Help me get off the merry go round please!

Good Morning

First off- Way to go Quitting smoking! :flowerforyou:

This is my second time losing weight. I managed to lose 40 pounds, then I started grad school and gained most of it back and now I'm getting back on track. So this is what I found works better for me.

I found that starting small worked best for me. First thing I did was cut out soda and LOTS of sugar from my coffee and switched to water. I still drink coffee with sugar, but I only put 1 maybe 2 sugars in it. And if I have more then 1 cup, anything after the first is 1 sugar.

After you're caffeine headache goes away and you're drinking your water (aim for 8 cups to start), buy an expensive pair of running shoes. I suggest this because I feel guilty if I spend $100+ on a pair of work out shoes and don't use them. My current pair was $90 but I've also bought them at $160. Wake up an hour and half earlier then normal and go for a walk. The cost of this activity is the cost of the running shoes you're paying off in mileage. A good pair of shoes will last you 300-500 miles or nine to fifteen months of constant use. Walking will make them last longer. You can get fancy toys like a FitBit (i love mine) to track your movement and distance, but free aps on smart phones work just as well. RunKeeper will track mileage on your walk and it hooks up to MFP.

Track everything you eat. If it goes into your mouth, it goes on your tracker. When you're traveling make smarter choices. If the hotel has breakfast take advantage of fruit, yogurt, ect. Most hotels I've stayed at didn't care if you took a banana or yogurt for the road.

My Old job had me travel for work. Depending on how long I was gone, I would stop at a grocery store and pick up a few items for snacks throughout the day or bring them with me in my bag if they didn't need to be refrigerated.

Eating Out- I'm 27. My friends pass times include fancy bars and parties. Look for lower calorie menu items. Salad with grilled chicken - dressing on the side is always a good option. Some of the chain restaurants have menu items marked as "healthy choices" and they're actually pretty good! Avoid places like the Cheesecake Factory if you can. We found there was a 1,000 calorie salad there once- and that was a lower calorie item.

OH do your research- If you know you're going out to a specific place, look up the website to see if they have the nutritional information available on the website.

You can lose weight. This is a SLOW process. At best to lose 50 pounds, it'll take between 6 months and a year at 1-2 pounds a week. You don't want to lose more then 2 pounds a week because its harder to maintain in the end.