What's your secret!?

Mverdecia1

Come on.... I know the only thing that really works is diet and exercise... but I am sure everyone has their little secrets/short cuts to success!

Do share.

(And feel free to add me :flowerforyou: )

Maddie

shadowsaround

Coffee before workouts and lots of water.

Jonalee1977

Hard work, sweat, determination, and dedication.

deb3129

Lots and lots of whole foods and water. And keeping moving as much as possible.

erinpooh

Making working out my highest priority and the first thing I do every day. Exercising usually paves the way for a successful day of watching my diet. I aim for burning 1000 calories doing cardio every morning. I listen to books from Audible on my iPhone and the time passes quickly.

yoovie

half assing it.

j4nash

There is no shortcut.

The secret is being able to maintain, therefore crash diets will never work. Develop habits.

AussieTrainer

if you eat it, YOU LOG IT.

Never eat less than 1400 calories (my bmr) , ever.

brittaney10811

having my fellow cf'ers hold me accountable!! that keeps me coming back!

T_R_A_V

Go hard in the mutha effin paint

Or go hard or go the f%^k home

bgtorres

Hard work, sweat, determination, and dedication.

This!

dantrick

1) switching up my workout routine regularly.
2) getting plenty of sleep.
3) drinking lots of water.
4) logging what I eat.
5) using this website.

_Peacebone_

1. Drink a lot of water.
2. Plan your meals and snacks.
3. Stick to an exercise schedule.
4. Don't deprive yourself of your favorite foods. Enjoy them in moderation.
5. Be consistant and don't give up.

shutterbug282

Green tea with Peppermint! (:

clemsonsaint

Weight Watchers and Running.

underwater77

the gym isn't an option. my going there is non-negotiable.
drinking tons of water.
not bringing crap into the house so i have no options for bad decisions.


also going out and having fun! eating a nice dinner, enjoying wine or a craft beer. just know when to when!

LoraF83

I refuse to ever feel ashmed or guilty because of a food-related decision I made. I am not "good" or "bad" - I eat foods. Most of the time, I eat nutritous foods that are under my calorie goal. Sometimes, I eat more than my calorie goal. Sometimes, I eat foods that aren't so nutritous. But, I don't feel guilty because it's simply not worth the energy and effort required to make myself feel bad about something so simple.

currierand

Spanx.

peteotero

Cut carbs after 4, and turn to Green Veggies. Eat your carbs early and make sure you get some cardio in early so you can use your carbs for energy, and not get stored for fat.
Do High Intensity Training for your workouts, and get a good Hear Rate monitor to help you monitor your HR while working out.
Use your food as fuel, and dont eat when you are bored.

Good luck

korygilliam

I do average daily net for the week, instead of focusing on every day. (So if I eat low on Monday, I can eat more on Tuesday...but if I do bad or eat up all of my calories Mon-Fri, then I don't get to splurge on the weekend)

This has been good and makes me not feel so much like I am on any kind of restriction.

tcunbeliever

Changing up the workouts every month...otherwise I get bored and don't do them.

kelly_e_montana

Staying active with things I like to do! Exercise is much easier if you enjoy the activity. Add lifestyle activities like swimming, hiking, and skiing into your workouts.

I find that a green protein smoothie per day helps keep me on track.

Grow my own food! Not only do I have a great supply of fresh lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, herbs, green onions, etc. in the summer, I get healthy exercise doing it.

Don't overlook flexibility! Even if it does not burn as many calories as high impact activities, ensuring you have flexibility will help ward off injuries and ensure a good range of motion as we get older.

Eat real food. Processed food is okay here and there, but try to eat whole foods and develop a taste for them. Crockpots and foil packets are life savers. Make sure to include good amounts of protein to keep you full (I like to custom set MFP to 30 or 25 percent protein).

This is a great time to try out those foods that you may never have considered before like lentils, kale, kefir, tofu, almond milk, etc. If you don't know what to do, if you have a local health food market with a hot bar, check out some of their fare to give you some inspiration.

valleemic

As many will say, there really aren't any secrets. If there was a magic little secret, somebody would get awfully rich selling it, that's for sure! Like others will say, count calories, log the calories, keep moving, determination, etc. I would agree 100%!

However, I do find it fascinating that many of us (including me), try several times to lose weight and for whatever reason, we lose motivation and the will to keep at it. And then one day (and over several months usually), something CLICKS! We don't lose our motivation, we keep at it and the weight DOES come off! I wonder why this is...

For me, this last time at the weight loss journey, these are the things that were different (and most likely kept me motivated and thus contributed to my weight loss):

1. I only work 4 days/week (instead of 5). I have Mondays off. I use this day to buy groceries, do some meal planning, cut up fruit, veggies and get in a good work-out! Also, I guess the guilt of bringing in 20% less money into the household made me feel like I should be doing SOMETHING constructive with my day off!

2. I didn't cut out any food 100%! Of course I'm eating WAY more of the healthy stuff and WAY less of the bad stuff but if I want a piece of pizza, some chocolates or a glass of wine, I fit them in my calorie bank.

3. I focused WAY more on the food and WAY less on the exercice! If I exercice 1-3 times a week, I'm ok with that and I don't beat myself up.

4. Compliments. Oh my goodness, those compliments go a long way! By the way, people notice your weight loss way more when you buy new clothes! Buy a few new pieces along the way even IF you're going to lose more weight. You'll feel better about yourself (being in a smaller size) and you'll actually want to keep going!

5. Don't focus too much on the end goal! Make small goals that aren't far from reach. For me, it was always about getting to the next "tens" (ex: when in the low 160s, focus on getting to the 150s).

6. Bring your lunch/snacks to work!! You'll also save $$ by doing this!

7. Try new recipes/foods... you WILL get bored of that salad or that bowl of cereal even if you love it now!

8. Keep your mind in the game. Read articles, success stories, etc!

9. Don't allow yourself to get too hungry or you'll make bad decisions!

10. I weighed myself daily.

L_Stradford

if you eat it, YOU LOG IT.

Never eat less than 1400 calories (my bmr) , ever.

I second this. I log EVERYTHING! I don't care if it's the tiniest swig of juice, I log it. That tells me what makes my body lose from week to week.

skmolove

i cut back drasticly on eating out. I make more home cooked meals. oh & doing cardio a few times a week. i love zumba.

L_Stradford

Go hard in the mutha effin paint

Or go hard or go the f%^k home

:laugh:

kluvit

1. Delay my first meal until I'm hungry.
2. Enjoy the calories I consume. I don't waste calories on "icky" or "marginal" foods/beverages just because they're there.
3. Plan for/Log in advance when I know what I'm having for dinner or going out and adjust other meals accordingly, so I can enjoy what I want and still meet my goals.
4. Burn more; eat more. Burn less; eat less.
5. Keep doing what I know works even when the scale doesn't move -- eventually it will catch up!!
6. Give away all of the clothes I shrink out of, so there's no going back.
7. Hang out with like-minded friends and share "success!"

Deedsie

Stubbornness.

PikaKnight

Come on.... I know the only thing that really works is diet and exercise... but I am sure everyone has their little secrets/short cuts to success!

Do share.

(And feel free to add me :flowerforyou: )

Maddie

There aren't any short cuts if you want real results that last. The most effective weight loss is due to a lifestyle change...and that requires not just a change in food or in getting in exercise....it also requires you to change your mind/attitude. Requires you to educate yourself and create good habits. That takes time and there is nothing that you can do to "rush" or "short cut" it.

And it isn't a secret either. That's what is so great about it. No secrets, no money for some program...just determination, hard work, and the commitment to better yourself physically and mentally.

clarkeje1

Planning. Scheduling time for working out, planning my meals beforehand and having plenty of fresh foods from the grocery available.

rob1976

My secret? Not caring. If the scale goes up instead of down, meh. "Maybe tomorrow."

"Weight loss, like life, isn't a marathon. It's a dance. You just have to be sure you're taking more steps forward than back."
---Me (seriously)