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  • harrybeanbag666
    harrybeanbag666 Posts: 140
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    Hi Tara,
    If you're interested please see my post under the Motivation folder.
    The post is titled "Find Your Motivation Now".
    Hopefully it'll help you stay on track when times get tough.
  • suppakana
    suppakana Posts: 307 Member
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    Throw away your scale the first while. Buy a measuring tape and take pictures - those will be how to judge your progress. The scale is a filthy horrible liar who needs to be taught a lesson ;)

    Otherwise, everything in moderation. Feel the need for a cookie? Do it. A cookie. Pizza? Cool. A slice. Make sure it fits in.
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
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    Calories in versus calories out. No fad diets, in fact no diets at all, just a change of eating less while moving more.
  • Aemely
    Aemely Posts: 694 Member
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    Weigh everything and really get a feel for portions, that way when you go out of town on vacation/don't have service, you can get a more accurate picture of what you're eating that week. Then go home and continue logging everything.

    Good idea for when you are truly in the boonies, but don't forget that MFP is online (so unless you are really Internet-free, you can log as long as you have a connected laptop). :flowerforyou:
  • tara_means_star
    tara_means_star Posts: 957 Member
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    What active hobbies did you take up to keep you moving?

    What did you do to motivate yourself to eat better?



    I've started hiking and kayaking and I'm hoping to get some rollerblades here soon. I've come to find that I really enjoy this stuff. I want to take up running but I feel defeated before even starting because I've never been good at running. One day I'll work up the courage :P

    So far for the eating better stuff I've focused on protein and veggies. I've cut out most of my bread food because I've found that it doesn't fill me up and uses up a bunch of my calories---not necessarily doing low carb, for clarification, just less bread and starch.
  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
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    Track everything you eat. Do some sort of cardio daily even just walking for 30 minutes is great. Have Fun

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  • Jbarbo01
    Jbarbo01 Posts: 240 Member
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    Food scale and measuring cups are my favorite tools when losing weight. When I was "eyeballing portions" the scale would not budge or budged very slowly, using measuring cups, spoons, and a food scale helped me lose consistently while tracking.

    When drinking alcohol stick to very low sugar clear liquors with seltzer water and lemon or lime wedges or red wine, I've found beer puts weight on me faster even if Im counting calories.

    Learn to savor bites of sweet or very fatty things, I was really stubborn at first and was like if I cant have a whole piece of cake I DONT WANT IT AT ALL haha. Now, I can have three hershey kisses or a bite of cake and be very satisfied by that. You really dont need that many french fries, 4 or 5 will satisfy a craving.

    The bulk of your diet should be fruit and veg. Use them often to bulk up meals like using thinly sliced cabbage with meat sauce instead of spaghetti noodles. Order that burger but get a salad on the side instead of fries. It's all about making good food swaps and compromises. Fruit and veg are your friends for weight loss against the fight with satiety eating low cal.

    Exercise is helpful in weight loss but your diet is where the real work happens as far as actual mass decrease. I lost 30 lbs just counting with no exercise. You cannot out exercise a bad diet. So those cheese fries and beer you had on the weekend, you can't go on the treadmill and "work" those off. I am in the calories in calories out camp to some degree but I think eating foods easily utilized by your body for fuel that are highly nutritious are more important than simple math. Hormones are complicated and your body is not exactly like a furnace and from my experience, diet trumps exercise all day so if you need somewhere to focus definitely focus on what you eat.
  • Ryandecheney314
    Ryandecheney314 Posts: 139 Member
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    Start Small and Experiment
    This is where I think that the majority of people fail. They have their goal in mind, they know how many calories they need to eat and what their macros are, but they expect results over night. The truth is before you can expect any results your body is going to need to adapt to the change you are putting it through. Typically most people even gain a few pounds during the first few weeks because of the body retaining water and also being swollen from working out. If after a month you are not seeing results then re-evaluate your calorie intake and adjust your macros according too. Always remember even though the scale doesn't show weight loss it doesn't mean your not losing fat. To be honest I feel the scale causes more harm then anything. So many people fall victim to weighing them self every day and get frustrated with the weight fluctuation then give up, especially if they drop tons of weight every week for the first month and then only a few pounds or so the following weeks.. I recommend weighing your self once or twice a week and keep track of the overall average of the month to account for the weight fluctuation.

    Set your goal in small increments. If you have 100 pounds to lose, set your goal in 10 pound increments. Tell yourself that every 10 pounds you lose you can reward yourself with a day off and eat some food you have been missing. This method will be more rewarding and keep you engaged longer on achieving your goal.
  • jbee27
    jbee27 Posts: 356 Member
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    It can be overwhelming, so I think the most helpful thing I did/do is "think small".

    I always had an "overall" goal of getting into healthy BMI range, but that seemed so overwhelming when it meant losing 50 pounds. First goal was to get under 200, then 5lb increments after that.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
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    I wrote something, but then realized that it was basically this, only shorter and not as well written, so here you go:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    This thread was posted about a year after I had started getting fit and I was already at maintenance, but it incorporated all I had learned throughout my experiences.
  • farfromthetree
    farfromthetree Posts: 982 Member
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    calories in/calories out. No longer depriving myself. If I want chips, I fit them in my day.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
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    What active hobbies did you take up to keep you moving?

    What did you do to motivate yourself to eat better?



    I've started hiking and kayaking and I'm hoping to get some rollerblades here soon. I've come to find that I really enjoy this stuff. I want to take up running but I feel defeated before even starting because I've never been good at running. One day I'll work up the courage :P

    So far for the eating better stuff I've focused on protein and veggies. I've cut out most of my bread food because I've found that it doesn't fill me up and uses up a bunch of my calories---not necessarily doing low carb, for clarification, just less bread and starch.

    If you want to get into running, people I know have had good success with Couch to 5K apps.
  • _sirenofthesea_
    _sirenofthesea_ Posts: 117 Member
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    STOP making excuses....

    It's the only thing that really is 'working' for me :)
  • cnadiger
    cnadiger Posts: 168 Member
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    ...and Please, for the love of God, feed your cat before working out in the living room. Don't accidentally step on her when she sneaks into your workout and hear her scream and then find out, $500 later, that she's fine. Feed. The. Cat. :)

    LOL!! For me it was the dog. Always interested in what was going on when I worked out and needing to lay right where I needed to step. Didn't end up at the vet, but after getting stepped on a few times she learned!! :laugh:
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    You don't have to be a "gym bunny." If you can't get the body you want with 30 minutes of vigorous exercise five days a week, you need to change up your routine.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    What active hobbies did you take up to keep you moving?

    What did you do to motivate yourself to eat better?



    I've started hiking and kayaking and I'm hoping to get some rollerblades here soon. I've come to find that I really enjoy this stuff. I want to take up running but I feel defeated before even starting because I've never been good at running. One day I'll work up the courage :P

    So far for the eating better stuff I've focused on protein and veggies. I've cut out most of my bread food because I've found that it doesn't fill me up and uses up a bunch of my calories---not necessarily doing low carb, for clarification, just less bread and starch.

    If you want to get into running, people I know have had good success with Couch to 5K apps.

    Truth. I was "never gonna be a runner" for 39 years before Couch to 5k.
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,065 Member
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    Lift heavy weights! Compound lifts!

    Edit: Oh and I still enjoy burgers and fries, potato chips, chocolate, cheesecake, and cookies etc. Life is too short to deprive myself of the things I love and enjoy, so I just make these things fit into my day. Everything in moderation.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    Oh. And liking/buying/storing in your refrigerator/feeding your kids fruits and vegetables is no substitute for eating them yourself.
  • tara_means_star
    tara_means_star Posts: 957 Member
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    You guys are too funny. I JUST downloaded the c25k app yesterday. I'm at the beach and considering starting to use it on the boardwalk but nervous with all the OTHER people running very nicely on the boardwalk.... :P
  • CupcakeCrusoe
    CupcakeCrusoe Posts: 1,359 Member
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    Just keep going. No matter what. And eat foods you like.

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