The little things we do to trick ourselves into being successful...

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nettam3re3
nettam3re3 Posts: 66 Member
in Success Stories
I'm curious of the little ways we "trick" or set ourselves up to help be successful towards our goals. I'm sure we all do it in some form!

I'm 44lbs down in 4 months- here are a few of my little tricks.
  • I play "workout lotto" meaning I work my *kitten* off but if this one certain song comes on my pandora or google music channel, I cool down and am done. For some reason this is highly entertaining and makes me more eager to actually get exercising because there is a chance I'll win the morning. It's only actually happened twice. The song? The Band Perry's "Done".
  • When I want to graze in the fridge, I'll eat a fork full of mild spicy peppers so I get something overwhelmingly flavorful that hits the spot but very low calories. I must have 8 jars of peppers / pickles for this very reason.
  • I pre-load my Friday night vodka so I can eat lightly through the day and still be on goal. I'll also pre-load anything I know about ahead of time- restaurant meals, birthday cake, more vodka.
  • I used to hide chocolate / cookies so I could snack. Now I hide sugarfree lifesavers, fiber one bars, chocolate rice cakes and v8. Yes- they have been used in combo as a meal.
  • I will finish my food log right after dinner because, once I do this, I know I won't eat more because it means re-posting and I don't want to be perceived as fudging my numbers. Once it's done it's done.
  • When I go clothes shopping I buy something that is too small and I hang it in my bathroom by the scale. That feeling of wearing the item is incredibly motivating to keep going!

