Your three top weight loss secrets

psmith64

It is amazing when you speak to people how many different tips you can pick up when trying to lose weight, so if you fancy sharing your top three tips or secrets, there might just be something we post that might help others who are struggling :-

Here are my three:-

1) Keeping an accurate food and exercise diary, and it can't be easier to do than on MFP - I am amazed at how few items I now have enter myself, as the database here is vast.

2) Find an exercise you can do without too much inconvenience - my favourite is walking, I do some just about everyday, be it in my lunch break, or just making a point of walking to the shop or around my village. I also park my car furthest away in the car park at all times, whether going to a shop or my place of work.

3) Keep eating the foods you like, and find some new ones too - using the food diary you soon realise that if you keep the portion size in moderation, you don't deny yourself anything.

Looking forward to reading more things that work for others.

Regards

Paul

Holton

1. Eat the perimeter of the grocery store (fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, dairy)
2. Drink lots of water and green tea.
3. Restrict white flour and white sugar food products

kerrilucko

1. Count everything. Count the grape you tested at the grocery store. Count the lick of your partner's ice cream cone. Count the after dinner mint from the restaurant. Count everything!

2. Exercise everyday. I don't run a marathon everyday, but I do get my heartrate up for at least 30 minutes, everyday.

3. Get lots of sleep. If I'm tired, I'm much more likely to binge eat. I'm also less likely to exercise. I don't care if it's 8pm or 2 am, I go to bed when I'm tired.

lacroyx

1) Invest in a good pair of shoes. Don't go for cheap or because it's on sale or because it "looks cute". Zappos has a good guide for shoes: http://www.zappos.com/running-shoe-fit-guide
it's not just runners, it works for walkers too.

2) Have at least 1 meal that's bad. Moderation is key. Don't limit yourself. IF you want pizza, go for it. Once a month. every 3 weeks. It'll help from going crazy.

3) The scale isn't the only way to measure progress. A month ago I wasn't budging weight wise but I wasn't discouraged. I purchased some t-shirts and belts that at the time were too small for me. I can wear them now and they fit, a little tight but still fit. They didn't before when I first got them. I can also walk further before getting tired, etc etc. their are many ways to still see progress.

iAlly

1. Believe in yourself. You have the power to change things. You are in control.

2. Get as much joy into your life from sources other than food. Find things that make you happy and do them as often as you can.

3. Try to eat for physical rather than mental needs. Try not to eat because you are bored or unhappy or to fill a void or distract yourself. Eat for nutrition, heath and energy and try to follow a healthy diet.

Hotbottom

Tip 1: Eat more fruits and veg than processed foods. Fruit and tahini for breakfast, steam veg and sauces for lunches. Salads and proteins for dinner. Then you have lots of cal points to snack on too. Try a frozen banana with 1/2 cup skimmed milk & splash vanilla for Banana ice-cream.

Tip 2: get hooked on exercise,do it everyday and get a sweat on. Do anything for 30 days becomes a habit- get hooked!!!

Tip 3: keep alcohol to a minimum. The liver processes the fats in your body, you want it nice and clean to get rid of the stuff you already have.

Hitsujikai

1. Enjoy your exercise - Just because you're doing something doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. Rope in friends and family or make a new friend that enjoys the same things you do. If you enjoy something you are more likely to keep it up!

2. Everything in moderation - A sneaky chocolate here and there isn't going to make you gain weight over night, but eating the whole box will. A little treat as a reward per day makes you feel like you accomplished something.

3. Treat yourself to a restaurant meal every month, as long as you can log it - My friends like to go out for meals and I like to join them for curries, nando's, pub lunches, whatever but I've made a point of exercising on that day to earn the extra calories to accomodate those meals. By the time I sit down to eat with friends I have earnt my treat meal and enjoy it all the more.

sherry_80

bump! great info

nicola838

1, plenty of water
2, differant food, try and keep thing interesting so you dont get bored with the same stuff
3, self belief.. if you believe you can do it then you will... if you have dont then you will proberly fail

wiseg2

1. Breastfeed your babies - not only does it provide lots of health benefits for the child but it burns an average of 500 calories a day to produce the milk; that's an extra pound a week!

