Name one weight loss tip that worked for you besides tracking
GoRun2
Posts: 466 Member
What's one weight loss tip that worked for you besides tracking. It would be good to know what people actually do.
2
Replies
-
Personalization: Figuring out how to lose and maintain weight eating in a way I enjoy, that's practical for me. Figuring out how to get fitter that are relatively fun for me, ideally so fun that I'd do them even if they weren't good for me. Happy habits FTW, habits that can become almost autopilot, so they are sustainable when life gets complicated . . . which it will, sometimes.
Tracking helped with that, of course: Reviewing my food diary, it was easy to see which foods "cost" more calories than they were worth to me for their tastiness, nutrition, etc. I could reduce or eliminate those, choose others that better met my goals.
On the exercise side (or really activity side, because it's not just about formal exercise), trying things that sounded interesting, giving them a fair try to get past the "newbie blues" phase where almost anything can seem impossibly awkward at first. (Things that are easy from day 1 get boring fast, IME. Things that seem more difficult at first can better hold my interest, be enjoyable long term. YMMV.)
10 -
Finding a sustainable schedule. Both for eating and for exercising. Find things you can do daily. Not just some of the time.
Absolutely finding what works for YOU in both diet and exercise.
Figuring out my hunger schedule. Some people get hungry in the morning. Some in the evening. Figuring out when your hungry and saving a chunk of calories for then is always good.
Getting more sleep. Sleep is so important for all things.
Figuring out my own personal weaknesses. Like for me I realized I get triggered to snack when just sitting. So I sit less and make myself busy or get myself a drink of low cal snack in those situations. I also learned that I can't personally put off my exercising til later in the day. When I did, I often wouldn't do it. Once I made it my first thing in the day, I haven't missed a day sense.
I'm sure there are dozens more... but just a few I can think of.23 -
Two things - one, always having portion controlled snacks around so if I need something to eat, there's something ready to go. That has helped a lot. Two, having a variety of sugar free beverages (for me this includes all kinds of different teas) so I always have something interesting to hydrate with. Both those things have really helped me out a lot.
I also do a lot with keeping my hands busy in order to reduce boredom eating, having things like popcorn or vegetables when I know that I will be nibbling, and making sure that the exercise I do is something that I don't hate.12 -
- Avoiding drinking my calories. Even if "healthy" like a smoothie. This has prevented me from getting as hungry from blood sugar spikes (even with green smoothies). However, I allow myself to drink as much decaf coffee / flavoured waters / carbonated waters as I like.
- Avoiding foods that trigger me to binge (so pretty much avoiding any high-fat foods; following a low-fat diet + no grain products (I easily overeat these) besides rice or rice cakes (I need a bit of carbs before bed to sleep / feel okay)).
- Chewing gum if I want a sweet treat or I'm hungry between meals and not able to access food right away.
- Avoiding protein powders - eating whole protein sources instead.
- Making sure I only eat what i LOVE --> so making a lot of healthy, low-calorie, low-fat, high-protein versions of cookies, bread, bagels, candies, etc. Having fun with my food! Enjoying /being creative with / and looking forward to my "healthy treats" makes the calories that much more special! I think of the calories for the day like a "budget" and HATE wasting "money" on food that wasn't worth it in terms of taste and satiety!
- On that note, always bringing ENOUGH / EXTRA enjoyable food to work so I don't have to eat some free cookies or donuts or chocolate (or whatever else people bring in) if I run out of food and am starving. Plus they are way less tempting when you know you have something equally as delicious but only a fraction of the calories.
- Avoiding following a religious-type of mentality towards diet, and instead continually reminding myself I need to do what works for ME - no matter what ANYONE ELSE says/thinks or what I've done in the past. Before I would think I need to eat only certain foods or to follow a certain diet and would hold myself under that pressure even when it was clearly not decreasing my calories to an adequate level for my goals / not making me feel the greatest physically.
- Taking my VITAMINS daily! Especially iron, B vitamins, and vitamin D.
