Question to our Success Story folks....
mmccurrach
Posts: 50 Member
If you are a Success Story, please answer this question for the ones trying to get there......
Other than calorie restriction, what 3 specific things (in order) would you contribute the majority of your beginning weight loss to?
Other than calorie restriction, what 3 specific things (in order) would you contribute the majority of your beginning weight loss to?
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Replies
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Not sure what your standard is for "success story" (but i'll throw in with my 70 pounds lost):
1. deciding that i had control over my life and i was tired of being the size i was
2. getting moving! i hired a personal trainer to help me define an exercise program (i'm way too cheap to hire someone and then skip the gym)
3. daily reminders to myself that it took me 10 years to put on the weight... so to have reasonable goals.
good luck!0 -
I haven't posted many success stories, but after losing 33 pounds in just over 2 months.
3 Specific Things:
1. Dedication - dedication not only to entering in all of the food and maintaining the proper macros every day, but also dedication to working out and looking forward to new habits, not looking back at the bad ones
2. Sweat - to lose the weight you have to work it off and not only look at calorie restriction. Find a workout that works best for you and stick with it. You name it, I have tried it throughout my life... and right now - surprisingly - YOGA of all things is working best for me as I have never seen results like this before!!
3. MFP - This site has done wonders for me. I might not have that many friends on here, but it has given me insight on what I am eating and what I should avoid. I can't imagine eating 3/4 of the things that I was eating before starting this in June.
I hope that this helps... feel free to ask anymore questions or friend me for some support whenever you need it!!0 -
Motivation - A clear reason why I was doing it and the goals I had for myself. Any time the going got tough, I could always rely on my motivation to carry me through. Results only made it stronger.
Consistency - Did not half a** anything. No skipping logging. No missing workouts. Give 100% and find a rhythm with it. Consistely improve everything.
Patience - No expectations of overnight miracles. Content with a slow going methodical approach with reasonable goals and expectations.0 -
bump0
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Great question!! I am also interested in these answers.0
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1. Moving...just the simple act of walking, jogging, dancing-whatever you enjoy and will keep doing, find something that makes you move! I'm starting to notice the changes in me that everyone else keeps talking about!
2. Making the committment-not just to work out and stop letting my eating be MASSIVELY out of control, but committment to log (honestly) what I eat and drink. And also reminding myself that one bad choice or bad day does not define me now-it is a process and a lifestyle change that flows with me-it's not a rigid set of do's and don'ts
3. Water! I used to drink nothing but soda and sweet tea-and I'm southern, so that sweet tea was just colored water! Now, I drink ONLY water...and I can't even tell you how much it has made a difference for me! My migraines are generally less frequent, my joints don't tend to ache as bad, and I just feel better!0 -
1- That little thing inside my head that kept telling me "It's now or never"!
2- Water, water, and more water (Can that count as just one thing? This was and still is a challenge for me.)
3- Walking (My dog thanks me by the way.)0 -
First and foremost-- telling myself not to let one screw up turn into a screwed up day, into a screwed up week.....If I messed up and drank too much one night or ate a piece of cake that was it. Fresh start the next day. Do not put your plan/diet on hold until Monday. Start fresh with the next meal or the next day!!!!!! This has been huge in my success!!!
1. Replacing all of my diet soda with WATER- making a point to down a huge glass before every meal and snack becaude that helps me meet me water goal and fills my stomach before the food goes in.
2. Sweat- Make myself have at least 30 minutes of sweating/ getting my body moving every day.
3. Being HONEST with myself and my logging on MFP. If I ate a cookie I logged it, If I ate 10 I logged it. The scale is going to tell the truth anyway!
Good luck with your journey!!0 -
So far I've lost 10 out of the 22 pounds I need to lose, so to me that's a great success!
My three things are:
1.) Reminding myself I didn't become unhealthy overnight, instead it was over the course of two years, so I made realistic goals accordingly.
2.) MFP - not at first, but after a few months of on and off logging I started to use this site to its fullest extent. It has now been two straight months of healthy logging and consistency!
