New and need to stay focused on my diet

PrittyPiton

I have been struggling with weight loss since primary school, but mostly last 10 years I'm always overweighted. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But now I have reached my record weight - 202 pounds.
For me - it's always easy to start a diet or healthy life style, but to hard to stay focused. I'm - i will start tomorrow my diet/exercise, but today I will eat my last cupcakes - type. Unfortunately - getting ready to start diet tomorrow have led on many extra pounds for today. All my friends are in excellent shape - they love healthy food, even don't like sweets so much.
I already seen some threads here with amazing transformations, how young and beautiful people here look when reaching their goals. I would really want after some month be one of them - giving inspiration for others. But for now - I would really want to try this site and would be really happy for some encouragement from you and maybe gaining new friends. I really hope I will make this time to my dream weight - 132 pounds.

i_want_chocolate

Would love the same thing. Some friends, support and encouragement x

kkaci5

One tip? I know there are not supposed to be any "bad foods" -- but for those of us who ate way too much sugar/simple carbs -- the whole eating sugar in moderation thing didn't work for me as I was starting up MFP I couldn't NOT eat cake, but still have sugar on my oatmeal. When I started in January, I stayed away from almost every form of sugar/simple carbs -- my one sweet treat was also calcium (soy steamer with .5 T honey in it). I've finally hit the place where I don't crave sugar at all, and can have it occasionally and responsibly. At this point even the smell of soda is disgusting to me ... which is quite unbelievable!

ChristineS_51

Welcome to MFP - this can be an amazing tool. Please don't think you are on a "diet". This is something you should learn to do for the rest of your life. Think of it as a learning experience, learning to swap healthier choices for less healthy choices, learning to get a bit of exercise. Focus on change and not on results.

Read the success stories - they will boggle your mind! Good luck and congratulations on taking the first step to losing the weight you want to. :flowerforyou:

coolcountrygirl

I just like you I have been on diets and and anything over the counter.I am now 200 and I got to get rid of the weight I hope you and I both get skinny.

PrittyPiton

Well - my doctor forbid me to eat any kind of easy sugars, anything that contains sugar or flour, even i have to be careful with fruits and juices. While I was following his prescriptions, I was feeling great, but then was a thought - maybe he was wrong and I could eat anything I like
However - I'm trying now to stay out from any form of sugar and am on south beach diet. Like you say - don't crave sugar at all

PrittyPiton

I agree - i have to think of it as my new lifestyle as I will never be allowed to eat easy sugars. Well - it a way to go, but not easy for such sweets-lover as me

kkaci5

LOL ... the first thing I learned while logging was that juice for me is not good (AND I'd much rather chew my calories!!). I drink mostly water with some soy milk daily. Used to drink vast quantities of juice.

sandytagain

Hi there. I am always on "The Tomorrow Diet".....but once you focus and begin there is no stopping you. One major thing is to not let anybody get in the way. There may be people telling you that what you are doing is wrong, etc.,etc. Stick to what works for you and go gungho!! I, myself, am going to start eating whole foods, hardly any processed. More veggies....making a wonderful salad for lunch is a great idea...maybe throw in a boiled egg and an ounce of cheese and some homemade dressing and/or low-cal dressing. I love avocado and even chunks of avocado would be tasty. Put some chicken or whatever in there for extra protein and you have a healthy and low calorie lunch. Let your friends eat greasy pizza, etc. Don't forget that apple or other fruit in between for snacking. Even more veggies like broccoli and stuff. I have to remember that when they say 5 servings of veggies a day, they mean small servings....you don't have to eat an entire head of cauliflower...just 1/2 cup of one veggie is a serving. I like putting green pepper strips in baggies for lunch to munch on when I get hungry. I'm going to start mixing them up...like green pepper and celery and carrots. Virtually no calories but has that crunch! I wish you luck....you are on your way. I am having a difficult time getting started but once I do, I will get to my goal in September! 50 Pounds gone!

PrittyPiton

Thanks for recipes, sandytagain I also created my recipe that i love - it contains green salad mix, cucumbers, tomato, radish, seeds (now in spring time), smoked chicken and yea low protein dressing and spices. I have to make it for all my family as they love this salad too.

