Share your best tips

put a stick of sugarless gum in your mouth, curbs the craving and takes care of that boredom

I accidentally went to the last thread and found this, I thought I'd bump it up as some of these tips are very good!

Here are mine:

Really think about why you want to eat, and learn to tell the difference between true hunger, a desire to eat, and a craving. It sounds like it would be simple, but actually it's not. Quite often you're not hungry, but want the food for some emotional reason. I'd recommend reading the Beck Diet Solution if you're interested in this kind of thing, it really helped me.

Work out how much you need to satisfy your appetite. You should feel mildly full at the end of a meal, not completely stuffed! I was amazed to discover I'd been overeating most of my life, and I only needed about half the food I ate to satisfy myself! I now have much smaller portions, which takes away the desire or opportunity to overeat at meals.

On the same note, SLOW down! Most of us eat too fast - it can take 20 minutes to feel full. And make sure you chew your food properly, as this also helps you feel full.

Drink LOADS of water. Apparently your body needs it in order to burn fat (I can't remember why, but it sounded pretty convincing). And we all know water is good for us!

Base your meals around fresh vegetables. This is a pretty obvious one, but they are filling and low in calories. And don't forget to eat pulses and beans - they're more calorie dense, but really fill you up.

New evidence has come out in the past couple of years that dairy calcium helps us to lose weight because it stops us absorbing so much fat. I don't have a link, but I saw it on a TV programme and we also talked about it in my local slimming group.

Try out different eating plans. I've done low fat/high carb most of my life but recently I tried South Beach (which is less carbs, more fat and more protein - basically healthy balanced eating) and it suits me much better. Everyone is different, and there's no size fits all.

Make sure you exercise!

And one of my best tips - don't deprive yourself. I've managed to lose 14 pounds by eating really nice food, and making healthier versions of my favourites. I've never counted calories (though since I joined this site I am keeping a closer eye on them, so I can lose the last 7 pounds) and refuse to let myself go hungry (the 1200 calories recommended by this site are far too low for me, so I've upped my exercise and allowed myself to eat more). Diets are hard enough to stick to without starving yourself, and remember that you need to eat this way for the rest of your life, otherwise you will put the weight back on. So choose something that suits you, and you enjoy doing.

How come nobody on this thread has any pictures? lol

You're right - weird!

Set your goal at 1/2 lb weight loss per week and take two walks every day (I do light weight training 2-3 times a week also). This is hardly even dieting, it is more like just living a healthy life style. And, it's easy to have a successful week which makes me happy (I usually doint better than my weekly weight loss goal).

I think extreme diets and/or extreme excercise routines just lead to yo-yoing.

Edit: I like to eat strawberries or mangos for dessert, low calorie dessert alternatives.

Hi

I find my worst time is evening, so I have to leave some calories for myself as know my weakness.

I do force myself to have a breakfast even if its a low calorific one.

I walk regularly and after 3 weeks its a lot easier and I enjoy it.

It gives me a net for going into extra calories in evening.

Know calorific content of snack foods you enjoy - its a life saver if you have a few recipes/foods that are low in calories and filling

Only buy / put in your fridge and cupboard what is healthy and you know isn't too detrimental to your overall goal

If you have a bad day, take a walk next day and know that your doing a hell of a lot better than you were before you started but remain focussed

pic attached :happy:

Mags


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

Yes, I accidentally skipped to the last page instead of the next one, but thought it looked interesting so read it, then bumped it up in case others found it useful.

How come nobody on this thread has any pictures? lol

Hehe, I thought the same. Than I realised that these posts are older than 2 years! This was February 2006! Probably these people are not using MFP anymore and there were no photos for profiles these days.
We'd have to ask Mike to tell us history of this site

Lot of really good advice in this thread, especially in the earlier comments.