The one thing that has helped you most?

chubswonky

What do you find to be the ONE thing that has really helped with your weight loss goals?

For me it was planning out how many times per day I wanted to eat and allotting x number of calories for each meal. I'm not sure why but it's so much easier for me to know how many calories I have left for the day and to plan accordingly when I'm having a meal with any extra calories.

Currently it's :

Breakfast-- 100 calories (I'm not a breakfast person so it's just enough! Hard-boiled egg, or a Greek yogurt!)
Lunch--300 calories
Lunch 2 --300 calories
Dinner--400 calories
Sweet snack--100 calories

taiyola

:bigsmile: Aww @ your ticker picture!

I'm trying to plan a couple of days ahead within my diary. Hey, I can always change it! Also, I've just this past week started logging my daily calories in a document so I can see what my weekly outlook is like! It shown me that I'm going over weekly far too much!

taiyola

Oh, and eggs! I have eggs in some form for most of my breakfasts

bbygrl5

Mental commitment. I've never wanted anything so much in my life.

kcanoni

Adding weights to my workout routine. Now my workouts are different everyday and I look forward to them. With the addition of lifting weights the time goes by alot faster too.

Also, seeing my calories lost after exercise has made me want to exercise more. Who knew I could end up being an exercise junkie?!

bayles1

Definitely water.

cherilyn221

It's really close between the support I found here and the food/exercise diary....but I think the diary wins that by a nose. It's easy to fool myself when I'm not logging every bite that goes into my mouth.

craft338

a hard boiled egg for breakfast, cottage cheese for a snack, and chocolate protein powder in my coffee at work. i can't live without these things, they really keep my hunger in line

chubswonky

a hard boiled egg for breakfast, cottage cheese for a snack, and chocolate protein powder in my coffee at work. i can't live without these things, they really keep my hunger in line

Oooh have you tried the "Diet" hot cocoa packets? I like to take half of one and pop it in my coffee! (Same idea as you!)

Nenor1234

The 2 things that have helped me most so far is logging my food in the diary, no more kidding myself that I've had an ok day when the proof is there!!!! Also, being introduced to 30 day shred by members on this site, I used to just run for fitness and have really noticed a difference since using the dvd, toneing rather than just burning calories ;-)

zenfocus

Positive thinking! This made the huge difference for me in my weight loss. MFP helps me to think more positively about my successes. It really helps to have this online support group around me.

modernmom70

Eliminating processed foods and all white rice, bread etc from my diet. And excercising every day.

llkilgore

The one really decisive thing was making the commitment to log everything I eat. That was what pulled my head out of the sand, so to speak.

The other thing that made a big difference was getting real about my level of exercise. I'd been taking long walks out-of-doors nearly every day of my life for years, and in the beginning I counted at least a portion of that walking time as cardio exercise. But then it finally dawned on me that there's a reason people who are on their feet a lot because of the sort of work they do are expected to account for that exertion as part of their normal daily activities rather than exercise, and it isn't because they happen to be paid for it. It's because their bodies have already acclimated to it. It no longer gets their heart rate up high enough to count as cardio, which is where I was with my daily walks. So I made the needed change to my profile and started looking around for some real cardio I could fit into my schedule. And then I got serious about strength training too. I think of the process as a 3-legged stool now: diet, cardio, and strength. To get the most out of any one leg of that stool I need to keep it in balance with the other 2.

chubswonky

Positive thinking! This made the huge difference for me in my weight loss. MFP helps me to think more positively about my successes. It really helps to have this online support group around me.

I totally agree! I have tried MFP before and didn't even know about the whole "community" feature! I was totally missing out!

rawky1986

One set of products: Marks and Spencer Fuller Longer meals!

Low cal, high protein balanced carb meals, tasty, filling and a whole load of recipes. Really helps when you get home late from work to be able to just tuck into one straight away!

Give them a try and you'll see :P

MyNameIsNotBob

Being able to log everything, plan ahead, and account for calories has helped me the most.

Also, and I realize that this is a luxury that few people have, I've gone from working full-time to very, very part-time, so I now have lots of time to focus on being active and preparing healthy foods at home.

chubswonky

Being able to log everything, plan ahead, and account for calories has helped me the most.

Also, and I realize that this is a luxury that few people have, I've gone from working full-time to very, very part-time, so I now have lots of time to focus on being active and preparing healthy foods at home.

That's awesome! I was thinking today (it's my day off) that I would probably be more likely to exercise if I didn't have so much work!

chubswonky

One set of products: Marks and Spencer Fuller Longer meals!

Low cal, high protein balanced carb meals, tasty, filling and a whole load of recipes. Really helps when you get home late from work to be able to just tuck into one straight away!

Give them a try and you'll see :P

Is it a strictly UK company?

MyNameIsNotBob

Being able to log everything, plan ahead, and account for calories has helped me the most.

Also, and I realize that this is a luxury that few people have, I've gone from working full-time to very, very part-time, so I now have lots of time to focus on being active and preparing healthy foods at home.

That's awesome! I was thinking today (it's my day off) that I would probably be more likely to exercise if I didn't have so much work!

Haha, yes, but on the other hand, having $$ is nice, too.

ladyphoto

Defintely journaling every single bite. It makes me accountable, and it makes me think before I do...

Brett_Alan

Talking about it I feel the more people I tell about my journey the more accountable I am

chubswonky

Being able to log everything, plan ahead, and account for calories has helped me the most.

Also, and I realize that this is a luxury that few people have, I've gone from working full-time to very, very part-time, so I now have lots of time to focus on being active and preparing healthy foods at home.

That's awesome! I was thinking today (it's my day off) that I would probably be more likely to exercise if I didn't have so much work!

Very true! I'm in serious saving mode right now ( hoping to go to grad school next year ) so I don't even see much $$! haha

Haha, yes, but on the other hand, having $$ is nice, too.

JulieF11

Believing that I could do it.

Calidaho

It has helped that my hubby is on the same program (we don't call it a diet). He gets more calories than I do but we are both committed to eating healthy and going to the gym together. He doesn't bring cake home from the store anymore and I don't make huge dinners. One of us usually talks the other one out of staying in bed instead of working out.

I think eating more protein throughout the day has helped keep me from grabbing unhealthy foods. I am never really starving (unless, like today, we were out looking at houses too long), so I don't feel like shoving chips or cookies in my face.

Journaling!! I am hoping that I can some day just know what a healthy meal is but, until I am at my goal weight, I am not taking any chances.

And, people at work know I am working at it and they are seeing the changes. My boss is very health conscious (he held a fitness contest last year and gave the winner an iPad--many of us dropped off because the super competitive people made it not so fun) so, scoring points at work is a plus.