Small But Super Helpful Habits

oil isn't necessary for everything.

Order a kids meal or bag half of a adult portion before you start eating. A kids meal is a lot more close to what our portions should look like, some kids meals even too big for adults!

I've limited my milk intake, only have semi skimmed but hey. Unsweetened soya light or unsweetened almond milk always . They have hardly any cals!
I have a gluten intolerance so have to cook rice and potatoes at home, done without them for so long I don't have much as they bloat me out too much. No white bread, minimal bread full stop! Can't eat pasta but have mungbean vermachelli and konjac noodles ( also called shiritaki) almost no cals too!
Swapped tea with lots of milk and sugar to no sugar or sweeteners, and only a splash of milk. Buy good tea(loose if pos) you won't miss the old crappy version! Very rarely drink fizzies but if I do its coke zero only. Water!!!! My new best friend. You can change anything in your diet, just persevere with it. You will never miss it after about 3 months.
Also handy is work out what kind of eater you are. Emotional, the time of the month, through boredom? It helps! Then be mindful of it. My downfall is that one week every month! Nothing bad gets bought that week! I try not to shop either!
Oh and don't beat yourself up if you fall off! It happens, it will happen again. Enjoy it and get straight back on the next meal/ day. You can still live! Xx

My favorite new swap is to make fruit infused water instead of having sweet drinks. I slice some fruit and plop it in a big container of water. A couple minutes later it's ready to drink and it just gets tastier throughout the day!

Strawberries, any melon or any citrus work well (leave the peels on), plus you can add cucumber and/or fresh mint if you like. Really, any fruit you like or have on hand. I'm hoping to try pineapple at some point, I bet that would be good too!

I love my full force soda -- can't stand diet. And I hated water. Tried all the flavored waters etc. Nothing worked for me but to just force down some water. Now it's not too bad. I have a 30 oz water bottle and I make sure I drink at least one before I go to lunch each day. Then another before I get off work (3:30). And then at least one more by the end of the day. One at the gym is a bonus on the days I go to the gym.

This is one of the best threads I have ever read on MFP, thanks for starting. Loving the ideas

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.[/quote]

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.[/quote]


I agree completely. Milk for me needs to be seen in the whole for what it offers. Whole milk has been shown as part of a balanced diet to help weight loss not increase it. If in the pursuit of losing weight people are forgoing high protein high calcium natural foods like milk to only binge and have an off day eating something far worse is missing a trick. Dairy products that are high in protein and eaten sensibly will help tackle hunger and help burn more calories. Drink milk, eat protein & fibre and eat clean!

Take an hour to chop vegetables for the entire week. This way I have whatever I need to throw together lunches of salad, veggie wraps, etc and dinners of stir fry, fajitas or even veggie soup. I can't believe it took me this long to figure that out.

mamadon wrote: »

ellen_couliez wrote: »

no patatos/bread/pasta and rice

Definitely not this. ^^. If you restrict yourself from too many foods, you will probably get frustrated and give up. Weigh and measure everything. Buy a food scale. Make sure your eating the correct amount of calories, (find out your tdee). Don't eat too little, make sure you are doing things you can do for the long run.

Actually, it does work. I'd never have believed it until it happened to me. But the doc said I was getting perilously near diabetes, and should cut out "white carbs.".

Now, I'll grant you that a big part of my 40-pound weight loss is because I'm no longer stopping at the convenience store on the way home and picking up a candy bar or ice cream bar or bag of chips.

But mentally, it was a lot easier than if he'd said, "Stop eating that candy."

We eat a lot of rice, and it was no problem swapping in brown rice. And there's plenty of different whole grain breads.

Many restaurants are willing to swap an extra serving of veg for the whatever potatoes.

It doesn't feel restrictive, which is why it works for me.


1200 calories a day ... now, that feels restrictive. <sigh>

Start swapping out things slowly, one at a time. I started with swapping out my sodas when I ate out for unsweet tea with Equal. Yes, evil sweetener, but it doesn't bother me and that saves about 200 calories right off the bat.