What do you do?
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Replies

  • mainebeachbum
    mainebeachbum Posts: 385 Member
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    •I also pre-load food, drinks, etc! The weeks I do that every single day are my best weight loss weeks.
    •I bought my 1st pair of "too small" pants a couple weeks ago from a store I have never been able to fit in any of their clothes. I have a swimsuit I bought on clearance (probably 3-4 years ago) that never fit that had been my mini goal, but now it fits so I needed something else!
    •I keep Quaker Oats protein instant oatmeal on hand for dinner if I would rather eat more "snacks" instead of what I cooked for my family or if what they wanted was a real high calorie meal.
    •If I have a free weekend, I go shopping and precook several meals and sometimes freeze a few things. That way if work or kid schedules interfere with my time to cook, I don't have to choose pizza, fast food, or processed packaged foods.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,732 Member
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    I buy boxes of Quest bars and put them on a pedestal... I treat them as a scrumptious and decadent dessert, and I have to earn them with a workout. This makes it very easy to turn down other desserts.
  • fatkidonadiet
    fatkidonadiet Posts: 45 Member
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    I am 44 lbs down in 4 months too...things I do:
    I set the treadmill for 60 min, but also set a calorie and mileage goal. If I hit two of the 3, I'm done. So if I hit 300 calories in an hour, I'm done. Or I could walk/jog/run faster and if I hit 300 calories in 30 min. I'm done. Then I usually convince myself I have enough time to lift some weights or do some sti ups/push ups as well. :)
    I weigh myself every day, but only post when I am actually down. Somehow, it's motivating. If I'm up a little, I know that I need to stay the course. If I'm down, I'm excited to be down and so I work harder...it's weird how our mind works.
    Having a cup of coffee with a little chocolate after dinner sort of signals to my brain that eating is done for the day. I never eat after my coffee.
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
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    Pre-loading the diary is probably the simplest and most helpful thing I do. Definitely agree with others that mentioned it. Then you can see what will and won't fit ahead of time.
  • belimawr
    belimawr Posts: 1,155 Member
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    I prelog my exercise on my days off, and because the app is such a pain in the rear to change things at times, I make sure I do what I prelogged.
  • taentea
    taentea Posts: 91 Member
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    Some awesome ideas int his thread so far! I’m 20lb+ down in 2 months, so loosing at similar pace more or less.
    • I eat ice-cream every day. Up to 3 times a day. My fav dessert cup can hold from 30 to 50 grams of ice-cream, so although I feel like I’ve never had as much ice-cream in my life as I do now, it actually never totals to more than 100g a day. Makes my 1200 cal diet feel like a cheat day every day.
    • Chinese teas and Tieguanyin in particular. Those deceivingly small 50ml cups that go empty in a couple of gulps. You have one, then another and suddenly you find that your 1.5 litre kettle is empty. Very tasty, energising, lots of water in, lowered appetite and a number of health benefits.
    • Pre-meal water and veggies damage control. I’m a big fan of sushi for example, but such food doesn’t make me full in a nice way. It goes from ‘want more of that’ right into ‘so full I can’t walk’ for some reason. But a glass of water followed by a big veggie salad with no dressing or one big full bell paper and suddenly 1 small slice of pizza or 3-5 pieces of a roll are both tasty and satisfying.
    • There are grocery stores near where I live but I shop at a nicer one that also conveniently happens to be good 5km (3.1mile) away. I walk there and buy my food fresh and in small amounts. I constantly run out of something and bread is the nicest when it’s freshly baked, so I end up walking there pretty much every day. It makes my walks have a purpose and harder to skip.
    • Spontaneous exercise. I work from home and spend a lot of time at my computer. I don’t do any proper workouts (other than cardio on elliptical on days I don’t walk). But I have light dumbbells on the window still and I see them the moment I stand up from the table to do some stretching. I pick them up on auto-pilot and do 10-20 reps of this exercise or another before I even realise it’s happening. I also have a sheet of paper with a printed table on the wall that I walk by many times a day. I get to draw a dot for every set of push-ups I do and an x for every set of sit ups. I just do them randomly throughout the day. It may not be as effective as a proper workout session but it makes a game out of what could be an obligation and I prefer it this way for now.
    • Listening to music as I workout or walk. It may be an obvious thing for majority of people but it was not for me. I always liked my silence. When it comes to pushing the body to its limits music works wonders, I have to admit.
    • ‘This burns calories’. Every time I feel lazy to wash dishes, walk somewhere or help my mother in the garden I just think that and it’s often enough to beat my laziness. Helps in areas not related to weight loss actually.
    • Yes, accountability on this site and this whole ‘not breaking the chain’ business does work. I can’t remember last time I went over my calorie goal. It just doesn’t seem like an option at the moment.
  • nettam3re3
    nettam3re3 Posts: 66 Member
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    I love the ice cream trick! I may have to try that one :)
  • titotito48
    titotito48 Posts: 120 Member
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    I tell myself I will exercise for 5 minutes and then another 5 and so on...til my hour is done.
    I put a smiley face sticker on my calendar (which is on the fridge) as soon as I complete my exercise. I love to see the calendar fill up.
    I have tootsie roll pops on hand for when I crave something sweet. They are only 60 calories and last a long time.
    I just bought fire balls for 20 calories each and those also last a long time. Since they are hot, it helps me to curb cravings for high calorie junk.
    Before I allow myself a glass of wine, I tell myself I have to have all my water in.
  • getitamb
    getitamb Posts: 2,019 Member
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    I work with a daycare. So I don't sit down much during the day.
    I teach my kids my Zumba and jafrican moves. We get our blood going.
    I made one rule when it comes to food. Even if it's "cheat food" know what's in it. Make sure it's serving as nourishment. (At least 90% of the time.)
    Study others and push myself every time I workout.
    I don't accept excuses from others or myself.
  • nettam3re3
    nettam3re3 Posts: 66 Member
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    getitamb wrote: »
    Study others and push myself every time I workout.
    I don't accept excuses from others or myself.

    This is very insightful and a good perspective for life in general!
  • BodyByBex
    BodyByBex Posts: 3,685 Member
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    getitamb wrote: »
    Study others and push myself every time I workout.
    I don't accept excuses from others or myself.

    Yup. I chant my motto.
    It used to be: All he ever did was disappoint me. I will NOT disappoint myself.

    I was dumped by a guy. He wasn't that great and eventually he wasn't that great of a motivation either. That was 30 pounds ago.

    Now the motto is: I've come this far. I will NOT disappoint myself.

    Works for the moderation, the food prep, the pre-logging, the exercise(especially the HIIT cardio), and the all around "getting-up-off-my-@$$-ness".
  • Allterrain_Lady
    Allterrain_Lady Posts: 421 Member
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    - I get on the scale every day, twice a day actually. But official weigh in is Friday morning. I start my "week" with the weekend. That where I do the potential damage and I have a few days to set the record straight, get rid of water weight and so on. The numbers on the scale are way "nicer" now than when I went on it on Monday mornings.

    - I used to aim for 5 workouts a week. 45 minutes each time. It felt impossible to do it and I always came short. Now, I aim for 225 minutes (wich equals 5*45min) a week and I substract all my exercise time from that amount, regardless on what it is. 20 minutes streching here, 20 minutes lifting there, an hour long walk and so on. And I always reach the 225 minutes goal!
  • 111grace
    111grace Posts: 382 Member
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    question to everyone, how do you talk yourself out of late night snacking? thanks :)
  • mcmenomy1
    mcmenomy1 Posts: 5 Member
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    For me it's been habit development. At first I was just talking myself *down* from snacks rather than *out* of them -- like, "I'm hungry, but instead of a piece of cake, I'm going to have a boiled egg, and I'm going to log it." And I was rigorous about reviewing my logs any day that I went over and working out what I could have cut that day, what choices I could've made differently. It helps me not order the glass of wine with dinner the next time if I remember that it's empty calories and it put me over my limit on a past occasion.

    Now I've gotten to the point where I usually don't even register the option of eating at non-meal times, even if I'm hungry and there's food nearby. (My remaining struggle: when I'm out to eat with friends, I'm hungry, there's not much on the menu that is suitable for my diet, and I just have to sit there smelling/watching the meal go by... that's still tough. :)
  • Allterrain_Lady
    Allterrain_Lady Posts: 421 Member
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    I convert the number of calories in the potential snack into workout minutes to get rid of it. Always keeps away from sugar loaded crap!
    One hour and a half on the treadmill, brisk pace with incline to burn Nutella? I don't think so!
  • ChickenLittle1121
    ChickenLittle1121 Posts: 32 Member
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    Something that really helps me is a brain trick I found on Pinterest. I use a smaller plate for all of my meals; like, the salad plate or whatever it it's called. On a dinner plate, there's a lot of empty space since my serving sizes are so small. But, when using a tiny plate, the food fills the entire plate and makes my brain think I'm eating SO MUCH, when in actuality I'm just eating what I'm supposed to. I've tested myself and my boyfriend, and we both eat way less when using a tiny plate. Weird, but helpful!
  • taentea
    taentea Posts: 91 Member
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    111grace wrote: »
    question to everyone, how do you talk yourself out of late night snacking? thanks :)
    I don't talk myself out of it. I sometimes have to talk myself into it. I usually have a 150 calorie dinner planned and around 100-150 more for late night munching on fruits or carrots. But then I miss a meal or have a lighter lunch for some reason and boom! it's past 9pm and I've got 500+ calories to go.
  • bbontheb
    bbontheb Posts: 718 Member
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    What would you have for a 150 cap dinner?
  • debubbie
    debubbie Posts: 767 Member
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    My biggest trick is: I complete weekly NSV lists to help keep me on track and measure my inches and log them. Any time I start to feel like I am not making progress quick enough, I look back through my NSV and inches journal and I am quickly motivated to get started again. It also helps me to see how long it has taken me to get to this point and how much work it would take to get back again if I decide to quit.

    Other smaller tricks is to make foods that I enjoy (pizza, Snickers ice cream bar, hot wings) fit into my daily calories or have them during a cheat meal. I have a piece of dark chocolate with lunch and dinner everyday.

    I keep a pair of "fat" pants that used to be tight as a reminder of where I have come from. I also have a couple of cool workout pants that are too small (I found them on clearance) that I am working on being able to wear.

    I have created fitness goals that I am working towards instead of focusing on weight. The weight loss is a little slower, but I don't feel as crazed or burnt out about it. I love seeing that my fitness tests are improving, I can run a mile now without stopping and my time keeps improving, and I am closer to running a 5k than I was just two months ago!
  • taentea
    taentea Posts: 91 Member
    edited May 2015
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    bbontheb wrote: »
    What would you have for a 150 cap dinner?
    100-120 grams of greek yogurt or soft cottage cheese, 1/4-1/3 of a banana mashed with a fork on the top of it and then some chopped strawberries or full blueberries to complete the picture. It's both my dinner and dessert usually. Or today I had 60g of zander fish, 63g of baked potato and over 100g of pickled cabbage. A big plate for 130 cals total.

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