22 -
Having enough patience not to quit. People don’t become overweight/obese overnight, don’t expect overnight results for losing weight27
-
Walking 10,000 steps (5 miles +/-) per day.11
-
Don't eat as often ... I went from 3 meals and a couple of snacks throughout my day ... pretty much from shortly after getting up until right up to bedtime. I didn't start eating less often to lose weight, I did it to see if I could get my blood glucose under better control ( Type 2 Diabetes) ... it took some doing, but now a days I eat just twice a day. And I don't eat for several hours after waking up as well as very rarely anything after about 8 PM ... it got easy to do after some time slowly lengthening the time span where I relied on non-caloric drinks ( water or tea for me) instead of reaching for something to nibble in between meals. My a1C went from 7.9 to 5.4 ... and I have lost weight as a side benefit ... about 50 pounds just from eating less often.18
-
putting down my fork.5
-
Visualization and meditation.2
-
Don't eat as often ... I went from 3 meals and a couple of snacks throughout my day ... pretty much from shortly after getting up until right up to bedtime. I didn't start eating less often to lose weight, I did it to see if I could get my blood glucose under better control ( Type 2 Diabetes) ... it took some doing, but now a days I eat just twice a day. And I don't eat for several hours after waking up as well as very rarely anything after about 8 PM ... it got easy to do after some time slowly lengthening the time span where I relied on non-caloric drinks ( water or tea for me) instead of reaching for something to nibble in between meals. My a1C went from 7.9 to 5.4 ... and I have lost weight as a side benefit ... about 50 pounds just from eating less often.
Funny, what's helped me is the opposite! I eat 3 meals a day and at least 2 snacks. I eat breakfast around 8:00 am at work and finish dinner around 7:00 pm. I've lost 45 lbs. I would love to see blood work, but that'll have to wait. Fun how we each find what works for us.
Congrats on getting healthier!14 -
My main tip would be to think and plan before executing. It's so common for people to leap straight to executing someone else's diet plan......
I reflected on what did and didn't work in previous attempts and then made a plan taking that experience plus my strengths and weaknesses into account.
Main points of my plan were:
Not having an everyday calorie deficit, I had a very uneven eating pattern with the majority of my days eating at maintenance levels. (I'm good at maintenance but everyday deficit kills my motivation.)
Picking a personally sustainable and suitable weight loss rate (1lb a week for me). Don't make a hard job harder.
Making my diet fit my lifestyle rather than the other way round. Being miserable isn't helpful for compliance.13 -
Drinking lots of water especially while having my meals.
Having my stomach full of water tricks my body in to thinking I've eaten a lot more than I actually have!7 -
looking for reduced the calorie of everything I eat. Yes, have the bread-but the 40 calorie/slice. Yes have the mayo-but light mayo. yes have the salad dressing--choose fat free. yes have the xxxxxxxxx saves hundreds of calories per day9
-
- Using smaller plates for better portion control.
- Not having breakfast and instead eating my first meal at around 12pm.
- Doing the exercise that works for ME, not what society thinks is good for me. For example, most people encourage me to go to the gym. I find it extremely boring, to the point where I end up not going or not doing enough while there. Instead, I go walking - I enjoy it much more and therefore I do it much more consistently.
- Caffeine keeps my appetite at bay, so that's very useful
- If you need to go somewhere which is within 30 min walking distance, don't take the car if you can avoid it.
- Don't weigh yourself every day.6 -
Staying away from empty calories, drinking more water and an evening walk most days. It sounds so simple when I write it down but it has taken almost ten years to actually implement and maintain.10
-
2 things... putting my fork down between bites which slowed me down enough to let my mind realize my belly was full, and drinking lots of water/fluids during the day. Often, when we think we're hungry we're actually just thirsty!6
-
I'm doing IF with keto. My biggest breakthrough came when I followed the tip not to snack in between meals while in my eating window. Game changer! I still eat snack and dessert foods, but simply include them right before or after my main meals. Snacking throughout the eating window spikes insulin up and down too often and thus slows down fat burning progress, despite our being consistent with fasting times. Not snacking in between meals also low key causes us to eat less because when we focus on filling ourselves up at meal time we tend to realize we snack out of habit. So often, I anticipated my sweet dessert or salty snack but after eating my lunch or dinner, I lost the craving for it because I was fully satiated.8
-
When I’m hungry at night after dinner I have what I call “nutritious dessert”. Fills me up and tastes like dessert so that I don’t go HAM on candy/cookies etc. It’s been vanilla Greek yogurt, vanilla almond granola, diced strawberries and a drizzle of honey. OMG yum. So yeah that’s my tip. Make your dessert nutritious.11
-
1. Making eating a deliberate activity with zero distractions -no more mindless grab and go whilst walking or other activity food. I can easily scarf down 400 calories on the two minute trip from the kitchen to my computer desk. Now I take all my meals and snacks mindfully at the table.
