If you could give only one tip.....

randomnennie

Believe that you do need to eat as many calories at mfp says!! I was so stuck believing that less and less calories were better. The weight only started to melt off after I ate more (and healthier of course!)

sailorgrad

Drink lots of water. All day long. Drink, drink, then drink some more. It becomes a habit really quickly.

Best wishes!

mimstero

Get a heart rate monitor!!!!

Cherp18

bump

Bronx_Montgomery

Do NOT get caught up in the Drama! Make this site a place for you to achieve your goals.

monkeybrain2012

I will give two....

Buy a scale and weigh things. What I found was that I thought things weighed more than they did. I found that I could have more (beef/chicken/etc) than I thought when I weighed it and I could enjoy it more because I wasn't stressing over the unknown.

Second...

Water, Water, Water.... I didn't buy into this at first but once I went and doubled my water intake the affects were tremendous.

You are so right about the scale. I was so happy when I started measuring foods and saw that I could eat more. It also helps to measure and learn what the serving size really looks for times when you are out and about and can't measure your food.

beachlover317

My tip.

Do NOT lie.

Now I have two favorite tips. Mine/never quit. And this one/don't lie. Fantastic!

Cruz2Fit

Bump, for later.

Simone_King

My only tip is...

Lose the coke. (Yes, even Diet. Any kind of Soda really.)

Edit

Be honest with yourself. If you don't have net with you on the go..Then buy a note book and write it all down.

Consider on how active you are and your cals. To be honest, not everyone needs to be on a 1200 cal diet. o_o

katkins3

STAY WAY FROM POTATOES, WHITE BREAD, PASTAS, AND WHITE RICE! THESE ARE YOUR ENEMIES! DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. EVEN BETTER...ADD LEMONS TO YOUR WATER. YOU'D BE VERY SURPRISED WITH YOUR RESULTS!

I eat white bread, potatoes, pasta, and white rice, and I lost 42 lbs.

I eat all these things and I lost 65 pounds.

At first I only cared about staying within my calorie goal, but over time, I have come to eat more healthy choices. Some people change what they eat right from the start, others more slowly, and some fill their food goal with the above. Your choice is yours alone. I think most people tend to work on improving their choices in food and exercise.

sarahjenkins77

Planning my meals in advance has been key for me, especially when eating out I check out the menu/calories so that I can still enjoy a treat but keep within (or almost within) my calorie target.

cookiefluff

One tip is usually enough.

Unless...

LOL!!!! so true hahaha... anyway... I'm new too, even though I created this profile in March 2011!!! But really started counting calories 2 weeks ago, started off with another Calorie count website but found that this one had a better food database!
All the tips on this thread are awesome, I was doing so good for 2 weeks and then blew it off last night overeating some indian takeaway, I feel horrible today! Not only guilty but physically horrible, and icky! I love Indian food, but I guess I could've had just a little bit... so my advice is to not beat yourself up if you have a woopsy day!! After all if you are doing so good you deserve a "bad" day just to remind you how much better you feel when you stick to a healthy diet! Really...

charming72

Bump

Helenatrandom

Log every day, even the bad days. ESPECIALLY the bad days. Forgive yourself for the bad days quickly and without punishing yourself later ("I'll only eat half of my calories tomorrow to make up for it.. " is unnecessary punishment) , but DO be honest with yourself. It can be depressing to know you messed up, but own it and know that one "free" day every once in a while can be liberating, yet two or three in a row is going to make it that much harder to get back "on the wagon". I find knowing how bad the bad days are and aren't (in the beginning I was sure I messed up sometimes, only to log in every morsel and find I was 20 calories over, not 200...) to be very motivating.

Raemama

Don't make changes you aren't willing to commit to forever.

So many people lose a lot of weight by drastically changing their diet, and once they hit their goal they go back to eating (and doing) the same things that caused them to put on weight in the first place.

There is no way I am going to permanently remove rice, or cake, or carbs, or ice cream or fried foods from my diet, so what ever eating plan I am following needs to allow for those foods at whatever frequency makes sense. Cake, ice cream and fried food = infrequent. Rice = smaller portions. But neither means eliminating them forever.

I think this is good advice. Yes, choose brown rice over white rice most of the time... fruit over cake... fat free frozen yogurt over ice cream, etc... but once in a while decide it's okay for a time period (a meal, day or weekend) to not worry about your choices. That's what I've done and what's happened is I don't eat nearly as much as the 'bad stuff' as I used to on those 'treat' days.

For me, it's about knowing I'm in control and can decide for myself. I feel powerful when, after years of seemingly letting food (i.e. emotional eating) control me, I realize I'm completely in control.

teaaddictt

- Control your portions
- Choose a best hour within a day to exercise (you don't need to do it in the mornings if you feel tired in the mornings)
- Don't be harsh to yourself, never hate yourself.
- Don't care others. You are your dietician, you know what your body needs.

cynthiam80

Add weight training to your workout and never forget the patience is key when loosing weight!

cobracars

You asked for only ONE..

For me it was to add Sodium on my daily Food Diary. I used to eat a lot of prepackaged meals and was only looking at the total calories. When I added the column to track the Sodium I was blown away with how much was hidden in all those pre-packaged and prepared foods. Over the course of the last couple years I've slowly learned to become a 'passable' cook and I do much more of my own preparing using raw or fresh ingredients. Make split pea soup from scratch using dried peas makes it okay to eat, whereas the soup in a can is dietary homicide. Cutting back the sodium to 1800 or so will really help with things like fluid retention and hypertension. Of course less fluid retained will show up quickly on the scale but its a nice boost to your ego to see that something you're doing is having an affect. But by paying attention to the sodium you'll find the other 'nasty' ingredients will also magically start to take care of themselves.
I can have a burger for lunch without it killing my plan. But the burger is fresh straight hamburger, no spices added, grilled on a pannini press, then served on a Eating Right Sandwich Slender, with a slice of provolone and smattering of brown mustard. Knowing what's in it makes it taste better than a Big Mac!

hothodgie

Photograph your progress. This has kept me so incredibly motivated. I was completely shocked at what just 8 pounds less in a month looked like. It's noticeable!!! So yes, always, take a before pic and then photograph your progress. I do one every two weeks just to see.

robinxhope

Log everything you eat for a long time. Until you could do it in your sleep. Then you attain a valuable awareness and accountability for everything you eat.

toysbigkid

Move, just start moving..walk, ride a bike, gym. It helps so much. Cardio and strenght training.
Log everything
Drink water..LOTS
Eat when your hungry, listen to your body

JewelsinBigD

:happy: If you miss regular soda - try this - get 90% diet soda and only add 10% of regular. I just tell the clerk to give me diet coke with a splash of regular coke. I swear it takes better than the regular or the diet and no guilt!

toysbigkid

opps! again I rambled on...sorry

toysbigkid

I don't drink sodas anymore but when I drank diet coke, I added lemon to it and it tasted as good as the original coke. But if you can, try not to drink diet soda.

luvinmefirst

1. Move more
2. Drink lots of water
3. Log everything as you eat it
4. Don't starve yourself
5. Dont deprive yoursel of foods you love...just eat them in moderation, as long as they are not trigger foods.
6. Get down to the root of the problem and find out why you gained the weight to begin with. I highly recommend reading The Beck Diet Solution (deals with the emotional aspect of losing weight and works with any eating plan).

Natashaa1991

don't be hard on yourself. even if you fail many times learn how to forgive yourself, that is the only way you will succeed.

Anayalata

Don't follow advice that ends with "it worked for me."

DawnEH612

Learn to have a healthy relationship with food by practicing and developing better Eating habits. Healthy does not mean eat it all and it doesnt mean to avoid it... It does not mean to feed your feelings, it is to nourish your body, which in turn nourishes your soul...

TheVimFuego

Be your own experiment, be prepared to think holistically.

Very soon after that THEN cut grains, starches and sugar

kayl3igh88

don't stress and keep trying!