ADVICE PLEASE!!!!

richelle67

I only started my weight loss on Nov. 13th and am down 29lbs. I lost about 13lbs within a week and a half and that is all it took to get me motivated to tackle this once and for all!! I owe it all to my daughter who is on here, runner girl. She has been on MFP for a few months now. She set me up on a diet plan and to this website and I have found it very helpful! I just started exercising and feel very confident I will succeed!! I am doing the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, in the privacy of my own home, my own time and love it. I don't like to go the gym which I belong because I am not comfortable with myself to work out in front of ppl yet!!! Add me as a friend if you would like more support!

Thena81

play it like a game
get lost in your workouts
never give up or look back
enforce self control
put your head down and
go go go

mogadad

I take great pride in staying under my calorie limits and over my exercise goals. I check everything on this site before I buy or eat it. I'm a hamburger junkie who decided I'd rather lose all the stuff I think I like than walk around fat anymore.

brenny2012

My motto for the new year is ...... nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

pcalais

My top suggestion is that you go on the journey with someone. Although I've had some success in the past while trying to lose weight, when you're "on your own", there's no-one there to support you, and it's easy to just give up. When you've got someone to do this with, they can support you through the tough times, just as you can support them.

jjccd

The best advice I have is 'mindful eating'. Plan what you want to eat, put it on a plate on the table and sit down and look at it, then slowly eat it. I found if I stopped after half a meal and asked myself if I was still hungry or just wanted the food - that helped. My biggest weakness was eating while I read at the same time. I had no idea how much I ate, it was just a bad habit. The same would go for eating while watching tv or on the computer.

emstgm

It's that tiny little thing called motivation to make this work, isn't it?
--> I have had an elliptical machine for 6 years. I hardly used it.
--> I have been to Weight Watchers - guess I got bored with it and quit. Also got tired of paying someone to tell me what to do, which essentially amounts to "eat less, move more".
--> I have had tight fitting clothes, pain in my back and feet, and huff and puff going up stairs - all of which should have motivated me to lose weight.
--> I have seen pictures of myself and was shocked to see what I looked like.
--> I have also had the doctor tell me my weight and cholesterol are both too high.
All that, for 6 years, and none of it was enough to motivate me.

What worked for me (this time):
The cardiologist told me to lose weight, exercise, and come back in 3 months to have my cholesterol profile retested - if the numbers don't improve, I'm looking at cholesterol medication. I'm 45 years old. Now if I was already doing all that I could to take care of myself, and I still had to go on medication, then so be it. But how terrible to go on medication without even giving it a shot.

So I am determined to lower my cholesterol by dropping my weight and exercising. I have lost 20 lbs, 50 to go. And I am exercising 5-6 days a week.

The biggest thing for me is hitting that 20 pound mark which tells me I CAN DO THIS!! I REALLY CAN DO THIS!!

My mom introduced me to this web site, and it's been a perfect tool for keeping me motivated daily. And I really really love the little motivation of "If every day were like today you will weight (this much) in 5 weeks." That is incredibly motivating!!

Anyway, sorry, didn't mean to write a book, but what works for me is to eat as healthy as I can - lots of fruit, veggies, lean meats, whole grains, cut out the fried food and the junk (mostly), and I exercise. Hard to go wrong with all that.

jhardenbergh

in all honesty it is finding something that works for you. For me it was a diet and nutritional program at a local hospital using meal replacement in the beginning. What motivated me was the fast weight loss and that I shelled out money for the program and doing it with my wife has helped a lot too. After 6 months in the program, My wife and I had the tools in place to continue with proper nutrition to continue to lose the weight. I have also made exercise a 6 day a week job, Planning calories and meals throughout the day. I usually know how many calories I will consume in the morning for all meals up until 3 or 4 pm and then the left over calories I fit into a healthy dinner and late night snack. I eat around the same amount of calories throughout the day to keep me going and usually go higher for dinner.

I had 4 meal replacements and one meal consisting of 6 oz of protein, three serving of non starchy vegetables, and a fruit. The meal replacements were about 700 calories and the meal was around 400. We were being monitored by dr's and a nutritionist to make sure we were getting everything we needed. We cut out all alcohol, all starch, only ate lean cuts of meat.

Did that for 6 months, I lost about 125 lbs. My year mark will be on Jan 13th and am hoping for another 60 lbs when I weigh in on Friday.

tabithap07

Thank you everyone so much for your advice, it is great to have so many success stories here! and please feel free to add me so that we can keep each other motivated! Thanks again everyone. you all are amazing!

jhardenbergh

oh yeah, and changing up your exercise routine once in a while, so you don't get bored with it.

michmdx

When I started a few years ago I was exercising on my own. I couldn't afford a trainer or a gym so I lived on the philosophy that as long as I was moving I was doing good. I started out slow. I would go for a walk. I walked for 30 min 3 times a week for a long time. Then my body started wanting more. I walked longer, farther and faster. I got bored so I played games with myself. I would see if I could go father in 30 min than I did the week before. I would typically walk between 3-5 miles 3 times a week. Sometimes my kids would ride their bikes next to me. It was hard for me to find a friend to actually commit to walking with me. Whenever I got bored I would change it up and do something else. Walk a different path, walk the track at the high school, walk the mall, walk on the inside track at our high school. I just kept moving. I also gave up snacks. If I was hungry I would figure out if it was really hunger or thirst. I found that often I was thirsty more than hungry. If I was truly hungry between meals I would eat a can of veggies. I eventually worked up to running and ran my first 5k last summer. I just figured it was easier to walk for 30 minutes than to think of all the excuses as to why I didn't want to. Eventually my body craved that work out time and if I didn't go I would get antsy. It was easier to exercise than to sit on my butt.
I also find that getting good rest helps control cravings. I am a night time eater. I go to bed earlier whenever I really start craving food. More rest is good for you in more ways than just sleeping instead of eating. I don't know what more I can say. I don't believe in diets and fads. I just did it the old fashion way. Ate better, ate less and got off my behind.

michmdx

Adrien I like your thoughts. You are very realistic. I like to think I am too. I think that's the biggest thing to losing weight. Know yourself, be realistic and accept yourself warts and all.

mogadad

BTW-I am not looking for fads or quick fixes. I'm looking to make sincere lifestyle changes. Many of the things I'm eating and doing are things I enjoyed before I was married and had kids. Preparing food for myself is way different than making meals for growing kids and an over weight wife

Pebble321

What has worked for me - persistence!

So many times before, I've started something and not kept going. Now I know that no matter if today has been a good or bad day, I'm going to do my damnedest to make tomorrow better. I don't think it matters which plan or program or philosophy you follow (within reason of course!) if you stick with eating less (not nothing, just less) and moving more, you will see results over time.