2. Watch your sodium intake - High amounts of sodium can cause your blood pressure to rise and it can make you retain water and slow your weight loss. The average American consumes 7000-8000 mg of sodium per day (or more) while the recommended daily value is only 2500.

3. Keep changing up your exercise routine - This helps avoid plateaus because your body gets used to a certain routine after awhile. And it will keep you from getting bored. Keep challenging yourself!

shellm3

1. As nike put it best, "just do it". If you are like me, excersise is not your favorite thing to do, but you feel great after. Just get it over with and you will feel good.
2. If you are not hungry do not eat..your body will tell you when it is hungry.
3. Always have a cheat day to look forward to. I usually do mine every two weeks. Do not go overboard and eat everything in site though. Limit it to a cheat meal.

Azdak

1. I can't emphasize enough the importance of portion control, portion/ingredient measuring, and the food/activity diary. To me, that is the key.

2. Balance calorie-dense food items with "bulk". E.g.: hamburger patty, whole-grain bun (or small portion of whole-grain side dish), giant bowl of tossed salad with <100cal dressing. Or: take 1 serving of whole grain (brown rice, qunoa, barley, whatever) or whole-grain pasta, add your protein source, and then double or triple the recommended amount of veggies for a stir-fry, pasta primavera, casserole, etc. You will often end up stretching that 1 serving of pasta, rice, etc to 2 or more meals.

3. Do not overcomplicate things. Consistency/adherence to your eating/exercise plan is 100 times more important than meal timing, water intake, supplements, "fat burning" exercise, exercise timing, etc, put together.

The single most powerful stimulator of stored fat oxidation is maintaining a consistent negative energy balance. Don't get sidetracked by the excessive "noise" about diet and fitness in the media or even on this website.

kpnuts23

1. Enjoy weekends - its one thing being good all week, its another depriving yourself from enjoying food with freinds and family, but just have some control and dont go overboard otherwise it will leave you feeling crappy.

2. exercise 4-5 times a week for at least 30mins

3. weigh yourself once a week - it might not move but your clothes may be looser!!!

mercyr80

Keep Myself Busy! That way I dont eat out of boredom!!!

MissingMinnesota

1) This is a lifestyle change not a quick weight loss so make sure the changes you make are ones you can live with. Little changes go a long way.

2) Sign up for a 5k (or another activity). I am a very competitive person and always want to finish better then the last time so this makes me train harder and keeps me exercising.

3) Find a work out buddy, hire a personal trainer, go to a fun class. Make exercising a social event this will keep it interesting and you won't feel like you are missing out on that happy hour since you are working out with a friend(s). It also makes you accountable to someone else.

psmith64

Thanks everyone for sharing your tips , they are all very motivational.

I think the common theme is that we all realise dumping our old bad habits, and replacing them with new healthy ones is the secret of long term success for us all.

We are all going to get set backs now and again, but our new habits will get engrained in us so we won't go back to our old ways.

Best wishes to you on the journey ahead, and what a great place we have all found in MFP and the motivational people within to make our goals happen and stick.

Have a great weekend ahead

Regards

Paul

robynrae_1

I no longer bake unless I am sharing it with a large group of people and I can leave the leftovers there.

Lots and lots of water. If I feel hungry I drink a large glass of water first. Than decide if I need food.

Processed sugar is the enemy :laugh: I am a sugar addict, once I start I can't stop. (so I have to try hard not to start.)

SHBoss1673

My top 3 secrets are:

1) there are no secrets, you must be diligent, eat healthy, be smart, be patient, generate the willpower necessary, and exercise.

2) there are no secrets you must...

3) there are still no secrets, the only way to achieve life long health is to eat right, and exercise.

jaelanne

Only three? There are so many
I've lost fifty pounds, maintained it for three years, and now decided to lose that last annoying 15.

What *really* worked for me was finding a sport I loved. Cycling. It was my 'me' time, and represented freedom (I am now completely car free!). Once I did that, I picked a goal. A century ride (100 miles in one day). And I trained. I stopped thinking of it as a diet, and started thinking of myself as an athlete, and I ate accordingly. Choosing your food because it is fuel, and not penalizing yourself as you need that fuel makes your relationship with food change completely. And athletes accept their bodies. The first triathlon I went to was an eye-opener. After years of feeling embarrassed in shorts, I see the women who can do something I never could came in all shapes and sizes, and were unapologetic of their imperfect (by Hollywood standards) body. Sexy, I realized, is not how your body looks--but what it can do.

So I guess my tips are this:

Whatever physical thing you like doing, think of it as a sport. And think of yourself as an athlete. If you dance, enroll for a dance-a-thon. If you Wii, start a fitness challenge. If you bike, make your goal a bike tour of someplace you've always wanted to visit. If you run, train for a distance race that may seem beyond reach. You are now in training. You now have a goal, a reward.

You are NOT on a diet. How many diets failed you? That just sets you up for another failure, because a diet is a temporary thing. Those old diets, by the way, aren't diets anymore. They were lessons. You learned what didn't work for you. You may have picked up some good habits. You may even know what did work for you, for a while. You are changing not just your looks, but your health, and your life, and that should not be a temporary thing described by a word representing temporary change.

Permanent change occurs slowly. It took you a while to put the weight on. It will take you a while to take it off. Changing your habits is a long process. So is changing your thinking. Both of these things HAVE to change. And you can do this with patience and perseverance. Start loving yourself as you are: the body you are in is a shell, and malleable. Your soul shines through, and is beautiful.

lotusfromthemud

Here are my top three: They're all tied together, I think. I believe that this is 90% mental, so these are all tied to that.

1. Persistence. You will have bad weeks, bad meals, bad weigh-ins, bad hair days...you will screw up. Learn from your screw-ups and keep going. When you do slip up, do not wait until Monday, or after new years, or whenever to "get back on track". Recover immediately.

2. Find out why you turn to food. I believe that everyone who is overweight (unless they have a medical condition) got that way because they were using food for something that food is not: companionship, social tool, entertainment, a drug, etc...I truly believe that unless you find out the root cause of why you're overweight, it's never going to stick.

3. Taking control of your own body. You are the only one who can do your workout. You are the only one who controls what travels on your fork. You are the only one who can motivate yourself. Stop making excuses, stop blaming other people, or your job, or your surroundings, etc. . . start taking control and keep moving forward.

FabulousFifty

Here are my top three: They're all tied together, I think. I believe that this is 90% mental, so these are all tied to that.

1. Persistence. You will have bad weeks, bad meals, bad weigh-ins, bad hair days...you will screw up. Learn from your screw-ups and keep going. When you do slip up, do not wait until Monday, or after new years, or whenever to "get back on track". Recover immediately.

2. Find out why you turn to food. I believe that everyone who is overweight (unless they have a medical condition) got that way because they were using food for something that food is not: companionship, social tool, entertainment, a drug, etc...I truly believe that unless you find out the root cause of why you're overweight, it's never going to stick.

3. Taking control of your own body. You are the only one who can do your workout. You are the only one who controls what travels on your fork. You are the only one who can motivate yourself. Stop making excuses, stop blaming other people, or your job, or your surroundings, etc. . . start taking control and keep moving forward.

:happy: Ditto on these 3....form habits, dig deep and find out what you are really hungry for and know that you are in charge of what goes in your mouth!

:flowerforyou: Thanks for sharing your tips...I have learned alot!