What's the single most effective change you've made?

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Replies

  • RunReadEat
    RunReadEat Posts: 37 Member
    Going vegan! I never thought I would because I love butter, cream, creme brulee, etc., but I slowly transitioned to a plant-based diet and love it. I feel so much better and "lighter" with more energy. I still eat some baked goods that are not vegan, but I do try to stay away from heavily processed foods. Stuff that is shelf-stable for years? No thanks!
  • HideyoshiKinoshita
    HideyoshiKinoshita Posts: 46 Member
    Taking charge of and making the decisions for my own life.
  • rmclark9763
    rmclark9763 Posts: 1
    I would say the most effective change I've made is cutting out breads, including things like crackers. You would be amazed at how many snack foods are in the grain category. Cutting those out made such a difference for me. I actually struggle to get my calories in now!
  • nannyal
    nannyal Posts: 50
    logging on mfp everyday has made me aware of how much i'm eating and how much i'm moving:happy:
  • meghan6867
    meghan6867 Posts: 388 Member
    Counting calories.

    It sucks, but it WORKS! :smile:
  • turkeyhunter60
    turkeyhunter60 Posts: 319 Member
    counting calories, and adding snacks between meals-NOT what Mama taught years ago, huh?
  • saxmaniac
    saxmaniac Posts: 1,133 Member
    Giving up breakfast cereal. Starting off the day with 120g of carbs, even whole grain-natural high-fiber organic expeller-pressed blahlbalhab whatever was a bad idea.
  • xMissy6x
    xMissy6x Posts: 347 Member
    Cutting my sugar down. My weight has dropped a lot faster
  • Amberonamission
    Amberonamission Posts: 836 Member
    Weighing and measuring every bite.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    figuring out my BMR and netting that while maintaining a caloric deficit.
  • TriShamelessly
    TriShamelessly Posts: 905 Member
    Logging everything - it keep s me accountable to myself! I still enjoy all of my old favorites - but in limited quantities and far less often.
  • RipperSB
    RipperSB Posts: 315 Member
    Joining MFP... everything else started from there.
  • girlfromOklahoma
    girlfromOklahoma Posts: 129 Member
    Logging EVERYTHING! I've told myself I can eat anything I want so long as I'm willing to log it. Most of the time I don't have the guts to log something that is high calorie, so I don't eat it. haha

    Another thing, is cutting out Dr. Pepper. I'm a huge Dr. Pepper fan. Before I was drinking somewhere around 35-40 oz of Dr. Pepper per day. This is over 400 calories per day just in a sugary drink!!

    The final thing is working out daily. I actually haven't missed a workout since I started all of this on 2/4. It feels so good to workout and to feel like I'm making changes to improve my health and my looks. :)
  • AnnaBrown31
    AnnaBrown31 Posts: 7
    Having breakfast EVERY morning.
  • allthatroz
    allthatroz Posts: 32 Member
    Utilizing my gym memebership and taking classes (Zumba, Body Combat, etc)
  • Southernb3lle
    Southernb3lle Posts: 862 Member
    Portion control and not drinking alcohol..almost been a year since I have. Oh, and cutting out soda.
  • shunggie
    shunggie Posts: 1,036 Member
    The single most effect thing I have done for weight loss and general health is giving up soda. I used to drink 32oz Dr. Pepper before work and another one after work. I dropped 20 pounds just by putting down the soda. I did go through a phase where I would get a soda on a Saturday just for the caffiene- go get a soda come home put on some good music and clean the house. I can't even do that now- it is so sweet that I can't get through enough to get the buzz. And how did I live with all the burping???
  • Dlibo1013
    Dlibo1013 Posts: 883 Member
    and I thought it was friending me :(
    Cutting my sugar down. My weight has dropped a lot faster
    [/quote]
  • mmddwechanged
    mmddwechanged Posts: 1,687 Member
    Staying under or at TDEE
  • shunggie
    shunggie Posts: 1,036 Member
    Logging EVERYTHING! I've told myself I can eat anything I want so long as I'm willing to log it. Most of the time I don't have the guts to log something that is high calorie, so I don't eat it. haha

    Another thing, is cutting out Dr. Pepper. I'm a huge Dr. Pepper fan. Before I was drinking somewhere around 35-40 oz of Dr. Pepper per day. This is over 400 calories per day just in a sugary drink!!

