Small But Super Helpful Habits
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Eat an apple every day.
Take the stairs.
Eat a salad every day.
Park far away from the building.
Walk to the next office instead of emailing.
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GothyFaery wrote: »Went from whole fat milk to fat free
Funny, I went from skim to whole fat milk
Having supplies of nuts and coconut chips - they are a very easy form of a snack and very satisfying.
Getting some tools for work, I have some salt-free seasoning, a microwave steamer tray, and knife, and now a food scale. This way i can just bring some fresh produce and keep in work fridge and prepare on the spot. Everything tastes better fresh
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Eat as many fresh raw veggies as you can get down your throat! Every day I pack a baggie or tupperware with 3 cups of veggies--baby cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, carrot slices, celery bites, raw green beans, raw broccoli or cauliflower. Not all of that in the same day, but a few things in the bag/container. That sits on my desk and I nibble on that throughout the day instead of the cookies/pastry/snacks that seem to appear in our teacher's lounge all day every day! Also water and unsweetened tea only--NEVER drink your calories. Also deciding what's worth spending your calories on--a poster above talked about not really liking donuts but eating them if they were "there"--stop doing that. Pick a few things you really love and would really miss and give up the rest of the crap. I LOVE cookies--love them--any and all cookies, so I give myself enough calories to have one at night with my tea. ONE, not five, ONE and really enjoy it!0
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girlviernes wrote: »GothyFaery wrote: »Went from whole fat milk to fat free
Funny, I went from skim to whole fat milk
Having supplies of nuts and coconut chips - they are a very easy form of a snack and very satisfying.
Getting some tools for work, I have some salt-free seasoning, a microwave steamer tray, and knife, and now a food scale. This way i can just bring some fresh produce and keep in work fridge and prepare on the spot. Everything tastes better fresh
I have a weird thing with milk, where if I drink low fat or skim, my brain thinks of it as a "drink" (i.e., not a big deal) and I consume more without even thinking about it, whereas whole milk registers to me as a "food" and I'm careful about only drinking a reasonable amount. But that may be just my personal oddness.0 -
Don't leave the house without some type of healthy snack pre-portioned out. My favorites are string cheese, grapes or apples, greek yogurt, and nuts.
It makes eating right a lot easier when you are ready for battle.
I really have to start doing this. I always get hungry in the mid to late afternoon, and that can lead to trouble.-1 -
mgcarrillo wrote: »girlviernes wrote: »GothyFaery wrote: »Went from whole fat milk to fat free
Funny, I went from skim to whole fat milk
Having supplies of nuts and coconut chips - they are a very easy form of a snack and very satisfying.
Getting some tools for work, I have some salt-free seasoning, a microwave steamer tray, and knife, and now a food scale. This way i can just bring some fresh produce and keep in work fridge and prepare on the spot. Everything tastes better fresh
I have a weird thing with milk, where if I drink low fat or skim, my brain thinks of it as a "drink" (i.e., not a big deal) and I consume more without even thinking about it, whereas whole milk registers to me as a "food" and I'm careful about only drinking a reasonable amount. But that may be just my personal oddness.
I've actually read a study in which they randomized kids to either skim or whole milk, and the skim milk group ended up with greater calorie intake for the day.
I've already seen some shift in dietetics sources towards more full fat items, and I think this will continue over the next decade.
Certainly in my personal experience switching to full fat milk has been good for my taste buds and hasn't impeded weight loss in any way.0 -
Cutting out sodas.
Weighing all solids, measuring all liquids, and logging everything.
Moving more. When I started losing weight, the only walking I got was from class to class at school. I started walking after dinner to get in extra activity.0 -
Develop a positive attitude toward a (mild) sensation of hunger. Interpret it as evidence that your body is doing the right thing. It's not actually painful to be just a little bit hungry, and you can retrain yourself to feel it as a sign of progress instead of a problem.0
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Lots of water
I do not drink my calories; no alcohol, fancy coffees, juices, smoothies, milkshakes etc (I sometimes have a glass of sparkling wine at birthdays and I had a fancy coffee the morning after my hen do, only on special occasions though and I rarely find it worth it, they don't keep me full and don't last long so the enjoyment is shorter!)
