How did you prepare/begin your new lifestlye?

Each of us found our way here in different ways. And we each find what works for us in terms of weight loss, sometimes through trial-and-error. I found MFP while loosely following Weight Watchers and searching for nutritional information on certain foods. I signed up so that I could get that information and was astounded by all the tools here for weight loss. I began tracking my food intake in the Food Diary immediately, and within a week decided there was no reason to go through WW ever-changing formulas for converting caloriess into points. I had lost weight with WW (I just read about their program---never joined or attended a meeting, etc.), but MFP simplified things so much for me that I chose to continue here.

Be sure to look at all the things you can do with your Food Diary. You can click on "Recipes" and enter your own recipes so that whenever you eat that particular food you can just add it to your diary from the "Recipes" list---quick and easy. Another favorite of mine is "My Meals" in the Food Diary. If, for example, you have a favorite combination of foods (i.e., tonight I'm having tilapia, mango salsa, brown rice, and steamed zucchini and carrots). You can enter each of the items that make up that meal to your diary, then click on "Tools" and choose "Remember meal." Then you just name the meal (i.e., in my case, Tilapia and Rice), and every time you have that meal you just have to click on "My Meals" (at the top of the Food Diary page) and choose the name of that meal. All components of that meal will be entered automatically, so that you don't have to search and enter every food item each time. Using my example, if you have broccoli instead of the zucchini and carrots, you simply delete the zucchini and carrots from the diary and add broccoli---still very simple.

Take time to play around with the many features here because, in the end, it will save you lots of time. They are all pretty intuitive and easy to use. If you use all the tools, logging daily food is not cumbersome. One other thing---you can enter the food before you eat it. I sometimes enter the entire day ahead of time, and I usuallly enter my main meal (dinner) a week ahead, when I'm planning meals for my family and my shopping list. When I have all the dinners filled in for the week, it helps me plan a balanced diet for the rest of the day that won't exceed or go to far below my target calories and macros.

I knew I needed to make a change, finally told the personal trainer at my office that I was going to see her the next day. I started slowly, she had me doing a little cardio and weight circuit. She said keep modify what I had been eating but not drastically and to log it into MFP. After the initial 2 weeks she evaluated what i was eating and made a few suggestions. I did some research and continued to make changes. It was gradual though. There wasn't much planning for me as I had decided the day before that I was going to work out and had no idea of MFP. Close to a year later and 124 lbs, it was the best decision I have ever made!!!

I just simply pick one bad habit and reduce it or eliminate it from my daily rountine. I first started out with reducing my intake of soda to once a day then once a week, and lastly none...

I have learned in a health class that starting with small steps will last a life time. So far it is proven me right.

Yup, this is exactly what I did! With the things I was going to keep in my diet, I changed my portion sizes.

bump

Yes on all the comments above: logging every single bite/taste, eliminating just desserts (already ate healthy), increased existing exercise from 2-3 days a week to 5-6 days a week, joined a fabulous fit group that I found free through meetup.com, finally and most important turned over this entire journey to prayer. Never thought of prayer and God for weightloss but well, it has been working. I have experienced as steady loss since Feb 2013. You have to be in charge of your life, end of story.....much success to you.....

I just started logging. Actually, I think logging without changing anything gives you a good baseline to compare yourself to. It also gives you a sense of where your calories are coming from so you can make better choices.

For me the biggest thing I get out of MFP is that educated me about a few things that I was doing that added up to enough extra calories that I had gained a pound a year for 30 years. Then it was easy to drop those few things and lose weight.

^ I agree with this.

I randomly found this site whilst looking for nice recipes. I started logging that very evening. And I very quickly realised I needed new food in my cupboards. I was able to search through the posts and food dastabase for better alternatives. Its a real eye opener!!

No preparation. I just decided I was going to start watching/logging what I eat on X day and go from there. 45+ days later and I've just hit 15 lbs lost, my endurance has increased from walking everyday and I feel great. It's pretty easy once you start to get into the habit.

I randomly found this thread while looking for information on preparing for a biometric screening.
I'm not entirely sure what I searched for that brought me to this, but I'm really glad that it did. I found lots of people to have helpful personal insights into their journey.

BUMP!!

What I did was, not throw everything away. I made sure I was ready and not doing for any other reasons but myself, health and what makes ME happy. I think once you are doing this for you, it makes it that much easier to set a goal and start up. I didnt throw anything away. Instead I kept it, and ate/drank until the bad stuff was gone. My mind set was, "once all of this is gone, there is no more". Then when it was all gone, I just didnt buy it or put myself around it anymore. I then jumped on the get fit train. Been doing this for over a month now. its been great!

I just dove in and started. No planning, no picking a day. I just did.

I just decided Monday I'm starting, no excuses. I cut out all the junk and cut down my portions sizes. I started with just walking and built up from there.

I only started logging on MFP back in July when I was down about 35 lbs.

no picking a day.

Picking a day is a terrible idea. People have failed for centuries using the "start day" mentality.

Thursday: I'm starting a whole new lifestyle. I'll get started once the weekend is over. On Monday.
Monday: Work today was stressful, I'll start my new lifestyle tomorrow.
Tuesday: I'm tired. Wednesday sounds like a good day to start.
Wednesday: Lunch with the guys in sales really put me over on the calories, I'll start again tomorrow.
Thursday: I'm starting a whole new lifestyle. I'll get started once the weekend is over. On Monday.

- - - run endless loop sequence - - -

I did a total cleanout of my life.

Did different tasks everyday to prep for my new lifestyle. Like clean/scrub my refrigerator and get rid of all the bad foods in the cabinets.

I made a playlist specifically for working out.

I bought some new workout clothes/shoes

I made a list of reasons on why I should change my lifestyle, and a list why I shouldn't. (Obviously the list to change was much longer and more meaningful)

I began a guided workout program.

I joined a gym

I made a detailed grocery list. and went grocery shopping

It gave me a lot of momentum, and its done nothing but help me change. I am a changed man, and my preparation helped me overcome my addiction to food, and laziness.

Awesome organizational skills. This is exactly how I would have started if I were :glasses: Perfect :glasses:

First, I got rid of all the junk food that was in the house. Then, I started logging.