    The final thing is working out daily. I actually haven't missed a workout since I started all of this on 2/4. It feels so good to workout and to feel like I'm making changes to improve my health and my looks. :)

    I had not read this before posting mine......VERY similar. I would say the other thing I did was eat breakfast.
  • CABasile
    CABasile Posts: 55 Member
    Eating more veggies. I notice that when I don't eat enough of them, my weight loss stalls.
  • CalvinLosingIt
    CalvinLosingIt Posts: 88 Member
    Cut out coke entirely. Used to drink 2.5litres a day replaced with water, and occasionaly when craving arives for something carbonated I drink flavoured water.
  • toritoriprind
    toritoriprind Posts: 60 Member
    bump
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    figuring out how many calories I need to eat rather than trying to figure out portion sizes based on what other people eat.
  • jennmodugno
    jennmodugno Posts: 363 Member
    Only giving myself one "treat" a day - and only at night! Knowing it's coming has helped me to avoid cravings during the day so I can easily stay within my calories.
  • bethFromDayton
    bethFromDayton Posts: 112 Member
    Planning my meals in advance.

    This. I plan my weekly meals on Sunday and shop Monday evenings. I plan and log each day's food the night before. It keeps me on track since I have a plan and don't have to make food decisions when already hungry--the decisions are already made.
  • STrooper
    STrooper Posts: 659 Member
    In order:

    1) Getting a pedometer and using it every day to count steps. Recording that value each and every day.

    2) Setting a target number of steps per day (both total and "aerobic" as counted by my OMRON walking style pedometer. I have since changed over to a Fitbit and log "very active" minutes. I upped my targets progressively from 10,000, to 14,000, to 17,000, 18,000 to 20,000 steps/day. Not all at once but spread over the day.

    3) I began eating breakfast every day.

    4) Cut back and then cut out sugary drinks.Gave up carbonated softdrinks. I don't drink much beer, wine, or liquor so I haven't had to deal with cutting back on those.

    5) Reduced my dessert sizes to something that actually is "1 serving".

    This all took me down from 248 pounds to 190 pounds.

    To go from 190 to 171 it took the following:

    6) Logging everything I ate ( and learning what really is a serving size) and adjusting my intake to be below my activity target (with 1 pound loss per week as my goal setting in MFP and Fitbit).

    7) Upping my target step count to 22,000 per day.

    8) Increasing my core strengthening exercises.

    I am current in my maintenance range (my weight has dropped only slightly from my target of 173 since mid November 2012). I have cut back on my step count (20,000/day), increased my strengthening exercises and increased my calorie intake.

    I still leave a lot of "calories on the table according to both MFP and Fitbit, but I am where I want to be weight-wise.

    Now, if I could only get rid of some of this extra skin! :laugh:
  • zahid222
    zahid222 Posts: 233 Member
    food diary
  • Shadowlily
    Shadowlily Posts: 2 Member
    Pre-planing what I'm eating for the day on my chart and sticking to it. I find when I see all the calories now, I don't want to break the diet. Not to mention, I can see what my options are at the end of the night.
  • cherchechristine
    cherchechristine Posts: 84 Member
    I agree--this helps me as well. I read this in a book..and, it's helped me! Go Dayton! From your neighbor in Cincinnati!
    Planning my meals in advance.

    This. I plan my weekly meals on Sunday and shop Monday evenings. I plan and log each day's food the night before. It keeps me on track since I have a plan and don't have to make food decisions when already hungry--the decisions are already made.

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