TIPS FOR SUCCESS

Make sure you think short term and long term and make them quantifiable with dates. Oh too often we only have "lose 50 lbs." General Goals are destined to fail. If you have Lose 50 lbs by the end of the year, but this month lose 5 lbs. Its easier to hold yourself accountable. It also easier to see if your goal is ACTUALLY obtainable because we all think we are superman and sometimes set unrealistic goals.

Another one is NEVER forget your past victories no matter how small. You have done something that a previous you (whether you a day, a month or a year ago) couldn't do. By remember this, it can often get you out of a rut of plateau. Non Scale Victories (NSV) are some of the best victories to me. At the end of the day the scale is just one factor that doesn't capture everything in your journey!

Lastly, messing up, cheating, and plateaus happen to EVERYONE. Its what you do and decide AFTER this happens that shows your character, commitment and determination.

Make sure you think short term and long term and make them quantifiable with dates. Oh too often we only have "lose 50 lbs." General Goals are destined to fail. If you have Lose 50 lbs by the end of the year, but this month lose 5 lbs. Its easier to hold yourself accountable. It also easier to see if your goal is ACTUALLY obtainable because we all think we are superman and sometimes set unrealistic goals.

Another one is NEVER forget your past victories no matter how small. You have done something that a previous you (whether you a day, a month or a year ago) couldn't do. By remember this, it can often get you out of a rut of plateau. Non Scale Victories (NSV) are some of the best victories to me. At the end of the day the scale is just one factor that doesn't capture everything in your journey!

Lastly, messing up, cheating, and plateaus happen to EVERYONE. Its what you do and decide AFTER this happens that shows your character, commitment and determination.

Hear hear!

Try different things if something isn't working; change up your meals, fitness etc. so you don't get bored. Reward yourself- new clothes after small goals reached, or a fancy meal (even if that's just a hot fudge sundae, whatever you like!) but always come back to sticking to your plan afterwards. Drink lots of water/tea!! It will fill you up so you'll feel less hungry. Eat slowly. Be kind to yourself, forgive if you fall off the wagon. Just believe in your own strength to get back on it again.

Celebrate small victories (not with food).
Remember this is a lifestyle change...not a sprint to the finish.
Remember you haven't failed unless you quit.
WRITE down your goals, both big and small and set dates.

TRAIN and DIET that simple

Log everything you eat.

Drink lots of water.

Stay off the scale.

Be consistent.

Sleep.

Eat more vegetables.

Be patient.

Move and your heart will follow.

1) Train hard.

What I mean by that is that for very obese people who do zero activity except walk to the fridge, maybe walking or house cleaning can be considered exercise, and anything is better than nothing - we all started somewhere. BUT -- for the majority of people, a "workout" is where you do activity that makes you sweat and breathe hard, maybe even gasp for breath when you push hard. Do a combination of strength and cardio training.

2) Eat clean.

I'm not a big believer in fad diets (eliminate this, eat only soup, etc). I say eat clean, avoid food with added/excess sugar, and eat whole foods. Meat, whole wheat pasta, grains, fruit, vegetables - all of it. Drink lots of water, and avoid sugary drinks and alcohol. Those are just empty calories. Also, I am not a believer in "cheat days". To me, that is taking 4 steps forward and one back. Why would you want to give up progress you've made?

3) Looking for shortcuts?

There are none. See #1 and #2.

I don't claim to be a fitness/diet or exercise expert, but the above worked for me. I lost almost 100 lbs using those methods.

Great tips! I just got into the food scale myself! It has helped a TON especially since I have a heavy hand!

Also EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!! This helps fill you up and little calories and SO MUCH minerals! I try to eat a vegetable or fruit (try to be careful with fruits since it a lot of sugar if you eat too many) for every meal/ snack!

I like how all the tips are so different yet get to the same point!

Some changes I have made:

Drink more water

Drink green tea

Replace milk with skimmed milk

Replace white bread with wholemeal

Exercise reguarly

Keep going!

Never give up. If you make a mistake, or binge or lazy for a week, or anything similar - Get straight back to it as soon as you can, don't go back to your old ways, go back to where you left off!

Own it, log it and move on! No beating myself up for mistakes!

1) Train hard.

What I mean by that is that for very obese people who do zero activity except walk to the fridge, maybe walking or house cleaning can be considered exercise, and anything is better than nothing - we all started somewhere. BUT -- for the majority of people, a "workout" is where you do activity that makes you sweat and breathe hard, maybe even gasp for breath when you push hard. Do a combination of strength and cardio training.

2) Eat clean.

I'm not a big believer in fad diets (eliminate this, eat only soup, etc). I say eat clean, avoid food with added/excess sugar, and eat whole foods. Meat, whole wheat pasta, grains, fruit, vegetables - all of it. Drink lots of water, and avoid sugary drinks and alcohol. Those are just empty calories. Also, I am not a believer in "cheat days". To me, that is taking 4 steps forward and one back. Why would you want to give up progress you've made?

3) Looking for shortcuts?

There are none. See #1 and #2.

I don't claim to be a fitness/diet or exercise expert, but the above worked for me. I lost almost 100 lbs using those methods.

1 cheat day doesnt ruin a diet. You cant lose 5 lbs in a day, you certainly wont gain it either (because it takes 3500 calories in addition to how many your body needs to maintain itself in order to gain a lb. So roughly 5500 calories in a pound for the average person). If you work out regularly and eat healthy the majority of the time, one cheat day or cheat meal will not ruin your progress

Great tips! Thanks!