Dieting - WHERE TO START?

michelle_howe
michelle_howe Posts: 12 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Ugh - I NEED to lose a few pounds (ok, like 30!) but I dont know where to start. I tell myself I am going to lay off the fast food & junk, but then lunchtime rolls around and I'm STARVING and hit the drive thru.

Its so overwhelming & despressing to think about giving up all the foods I love.

and exercising - GAH!! Not one part of that seems fun....

How did you all start? Where did you start?! How do you stick with it?

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    Start with logging everything you eat and drink.

    You can still have drive-thru food. Just account for it and decide if it's worth it.

    Your choice - I didn't give up my favorite foods, been maintaining for five years. It's about finding strategies that work for you, not following some arbitrary "food rules".

    Calories in calories out.
  • Rei1988
    Rei1988 Posts: 412 Member
    Look into keto diet
  • MzManiak
    MzManiak Posts: 1,361 Member
    1. Log your food.
    2. Don't give up anything.
    3. Exercise. Because it's good for you.
    4. Stay within your calorie goal.
    5. Try to pre-log your food. I pre-log so that I can have ice cream every night.

    Learn as you go... don't try to do too much right away, that's why it's overwhelming. Make a couple goals. Accomplish them, and then reevaluate.
  • mohotma85
    mohotma85 Posts: 3
    Start small and work your way up from there. I walk at lunch when I can, if it's only 10 mins or if it's 25 mins like today. If you don't already, make sure you are eating breakfast and have a snack in between breakfast & lunch. This is will help to make sure you are not starving at lunch time. Limit your soda intake and make sure your drinking water. When I cut soda, I instantly lost a few pounds.:smile: YOU GOT THIS!
  • c_tap77
    c_tap77 Posts: 189 Member
    I plan out everything: meal plans, shopping lists, exercise.

    Until I started doing that I wasn't very successful, but once I started planning it was much easier to curb the temptation to eat things I was trying to cut out of my new lifestyle.

    Once I started preparing food at the beginning of the week and taking lunch to work everyday, I stopped going out (or stopping by the food trucks parked outside my office building).

    My husband and I also cleared out of pantry and fridge and try to keep junk food out of the house. Instead we buy tons of fruits and veggies and I prep them all as soon as we get home from the store so we can always reach into the fridge for some grapes or carrots.

    I also try to find things that are healthier treats for myself (like dark chocolate or a little bit of nutella with some strawberries). We will make baked french fries and turkey burgers instead of stopping for the big mac and super sized fries. We make shrimp taco salad instead of getting taco bell.

    I still eat the foods and flavors I love but find healthier ways to prepare them so I stay within my calorie goals.
  • notnikkisixx
    notnikkisixx Posts: 375 Member
    Start with logging everything you eat and drink.

    You can still have drive-thru food. Just account for it and decide if it's worth it.

    Your choice - I didn't give up my favorite foods, been maintaining for five years. It's about finding strategies that work for you, not following some arbitrary "food rules".

    Calories in calories out.

    THIS.

    "Dieting" will set you up to fail. Making a lifestyle change, however, will not. I haven't lost weight through dieting, I've lost weight through being more aware of what I put in my body and by logging my food to make sure that I am always at a calorie deficit. The changes you make to lose weight need to be sustainable, something that you can continue to do once you've reached the maintenance stage, otherwise you'll just gain it all back.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    Start with logging everything you eat and drink.

    You can still have drive-thru food. Just account for it and decide if it's worth it.

    Your choice - I didn't give up my favorite foods, been maintaining for five years. It's about finding strategies that work for you, not following some arbitrary "food rules".

    Calories in calories out.

    ^ This. And nothing says that you can't, or shouldn't, slowly improve and hone your approach over time, but start here. Drastic changes are hard to stick with, so take baby steps and stick with it.
  • UnknownDeity
    UnknownDeity Posts: 12
    I'm doing diet chef, does everything for you :D

    With the meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) your average daily calorie intake will be 1,200 calories which leaves you a bit of room to add stuff if you wish. They deliver a months worth of meals to your door and you pick and choose what you would like to receive. I'm only on day 1 so far but everything i ate tasted fantastic and it works perfectly around my schedule. 3 mins in the microwave and dinners ready haha.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    Getting a handle on your consumption starts with planning, thinking it through before hand. When I'm hungry I reach for the closest thing, so I make sure I know in advance what that closest thing is. When I stop planning everything else goes haywire.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Start by not going on a diet.

    Start by eating the foods you like, logging them here on MFP, setting a moderate calorie deficit (ie. tell MFP you want to lose 1 lb a week for now) and seeing how well you meet that goal. Make any adjustments that you think are necessary as you go on. Make small, gradual changes that you can stick with indefinitely. Get more active, which will allow you to eat more, as well as feel fitter and just feel better in general. Keep it simple; this doesn't have to be torture.
  • iceflow
    iceflow Posts: 17 Member
    Count everything you eat, WEIGH your food. I remember when I started MFP. I found out 50g of cheese is much less than I originally thought.
  • inkydnk3
    inkydnk3 Posts: 62 Member
    You've got some great ideas here and organization is key to success:) Would love to have that shrimp taco salad recipe:)


    I plan out everything: meal plans, shopping lists, exercise.

    Until I started doing that I wasn't very successful, but once I started planning it was much easier to curb the temptation to eat things I was trying to cut out of my new lifestyle.

    Once I started preparing food at the beginning of the week and taking lunch to work everyday, I stopped going out (or stopping by the food trucks parked outside my office building).

    My husband and I also cleared out of pantry and fridge and try to keep junk food out of the house. Instead we buy tons of fruits and veggies and I prep them all as soon as we get home from the store so we can always reach into the fridge for some grapes or carrots.

    I also try to find things that are healthier treats for myself (like dark chocolate or a little bit of nutella with some strawberries). We will make baked french fries and turkey burgers instead of stopping for the big mac and super sized fries. We make shrimp taco salad instead of getting taco bell.

    I still eat the foods and flavors I love but find healthier ways to prepare them so I stay within my calorie goals.
    [/quote]
  • tyb03
    tyb03 Posts: 52 Member
    I agree with a lot of what everyone else has been saying. You TRULY have to want to make a change and commit to it. It's not easy, but once you get going it becomes routine. Yes, log in everything you eat/drink. Yes, you can still go to fast food but choose healthier selections or as someone else stated, after logging it in decide if it's worth it. You HAVE to make time to work out, even if it's 30 min a day. During a moment you'd normally sit down and watch TV, find something active to do. You'll learn to enjoy your lifestyle change and especially love it once you start receiving compliments about how great you're looking. Best of luck! Add me if you'd like.
  • romach79
    romach79 Posts: 277 Member
    If you don't have a vision of what you want to accomplish, you will lose interest. Get a picture of what you want to look like and post it so you see it every day. Write down your goal and set a date to achieve it - make it realistic or you will get frustrated. Then start by making small changes. Start with a 30 minute walk every day. Write down everything you eat and figure out what your target caloric intake is and develop an eating plan to get there. Realize it will take time, you will get frustrated and want to give up, but decide right now that you won't. You are stronger than you realize, so press on and git er done.
  • itsscottwilder
    itsscottwilder Posts: 317
    Have a plan

    Rack up some small successes quickly

    Add a new goal every week.

    So maybe right away, you can cut out two fast food meals a week and replace them with something you prepare at home.

    Maybe you replace high sugar drinks with diet drinks or home made fruit smoothies.

    Once you get some good habits going, you'll find it pretty natural to add something beneficial every week.
  • aNewYear123
    aNewYear123 Posts: 279 Member
    Start with logging everything you eat and drink.

    You can still have drive-thru food. Just account for it and decide if it's worth it.

    Your choice

    ^^^ This
  • shellma00
    shellma00 Posts: 1,684 Member
    Start with logging everything you eat and drink.

    You can still have drive-thru food. Just account for it and decide if it's worth it.

    Your choice

    ^^^ This

    Definitely .. Sometimes it is a real eye opener when you see how many calories you are consuming for one meal that you may have thought wasnt all that bad. Once you are aware of how many calories are in your meals and food you should be able to know where to start to fix the problem. Once you have a hang on the food aspect, start some form of exercise. Even if it is taking a small walk on your lunch hour or after work. Exercise will gain you more calories so that you do not have to give up certain foods that you cannot live without. I still enjoy ice cream regularly, but I make sure it fits within my daily calorie goals.
  • CorlissaEats
    CorlissaEats Posts: 493 Member
    I agree with others. Start by NOT going on a diet.

    Diets inevitably fail and cause discouragement when you fail. Start a lifestyle change. Plan and adjust daily to meet a reasonable calorie intake goal. Set measurable and achievable goals like eating a vegetable with every meal/snack which should naturally start to reduce your calories. Reducing your pop/soda intake to once a week will cut them and your sugars. Walking 10-15 minutes at lunch time every work day will burn a few extra. Only having one coffee per day (if thats your empty calorie vice.) Eating breakfast everyday, etc. Find goals that are healthy and meaningful to you.

    I started by addressing my portion sizes. I love food I just eat too much. I dont need to eat as large of portions as I tend to serve myself so I often measure things- especially salad dressings or liquids. I avoid liquid calories too.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Finding the correct balance of nutrition and fitness is not an overnight happening...it takes quite awhile to hone things in. Hell, I'm almost a year in and I make tweaks here and there.

    1) don't try to do everything at once. Start by logging your current foods...this is generally a real eye opener for many, not only in RE to how much crap they're eating, but also, how much actual nutrition they're missing on. Also, if you're maintaining with these levels of food, it's easy to start pulling stuff out to get a proper cut rather than relying on some arbitrary number given to you by a calculator.

    2) in addition to cutting your calories, just start making better nutritional decisions. again, baby steps...you don't have to do a 180* change to your dietary and fitness lifestyle all at once...doing so is actually detrimental to your goals because you're less likely to stick to things.

    3) you don't have to deprive yourself of things you enjoy. as i said in #2...just be conscious of making better overall decisions...but you can still have some cake now and then. a lot of people use the 80:20 rule of thumb...80% of your foods being nutritionally dense foods and allowing 20% to be "empty" or junk. deprivation diets never really last. this isn't about just dropping a few pounds and then stopping your diet...this is about dropping a few pounds and then continuing to get your nutrition on and fitness on for the rest of your life. Failure to do so will ultimately result in gaining your weight back. you have to learn to love those "naughty" things in moderation.

    4) "healthy" and nutritious doesn't have to be bland and boring...you can have more than just celery sticks and lettuce. Hell...that's actually really unhealthy. you need your fruits and veg to be sure, but you also need high quality lean protein and healthy fats for proper nutrition. Too many people think that everything has to be some raw veggie...or you can't use seasonings or you have to go low fat/no fat on everything...they end up with flavorless garbage that is obviously unappetizing and impossible to sustain long term.

    5) Just always strive to be better today than you were yesterday...and better tomorrow than you were today.
  • sarahmax0817
    sarahmax0817 Posts: 17
    Everyone has some great advice and I agree! I personally started simply by walking 3 miles each evening ans using My Fitness Pal to log everything I ate. I eventually started running some, and then added additional strength training and advanced cardio exercise. I did not start a hardcore plan all at once. I would try and plan out my meals and pre-log them b/c if it was written down then I had to follow it :) I also started with a few close friends so we really helped encourage/compete with each on My Fitness Pal to keep pushing to look our best for a Girls Vegas trip last summer. It was awesome btw and we looked hot! :) Best advice is just DONT STOP!!! Keep going and once you start seeing results that is all the motivation you will need to keep on track. You can do it girl!
  • hollyhumm
    hollyhumm Posts: 4 Member
    I had a friend, who is a trainer, set a menu for me - its full of healthy alternatives and protein snacks. I am allowed 1 cheat every 3 weeks - of 1 item that I can have. Last year when I was strict with it I had lost 35 lbs in 2 mos. So I want to get back on track. I would say always pack your lunch. Plan you day with the food chart on here. That way you get into the habit of know what you will have to make ur calorie count. Good luck!
  • CrazyCatLadylovescats
    CrazyCatLadylovescats Posts: 107 Member
    I started by going Primal (which means diet and exercise.) But Primal is not for everyone, but it has been good for me in many ways. The times I have lost weight in the past, I really restricted my carbs because I HATE being hungry, and if I restrict my carbs, I can eat more of the veggies and such and feel full. This time around, when I restrict the carbs I no longer had the shaky hungry feeling I used to have, and also just feel full for longer, no matter what I am doing. Yes, I don't eat bread, except on rare occassions. I eat minimal rice or pasta. I still make the same foods I used to, but I just don't do the carbs. Well, take that back - I was getting some fast food on a regular basis - I don't do that any more.

    I also started slowly exercising more. This summer that has meant that I get up early and walk or jog for an hour. I got an app (Map My Run) that helps me track distances, times and calories. It has been inspiring to see how much I can do if I stick with it. Now, that doesn't mean I do the same thing day after day. I sometimes jog, I sometimes walk. Some days I do 5 miles, some days 2 or 3. I am adding in swimming now, and did a mile this morning.

    But....in June, there was no way I could go that far. June, I was able to walk just about two miles in an hour. I could swim about 8 laps (1/8 of a mile) and I was beat. I have slowly worked up to it. And I did not lose immediately because I was gaining muscle.

    To help you get started, I suggest that you commit to making a healthy dinner every night, and then make more than you need so that you can eat left overs for lunch instead of going out.

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