Lessons learned - What DIDN'T work for you?

Plugging in proper amounts of healthy food & enough exercise and thinking it would be enough to overcome a lifetime of using food to self medicate/soothe/nourish/entertain the spirit is not my answer. I must actively pursue What my life needs, where my passions are, and what fills me up, everyday. I slowly abandoned Livestrong 2X after much success because I didn't realize desperately fought for control doesn't fulfill, it just masks.

Not logging. Logging will have to be a forever thing for me. The moment I stopped logging, I lose control and I stop caring. Something about seeing the #'s on the screen and making me accountable even if I go way over keeps me in check. I can gain 60+ lbs in less than 6 months when I don't log. So, this will be a forever thing. God (Mike?), please don't ever take this site away.

This for me all the way!

Trying to lose weight without exercise doesn't work for me
Low fat dairy products don't work.
Calorie cycling doesn't work

What didn't work for me was being lenient with myself.
With time I understood that starting to diet is a bit like a bad break up: you're reluctant to do it, you're not used to the new situation, you have moments of weakness all the damn time. However, I hate to say this but the main thing I needed to do is simply stop being a *****.
I now work out minimum 5 times a week. I've started zumba and I'm now starting other aerobics and pilates activities (gradually) and I feel great about it. Something about persisting for an entire month (since I started them) has made me experience working out as something insanely positive. I don't think of it as a chore anymore... Well, I consider it as one of my daily activities, but when I go there I genuinely enjoy it. So, changing my mindset about working out has helped me big time.

Snacking. I LOVE eating things while I watch films or read a book. I was looking for healthy low calories snacks only yesterday (carrot and light salad cream is by far my favourite), when I read an illuminating advice from someone. They simply said: "Give up snacking entirely. When you eat, eat consciously. Have a few meals in your day and make sure you enjoy them and plan them, but don't snack." I feel like these few sentences have literally given me permission to stop snacking, as if someone out there definitely suggests a new brilliantly positive habit. They also suggested drinking green tea, so I'm definitely willing to try that out asap.

What did help big time (slightly off topic): Becoming a vegetarian. I did this for an entire month (simply because I wanted to give it a go), but now that I'm allowed to eat meat again I simply don't want to. My mind is SO used to calculating calories related to vegetables, dairy, eggs, bread etc that I don't even want to start by including meat in my diet.

I hope this helped you at all!

I prefer to think on the positive, so these are the positive things I have learnt so far on my weight loss journey. I have learned that it's never a diet, its always a lifestyle change. That exercise is forever; I love running; that I don't need chocolate; eating healther makes your skin, hair and nails look better; don't sweat the small stuff, If I fall off the wagon for a day or two just get straight back on; nobodys perfect you are just the best you can be; and MFP is the best place to loose weight with great support from your friends! :bigsmile:

Comparing my habits to others doesn't work for me. I enjoy these forums, for example, and I do get great ideas and inspiration from them...but I've gotta be careful. Sometimes I can be quite competitive and with diet/exercise I don't think that is always healthy for me. So I can't take others' habits too seriously and let it affect my own. For example if I read about someone who is eating 100% "clean" and lifting and running every day but is around my size, it will get under my skin and I will start to feel like a failure for my own less strict diet and simple walk of a few miles.