tweak? How does occasional events or infrequent behavior affect you? Log everything that crosses your lips til you get a handle.

    Someone has a nice graphic on another thread indicating that awareness is 50% of winning.

    I thought I saw that graphic, liked it, and bookmarked it, but while searching I remembered the graphic I liked had compliance as 50%. Can't find that either :(
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    ReenieHJ wrote: »
    I've come to the point of realization there are just certain foods I cannot keep in the house anymore. :(
    DD265 wrote: »
    I'm the opposite; if we have it in the house, I don't need to go out and buy it when I'm craving/stressed because in that situation I'm more likely to buy and consume a larger quantity. I try to buy pre-portioned items; for example Cadbury mini bars (16g I think) rather than a 200g bar that I then break down. That makes it easier to stick to one portion (or it's a conscious decision to eat more).

    I try to get my 5-a-day of fruit/vegetables, then I flipped it on it's head and try to have 1-a-day of crisps/chocolate/baked goods/ice cream. As my calorie goal has reduced (as I've lost weight) I can't necessarily have one of each, but I'd try not to have two cookies on an average day even if it would fit in my calorie goal.

    I can't moderate the big chocolate bars, but I can moderate bags full of single servings, like Ghirardelli squares, and I can weigh out 15 g of chocolate chips and be satisfied with that.

    At a certain time of the month I have a harder time with some foods and this month I moved them all down to the basement so I wouldn't see them every time I opened the cupboard. Worked great! (At this time I get sleep and blood deprived and am very low energy so avoid stairs anyway. This might not work if I were 100%, although I think not seeing them would still be helpful.)

    I have tried and tried and tried to moderate pints of Ben & Jerry's and have now given up. Sometimes I get the single serve containers or a single Snickers ice cream bar, but usually I am satisfied with vanilla Greek yogurt and frozen raspberries, which is NOT the same, but still works for me for most of the summer. (I have no interest in ice cream during the winter.)
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
    edited July 2021
    1. No soda (the calories can add up fast)
    2. Salads without traditional dressing (the calories from the dressing add up fast); I substitute a yogurt based dressing or just use a strong cheese like blue cheese (a little bit of blue cheese goes a long way)
    3. Hot tea with honey as a dessert during the week (usually satisfies my sweet craving in the evening)
    4. Weighing MOST (but not all) of my meals on a food scale
    5. ETA: Drink a glass of water if I start to feel hungry...to make sure that it is hunger vs thirst.
  • autobahn66
    autobahn66 Posts: 59 Member
    penguinmama87 wrote: »
    springlering62 wrote: »

    Think through your day. Be aware. What habits have you developed that you can tweak? How does occasional events or infrequent behavior affect you? Log everything that crosses your lips til you get a handle.

    Someone has a nice graphic on another thread indicating that awareness is 50% of winning.

    I had an unplanned calorie surplus day yesterday and the day before. In the past this would have just derailed me completely. I'm still not happy about it, but reflecting on it revealed several things:

    - I had minimal sleep the previous two nights (approximately 4-5 hours).
    - I had one drink yesterday and after having it suddenly it seemed like much less of a big deal to just eat ALL THE PIZZA, instead of just the two slices I had budgeted.
    - The pizza itself was a detour from our original planned dinner out because several of my kids are sick.
    - It's also almost my TOM.

    Cycling and illness are just parts of life, but I can control whether or not I drink alcohol and for the most part when I go to bed. I could have also planned better and had a more nutritious/less calorific backup plan for dinner. So, not happy about it, but I honestly logged it, it's just a couple of days, and I'm choosing to take it as a learning opportunity moving forward.

    I think this is very useful as a post. Reflecting on myself I need to consider how I would manage in the context of the schedule and plan getting disrupted by the kids getting sick, or other inconvenient but predictable event. For me the key is not having the calorie dense food at all: so I would never order a pizza and not eat it... but maybe have another fast food meal planned in the case of an emergency and only get that.

    BTW, is this the picture:

    p8m1icq6sji4.png

    It was posted in another thread earlier.
  • ChaoticMoira
    ChaoticMoira Posts: 103 Member
    autobahn66 wrote: »
    p8m1icq6sji4.png

    Does this come from an article of some sort which explains it. I can't really fully work out what it is suppose to mean just from the picture. Like is this a level of importance in weight loss success?

  • viajera99
    viajera99 Posts: 252 Member
    ChaoticMoira wrote: »

    Does this come from an article of some sort which explains it. I can't really fully work out what it is suppose to mean just from the picture. Like is this a level of importance in weight loss success?
    Here is a YT playlist of Eric Helms explaining it in depth. Well worth the time investment.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAvW6xBZjSk&list=PL1CtAU2-DctSzI4JMGFq-sEwh7KExKpyb

  • Ann262
    Ann262 Posts: 266 Member
    I used to love drinking La Croix or other bubbly flavor essenced drinks. I realized they make me hungry! I quit drinking them and stick to good old water and that has helped me stick to my plan!
  • PaymanLux
    PaymanLux Posts: 23 Member
    What small changes have helped you lose weight?

    Quitting ice cream. I put off 10 pounds without changing anything in my exercise and diet except quitting ice cream.
  • MercuryForce
    MercuryForce Posts: 103 Member
    Mine was eating when I was hungry. Before I started seeing my dietitian and reading the posts here I'd be like "oh, I just won't eat much during the day and have a big dinner when I get home and it's all good." But for me that would lead to me being miserable all day, going home and eating everything and that is why I was gaining weight. Now, I generally eat breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. I know IF works for some people, but for me I think it would just lead to disaster.
  • kiroalexanda99
    kiroalexanda99 Posts: 1 Member
    My little changes:

    1. I Use a scale
    2. Focus myself not only in calories but in nutrients
    3. I changed ice cream for low fat yogurt as a desert
    4. Dark chocolate, almonds and berries everyday 🤣
    5. Veggies in two meals
    6. I always prepare low calorie jello bc I like sweets
    7. when I eat I always think first in the protein than carbs or fat
    8. Air fryer!!! Jajaja a must for me
    9. No more starbucks/dunking I prepare my iced coffee at home before my working out
    10. Protein shake if necessary
    11. I adoreeee chips and fries, so now I find my crunchiness in low fat products like rice cake
    12. I check my macros and try to have fun instead of stressing out, in the end we have to enjoy life
    13. Unsweetened Almond milk instead of the regular one
    14. I’m very careful now about cheese, I use to eat a lot of cheese, now I enjoy it low fat instead of regular and not too much
    15. Dressing out!!! , I keep avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and for sandwiches only regular mustard
    16. Boiled eggs daily

    I used to practice intermittent fasting for two years and I was soooo happy but now I’m working out and eating 1400 cal daily and geez, this is working so good 😊

    Love and success for all
  • azuki
    azuki Posts: 38 Member
    individual package sizes is always helpful. but ill eat the rebel pint at once :smiley:
  • OnceAndFutureAthlete
    OnceAndFutureAthlete Posts: 192 Member
    ChaoticMoira wrote: »
    autobahn66 wrote: »
    p8m1icq6sji4.png

    Does this come from an article of some sort which explains it. I can't really fully work out what it is suppose to mean just from the picture. Like is this a level of importance in weight loss success?

    What I took away from this is that you may have all kinds of information on what is needed to lose weight - all the colored layers - but the biggest factor of all is ADHERENCE, meaning sticking to it! :)
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,071 Member
    edited August 2021
    TayaCurragh wrote: »
    I'm not doing too well lately, but one change that has really helped so far is finding smaller desserts.

    I have a massive sweet tooth, and crave sweets after dinner. I've found ice cream, chocolate mouse, trifles etc, all in smaller portions. I pick one or two for the week and have one almost every day. It's not particularly 'clean' eating but I do home cook most of my meals, and allow myself this treat. This way I can have just one portion rather than half the tub of ice cream.

    Get thee a Yonanas machine! During the summer months, I make a big daily bowl of Yonanas 'ice cream' with fewer than 200 calories. Now that I've mastered using prepped yellow summer squash with monkfruit in place of all or some of the banana, that satisfying bowl of YUM! is often less than 120 calories. Bonus: Zero fat and the fruit & veg is substantially more filling than ice cream.
  • tammigates
    tammigates Posts: 46 Member
    Awareness of portion control has been a big eye opener for me and my husband!
  • rhododendron33
    rhododendron33 Posts: 64 Member
    1. Taking the time to plan my meals in advance has been super helpful. If I have a plan, I find it easier to stick to then just letting myself eat whatever I want. Even if it's just setting how many calories I want to set aside for each meal, it's still better than letting myself figure it out when mealtime comes.
    2. Smaller plates and utensils! Choosing smaller plates to make it look like I'm eating more, smaller forks and spoons, using chopsticks when I'm able to, etc. Taking the time to feel full and enjoy my food by slowing my intake has been helpful. Also, skipping the straw when having a specialty drink, since it also takes more time to consume then if I were using a straw.
    3. Not keeping many snack foods in the house. If there are snacks around, I will eat them, so if I have any, I like to portion them out or limit how many of them are around for me to munch on.
    4. Choosing whole grains and less processed carbs, things like whole grain breads and rice vs. white breads and pasta.
    5. Aaaand picking the stairs at work when I can, even when the elevator is so, so tempting.

    I'm just getting back into the swing of things after being off track and mostly maintaining my weight for a little while, but these are the things I've consciously added into my routine to help me out.
  • MrsLead
    MrsLead Posts: 8 Member
    I tend to think of my calories/exercise as a budget instead of just, “ what do I want to eat/do today” when I think about how much certain foods will cost me on a given day, I reflect on my “budget” what could I have instead of this or how much hard/longer would I need to work to pay for this. The majority of the time this keeps me from eating thing I won’t necessarily enjoy but just like a budget I also have a “credit card” for emergency and make exceptions for certain situations. When used sparingly the benefit of those few extra periods of leeway he’ll keep me satisfied and on track.
  • Terrania24
    Terrania24 Posts: 11 Member
    No soda, no fruit juice, no wine... my only drinks are water, unsweetened tea, and black coffee. Takes away all the decision-making and saves a bunch of money.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
    I still drink soda (it's a vice I struggle with) but in my mind, a serving is a serving no matter what size it is. So instead of drinking a 20oz bottle or 12 oz can, I started buying the little 8.5 oz cans. I also like it cold (pure, no ice) so I only keep one can at a time in the fridge. A little thing but it has reduced my total intake.

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