How did you kick start your weight loss? How did you begin?

DawnM62

I had been feeling ukk for a while so unfit, overweight and drinking too much wine just woke up one morning and said "I'm going to wear "that dress" for my birthday"

don't know where that came from really don't "that dress" is at least 6 years old from before I was diagnosed with an under-active thyroid and started piling weight on like there was no tomorrow, probably need to loose 40ish pound before mid July so it fits but that's the gole

so no wine already did eat quite healthily
but now I track everything that passes these lips and I'm really feeling motivated and positive

mes1119

I printed out a calendar and made a plan. Planned my meals for the week so I didn't get caught eating junk, planned out when and what I would do for workouts. I went low in calories for the first week just to kick start it.

I was a "knew how to eat right and workout, just didn't do it type", once I started being healthy again, like I have for most of my life, I had good results.

NewLIFEstyle4ME

WOW!

These your replies are tremendous (so informative, inspirational, some VERY funny and just all around terrific)--thank you ALL so much for posting!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dynamojones

I just cut out all soda and junk from my diet and cut down my portion sizes

+1

TriciaZ944

Jillian Michaels ripped in 30 then I did insanity and been going strong since.

darcywills13

Cut out all fast food...and started drinking shakeology everyday. Helped me with the food cravings.

sweetpea129

My first step was cutting out all soda (for lent). Which lead to me not wanting the doritos and cheetos if i didnt have pepsi to go with it. Which then lead to me cutting out all junk and starting to count calories.

Marge321

Sister got pretty sick in winter...got me strong enough to tell me : "hey, you live only once, you can't be that fat!"

elis_mama

bump

SmartAlec03211988

Stopped drinking soda and started counting calories. Lost 36 lbs in the first three months.

NancyMarie13

I did a Combimation of things, you can take one thing a week to over come or go hard

Increase water drastically
Eliminate ALL fast food (subway is OK)
Get rid of the junk food
Limit sweets
No soda
Start exercising
Log everything and be consistent
Be positive and patient

sharleengc

My husband and I decided to start March 1st last year. I actually started a week later because I got the flu...But the first day we started by joining a 24 hr gym and watching calories. We cut out fast food (we probably went once a week or twice) and from the beginning we decided not to cut anything out...just go in moderation. For example, we still had pizza night 1 night a week but changed to thin crust and smaller sizes. We started making healthier choices and watching the serving sizes.

We didn't discover MFP until we had been on this journey for a few months. Before MFP, we didn't have a set calorie goal that we were sticking to...that I remember...just watched what we ate.

Littlerunner0514

bump

powersmatti

Discovered keto on reddit.com/r/keto and joined up

Cyndieann

I began by quitting smoking. I needed something to focus on and to keep me busy. For the first (and the last) time in my life I quit without gaining weight. Now that it has become my "new habit" I push a little harder and the old weight is coming off at a nice steady pace. Maybe I have finally figured this healthy lifestyle thing out?!

wftiger

Cut out (almost) all fast food. Tracked every single thing eaten (no wasting calories on junk food, processed food, liquid or alcohol). Maintained Dr. recommended calorie deficit and macro counts.

Didn't start working out until about a month ago.

** Oh, and I hate vegetables so now I have to find one new one every month and eat it. If I don't like I have to try it once more before I can say I'm not eating it again. Actually found a few veggies I like that way.

celesteflenory

I I kick started my weight loss by doing a four day juice fast. (I did grapefruit juice--no sugar added, and water)It helped to flush everything out since I was having some issues with not eating because I felt bloated and full. During my juice fast I did some research and created meal plans based on my morning routine and my new work schedule. I also made backup plans for what to do if I relaspsed on my new lifestyle. There are some things I absolutely had to cut out... but there are many more things that I can still have, just not everyday and also within portion. During my fast I started walking. Not too strenuous because I was on a fast, but I walked the mile and a quarter around my block listening to music.
After my fast I ate lighter foods. Mostly broth and salad for the first two days so i wouldnt send my system into shock, then started my meal plan. I also started walking longer on a daily basis,and I hit up the gym for weight training three times a week (I plan to up this soon, but I am just starting out). I am sure those who are more in shape have other ideas, but I am a beginner-beginner. :-)
Good luck.

celesteflenory

bump

Forgive my ignorance, but what is Bump? I keep seeing it, but I do not know what it is.

wftiger

bump

Forgive my ignorance, but what is Bump? I keep seeing it, but I do not know what it is.

