What was your first?

The first thing I changed was logging what I eat accurately. Lately the hardest thing for me has been logging accurately.

My first "sacrifice" was portions. Like, I forced myself to start weighing and measuring portions. I didn't change the foods much at first, just how much I was allowing myself to eat. Then, if I was still hungry, I subbed a "better" option rather than a second portion of the yummy fattening things (read: pizza! I adore pizza... nom nom nom)

Since then I have shifted my eating almost completely. My diet is filled with high fiber, lean protein, & lots of veggies n fruit. I still love pizza, though, so if I splurge its no big deal.

The hardest thing to maintain has been my exercise routine. I aim for 2.5 hrs of exercise a week - - 3 workouts is ideal but sometimes I have to do it over 5-6 days in smaller chunks. My schedule is chaotic at best, so if I squeeze in a 15 min walk I give myself a fat pat on the back. If I can binge and do an hour or an hour-15 at the gym I am psyched. Some weeks I get only 1 workout in. I try not to beat myself up about it, but I need to beat myself a little to keep the habit alive.

Adding exercise... I started jogging outside. That was definitely my first change. It's also the hardest to maintain. I'm naturally a lazy/quite inconsistent girl. Unless I really like a certain activity, I won't do it for long. But even if I like something, I get bored of it eventually. Even if it's a food I like, I won't care for it either if I eat it too much. In fact, sometimes I do get tired of food itself! Such a fickle nature... So in terms of success?? I'm mainly losing because of food deficit, not exercise. Lol.

In my case it was cutting portion sizes and starting exercise. Those two changes made the biggest impact on my weight loss and my health.

I started eating primal and became a cardio bunny. After that didn't pan out, I learned moderation, macro-tracking, and a more balanced cardio/strength training routine. That's when I managed to not only lose weight, but keep in off in a fairly painless way.

I gave up pop or soda or whatever you want to call it. It was hard for me because I come from a family of pop drinkers. I had always had it. It was hard at first but now I don't even like it. The closest thing I get to a pop now is occasionally/rarely a cherry limeade.

overeating.

I turned vegan, for ethical reasons. The only difficult part is the iron deficiency anemia/B-12 deficiency anemia that is because I live in rock-bottom poverty and thus can neither afford vegan supplements nor nutritious vegan foods-- having to subsist on potato chips or, having to go hungry without food to eat.