name one habit that you feel has helped you significantly on this journey?

Actually logging my food into MFP- it has helped me the most to realize how many calories I actually eat and how many I should be eating....

Preparing my lunch the night before has helped me so very much!

kayla2388 wrote: »

Buying a scale and weighing in once a week. That was a turning point for me. Before I was scared to see the number and now I've accepted my weight and that I'm the one responsible for it. Also, getting up and going to the gym first thing was a big deal for me too. Now I love going and look forward to it even.

Same here! I never knew or wanted to know how much i weighed! I weighed myself at a friends house with her scale and i was in shock!! I bought a scale that week and it really helped keep me accountable!

Using a food scale.

This may sound silly, but I went to the Dr for some stomach issues and they have me on a Low Fat diet until we can figure out if it is Gall Bladder or not.

This has made me really watch my diet like a hawk... in turn I have been packing my lunches almost every day for work because local restaurants dont offer much in Low Fat.

So I would say, just making sure I log everything and packing my lunch has really helped.

I have lost 6 lbs in 2 months which means its working for me.

tracking my food as honestly as I can every day I finally stopped lying to myself about how much i ate

seltzermint555 wrote: »

unpopular opinion but for ME - weighing daily is an absolute must or I play weird psychological games with myself like "hmm I will eat this, and this but then I won't weigh until Tuesday so I won't see the 2 lb of 'sodium weight' that it causes".

Daily weigh-ins are hugely important for me. I lapsed in doing them for a few months and even though I am close to my goal it was disturbing to see my weight plateau for a long time...back to daily weigh-ins and back to losing weight.

This is interesting to me. I have wondered about the benefits/drawbacks of doing that. I am on a loss right now, which is exciting (doesn't last long) ... so I weighed myself today just to see it again. (lol) but I was up by .5 pound which, while I'm savvy enough not to really let it get to me, was not a positive moment in my day. So you see the ups and downs and just don't assign too much emotional significance to the daily weigh-ins? Is that a fair statement?

I would say water, weighing, and forcing myself to at least take a walk. When I was actively losing

logging in is definitely the main one, trying to keep an accurate account as I can of what I eat, used to log drink but don't bother anymore as I only drink low-cal so they are only a couple of calories each. WEighing things is perhaps one of the things I should do next, been basing my pasta around a guess of 75g weighed it today and its actually 100g, but weighed it dried, is that correct?

I weigh myself once a week, but be wary that scales can be out. I once found I was a stone heavier than I thought because my old scales were weighing me wrong.

For me the big change is replacing my chocolate bar love with a chocolate biscuit or a graze snack.

riffraff2112 wrote: »

logging. When I log I succeed. When I stop, I slide.
Obviously MFP keeps me accountable but it goes beyond that.
I keep a separate journal where I log my exercise and fitness workouts. Something so rewarding about filling up those pages makes me want to get back in the gym or hit the open road.

This 100% for me too! I log my food everyday, it's become a habit for me because i've been using MFP for about 3 years altogether now. It keeps me focussed, and allows me to plan ahead for the day or even the week. I work 8-4:45 weekdays, so i plan my food the day before, prep it on the night, and take it all with me to work. If i didnt, i'd end up popping out to the supermarket and probably giving in to cravings!

Logging also allows me to see how many calories i have to use for treats, so if it's a saturday night, and ive logged my food successfully all week, i'll see how many i have to play around with and i usually like to indulge as a treat to myself for staying on track (and to boost that metabolism after being in a deficit all week.)

Sam

Drinking plenty of water (2-3 nalgenes a day) has really helped

I write EVERYTHING down. Every week before grocery shopping I plan out meals and write them down in a notebook...there are plenty of days I don't eat exactly what I wrote down, but it really helps me to have that all written somewhere so I can see.

My husband and I also have goals and rewards taped to our door. We have one sheet with every weight from now until goal, and when we lose we get to mark a weight off (today I marked off 2 lbs!)...it's a great feeling crossing it out. We also have rewards for losing a certain amount of weight...so 10 lbs is a smaller reward, and they get bigger as my loss gets bigger...i.e. from a new sports bra, to mani/pedi, to a new dress for date night, and finally my new thigh tattoo!

I also have a goal calendar...so I put down a weight goal for the end of the month (I weigh every wednesday), as well as a fitness goal (run/walk 25 miles this month, complete the plank challenge, things of that nature)

For me, it's about consistency.

Logging is one piece of it, but it's not the whole story. It's consistency with my exercise, steps, and water intake as well. It's about not throwing in the towel when I have a bad day. I pick my self back up and come back at it the next day. Consistency is the key for me.

Planning ahead. When I bring a lunch with snacks and know what I am making for dinner ahead of time, I am less likely to just buy something on the fly or eat things I shouldn't.

water, water, WATER. Also im a bit of a perfectionist and I HATE when things go unfinished or streaks or broken, so that leads me to work harder to log every piece of food.

Planning my week's meals on Sunday and prepping.