What change did you make that helped you most?

tracypk

This is a journey of knowledge. Learning what works for losing weight. I want to know what change you made that has made the biggest impact on your success of losing weight and getting healthy. For me I haven't figured it out. I'm still crunching numbers. I have ED so in the past restricting food was the only way I knew how. I have been eating which is good but I can't seem to get it right. I have been fluctuating 5 lbs for over a year. I have my macros set and I eat at a deficit. I'm sure my issue is accurately logging my cals. I'm just wondering what has worked for you.

Thank you in advance for any advice or information.

crimsoncat

I dropped soda. Instead I drink hot tea, water or carbonated water only. I cannot believe how much cheaper it is for me to eat out now. It's like $2-4 a meal for stuff that just made me fat.

castell5

I got up off my *kitten* and decided to start doing at least 30 min's a day of exercise and start watching calories. 39lbs down, not napping every day and feeling MUCH better overall.

joywo

Avoiding hidden sugars, franken-sugars (Stevia is the only substitute you should use), carbonated drinks, white flour (quinoa pasta rocks!) and unfortunately, alcohol. *sigh*

Homemade veggie soups fill you up, give you vital nutrition and is low in calories.

Lastly, making last meal of the day the smallest.

Exercise is anything making you just MOVE off your butt

paulaviki

Weighing my food. I was often eating 2-3 times what they had as a portion on the packet and seriously underestimating my calorie intake!

kellicci

Bootcamp! and higher protein.

Troublemonster

Portion control with a scale, cut out soda and everything else with sugar, and move more. It started out as a commitment and has become a lifestyle after 8 months.

jesz124

Honestly.... As much as I hate to say it. Stopping drinking every night. I used to have at least 1 large glass of wine every single night. Since I've stopped I have more energy, can concentrate better, eat better, have a ton more motivation. A close second is lifting weights but that wouldn't of happened without sorting the drinking out anyway, and it's still very early days for the lifting, but so far I'm really pleased with my small results so far!

kenazfehu

Eating between meals. I used to eat almost all day every day, a bite of this, a pinch of that, a spoonful of this other thing .... and so forth. I lost 9 pounds in the first month just from doing that (before joining MFP).

I've gained since I started MFP. This whole TDEE/daily calorie equation doesn't seem to be working, but I thought I'd give it a bit longer before making more cuts in my diet. I've had a few meals of not logging/measuring, maybe that is why I'm not on track yet. Am doing my best!

katescurios

Exercise, it means I still get to eat the occasional junk food, I just have to work for it

StarkLark

Measuring or preferably weighing almost everything I eat.

jothekid

Cutting alcohol & midnight munchies!

RedHeadDevotchka

Doing stuff I didn't want to and stopped making excuses. My mindset being changed was the biggest because it affect both diet and exercise. So that's hwere MFP comes in.

DeMarraDontStop

Portion control using the scale. Exercise!

deksgrl

Changing my goal from lowering # of pounds to lowering % body fat. Along with that, I have tweaked my diet some and started exercising regularly. I'm no longer a slave to the scale with my every mood tied to it (and the sabotage that comes with that).

bluebird321

Not drinking calories.

ErinBeth7

My attitude and cutting back on alcohol.

August_1958

Drinking water. I never used to drink water! I normally had sweet tea or pop with lunch and dinner. I now limit 1 glass of iced tea, to once or twice a week ONLY, and water the rest of the time.

michelle0989

i'd have to agree with most people here and say cutting out alcohol. i only have it on very special occasions. also, not eating after 8pm has helped me tremendously! those late night cravings are out to get you.

fitambitious

Increasing my calorie intake from MFP set 1200 to 1500 cals and adding 1 hour moderate exercise to daily routine

bsuew

I stopped snacking all day and got up off my butt and started exercising & portion control. And I try to never eat after 6.

MissNations

Making my own meals. I used to get food on the go a LOT.

tabinmaine

Weight lifting..... and lifting HEAVY !!

joycehostetler

My big thing was cutting out soda. The only time I drink it now is if we go out to eat and sometimes not even then. Even though I drank diet soda, I feel so much better then when I did. I drink a lot of water with Crystal Light. I also measure and weigh everything when I can. And when we go out I eat just half of what I order or until I am full.

halfretird

Hate to say it but I hated exercising MFP friends made me love it and cutting back on cals. I hate to know how many I was eating before I started.

shutterbug282

I completely dropped drink soda/fizzy drinks. I barely touch them now. I've also started cooking a lot which has helped a lot too.

AdoraK

My mind set. I stopped telling myself I couldn't do it or that it was to hard and got a positive attitude.

CorvusCorax77

Honestly, the biggest change was deciding to just DO IT. And not give up. Ever. NO matter what.

tracypk

Changing my goal from lowering # of pounds to lowering % body fat. Along with that, I have tweaked my diet some and started exercising regularly. I'm no longer a slave to the scale with my every mood tied to it (and the sabotage that comes with that).

This may benefit me because I have learned the scale is not as accurate to success as one might want. How do you measure your % body fat?

Lisah8969

I stopped thinking of working out as an option. I stopped asking "do I really want to go to the gym/park today?" to "how long will I stay at the gym/park today?"

californiagirl2012

This is a journey of knowledge. Learning what works for losing weight. I want to know what change you made that has made the biggest impact on your success of losing weight and getting healthy. For me I haven't figured it out. I'm still crunching numbers. I have ED so in the past restricting food was the only way I knew how. I have been eating which is good but I can't seem to get it right. I have been fluctuating 5 lbs for over a year. I have my macros set and I eat at a deficit. I'm sure my issue is accurately logging my cals. I'm just wondering what has worked for you.

Thank you in advance for any advice or information.

For me it was just eating the right amount for a small person, which is hard because serving sizes are designed for 6 ft males. It was all about looking at calories for me. A calorie deficit to lose weight. Patience because the process is slow. Patience for the fluctuations in the body that have to do with retaining or releasing water. A new awareness about calories since I've always eaten healthy foods. And now in maintenance for me it's keeping the awareness that I need less calories than bigger people.

And that you can't out exercise too many calories. Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone.