First Piece of Advice

SHBoss1673

All great suggestions.

I'll add my 2 cents.

-buy healthy snacks in bulk, take them home, measure out your servings and put them in ziplock baggies for quick grab and go. Then you know exactly how much you are eating and you don't have to spend time every day measureing things out.

-Do your research. Find out what your BMI is, what your body fat % is, take your measurements (use a taylors tape mesure and measure your waist, thighs, hips, arms, neck, and chest), write them down and take them once a month or so and keep the results.

-Throw away the scale. OK maybe don't throw it away, but don't rely on it for your progress. Think of the scale as one of many ways to track progress. There are lots of reasons why someone does or does not loose weight, and the only reliable way to use a scale is to record lots of weights over the course of a few months and look for a trend, day to day, or even week to week, is too short to be accurate for a scale.

arewethereyet

post notes of your successes!

I found (and see on here each day) that we tend to beat the heck out of ourselves for eating a twinkie (or entenmans cupcakes as you wil:blushing: ) but forget to congratulate ourselves on a 3 mile walk or a 60 minute swim.

I still have post it notes with "YOU WALKED 1/2 A MILE TODAY!" from the first few weeks changing my life.

Good luck!!:flowerforyou:

indianagranny

These are all good advice. I agree with a lot of them and really can't add much. I like the one about still having post it notes on what she had done. Yesterday was a really nice day here and I would usually be sitting here at the computor or lying on the couch. I got up and went on a two mile walk. I was so happy that I just got outside and enjoy the day - but the walk was nice, too.

ladyofivy

-A lot of people say, "You didn't gain it overnight, you won't lose it overnight", which is fair advice. But I like to say that it took years for you to get into the shape that you're in, but (in most cases here) you're going to lose it in a fraction of the time--probably a year. Your body WANTS to be healthy, you just have to put some work into it.

-If you feel so bad about yourself that you really hate yourself and can't feel at all like you love yourself, you can at least appreciate that your body had put up with all of this abuse and still keeps you alive. That's an amazing thing. If you can't do it for "you", do it for this body that has supported you for so long.

-Don't start getting healthy unless you're really ready to get healthy. Seriously, if you're not ready, you won't do it.

-Make sure you're starting for the right reasons... because you're ready to be healthy. The wrong reasons include doing it for someone else, or because you want to fit into that outfit by your wedding, etc.

-This isn't a "diet". This is forever. If you can't fathom doing what you're doing for the rest of your life, then you can't do that to lose weight. This has to be something that you can see yourself doing as much today as you can see yourself doing it at 80.

-Visualize, visualize, visualize. There is so much importance in visualization, every step of the way. Visiualize yourself at your goal weight, put a picture of your face on a fitness model, envision your heart feeling stronger, envision everything that makes you happy. If you can dream it, you can do it.

-We don't "cheat" on our eating plan. Cheating indicates wrongness. Cheating on a spouse is wrong. Cheating on a test is wrong. Cheating on your taxes is wrong. Eating a couple of cookies doesn't ruin anything, it's just a detour to your goal size.

-There's nothing wrong with the occasional indulgence. If you cut your favorites out of your life forever, you will NOT succeed. You HAVE TO eat your favorite foods every now and again in order to lose the weight. Otherwise you will relapse and go back to your old ways. Once you eat your favorite foods and then step on the scale and have still lost weight, you will feel incredibly happy. Life isn't over just because you want to lose weight. You can have it both ways!

kerrilucko

I agree with everything above!

PLUS:

Don't be afraid to share your plan with others. Tell your friends, coworkers, family, etc. about your lifestyle change. Make sure those around you know about it. This has helped me SO much. I used to try going it alone thinking, at least if I fail, I'll be the only one that knows it. But you can't do it alone, it's SO much easier when those around you can offer support and encouragment! :flowerforyou:

queen3510

For me, I have found that keeping a weight loss journal with me at all times helps me stay accountable. If I'm at work and it's a stressful day and I want to go an grab the phone and order chinese... I try to log my journal first to see how stupid it would be to eat something for 20 mins and feel bad about it for another 60 min. the journal also allows me to log the good stuff especially when I can say I wanted the baby ruth really bad but didn't eat it...lol

I also found that pre planning my meals and exercise for the week REALLY helps!!!!!!!! And I treat myself like a child because I give myself stickers for everyday that I complete successfully. If I don't get a sticker than I feel bad. KINDA OF CORNY BUT IT WORKS.


AND NO KEEPING BAD FOODS IN THE HOUSE WORKS!!!!!!! when you open the fridge or the pantry and it's not there you are forced to walk away or eat a healthier snack.
Good luck.

You are right about this one: Keeping bad foods in the house is setting yourself up for failure. I went to the fridge and pantry about a dozen one night looking for all the wrong things (thank God they were not there). Eventually, I ended up eating the mandarin orange cup that I have chilling in the fridge. They were really good and satisfied that craving for sweets just right.

Great advice!

chrissyh

it's all about the choices that you make for yourself.

gnicolecan

Here's my advice:

When you stumble (and you will stumble, everyone does) DO NOT GIVE UP. Get right back on plan as quickly as possible.

In addition, take some time to think about (not guilt yourself, really think) about what was going on when you had your little trip up. The idea is to allow yourself to pause just before you make a bad food choice. In that pause, ask yourself if it's food you really want? Or, is it something else? Are you stressed, tired, bored, lonely, angry, etc.

By pressing the pause button you can experience the emotion that you may be stifling with food and you can actually address that emotion rather than numb it.

Hope this makes sense! GOOD LUCK

watch48win

Take it a day (or week) at a time. Don't stress out. Give yourself plenty of time to do this and don't worry if you hit a plateau here or there. Your body will catch up! Slowly change things until you are living a new lifestyle.

:flowerforyou:

DItto!

Dave198lbs

Take it a day (or week) at a time. Don't stress out. Give yourself plenty of time to do this and don't worry if you hit a plateau here or there. Your body will catch up! Slowly change things until you are living a new lifestyle.

:flowerforyou:

DItto!

wow....nice pic

flcaoh

-buy healthy snacks in bulk, take them home, measure out your servings and put them in ziplock baggies for quick grab and go. Then you know exactly how much you are eating and you don't have to spend time every day measureing things out.

This has saved my life. If it weren't for this piece of advice I read months ago, I would not be sticking with this. If you are busy... DO THIS!!!

Brandiann

Prepare your meals in advance! :drinker:

sonjavon

Consider yourself to be an athlete, no matter what your starting point is. Eat every couple of hours, exercise like your paycheck depends on it and for the first little while - don't put anything less than "premium fuel" in your tank.

Put yourself first. Period. Chances are you didn't gain weight because you were being selfish - you gained weight because you were so busy taking care of others that you let yourself go.

Find good music to exercise to. This is probably one of the most important things for me... many a workout has been prolonged because I wanted to hear the next song on my IPOD.

Skinnytime

Wow, everyone! This is great!
I can only add, surround yourself with people who will support your goal!

hiddensecant

If you've been sedentary until now and decide to start exercising, consider stretching your exercise buddy. Find a stretch routine or video and do it every time you exercise. It will help you achieve a greater level of fitness in a really short period of time.

Nich0le

Log your food BEFORE you eat it! Drink lots of water. :flowerforyou:

I absolutely agree with this. Days that I log my food for the whole day ahead of time I stick to the plan, days that I don't can be a bit willy nilly. Plus, when I plan ahead there is no worry and no OMG I'm hungry and out comes cookie monster...aaaahhhhh cooooookies :laugh: