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

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  • CABasile
    CABasile Posts: 55 Member
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    Eating more veggies. I notice that when I don't eat enough of them, my weight loss stalls.
  • CalvinLosingIt
    CalvinLosingIt Posts: 88 Member
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    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
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    bump
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    food diary
  • Shadowlily
    Shadowlily Posts: 2 Member
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    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
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    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.
  • cedman1
    cedman1 Posts: 104 Member
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    When I first started I committed to make water my drink of choice. It did not happen right away but eventually I reached my commitment.
  • regina1006
    regina1006 Posts: 21 Member
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    Portion control is a biggie plus I gave up potatoes. I didnt feel like the potatoes were worth the calories so I quit eating them.
  • thingal12
    thingal12 Posts: 302 Member
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    bump
  • KIMBAILEYWILLIAMSON
    KIMBAILEYWILLIAMSON Posts: 258 Member
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    Breakfast = every day...... This helps me start the day in a more healthy manner,...before this change, I'd tell myself I couldn't face it and would wait 'till much later to eat and then be so starving hungry, that I'd stuff myself full of all the wrong things!:smile:




    ^^^^ mine too
  • sarahharmintx
    sarahharmintx Posts: 868 Member
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    Measuring serving sizes. Simple task but drastic effects.
  • chuckles9189
    chuckles9189 Posts: 343 Member
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    learning how to cook creatively. which lead to trying new foods. HEALTHY ones that tasted delicious! Everything doesn't need to be covered in butter and salt to be just as satisfying.
  • LikeNoOneElse84
    LikeNoOneElse84 Posts: 475 Member
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    Drinking more water. It's saved a ton of empty calories and carbs.
  • mrscruz625
    mrscruz625 Posts: 59 Member
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    Cutting out all sweets (still get sugar from fruit and veggies) and drinking almost a gallon of water a day!
  • jeanice66
    jeanice66 Posts: 25 Member
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    For me it was basically portion control.. i went about a week or so measuring servings and realized that I was eating two to three servings at a time!!!
  • theCarlton
    theCarlton Posts: 1,344 Member
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    Getting out of a 7-year relationship that was no longer serving either of us. I lost 35-40lb because I had the time and energy to care more about myself than my failing relationship. I also stopped stuffing myself with food instead of going after those dreams that were passing me by. Leaving him changed my entire life, in addition to improving my health.

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