3.) Keep moving, even on the days you don't want to. Even if you don't have the energy to do an intense work-out, a two mile walk is still better than sitting on the couch.0 -
1. Finding a workout that works for YOUR body. Treadmills/Ellipticals & strict cardio based workouts did nothing for me. Weightlifting is the workout for MY BODY. Noticeable results in 3 weeks! (lifting 4 times per week)
2. Surrounding yourself with health-minded people, articles, activities. This can be challenging but it's one of the great motivators for me - having people to discuss healthy habits, ideas, recipes with.
3. Commitment - carve out that hour every day no matter how you feel. Find someone that will meet you in the gym at the same time every day. Write down or plan your workout before you get to the gym and finish it - no matter what!0 -
I have not posted a success story yet but I am down 34lbs. Here are my 3:
1. Water. Drink as much as you can, every day. Space it out if you need to. I try for one bottle (25oz) between breakfast and lunch then 2 more before I get home, then some with dinner.
2. Figure out what works for you. One person might lose quickly at 1300 or 2300 but just bc it works for them, doesnt mean it will for you. We are each different so experiment, figure out what your body responds to. Take all advice (food, exercise, etc) with a grain of salt. Dont go low carb/high protein bc some random stranger on the internet told you to. Think about how eating that way will affect your life, is it workable (meaning do you cook for more than just you or maybe you have a long commute and dont like to spend a lot of time cooking). Then think about it some more and research.
3. Flippin relax. Dont let MFP, food and exercise rule your life. I said something to my husband the other day and he said "well you do tend to get obsessed" and it made me think about what I talk about, think about and do all the time. Stressing and obsessing wont drop the lbs. And if you do feel over whelmed, its ok to take a step back. I got so worked up when I started that I had to delete the app and not log for the weekend. I came back stronger and more devoted.
Also, log everything even if it is just a guess.0 -
72 lbs lost so far.
1. Work out everyday. What you do doesn't matter as much as getting used to doing it. An hour a day, everyone has an hour!!!
2. No Drinking!!!!! It only hurts your goals. You want to gain muscle? It hurts that. You want to lose weight? It hurts that too.
3. Embrace your new way of life!!!!! I love it, working out is my favorite thing to do now, not a chore. I don't even crave junk at all.0 -
I rarely post but over the last year and a hald I have lost 45lbs ( my pic is when I was at my heaviest) and I would have to say its the following three things.
1. Life style change- You have to realize you are changing your lifestyle (even if it is one thing at a time), which encompases alot of changes but knowing your changing how you live to a healty lifestyle helps you get the mind set that I'm doing this for the rest of my life, even when I hit my target weight. Thinking its a "diet" or I'll do this until I hit my goal, will end up being short term and can cause you to stop doing things that got you to reach your goal.
2. Exercise- Understanding and accepting the fact that due to a lifestyle that doesnt cause me to use much energy I will have to do some sort if activity at least 4 or 5 days a week to stay strong, active and in shape. Just like being lazy (watching tv and eating unhealthy) was a part of my life daily, I need to do some sort of exercise daily to maintian and stay healthy.
3. Encouragment - Having people around men to encourage me and adjusting my freinds to people that wanted the same things as I did helped me keep going. When I was overweight I had freinds that loved eating out, watching sports, drinking beer and doing other things that were just unhealthy. So I started to surround my self with people that wanted to be healthy also. The support of my wife and freinds with the same goals and desire to be healthy was very helpful and contributes to a lifestyle change.0 -
Still a success in progress, but after 37 pounds lost:
1. Just plain ol' DESIRE - I want this so bad!
2. Commitment - It's kind of like...No, not kind of like, COMPLETELY like marriage to me: If i want it to work out, I can't quit when the going gets tough. I'm in this for the long haul because I made a promise to myself, a commitment.
3. I know that anything worth doing is going to be and should be HARD. Easy won't make me skinny!
So when I don't feel like going to the gym and I'm sick of counting calories, I remind myself of these 3 things: that I want it, that I'm committed to it, and that it's not supposed to be easy.0 -
I had reconstructive surgery on my ankle and was using a walker and crutches followed by months of self-pity and inertia.
When the scale tipped at 168 pounds, I freaked. It took about a year and a few months for my ankle to "turn the corner" to where I could get active again. When I started, I needed several ice packs on many joints. I knew I would have fluid on my knees until I lost more weight...sure enough, now, at 144, I don't need ice packs anymore. My goal is to hit 138 to 140, give or take.
I lost weight (24 pounds) by...slowly losing it...
lose 2... 2 weeks later... lose 2...etc.
activities
running in place (seriously) in front of the TV.
(10 min. to begin with and then gradually more. I can run in place for an hour now.)
I can't run on lumpy terrain yet, so this activity has really built a strong base!
My living room rug is very forgiving on my joints
treadmill
I queue up some serious action-packed movies to keep me entertained.
I shoot for 300 calories each session
walking
I try to squeeze in a walk or 2 each day
Min. 20 min.
food
I load up on veggies and fruit
grape tomatoes and plums galore
I limit the pasta and bread
booze
NO BEER! NO MARGARITAS!
It's a killer!!!
It's no longer a diet... It's totally a lifestyle for me now.
It's easier with a better rhythm... when I eat, I log it. When I workout, I log it.0 -
1. Activity - any activity incorporated into my daily routine, no matter how intense.If you are a Success Story, please answer this question for the ones trying to get there......
Other than calorie restriction, what 3 specific things (in order) would you contribute the majority of your beginning weight loss to?
2. Planning ahead - cutting up fruits and veggies, grocery shopping, using measuring cups and tupperware, meal planning, checking menus online before going out to eat, etc...
3. Being consistent and determined to stick with it. Everyone has a bad day here and there. Just pick up the pieces and start fresh tomorrow. Nobody loses 20 or 100 pounds over night or in a months time. Every little bit of a pound helps!0 -
1. Accepting myself the way I am, deciding that I am worth caring for, and making health my goal, rather than an arbitrary number. Along those lines, my diet became focused more on "nourishment" and less on "restriction." My exercise became more for enjoyment and felt less like punishment. I quit looking at fitness models for inspiration and started looking at my own progress instead.
2. Exercise! Almost everyday--we need rest days, ya know. Something that you actually enjoy and look forward to doing makes it easier to stick with. Plus it increases energy and improves mood.
3. Patience. I was not in a hurry to lose weight--I made HEALTHY LIFESTYLE changes that I thought I could live with FOREVER. When I was overweight, I saw even a 0.2 lb. loss was a step in the right direction. These slow, steady losses eventually led to a healthy BMI. I also realized that the scale was only one indicator of health and used it in its proper context.
Good luck on your journey!0 -
I'm not fully there yet in my goals but I am a success and have changed quit a bit. With 19 pounds to go.
1. Water - For me it's been getting off soda and drinking water.
2. Planning my day - I have to know all my meals before I eat anything, I want to have an accurate count of what I'm putting into my body for the day, if I have calories left over I know if I'm still hungry I can grab something else. I plan out my workouts, I don't log them in here until I have done them all because sometimes things come up and I can't get to them.
3. Keeping myself accountable - This goes hand and hand with the above but not really the same thing. I have a offline journal I write in and I try to log my day in there, I also like to write out things in it that have triggered me to do certain things. I use to be an emotional eater and I think doing this has really helped me break that habit. Say I'm feeling mad, hurt, sad, whatever and that feeling of food comes to mind, I write about how I handled it, what caused me to feel that way. I was gonna keep those kind of things on here but I can't some things are personal. This helps me to go back and remind myself what works and what don't work for me. Example: "I'm feeling mad, something is going on and making me mad so I went for a jog and now I can't remember what it was that made me mad. I put on my music and just ran, now I'm feeling better." Or "My husband and I are fighting, I would love to dig into that ice cream, but instead I got up and got into a squat like stance and started punching the air. Now I'm not thinking about ice cream and I'm not as mad either." These little notes in my journal help me to learn what to do to over come these emotional out breaks of eating for sure.0 -
1. Logging everything, and weighing and measuring foods at home.
2. 1/2 hour to an hour exercise 3-5 times a week.
