NEED TO LOSE 100 LBS OR MORE !

I have to share this......

Top 10 things I've learned along the way


1. The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday - I borrowed this saying from my MFP pal Brutesquad (who borrowed it from the Navy Seals), but it sums it all up better than anything else I can think of. If you became obese, you will fight the “battle of the bulge” for the rest of your life. Apparently the most recent science from Yale and Cornell supports this phenomena - - one that most of us have experienced first-hand. Even if you reach your “ideal” weight after much effort, and hold it there for years; your body remembers that it was once heavy and wants to get back to that nice comfy place where they serve jelly doughnuts. You will always need to consume less calories than someone who is the same size as you, but who spent their entire life at the “ideal weight.” So, as many have said before, this must be a lifestyle change, not a temporary change. Diets are great to get you started, but no “diet tricks” will ever work for maintaining your weight. If you “diet” and then go back to your old method of eating, then you will just gain it all right back. You have to keep hammering away at the fat enemy every day for the rest of your life. You can whine about how unfair this all is, or you can accept it and get to work.

2. Eat Less and Move More - That is the only answer to the weight problem. Now, tomorrow and 50 years from now, if you want to weigh less you have to do both of these things. I don’t care whether you go paleo, Atkins, low calorie, low fat, vegan, or whatever floats your boat. I don't care if you run, swim, lift, bike, or zumba. If it means you eat less than you burn every day, go with it. One approach may work better for you than another, and you can adjust things up and down as needed for your body situation, goals and metabolism, but this unforgiving rule of physics is one you cannot escape. You have to burn more calories than you take in to lose weight. And, you have to burn just as many calories as you take in to stay at that weight; every week from now until you are pushing up daisies. Anybody who tells you different and promises a “miracle” fix is lying.

3. Do Something You Like - You need to, for the most part, enjoy your fitness journey, or at least not hate it. If you hate your exercise routine, and it feels like torture every day, you will fail. Willpower alone can only take you so far. Once you figure out what you have to do (to meet Rule #2) and find exercises you enjoy (or at least can tolerate), you can go on cruise control and just go out and get it done every day. I know; you don’t like exercise, right? So find the ones you hate the least and do them until you learn to like them! You will enjoy them more than the diabetes/stroke/heart attack which are behind Door #2.

4. Do The (Hard) Work - I hate to break it to you, but you have got to work hard to make body changes. There is no fitness system, pill, or gizmo that will ever give you a flat stomach, a firm butt, or the physique you want. If you think there is, you will be continually disappointed and poorer for it. What “hard” means will vary from person to person, but you have to challenge your body and fitness level if you want them to change. Depending on your fitness level, a 5 minute brisk walk may be “hard.” Do it anyway if you want results. If you don’t want results, why are you reading this?

5. Eat some damn breakfast - I know its early - just do it. Your body will thank you.

6. Drink a bunch of water - Seriously! Keep drinking it every day. Drink ½ your body weight in ounces or as much as you can stand, whichever comes first. It helps. It also keeps you away from soda and sugared drinks which is HUGE for cutting calories.

7. Don't allow yourself to get HUNGRY - Eat something (preferably something healthy) at least every four hours unless you are sleeping. That “I could eat a horse” feeling will lead to trouble – metabolically speaking.

8. Eat Stuff That Used to Be Alive - I am not an “All Natural Organic Everything” type of guy, but I get the argument. If all you eat is a bunch of chemicals, why are you surprised that you feel lousy? I never read a food label before this year, but when I started doing it – wow, what an eye opener (both from a calorie and an ingredient standpoint). I don’t care what the carb/protein/fat mix is as long as you are hitting your nutrient and calorie goals, and you feel good, but the stuff that used to be a part of nature had better be the foundation of each meal. Everybody eats processed foods from time to time, but try to keep them to a minimum. They tend to offer less fiber, less nutritional value, and are less satiating. Thus, you eat more which is how we all got here. Most of the natural stuff is packed with fiber. Fiber's effect is the opposite of snack foods’. When you have fiber in your stomach, food takes longer to enter the bloodstream, and your blood-sugar level stays steady. You stay sane and your body works efficiently to burn calories - it's win-win.

9. Make a Plan - If you haven’t thought about how you will get your workouts in, or how you will meet, but not exceed, your calorie goals, don’t be surprised when you fail. Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail. How you do it is up to you, but you better make a plan and stick to it. Figure out your BMR, your TDEE, and adjust your Plan as needed. Find a goal and make your plan to reach it. I don't care if its a target weight, a little pink bikini, or a marathon finish. Write it down, and work at reaching that goal. Wing it, and you might as well say “Goodbye diet - hello diabetes.”

10. Don’t Quit - If you fall off the horse, you get back on. It’s as simple as that. Life will put obstacles in your path, and you will fail from time to time. Just don’t quit. You, and your loved ones, are worth the effort. Mine certainly are. Yours are too, aren't they?

Remember, the only easy day was yesterday. (Sorry, I don't make the rules - I've just gotta live with them the same as everyone else.) I didn't think any of this stuff up, I just learned it the hard way.

Got it? Great, now go get to work! You got this!

Tuesday goals - I posted this on my profile earlier, "Today is my first day... again. I've been entirely frustrated by my reduction lately, or lack thereof. Whatever I am doing I am doing it very very wrong. So today I am starting over. It's obvious that I cannot eat back exercise calories and expect to reduce. Nightly binges aren't doing me any favors either, even if they are covered by exercise calories (which I no longer have). I bought a food scale, now I need to use it, a lot. I am actually proud of myself about my exercise habits, just HAVING exercise habits feels pretty awesome. The values that MFP gives for calories burned is way the hell off though, so I am just going to reduce my calories burned by half. I am announcing this to you all so that it is real, something that I need to be doing everyday. aug" That's my goals then. Better food choices, less junk, more exercise, and less fibbing.

@Bella - You have a tough row to hoe, I'm pulling for ya. Here's praying

@Skinnyjeanzbound - I think your husband is alright, we BBQ snobs are very close that way.

aug

@Aug: I haven't used the MFP eercise values in a very long time since I got an HRM. I've compared the two values before and the HRM calories are usually way over what mfp says. Not sure what formula they use but its not reliable in that slightest.
I think its awesome you're getting back on the horse. :drinker: Here's to ya!

:explode: So I am having a horrible day. I am having that time of the month for the first time in three months and it scuks. I feel crappy and I am starving. So far I havent gone crazy but all I can think about is food. I have always had a "hungry day" this time of the month and would just graze through the whole day using biology as an excuse. So far i have only strayed a little from the eating plan and ate about three trays of ice pretending it is food, lol. I know I can do this but sometimes it is alot harder then others. Anyway ty for listening to my little rant.:sad: