How did you do it?

BUUUMP!:)

What is your #1 tip?

Drink water. A lot of water. Then drink more water.

Every time you draw a breath it's a chance to make another choice. And take it one choice at a time.

This morning at 5:15 I decided not to get up and work out. I'd do it later, I decided.
At 5:16 I decided to get up and work out.

One choice at a time.
And lots and lots of water.

1) Don't let one bad day derail you. I've been at it since May, and I've never had an absolutely "perfect" day. Just get up the next morning and do your best.

2) Don't try to do it all at once. Pick one thing, then another, then another. First I switched to diet soda and walked during my lunch break. Then I stopped drinking diet soda and walked for an hour. Then I started doing more intense workouts and reducing my sodium. I just kept adding baby step after baby step so it wasn't overwhelming. When you learn to swim, you don't jump into an ocean. You start in the shallow end.

3) Keep a blog, even if it's private. I love that I have a journal listing each and every change, all of my emotions, all of my victories, the variances in my weight so I can see that it isn't linear but DOES go down, pictures of my progress, etc. Knowing that people are reading it gives me even more motivation, but you don't have to make it public.

4) You will hear eight million opinions in MFP threads. Do your own research and decide what's best for you.

#1 tip.

its a mindset you need to have. look long term...

not in weeks..not in months...but in years.

if you can get it through to your mind you will make outstanding progress.

you look short term you will be discouraged by lack of progess you make or the quick success you achieve and consistancy may falter.. create a goal of where you want to be and a sight of where you are headed it puts consistancy in retrospect and you dont sweat the small stuff and its much easier. working out and dieting becomes second nature.

it may be easier for me because i am younger and i told myself when i was 18 that i will be at the physique i want to be around 25ish years old (7 years of training and good diet) which seems like forever but i have already build a much better body than i once had and lost lots of body fat.. set the goals far away so even when success is in sight or failure is approached you keep going because you have a time frame in your mind where you will not give up until that goal is reached and ultimately you will surpass your previous expectations of yourself.

Seeing all these people who have successfully lost considerable weight is really encouraging!!! For all of us who are just beginning this weight-loss journey, what advice can you give us? What is your #1 tip?

There is no mystery to weight loss, everyone thinks something is wrong, their metabolism is broken, they have low thyroid, they have menopause or whatever issue, they are as unique as a snowflake, whatever. I thought a lot of these things once too but once the doctor helped resolve the health issues for me I learned there is still no magic pill. Most people eat more than they need to and are not at good at estimating calories as they think they are. Most people have a lower BMR than they think they do. The only way to know for sure is to go to a lab and have it tested. It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.

All I can do is share what worked for me. I achieved my goal at age 50 after beating my head against the wall for 15 years. Yeah anyone can do it, but I can tell you that you are up against a lot when you are older and I believe females have some unique issue to face with hormones and such. The sooner you can get a handle on it the better. DO NOT GIVE UP. As I got older and the weight piled on (and I didn't feel I was eating too much!) everyone kept telling me to give up, this is what happens when you get older. I'm small, and I didn't realize how small I was until I lost the weight. Everyone said I had big bones. I looked hefty because I worked out. Once I lost the weight I realized how small I really was and that small people don't need to eat as much as big people. HINT: If you are short you are probably small.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

To say eat more is wrong.

To say eat less is wrong.

To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.

All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. Don't make it complicated.


Also people play mental accounting games with calories just like with finances. Make steps to make sure you are making accurate measurements. Packaged foods can have MORE than they say but not less (they get in trouble if less so they would rather error with MORE).

If you typically intake sodium at a certain rate your body adjusts, but if you make a sudden change then you will see a spike.

Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

It really is about calories. I tell people this all the time and they say "Well if calories are all that matter why do you eat so clean???!!" Well, because it makes me feel better, sleep better, and perform better at my sports.

Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.

What is the exact number of calories for you?

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban (The Body Centric Calorie Guide from the Venus Index and Adonis Index Manuals)

The good thing is you don't have to worry about the starvation mode myth if you are fat. Only skinny people have to worry about starvation mode. It does not mean you have the capability to eat at a large calorie deficit if you have emotional eating disorders or other issues going on, but at least you don't have to be afraid of it anymore.

The Theory of Fat Availability:
•There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
•The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

-Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)

Lifting weights is KEY. I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am.

Start lifting now, lift heavy and change it up often, find a lot of weight routines with free weights, make it fun, embrace it, make it part of your life. Only 3 days a week is all it would take. Crank up your tunes and learn to love it, because your body will love it and it will make your quality of life better in many ways, especially when you get older like me.

Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, and you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

If you are female you don't have the hormones to get big naturally. I lift heavy and I'm still really tiny. My lean body mass is only 104 lbs and that is fairly heavy for a 5'1" female, and quite a bit of this is due to my having very dense bones from 30 years of lifting, not all muscle, and I'm still quite tiny.

My muscles really are not that big, but they show a lot of definition because I'm quite lean. If I gained some fat then I would have a softer more toned look (which is OKAY too!). Then if I gained more fat I would look bulky and hefty like I did most of my life until last year. YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER YOU WANT. Lean and ripped, soft and toned, or hefty, it all depends on how much fat you leave on your body. Calories are the only thing that changes fat. Exercise is for changing or maintaining your lean body mass only. Lifting weights will give you the best bang for your buck for shaping your body. I finally changed my shape by putting lifting first and cardio 2nd. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

#1 tip.... log log and log. don't skip even if your over your limit. Don't cheat just change. Plus eat smaller portions of eveything restriction only makes you want it more.

you've opened Pandora's box with this post. The MFP database may not be able to hold all the responses. :bigsmile:

Here's how I did it. It started with Work, Work, Work, Work............ After that I slacked off a bit and started getting fatter. Then I figured out how to get back on track. Work, Work, Work, Work............

Now that my smarty pants response is done I'll move to a more serious answer.

Less Calories but not too few. Followed MFP guidelines but did not eat back exercise cals. Kept the bad stuff off the menu but did not go crazy with the good stuff. Just easy on the calories.

4 cardios per week, 1hr each, HR 140 to 160BPM. Any exercise as long as the HR stays in the zone.

3 strength trainings a week for at least 1/2 each. Train every muscle equally.

I was up at night watching TV thinking to myself, I'm tired of being fat but never doing anything about it. I then went online and researched weight loss apps. I came across MFP. i downloaded it on 09/10/12 and starting following the calorie goals it gave me. Mind you no exercise, just 4 meals a day that didn't exceed my daily goal. Well all I can say is follow the calorie goal, when your ready, join a gym for cardio/strength or just go for 30 minute walks. 52 days later and I weigh 28lbs less...who would have thought just counting calories without any fancy weight loss gimic diet or pills you could acheive these results... Good Luck

When just starting out, I simply ate good food regularly and started working out religiously. That got me from overweight / borderline obsese to normal. At some point I started counting calories because I wanted to get down to a pretty low body fat percentage.

I've lost 34lbs since June and my biggest tip would be to eat as clean as you can. If you eat junk, you'll want more junk. Just stay away from it as much as possible. Your calories will also go a lot further eating clean. I just stopped eating junk and I don't miss it at all.

Also, be patient. I only lost 2lbs in all of September. It will eventually come off if you keep doing the right things, so don't give up!!

So true!!!! Eating junk really does make you want more junk. Keep it clean!