Hi, awesome successful people!! I gotta question..

nicolemariegarrett

First off, I just wanna say congrats at being successful and making your goals happen. Whether you lost 5 lbs or 100 lbs, it's an awesome thing to accomplish and you should be so proud!

So I do have a question, and it is... What is one thing that really helped you to get where you are now?

Maybe a few more questions that just popped into my head... heh.

How many calories did you consume per day?
What exercises helped you the most?

Also, I just started getting serious about losing weight and noticed that the first day I started, I exercised and ate my calories, and then instead of eating a healthy dinner, I ate like 10 oatmeal cookies that I made and still managed to lose 2.2 lbs. Then the next day, I did not exercise and at under my caloric goal and gained .2 lbs. Why?

Anything said will be greatly appreciated

IronPhyllida

Water retention

Sixel

Patience. It's hard, especially in the beginning, but you can't compare day to day. So you need to stick with it for a couple of weeks, not be discouraged when the scale goes up, and encouraged when it goes down.

What worked for me was exercising more (walking, cycling, running, whatever) and eating less.

I had my goal set at 1420, ate back exercise calories, tried to average that on a weekly basis and that's it.

75in2013

1. Discipline to really count everything I ate.
2. 1200kcal
3. Cycling

Weigh yourself every day but dont pay too much attention to your daily weight. Your weight graph of the last week or two weeks is way more important.
Weight can fluctuate + scales are not 100% accurate. But your weight graph should show you a clear trend.

greattimes

I have lost 73 lbs. I would say the best thing I did was eat a healthy diet. Reduced the salt and quit diet pepsi and all caffine. I drink only water and lots of it. I have not given up everything still enjoy ice cream but instead of a quart I now have a couple of scoops. Instead of a bag of chips now a small serving. I exercise everyday walking jogging and aerobics. I lift weights 4 times a week. I enjoy the energy I have gained.

mockchoc

It's ok to weigh yourself each morning if that is what you want to do (don't do it later in the day as you'll just weigh more from the food and drinks you just ate) but don't worry about what it reads too much, go by what it says over a week. The trend downwards is what is important and not daily fluctuations.

nelinelineli

Your weight does not measure your fat.
It measures "normal" you + water + contents of your stomach. Things like the last time you went to the bathroom and where you are in your period are going to create fluctuations of several pounds daily, masking any change in your "normal" weight. The amount you exercise, the amount of water you drink will greatly influence the scales, and in a counter-intuitive way. Exercise usually leads to water retention in the muscles, drinking a lot of water makes your body retain less, etc. Eating a lot tends to make you need to go to the bathroom (thus shedding some weight) while eating a little won't. Going for a drinking party will dehydrate you and you'll think you've lost a pound when you've actually eaten and drunk way over your calories and probably added a few grams of fat.
Daily weight is not an indicator of fat loss. The overall trend over weeks, even months, is.

And I always wonder why people are surprised by this. Remember you put in your stomach 0.5-1kg of food daily, and 2l of water. Unless you go to the bathroom like clockwork, that's 5 pounds right there - and have nothing to do with your fat.

Chadomaniac

How many calories did you consume per day?
What exercises helped you the most?

Calories are determined by weight , height , gender , genetics , activity level etc . U need something called a TDEE calculator which gives you a "rough" idea.

Exercise : 100% weight lifting for ultimate body composition . Both men and women should lift if they want to look good .

Lifting does not make you look like the hulk , unless you eat at a surplus every day for a couple of years together with intense weight lifting consistently .

EricJonrosh

I've been telling myself every problem that comes up is put there just to get me to quit my routine. This is completely irrational, I know, but it works probably 4 out of 5 times when I want to medicate stress with food. Also, get used to fluctuation. I lost 7 pounds recently, but if I get on the scale now it will show 4 pounds back up. Just wait, it will go down again.