I'm looking for tasty food that is healthy - and it is challenge to find. As I'm kind of gourmet - i just can't eat what i don't like, then i better not eat at all.

rebecca8787

feel free to add me. And anyone else who wants to be friends and help eachother. I'm 5'4 and 145lbs, i joined this site about 2 months ago and havent used it, just started this week so newbies feel free to add me too. we can do this! x

PrittyPiton

Thanks for motivations. I'm surprised how many people are active around here and how live this community is

cwolfman13

Hey, lose the dieter's mentality...don't use diet as an action verb...it is a noun. Make your diet your lifestyle....make exercise a part of your lifestyle. Your diet should be sustainable, not something you start and then stop again. What that means is that you don't really deny yourself the things you enjoy...you just make better overall decisions day to day.

For me it was all about baby steps, not doing everything at once. I cut down on this or that...then a couple weeks later I cut back on something else...started incorporating more veggies and fruit, etc. Over the past 6 months my diet has gone from 90% junk and 10% nutrition to 90% nutrition and 10% junk...I've maintained a REASONABLE calorie deficit (1/2 Lb to 1 Lb per week) and have lost 32 Lbs over that time.

It's been slow, but steady. Best part is that I've completely reversed a lot of bad blood work and other health issues. I've gone from needing 7 different prescription medicines to only 1 now. Being healthy is awesome and now, instead of being addicted to junk food, I'm addicted to veggies and berries and fruit and nuts and other whole, natural, nutrient dense foods.

lm111888

Hi! I don't really have a great story to tell, except my fitness pal works. I have lost about 3 pounds in 1.5 weeks. You will learn something new everyday as far as what works for you. What I have learned (I'm just sharing my experience, not saying this is what you should do), since 11 days ago when I started this, is:

1. You don't have to stop eating your favorite foods, but when you do, just have a smaller portion. Of course it would be healthier for you and faster to lose weight if you eat healthier, but who doesn't want pizza every once in a while? I know I do :P I live with a roommate who I have always eaten most meals with, and I still do. She doesn't even know that I have started watching my calories!
2. Something that is really filling and low on calories is Progresso light soups.
3. Exercising is not required, but will allow you to eat more and lose weight quicker. Exercising in the morning is best (in my opinion). It gets your day started with more calories, instead of using up the calories and then putting the pressure on yourself to erase them with exercise later in the day. (but that's just my way of thinking. You might like to do it differently) I have found that the days that I don't exercise are the days that I go over my calories. Even if you do go over your calories, you can still lose weight, so don't be discouraged by going over. When you complete your entry for the day, it will tell you how much you'll weigh in 5 weeks if everyday was like today. Yesterday I went over about 550 calories and that thing still told me I would lose weight, which is not ideal, but it didn't make me lose hope just because I messed up one day.
4. They say having a friend on my fitness pal helps you lose more weight. I only have one friend on here, my mom. And the reason having a friend works is not because they are always saying "hey good job today" (which is also nice) but the reason it works for me is because you know they CAN see what you're eating and doing as far as exercises throughout the day, whether they actually choose to look or not, It's like mental motivation to me.
5. Don't weigh yourself every single day. Not much will change in a day. But when you do weigh yourself, weigh yourself when you wake up AFTER you have gone to the bathroom and BEFORE you eat or drink anything. That will give you the closest reading to your actual weight.
6. It's kind of fun. Its like a game to see how much you can eat while still finishing the day on or under your calorie goal. And when a new day rolls around, you start fresh with new calories to use. I look at it as a nice reminder, in your weight loss and in life in general, that no matter what happened yesterday, today is a new day and you can make it whatever you want it to be.

Stick with it! I believe in you!

sueswan74

^^Great post. Very encouraging. I enjoyed reading it!

Shim2013

I myself have just joined the site but have been on my weight loss journey for a few months now. I started buying much more veggies and fruits some of which i have never eaten or liked but when mixed into a smoothie for breakfast the ones I didn't like can't really be tasted. I open my fridge now and all I see is healthy things to snack on sure helps. Never thought I would see my 20 yr old son drinking fruit and veggie smoothies and he is actually starting to make them himself! Started exercising more and that is getting easier as well.I am lucky to have my family beside me trying to get healthy as well.Wish I would have started this years ago before all the pills now I need to reverse the unhealthy eating / junk-food damage. Good luck on your journey!

Sailatsorf

I started out at 214 pounds with no idea what I was doing. I've now lost almost 50 pounds. I approached the process by adding exercise/cutting out bad foods one at a time. Once every couple of weeks, I allow myself to get fast food (it really is okay in moderation!) and not watch my calories for one day. That way if my friends want to go out to a really decadent restaurant or something, I can without feeling badly about it. If you want any help or anything, feel free to add me.