Getting in the Habit of Being Healthy

The biggest hurdle is diet. If you exercise 10 minutes a day and eat nothing but large pizzas, you're not going to see any positive benefits.

I think 10 minutes a day is a great jumping-off point, but focus more on what you're eating! Just start logging your food on here faithfully every day - even if you don't exercise one bit, meeting your calorie goals will still lose weight.

Everyone is different but I'd say most would agree with me when I say fully restricting things is a bad idea. MFP will give a certain amount of calories to eat depending on different factors about you and how much you want to lose in a weeks time (you should make sure you are picking a healthy weight loss amount, don't expect to lose 2 pounds a week if you only have 10 pounds to lose, for example). What you do with those calories is up to you, but you should do something you will be able to maintain for the rest of your life, otherwise you will just gain it back. I don't have donuts or pastries or anything like that on MOST days because I don't want to use up a bunch of calories daily on something that won't keep me full.
However, if I'm really hungry for a donut, I'll eat a donut and plan the rest of my day around those calories and know I may have to eat just a low-cal salad for dinner. I don't deny myself things all the time because I know if I do that I'll just end up feeling super deprived, I'll give up and I'll end up eating most of what's in our kitchen.

I think 10 minutes is a great way to start exercising. Even less if you have to... whatever you need to do to get your body moving is what you should do! If that's 10 minutes for now and increasing over time, then great! You may learn to love exercise once you start doing it for awhile.
I hope this makes sense to you, I tend to ramble lol. Feel free to add me (this extends to everyone! ), I am always looking for new friends.

Baby steps. Getting into the habit is extremely important. You can also use a similar strategy for food. " I will eat one more vegetable a day. "

Being active for 10 minutes a day is a great start. Dr. Yoni Freedhoff's exercise mantra in his recent (excellent) book _The Diet Fix_ is as follows: "Some [exercise] is good. More is better. Everything counts." 10 minutes isn't a lot compared with what some people do, but compared with nothing at all, it's great.

As for food: do NOT restrict any food item unless you plan to never eat it again. Otherwise, you'll likely fall back into your old, comfortable habits. Instead, limit portions.

Again, though, start with baby steps. Begin by keeping a food diary. It doesn't have to be here on MFP, and it doesn't even have to include calories. Just write down what you eat. If I did that for today so far, it would be:

Breakfast: 2 small slices of toast, 1 with butter, 1 with cream cheese, and 2 cups of coffee with 1% milk.
Lunch: cheese quesadilla and a diet Coke
Afternoon snack: 1 cup of coffee with whole milk

Studies have shown that keeping a diary is correlated with weight loss, even if you don't count calories, as long as you are honest and write down everything. After a couple of weeks, look it over. Do you see patterns, such as having a big afternoon snack if your lunch is too light? Do you eat ice cream on days you have pasta for dinner? A diary can help you make smarter choices about what to eat and when to eat it. Dr. Freedhoff also suggests that, when you have a treat, you should ask yourself, "How much of this do I need in order to feel satisfied?" Then don't eat more than that. One square of good dark chocolate can be more satisfying than an entire Hershey bar.

If you start losing weight with a diary, that may be all you need. If not, then consider counting calories. And while you're at it, stretch those walks into 15 minutes, then a bit more. Park at the far end of the parking lot. Take the stairs if you're only going up 1 or 2 flights.

Good luck!

rhtexasgal wrote: »

I started in reverse ... I tackled my diet and it took about 6 months! I started small - i.e. replacing salad dressing from a bottle for dressing I made, either from vinegar and olive oil or plain greek yogurt. Then I started substituting fatty tortilla chips for healthier Beanitos made from beans (tasty). I would buy a bag and then pre-measure my servings into ziploc bags. You get the idea ...

Then, I tackled exercise, taking it one day at a time. I rather get up early to get my workout done before I go to work because after work, I am tired and would rather spend time with my kids. Each morning, I would hit that alarm button, sometimes hitting snooze and sometimes turning it off. It took another few months before I was consistently going to the gym without that snooze button or turning it off and rolling back over for a few extra sleep minutes.

All of this to say - just one day at a time ... sometimes it can be one hour at a time. Tackle each step, pat yourself on the back and plow forward. Give yourself a pep talk for those times you fail and don't get down on yourself. (Easier said than done, I know). I find that I can get some decent exercise in by my desk at work. I created a playlist on YouTube so I will put one on and march in place while I enjoy some music videos. Easy, fun and your brain sort of checks out for a while.

Amen!