something to think about

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leooftheyear
leooftheyear Posts: 429 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So about two weeks ago after getting frusterated woth my lack of weightloss I decided to make a couple of changes... first I decided to stop drinking soda, except if im sick or its a special occasion or something, and swap it with flavored sparkling water.... second for lunches I was regularly having a sandwich with two carby snacks (ie: cheese and crackers, laughing cow with wheat thins or popcorn) I swapped one of the snacks for fresh veggies dipped in light ranch dressing.... I only try to weigh myself every other week but with just those 2 simple changes I was able to lose 3 lbs in 2 weeks.... what are some simple changes that you could make to help yourself get out of the rut you're stuck in?

Replies

  • atfirstblush
    atfirstblush Posts: 88 Member
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    I completely stopped eating all sweets. No cookies, cakes, ice cream, granola bars etc. Not even a nibble. If I eat even a half of a cookie I seem to crave sweets for the rest of the day. I'm losing about 3.5 pounds a week and I'm not really hungry anymore.
  • HikeCyclist
    HikeCyclist Posts: 153 Member
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    I love how you're making effective changes at a gradual pace. Good job!
  • 1PatientBear
    1PatientBear Posts: 2,089 Member
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    I completely stopped eating all sweets. No cookies, cakes, ice cream, granola bars etc. Not even a nibble. If I eat even a half of a cookie I seem to crave sweets for the rest of the day. I'm losing about 3.5 pounds a week and I'm not really hungry anymore.

    Your weight loss WILL slow down so be careful that you don't get frustrated and go back to your old habits. Cutting things you love completely out of your diet is very, very difficult to sustain and often causes backsliding. Better to treat yourself with a little something sweet once in a while than to feel totally deprived and destroy an entire box of cookies.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I am making an effort to cut my weekday consumption of wine.
  • leooftheyear
    leooftheyear Posts: 429 Member
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    I completely stopped eating all sweets. No cookies, cakes, ice cream, granola bars etc. Not even a nibble. If I eat even a half of a cookie I seem to crave sweets for the rest of the day. I'm losing about 3.5 pounds a week and I'm not really hungry anymore.

    Your weight loss WILL slow down so be careful that you don't get frustrated and go back to your old habits. Cutting things you love completely out of your diet is very, very difficult to sustain and often causes backsliding. Better to treat yourself with a little something sweet once in a while than to feel totally deprived and destroy an entire box of cookies.

    I completely agree... I always make sure I have room to fit something sweet in, I found if I cut everything sweet out then I would Bing once I got to have it.... for example, last night I was craving something sweet, so instead of telling myself no, I went to the store and got some half moon cookies, and I treated myself to one and that was enough to curb the craving and it fit into my calorie goal for the day.... whereas a few months ago I decided to have a "bad night" because I was being reallt strict and I ended up eating a fair amount of double stuff Oreos instead of the recommended serving size of 2 cookies....also felt AWFUL and decided to reassess after that
  • ahoier
    ahoier Posts: 312 Member
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    Watch out with those "light" salad dressings/dips......a lot of those are more harm than good. Sure they are lower calories, but most of them have added sugar or added carbs.....just a thought.
  • eatspopcorn
    eatspopcorn Posts: 63 Member
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    I completely agree... I always make sure I have room to fit something sweet in, I found if I cut everything sweet out then I would Bing once I got to have it....

    ^^This right here. I haven't yet hit a rut that I needed to make changes to break through. However, once I finally told myself that it was OK to have whatever it was I wanted, I found I was less likely to binge.

    I actually had to throw out half boxes of Girl Scout cookies this year because they went stale before we could eat them all! The ONLY time foods should be forbidden is if there is a medical reason for it to be cut from your diet. ie: if you don't have celiac disease, don't jump on the gluten-free bandwagon, it's not necessary to lose weight!
  • leooftheyear
    leooftheyear Posts: 429 Member
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    I completely agree... I always make sure I have room to fit something sweet in, I found if I cut everything sweet out then I would Bing once I got to have it....

    ^^This right here. I haven't yet hit a rut that I needed to make changes to break through. However, once I finally told myself that it was OK to have whatever it was I wanted, I found I was less likely to binge.

    I actually had to throw out half boxes of Girl Scout cookies this year because they went stale before we could eat them all! The ONLY time foods should be forbidden is if there is a medical reason for it to be cut from your diet. ie: if you don't have celiac disease, don't jump on the gluten-free bandwagon, it's not necessary to lose weight!

    Exactly... my mom drilled it into my head that carbs are bad and they'll make me gain weight.... I have pasta almost every day and a sandwich on 1/2 a chibatta roll and im still losing weight.... if I dont fit it in and restrict myself I found one serving was 2-3 servings and I was CRAVING carbs
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
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    I completely stopped eating all sweets. No cookies, cakes, ice cream, granola bars etc. Not even a nibble. If I eat even a half of a cookie I seem to crave sweets for the rest of the day. I'm losing about 3.5 pounds a week and I'm not really hungry anymore.

    I was going to post about making a commitment to stop eating sweets...and then this happened:

    MdChzTW.gif

    I saw it as a sign to buy some donuts.
  • vanginmi
    vanginmi Posts: 41
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    I am making an effort to cut my weekday consumption of wine.

    I swear the weekday wine and cream in my coffee is what started my whole weight gain in the first place.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
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    When I started losing weight, I gave up soda, pretty much stuck to water. I stopped drinking alcohol during the week for the most part (there were some events and just some days I had to do it). I stopped going out to lunch every day and just go out on Friday now. Those were some of the easier things for me to do in the beginning.

    I shouldn't say easier....soda is still hard for me, so I fit it in when I really want one.

    I really believe that not restricting myself completely is what made it work this time.
  • hmaddpear
    hmaddpear Posts: 610 Member
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    I keep trying to cut out the weekday wine... sometimes happens, sometimes doesn't... My gradual journey is currently on the "pile on more exercise", so my biggest tip to myself is not sweat the stalls - water retention due to exercise is inevitable and will go away - eventually...
  • OkamiLavande
    OkamiLavande Posts: 336 Member
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    The small change I made is everything in moderation because I found that if I try to eliminate things all together I just cave and binge once they're brought into the house. So I weigh and measure all the things I used to binge on and don't eat as much of them.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    I have not cut out anything to lose weight. I simply learned what my maintenance calories were and just ate less. Now I eat a certain amount of calories to maintain, but I still eat what I want.

    Moderation is the key, not deprivation. Every time in the past when I deprived myself I went back to old habits.

    One habit I did stop is eating goodies at work because eating them is triggered by stress. Now I deal with the stress instead of pushing it down with goodies.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Last week I had my last can of regular soda. Now I'm drinking diet, even though I'm not fond of it and hoping eventually I'll be done with it completely, and using the 150 calories on something better for me.
  • ravenmiss
    ravenmiss Posts: 384 Member
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    Main thing for me is the wine, I've gone from drinking quite a lot every other day to once at the weekend and a lot less than I used to in a sitting too!

    As for food, not much, I don't want to restrict myself as such. I do have protein shakes now and then though if I struggle to hit my macros now that I'm lifting. Never did that before as I wasn't doing any exercise.
  • Natmarie73
    Natmarie73 Posts: 287 Member
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    Its amazing how only 1 or 2 small changes can have such an impact on weightloss or health goals. You really don't have to completely change your life at all.

    Some changes I have started to make are to eat more nutrient rich food and further reduce the amount of empty calories I eat (biscuits, cake, sweets) and especially fake coffee. I don't eat much of them but I totally could eliminate them from my diet completely and not feel deprived.

    Chocolate and wine on the other hand... :noway:

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