Weigh all food
Lots of vegetables helps me keep full
Switching white carbs to brown carbs helps me feel full longer too
If I want chocolate I can have it, just plan it into my daily calories! I would struggle with a lifestyle that excluded certain foods completely!0 -
mgcarrillo wrote: »Don't leave the house without some type of healthy snack pre-portioned out. My favorites are string cheese, grapes or apples, greek yogurt, and nuts.
It makes eating right a lot easier when you are ready for battle.
I really have to start doing this. I always get hungry in the mid to late afternoon, and that can lead to trouble.
Bringing snacks along is KEY. Definitely.0 -
Water! I love diet Pepsi but only getting it when I'm out so it is a treat.
Eating meals at a similar time each day.
Making sure I eat foods that will keep me full so I don't get overly hungry and make bad choices
Get enough sleep!!0 -
My most helpful small change is bringing healthy, low-cal, fat-based snacks to work so I don't munch down 400 calories of someone's brownies or birthday cake. I keep a box of 100-calorie almond packs at my desk and a bag of string cheese in the fridge; I usually only want one or the other, but even if I have both it's 170 calories of satiation instead of 300-500 of empty carbs and sugar. Tremendously helpful!
ETA: I really want to second (or third, or whatever we're on) the people who said using a food scale was a helpful small change. That made a staggering difference to my progress, and it's so much less fuss than it sounds. The food scale alone helped me get to an accurate, healthy 1500 calories/day... when before I was estimating 1500 calories and actually eating more like 3000+. Massive, massive difference.0 -
As almost everyone else mentioned - water! Anything to drink besides water now is definitely a treat. I also realized that those fruity cocktails have a LOT of calories in them and I've cut back and switched to lower cal drinks. Also, logging EVERYTHING! Pre-logging was my next step, but simply tracking everything I ate helped me to eat less.0
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I have a problem with drive thrus, especially if I'm on a trip. Now, I put my purse in the trunk. Problem solved.0
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I work 2 or 3 days in a row, then have a couple days off. Instead of getting up and packing my lunch every day, I pack my lunches for all the days I'll be working and set them in the fridge with post-its listing the weight of each baggie of cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, etc. Makes it easier to take healthy food and avoid eating whatever is being served at work or ordering out.0
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Along with weighing and measuring everything, I also slowed down when I eat. I could whip through a meal in record time. I find that when I eat slower I consume a lot less. Made a huge difference for me.0
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The biggest change I made was making my food at home and bringing it with me, instead of eating out. If you look up nutrition information for just about ANY restaurant, be it fast food, sit-down, even the ones that have a "healthy" atmosphere, all the meals are incredibly calorie dense. So if I know we are going out for dinner, I do an extra workout so I can "afford" it. You can even look up the restaurant's nutrition info. before you go, so you can decide what you can "afford" to eat. There's a ton of calories hidden in what look like decently calorie-wise meals. Also, ordering water instead of iced tea, pop, or beer. Huge difference.
I have not given up my morning teas (from Tim Hortons... yum...) but I have gone from ordering double-double to two milk, one sugar. It's more than a hundred calorie difference for a large cup!0 -
Cutting down from 2-3 24oz bottles of pop a day to one 12-ounce can of diet with dinner, or a glass if I'm out to eat (with no refills). Water the rest of the time. I'm not a coffee/tea/alcohol person, so I still need some sort of vice!
Finding satisfying yet better choices at fast food places (used to get a Whopper all the time, now I get a smaller one without mayo and it's half the calories)0 -
Something I learned and has been very helpful. No matter how hungry you think you are, it will pass, just do something else.0
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Flavored seltzer water. Lime or lemon (obviously no sugar or fake sugar added). Zero calories... you quickly get used to it, and it's a lot better than plain old water. A 12 pack is about $4 bucks.
I mention it specifically because you said you were a bit of a sodahead. I've seen this as a successful switch for a few different people (including me) and a soda-centric family of 6...so it does work!0
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