3. Water.0 -
Great thread! I look forward to checking back for more replies.0
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My motivations were simple:
1- Live longer to enjoy my family
2- Never ever have to shop at Casual Male XL (was at 5xl when I started)
3 - Why Not? Sheez I've done everything else haven't I?
So what helped me:
1- Nutrition is probably the most important of all, if you get this wrong it can alter your results
a - 3 things to know Body Fat% - BMR & TDEE once you have these three you can structure your nutritional plan
2- A good balanced fitness program. Many tend to just do the usual cardio but I would say mix it up both strength training and cardio and also rest.
3 - Attitude you need to have it. It's kind of when I used to smoke earlier in my life, 2 packs a day and I would always say I would quit but never did. Then one day cold turkey quit and never since. Hey we've done harder things in life. Some of us have even made the decision to leave our parents home and live in other states far away from family. I say if you have the maturity to leave your family and go catch your dream... Hell I think we can leave and lose the pounds also. Really not that hard. It's simple we are just obscured by all the mass marketing lies...0 -
I have been on my journey since October 2011. I've lost 80 pounds. I know you asked for 3 tips, but I had a blog post that addressed your topic, and also have a lot I'd like to share. If it's too much, I guess you could just skim over it.
You don't have to be SUPER all at once, but commit to being better every day! First I signed up to be in a "Biggest Looser" competition at work and was seeing small success with small dieting. I began finding better diet ideas, and then added gym workouts. When I began to see numbers consistently on the scale, I committed to going to the gym every day. I was slowly enjoying the healthy lifestyle so much that I researched and kept learning more and improving my fitness routine.
The best advice I've gotten... make sure you are eating enough (see eating back your exercise calories). Advice I got a few months ago and thought people were CRAZY, but it really works; because if your body gets into starvation mode when you aren't eating enough, especially if you are working out super hard; plus who wants to work out just to burn muscle?
I LOVE going to the gym. I really do like it. I find it motivating because I feel stronger, I have friends there, and because I'm looking better and seeing results on the scale. Going hard at the gym, has a bigger payoff for me because I see the results faster and it keeps me more motivated. My friends at the gym comment about how I'm always happy at the gym, even at 4:30am. Even when I'm working hard- pushing through a hard set. Funny if you'd told me that 6 months ago when I hadn't used my membership in about 6 years!
Reinforcement is KEY. My initial incentive was the prospect that I could win $630 if I won my Biggest Looser competition with the largest percent of loss after 12 weeks. I reinforced myself for all my efforts. I made going to the gym rewarding. I Reinforced myself after reaching weight loss goals (10 pounds get haircut) but recently realizing I should have reinforced myself for going to the gym, eating better, or inches lost, because weight isn't the best measure of the fact that I am being successful! (Take your measurements because, you'll be happy you did months from now!)
I'm going to school to be a Behavior Analyst and as a Special Education teacher, I think my experience with behavior modification helped keep me focused. MFP and what you are doing here is based on behavior modification, keep up the great job!!! Here is a great article about behavior modification, diet and the digital age: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/06/the-perfected-self/8970/2/. This is an awesome introduction to Behavior Contracts: Carrots and Sticks a way you can make yourself accountable and has some ideas about reinforcement: https://player.vimeo.com/video/16888450 (at min 30 he talks about dieting).
Support has been important for me. I made a Journey album on my facebook page and have had some nice support from friends/family. Also have found some nice people to follow on fb. I post inspirational quotes on my wall. And of course MFP support is key. So in closing, get a good community of friends on here. Share your diary and accept feedback. Don't take it personally when someone tells you they think you should eat more or suggest something else because they are saying it because they care- research it and see if the suggestion might help. I heard once that a key to success is to find a mentor and be a mentor, so find someone who is ahead of you in the journey and someone to help along behind you (the you learn from teaching theory). And re-read your own profile once in a while, very insightful!
Feel free to add me if you want to have a mentor, we can learn together since I'm still on my journey. So glad you had this post!0 -
1. Starting
2. Logging everything
3. Drinking 8-12 glasses of ater a day0
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