your secret

There are so secrets. You either commit or you don't.

I maintain a moderate calorie deficit and exercise. Don't tell anyone.

Hahaha love it!!!

And yet this really is the 'secret'

There are so secrets. You either commit or you don't.

^This!

I train with weights 4 days a week. 2 days of cardio or yoga if I have time. Keep my calories on the lowish side of 800 - 1000, with the occasional planned high calorie day if I have an event to go to. I do IF 2x each week. As my weight and measurements get lower, I will slowly increase calories. My diary is also public. I may not post everything I eat specifically, but I do track the calories. I overestimate calories eaten and underestimate calories burned. I also don't eat back my exercise calories.

As was said before, there are no secrets. You have to find what works and is sustainable for you.

Mine is simple, I cut out processed foods, sugar and wheat...then I hired a personal trainer. He has gotten me amazing results

Eat when you are truly hungry. Somehow your body forgives when you really need it. I just learned this lately after depriving myself for years.

Im good on the diet cuz i just dont keep **** in the house.....but Youtube videos help me stay fired up...

"How Great I Am"
"How Bad Do You Want It" one with a homeless guy and one with ECU Football player
"Hard work beats Talent"
"Rise-Motivational"

Videos can turn an internal fire from a match to a BLAZE!!! Anyone can check them out and let me know what you think.

P90x check, Insanity check- 51 pounds down and still moving forward.

Shucks! I thought I was going to see some sharing of moral turpitude. :embarassed:

The secret is patience. Keep your head in the game long enough and stick with your workouts and you will get the job done. I have been there and done that many times. If anyone knows the secret to beating depression that always causes me to gain the 45-90lbs I always work so hard to drop...that would be the best secret to have. Sometimes working out alone dont keep it away.

There are so secrets. You either commit or you don't.

this. and patience and time.

I think of the info that I record in my daily diary sort of as a bank account. Income and Expenditure. You keep track of your bank account, you monitor what you deposit and what you withdraw through spending. You try to keep a balance. This is similar. You record what you eat, you record what you burn. You try to keep the balance in your Net Calories. In the bank, if you want to spend it you have to be sure you've earned it first. In the food diary, if you want to eat it you have to make sure you've either earned or saved room for those calories. It's not a perfect metaphor, but it sort of works. It's also not a perfect system. Some days you don't work out, some days you overeat. But you're aiming for The Big Picture, not just one stand-alone day.

Also, patience.

To all the people who post success stories & pictures, please also add what your secret was to lose all your weight!! I would love to hear what your calorie intake was.

Everybody's clorie intake is gonna be different because everybody is composed differently. What works for me, may not work for you.

I think calorie requirements are different for everyone. There is no hard and fast rule. I stay between 1200-1500 calories a day. 1200 on days that I don't work and closer to 1500 on days that I do, but I have a physically demanding job. I also have a thyroid condition which is why the lower caloric intake is necessary for me. Other people have higher requirements. I think that a lot of people make things more complicated than they need to be. My method is this - eat healthy (lots of fruit, veggies, water, lean proteins, whole grains), exercise for an hour a day, strength train a couple days a week since muscle burns more calories at rest than fat, and pay attention to my body. I know my body needs more fuel when I'm hungry, so I feed it. That's it. Eat right, stay active, build muscle. The weight will come off if your patient. Stressing over it just makes you retain the weight.

I agree with other peoples comments about patience and finding what works for you and sticking to it. The basics are eat a little less, exercise a little more. You can make yourself crazy reading all different methods people swear by.

That said, what worked for me personally was joining online WW. I lost over 50 pounds, and kept it off for years, then backslid 20 pounds over the last two years due to work stress and getting lazy with my eating/exercising habits. I haven’t been a member in years, but I still use all the basics I learned from them. When I started dieting I had NO idea how to diet. I tried on my own for several months and was unsuccessful. I just didn’t understand how many calories/fat etc were appropriate in a day, how much (or little) an hour’s worth of exercise actually allowed me to eat, what a proportion size was etc. This was also well before things like MFP were available. WW got me into the habit of weighing and measuring food precisely, I’ve been doing the weighing and measuring for so long that I can eyeball things at restaurants and parties etc. and have a pretty good idea of how much I’m eating. It also helped me with moderation, I can allow myself a guilt free cheat day or two in a week and still lose weight. However, I don’t think that’s “the secret” it’s just what worked for me. Many others have not liked WW at all, and there are so many other diet tools available now. It’s all about finding your thing, and once you do, stop reading about what other people are doing. It will stress you out.