Bump moves it to the top of the topics list and adds the thread to your "My Topics" so you can go back and read responses easier.

jjelizalde

I started by logging every single thing I ate or drank. Big eye-opener for me. I starting really watching my portion size and I bought an elliptical. I've only lost 5 pounds so far but I've lost inches and I feel better.

taso42

Wrote down some goals
Planned about a week's worth of meals
Went grocery shopping
Weighed the pros and cons of gym vs home workouts; decided on home. Purchased some fitness equipment
Consistently ate well and trained hard week after week after week.

ATK57

I started walking more

Krissy366

I started by cutting out all soda and adding a daily lunchtime walk to my routine. 2 weeks later I found MFP.

normatus

I started by calculating my calorie needs for just living (BMR). Then I calculated my deficit of 500 calories. I started working out, lifting weights, eating more fresh foods, drinking at least 64 oz of water, and keeping a journal. Thats what works for me. If i deviate from it, I start gaining. I have to track my food. first week I lost 8 pounds.

happydays2525

Started counting calories (1330/day). Changed my eating habits, cut portions size and more exercise. Just being more conscious of what I eat and how much I move. I love my MFA and use it everyday.

Craighbruce

After weighing myself for the first time in months (on 8th Jan this year) and confirming not just that I had let things slip, but that I had let things slip by 10kg *more* than my estimate....I picked up my running shoes and squeezed into my running gear (which had mysteriously shrunk whilst in the drawer). I really, really struggled to run any sort of distance but just kept thinking how heavy I was.

3 months+ later I'm down 15kg, wearing trousers which are 4"+ smaller on the waist and back in clothes that haven't seen the light of day in at least 3 years. So glad I got off my lardy butt and started to do something about it - the exercise came first (slowly) and was followed by MFP and paying more attention to my diet.

I find I spend more and more of my time running (the only exercise I do at the moment..I'm unemployed and not a member of any gym) reminding myself of my latest weight, for me it helps as motivation for the run. They are never easy and I find every little bit of a push I can give myself helps.

I'm now running a typical distance of 15km-20km each run (1.5-2hrs) and last week ran 65km in total. When I had my re-awakening in January I struggled to slowly jog 4km in 45mins.

At the end of the day we all just need to flip that switch which says "I'm going to do something about the way I am"...and keep focussed on that goal. No-one else is going to do it for us and there are no magic shortcuts. Effort and sacrifice are required...

Kristy_Elizabeth

I didn't know how to count calories, so I asked my guy for help and he designed a 1200-calorie diet for me and I think something like a 1600-calorie diet for himself last year. We were losing about a pound a day and then went on vacation and didn't really get back into eating right until the first of this year. We joined a gym around Christmas time and got more active. I started increasing my water intake and gradually weaned out sodas and candy. Recently I started doing Insanity and still running either on the treadmill or outside in the evening. We slowly figured out diet. We started with breakfast (eggs, English muffin, water, and then coffee). Then we got our lunches streamlined (brown rice and chicken seasoned differently every week, cooked once a week). Our next step was figuring out healthy snacks (fruits, nuts, trail mixes, yogurt, popcorn, humus, and veggies). The final frontier was our dinners, which we just recently got under control. We pick out a couple of things from the Eat Clean Cookbook, which we always have leftovers from. We usually eat Cafe Yumm about once a week for supper. The rest of the time time I've been trying something new from the recipe board on here or else we make some lean meat and a salad or broccoli, something along those lines. We have gradually transitioned to a healthy lifestyle. We also noticed a fiber and nutrient deficit thanks to MFP and added in a multivitamin and fiber supplement. I think we finally have it figured out, but we are continually fine tuning and looking for healthy low-cal things to add to our diet so it doesn't get boring.

PatSmith96

The first time I did it i went to a diet doctor and used a pill and ate only proteins. I lost 40lbs that way and afterwards I went back to eating normally but I never went back to regular sodas and still stayed away from so many sweets.. I kept most of it off.. put 10lbs of it back on in a little over a year.. then with my tax money this year I bought the tony horton power 90 workout.. ( not the P90x) the softer version.. then with the diet plan they gave me with the program, which was counting calories, I looked for a calorie counting app on my phone and found this.. and so far I have lost 7.5 pounds.. my actual record on here is a little off cause the first weigh in was with my shoes on and I dont know how to change it.. I weight 285.5 and hoping to get down to 220-240 and if its still going great then hopefully more

bluefox9er

ate less, moved more.

jesseam

I have a question I noticed a lot of people cut out soda. Does it really help that much? I'm starting MFP and staying under my calories
about -800 almost a day.(I walk alot being a security guard) and I also walk for 50 minutes at the local park.

So does it really matter? I just can't give up both(portion control) and (soda) so I just limit my soda intake.