AoifeJGB

Going to be blunt now, but the main thing I *don't* do is replace a healthy meal with cookies, regardless of if I made them or not. The 400 to 500 calories you eat in a healthy dinner with lean protein, veggies and a small portion of carbs is way different to the 400 - 500 calories from 10 cookies in terms of sugar, fat and carb content. Have a cookie, by all means, but have *one* as a snack or a reward treat when you've hauled yourself on a workout.

As for what I'm doing: I speed walk or hike/hillwalk or do some form of exercise everyday and go by the 3/2 rule - 3 healthy, nutritious meals and two snacks (yoghurt, fruit or that one treat) a day. Taking in about 1300 calories a day, I eat back only about 2-300 calories after a hard workout. I don't eat all of my exercise calories back because I don't lose weight that way. I drink a lot of water and herbal tea every day, and avoid carbonated or caffeinated drinks; I love a beer but it is a treat now too. Also, I never ate breakfast when I was large but I've learned to love it and vary it every day. Oatmeal with raspberries or stewed apple and cinnamon or stewed rhubarb etc is my new, best friend.

Find the healthy ingredients you like and learn to prepare healthy meals with them. Learn to read your labels and put the items with high salt, sugar, fat and calories back on the shelf, picking a healthier alternative. I find that if I keep my trigger food like cookies, candy or bars in the house at all, I'll eat them ALL, so keep your go-to temptation out of your way, if you can. Good luck!

t1954

Please read my profile. It will outline what I did and what I was thinking right or wrong. PM if you have questions.

47Jacqueline

1. Discipline to really count everything I ate.
2. 1200kcal
3. Cycling

Weigh yourself every day but dont pay too much attention to your daily weight. Your weight graph of the last week or two weeks is way more important.
Weight can fluctuate + scales are not 100% accurate. But your weight graph should show you a clear trend.

47Jacqueline

I chose the wrong quote before, so here's what I did:


Used 1450 calories per day in a balanced plan,
Weighed in every other week,
Joined a gym and did cardio and strength training.

Had patience

V0lver

One of the most important lesson i've learnt is that most people are not successful the first time. It's gonna take 2 to 3 tries to get it right before they are able to maintain it for life. Goes without saying that there are exceptions to this.

_Zardoz_

Weigh and measure everything and I mean everything.

At present 2500 calories a day

Initially it was walking now running and swimming though running has had the biggest effect on my body shape

AoifeJGB

P.S. There is no "one thing" that helps you lose weight, it's a combination of many things: calorie control, exercise, determination and perseverance. What did help, however, was having a target to work towards, which for me, was being a bridesmaid in my friends' wedding this August. Every time I went to put something especially BAD in my mouth or skip exercising, I'd think "do I REALLY want to be an XXL bridesmaid, placed on the end so I can be cropped out of photos?" - they never would do that to me, of course, but that thought kept me honest. I lost 74lb and 4/5 dress sizes! Pick a realistic target of X weight/size or X Fitness level by Y date and work to that, be it a birthday, holiday, vacation or event. It helps to keep you focused.

ndj1979

go to the gym no matter how crappy I feel or no matter how much a crappy day I had ...I know I will always feel better and will release the stress from the day.

When I first started I cleared all the junk food out of my house and started over with healthier options...A little extreme at the time, but I needed to do that..

jenf330

P.S. There is no "one thing" that helps you lose weight, it's a combination of many things: calorie control, exercise, determination and perseverance. What did help, however, was having a target to work towards, which for me, was being a bridesmaid in my friends' wedding this August. Every time I went to put something especially BAD in my mouth or skip exercising, I'd think "do I REALLY want to be an XXL bridesmaid, placed on the end so I can be cropped out of photos?" - they never would do that to me, of course, but that thought kept me honest. I lost 74lb and 4/5 dress sizes! Pick a realistic target of X weight/size or X Fitness level by Y date and work to that, be it a birthday, holiday, vacation or event. It helps to keep you focused.

THIS! For so long I thought I could lose weight with either just diet or just exercising, but I didn't want to do both. It wasn't until I got consistent with both exercise and calorie control that I started seeing changes.

Also, fluctuations are normal. I'm one of those weird people that weighs myself every day so I see every little change. As long as you understand that it happens and don't let yourself get too wound up over it, it's no big deal.

LisaUlrey

I made it a habit to log everything that went into my mouth. EVERYTHING. I am a creature of habit so I do the same thing almost every day. I eat almost the same thing every day, I walk on all of my breaks at work and I try to get to the gym almost every day. Tracking correctly if very very important.

simsburyjet

I becames successful at keeping fit when I decided that I would never be satisfied. I always want to be fitter
so I keep upping my exercise regiment. The minute you become satisfied and complacent is the day
you fall backward.

I did pts viaa Weight Watchers.. I was not a member I just used their pt system. .I at 28 pts a day. I exercised
daily and in between workouts did stairs and push ups.

highervibes

Challenging my thinking about "healthy" food and coming to the realization that all food is healthy and all food should be included in my diet. I weigh all my food (when I can, I dont' pull out my purse digi at parties or anything lol) and just budgeting to fit my calories while hitting my macros. It's been so ridiculously easy I feel like an as^*&%! for not doing it sooner.

And LOG EVERYTHING, even when it's not pretty. Even a crappy day serves a purpose next week or next month when you may want to reflect on honest data.

BobcatGirl110

I have lost 54 lbs (for the first and what I hope is the ONLY time) since February 18th, 2013. I log everything I eat and drink (except water) and I run. Well, I started walking 54 lbs ago but after a couple months I decided I wanted to run and I've run ever since. It's hard to be successful if you see this whole thing as something temporary...like as a diet...and you hit a goal and you go back to eating the way you used to and/or not exercising. This is something you CHANGE about yourself and hopefully you change it permanently. I don't want to go back to mindless eating and sitting on the couch....do I want to not count EVERY calorie? maybe, but I want to know I will always watch what I eat and not feel a need for 4 pieces of pizza when 1 will meet my craving, ya know?

jonnythan

Recognizing that motivation had absolutely nothing to do with it. The solution is discipline. Motivation comes and goes. If you're motivated, you don't need any help... but when you're not motivated, no amount of witty sayings and encouragement will motivate you.

You have to have the discipline to do what needs to be done even when you don't want to do it. All the time.

_noob_

I'm an obsessive person, and am good at anything I put effort into, so it came easy for me once I was committed (not THAT committed)

silvergurl518

my main motivation comes from within....but that said, it's constantly being fed and built up from/by my awesome FL....i love MFP and it's changed my life. stick around

UsedToBeHusky

The best thing that helped me was getting a FitBit and walking.

As far as your recent scale activity, weight loss is not linear. You want to watch for trends over a period of time and not focus on the daily changes. Especially, being a woman, your body will retain water with your cycle and you will not have an accurate measurement of your weight.

skullshank

eating real food and never trying to replace delicious ingredients with cauliflower or mashed old bananas.

escloflowneCHANGED

eating real food and never trying to replace delicious ingredients with cauliflower or mashed old bananas.

This and when my friends went out or it was a holiday or birthday, I ate without logging and I didn't bother choosing "the healthy" food at the restaurants. Just went back to it again the next day and didn't worry about it because it's irrelevant In the long run.

highervibes

eating real food and never trying to replace delicious ingredients with cauliflower or mashed old bananas.

ftw

Iron_Lotus

What is one thing that really helped you to get where you are now? Consistency

How many calories did you consume per day? Everybody has a different caloric intake

What exercises helped you the most? Heavy lifting!


Whenever you start a new workout program your muscles retain water. Ditch the scale and start measuring and taking pics. The scale number is not as important as you think

I highly recommend you start and stick with strength training. It will help you maintain your lean body mass while losing body fat.

MB_Positif

You want total honesty? Keep it freaking simple. Give up things if you think you need to but don't be overly restrictive. Work out but don't start with something you think you can't keep it. Believe it or not it is TOTALLY ok to work up to harder workouts. You don't have to start out intensely to expect results. Do things you can be consistent with. Good luck.