2. Declaring no-food times during they day. It's very tempting to boredom snack between my first meal and dinner. So I set aside 1PM-4PM as a no-food time. I also don't eat anything after dinner, but that's more about keeping my acid reflux in check.
9 -
Just like others here, I only eat 2 meals a day (lunch and dinner). I also limited total fat calories to be 10-15% of total calories for the day, depending on how fast I wanted to see the scale move. Now that I'm near maintenance, I have increased fat calories to 15-25% daily, while still keeping my total calories below 1200 (most days). I lose much more slowly this way, but I'm determined not to gain. Time will tell where my calorie "sweet spot" is. I do 3 group exercise classes a week to keep my heart healthy.1
-
1.) Use your initial enthusiasm to build habits that make it MINDLESS to stay on your plan later on when you aren't as focused. For example, take the time to build meals in MFP that you can fall back on whenever you don't know what to have for dinner. Find the restaurants where you can eat out and stay on plan. You won't always be focused on all this weight loss stuff, so you need to make your habits as easy and mindless as possible to stay the course.
2.) Log the next day the night before. That way you don't have to make a decision when you're stressed, rushed, and hungry. You can always choose to change it, but I find having it written down makes me less likely to make bad decisions in the moment. Like, I'll be tired and not sure what I want, so I just end up eating what I already logged because that's easier than figuring something else out.
3.) Brush your teeth after meals and snacks. It sounds silly, but having my mouth taste "clean" makes me less likely to reach for a snack. It signals my brain that meal time is over, and it makes me more likely to drink water.
4.) When you do laundry, put your workout clothes together for the week so you can grab and go easily. Likewise, have a tote bag with workout gear that stays in your car. Again, the goal is to make your exercise regimen an easy decision-free thing that you just do as a habit. The fewer decisions you have to make to get it done, the more likely it will happen when you're tired and unenthused. Even little things like having to find your tennis shoes can make you more likely to give up for the day. So remove as many mental/organizational barriers as possible.
5.) Begin as you mean to go on. That is, find a way of eating that you'd genuinely be willing to do the rest of your life. That way you won't have to worry about falling off the wagon because they're won't be a wagon. For me, this means eating out when/where I want. It also means I don't avoid any foods or food groups. I just fit them into my calories. Early on I found substitutions and foods that met my goals and gave me pleasure to eat. So now, in maintenance, I just have the ability to treat myself a little more often, but I haven't really changed how I eat.
6.) Have a good plan for whatever is your weakest time of day when you're prone to snacking. For me, that's evenings before bed. My solution is I have a Chocolate Protein/Vitamin Shake in the evenings while I watch tv. Then I eat a Greek Yogurt every night before bed. Both of these are logged ahead of time so my daily food fits around them. This gives me a daily treat to look forward to, and a healthy filling snack to help me sleep. Some people like to eat a bigger dinner, but I do best with a lighter dinner and an evening treat.
7.) Make your log fit YOUR patterns instead of MFP's. So don't be afraid to edit your macro goals or rename your meals to fit your life. For example, my meals are Breakfast, Mid-Day, Late Afternoon, Evening Routine, Snacks, and Drinks. That lets me track things more accurately. I also shoot for a lot more protein than the MFP default, so my macros are set to 35% Protein, 35% Fat, %30 Carbs. I decided on the fat/carb ratio based on what I gravitate to naturally by season. In Winter, that means more fat. In Summer, I may change it to 35-C/30-F because I eat more fresh veggies/fruits. The main thing is to bend MFP to YOUR needs instead of beating your head against a wall trying to meet someone else's idea of what you should eat. The more personalized you make your plan, the more likely you are to keep up with it.
All this to say...make it MINDLESS and make it EASY...if you do that, you will be consistent enough to see results over time. The harder you make it on yourself, the more likely you'll eventually throw up your hands and quit.
29 -
Drink copious amounts of plain water. I think water is crucial to help achieve weight loss goals more efficiently and more expeditiously.7
-
Eating at least 25mg of fiber (both kinds) every day. Eating water-dense vs calorie dense foods. and meeting at least my minimum water requirement.4
-
Refeeds and diet breaks. I found that refeeds every 2 weeks on a steep deficit makes keeping your sanity a lot easier. I do a diet break about every 8 weeks during a cut as well.10
-
A food scale. More than anything knowing exactly how much I am eating is key. Pay more attention to the food scale and less to the number of the people scale.14
-
Meal prep. I never have to worry about what I'm eating because I bring food to work with me every day, and it's already been portioned out to meet my goals.
Weigh and measure food. We all think we can estimate well, but in reality it's impossible to know how many calories you're really taking in unless you weigh and measure food.
Water water water. I drink 2 cups of coffee every morning so I'm not tempted to stab anyone at work, and then nothing but water or herbal tea all day.
I'm not much of a snacker, but sometimes in the evenings I get the munchies. I find whitening my teeth is a great way to avoid unnecessary snacking. I can't eat anything for the 30 minutes I have the strips on and then when I remove them I brush my teeth, so I don't want to eat after that. Bonus - my teeth look great! 🤣
Routines. I'm all about routines. I eat meals at the same time every day. My alarm is set for 4:55 every morning so I can hit the gym before work. I always bring lunch to work so I pack it every evening to make the morning go a little more smoothly.13 -
I have been tracking my food on and off for more than a decade, now. I have gotten down to 155, where I wanted to be 145. I was constantly hungry. I was running all the time. I binged on the weekends. It was no good. I have been 220, where I indulged whenever I wanted to, and got to such a size that I was constantly low-level winded. All the time. It was also no good.
The single biggest thing that helped me lose weight happily besides tracking is- to reduce the suck.
If I want a ton of food, I up my protein instead of hitting the pantry. I go for a walk instead of getting ice cream. I recognize my feelings might play a part in my wanting x food. But if I'm burning out, time for a diet break eating at maintenance. If I want to eat with friends, make it a day eating at maintenance. If I really want a cookie, have a cookie. And no cheating it, a real cookie, the one I wanted.
Sure, weight loss is slower this way. I am not setting any goals for when I am done losing weight. Because this is practice for how I need to eat for the rest of my life- honoring what I want or need in a way that doesn't compromise my goals long term.
The only thing that helps me stick to tracking and weight loss is reducing the suck. Life is stressful enough, no need for me to stress myself further.20 -
Using a food scale to measure my snacks is way easier for me than using cups, for some reason. I have a snack just about every day, but only a very small amount. I don't like to eat snacks from the bag anymore. I use a little dish.6
-
Meal Prep: Every week, I roast vegetables, cook lentils (you can make a big batch and freeze some for later use) cook up chicken and fish. That way, I always have healthy food I can eat for lunch or dinner without having to cook every day. End up cooking 2x a week and the rest is just heating up. Makes it so much easier to stay on track.
Limiting trigger foods: Mine are alcohol and cheese. I can have them but they are special occasion "dessert" foods instead of every day foods. Pretty amazing how many calories I rack up when I consume either or both of these.9 -
I lost a good chunk of my weight before I ever heard about MFP or calorie counting or even knew what a calorie was....maintained for years without tracking anything and am now working on my COVID Lbs...also not physically logging anything, though I always keep a lose tally in my head.
1 - Eat out less. I used to eat out every single day for lunch. One of the first things I did was brown bagging my lunch. On average my fast food lunches were in the neighborhood of 1200+ calories. I halved that or more when I started brown bagging my lunch and was still eating plenty of food volume wise. I also cut back on the amount of eating out and takeout we were doing as a family. I never thought it was all that much, but it was a few times per week. In a typical week these days, I eat out once per week for lunch and we get takeout or go out about once per week...usually on Friday or Saturday. So I basically went from 8x per week eating out or takeout to 2x per week.
2 - Kicked the soda habit...not entirely, but I usually drank anywhere from 3-6 regular sodas daily. I weened that down to none and then ultimately switched to zero calorie soda, but I keep that to about one or two per day...usually with my lunch. I sometimes have a zero sugar ginger beer and lime in the evening for a mocktail.
3 - Cut back on the snacking. My snacking was always more habit and boredom than actually being hungry. I would nibble away all afternoon at the candies my assistant leaves out on her desk...then have an afternoon snack...then an evening snack when I got home...then dinner...then a late night snack. I was always snacking and it's pretty counterproductive to weight management. I typically only have one late afternoon/early evening snack these days and it's mostly because I eat my lunch around noon and don't eat dinner until around 8 PM.
4 - Cut way back on alcohol
5 - Made regular exercise a mostly daily routine. I don't do much in the way of "workouts". The only thing I do that I really consider to be a "workout" these days is my 2-3x per week in the weight room. Other than that I'm just recreationally active. I bike (MTB and road), hike, and walk my dog as my primary forms of exercise...and then throw in some playing around with the kids, shooting hoops or kicking the soccer ball around, playing catch, playing in the pool, etc. I sit around a lot less than I used to.5
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 424 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions