The trick behind the success

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dpurzer
dpurzer Posts: 17 Member
edited June 2015 in Getting Started
First and foremost I would like to say that your success stories are great motivation to us just starting (or starting again). Secondly, I am very aware that consistency of exercising and nutrition are what win the war on the extra pounds.

This question/post/discussion wants to know what "extra oomph" won you the weekly battles? For example, this week's magic motivation for me is boiled pineapple with ginger water that I brewed up over the weekend. It's healthy, it supposedly helps to lose weight, but most importantly it helps me when I want to give up to drink a cup of "the potion" and go back to exercising.

It is a long road and the pineapple water number 9 will only keep my spirits up so long. What did you use?

Thank you!
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Replies

  • EmmaFitzwilliam
    EmmaFitzwilliam Posts: 482 Member
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    For me, it was all "knowledge is power" and "eat fewer calories than you burn".

    Weekly? The success? The "eye on the prize" (the long term goal)?

    The freedom daily that 1) there were no forbidden foods, 2) exceeding the calorie goal any given day wasn't that big a deal, 3) building in room for chocolate, dessert, etc. into my calorie "bank" each day, and 4) honestly assessing whether certain foods carried enough "bang" for the calorie "buck" to be worth eating.

    For me, there were no "magic bullets", no "tricks", no "gimmicks". Just understanding how many calories were at stake with each choice, and how much food was in a portion.

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  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    The trick behind my success was education, accurate logging and setting my calories to an appropriate amount.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
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    No magic motivation or tricks. I started with just logging for a few weeks to see where I was overeating, then started cutting back a little a time. By cutting my calories slowly, I was able to retrain my mind and body to accept what's a normal portion, but at the same time, I didn't feel deprived. If I wanted a cookie, I ate a cookie and logged it. If I wanted chips, I'd weigh it out and log it. I didn't even start actual exercise until I took my phys-ed class in January, and I had lost 40lbs by then. Exercise isn't NECESSARY for weight loss. It's something you need to do to keep your body healthy, but you can still lose weight without exercise if you watch your calories closely enough.

    As for your pineapple water, the only thing that will do is hydrate you. Now, if you like the taste of it, by all means keep drinking it! It's healthier than a lot of things, and since your body can send hunger signals when it's really thirsty, that can help keep you from snacking when you're not actually hungry. But it's not going to magically make you lose weight.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    usmcmp wrote: »
    The trick behind my success was education, accurate logging and setting my calories to an appropriate amount.

    ^^What she said. (Cuz she knows what she's talking about!)
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    I can't think of any tangible trick, but I had an "aha" moment a few months ago. Although I had slowly lost weight over the last couple years, I was stalled (mentally). A friend said she had a fitbit and "earned" her dessert or wine each day with extra activity. I liked that concept. I already had an MFP account from years ago that I never really committed to, so I pulled it back up on my phone earlier this year and calculated how many calories I could eat for a .5 lb loss, and since it's only 1210 (well, a few months ago it was 1270), I figured out how much I have to MOVE each day to earn closer to 1400, because FOOD. I kind of enjoy the challenge of earning more good each day. In fact, I pre-log the night before so I always know generally how much I'm going to eat and therefore how much I have to exercise.
  • professionalHobbyist
    professionalHobbyist Posts: 1,316 Member
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    Not eat too much... As boring as that is, they keep was a good diet of wise food choices at the right amount for my activity level

    Get some high intensity cardio in the mix twice a week helped.

  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
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    EmmaFitzwilliam wrote: »
    The freedom daily that 1) there were no forbidden foods, 2) exceeding the calorie goal any given day wasn't that big a deal, 3) building in room for chocolate, dessert, etc. into my calorie "bank" each day, and 4) honestly assessing whether certain foods carried enough "bang" for the calorie "buck" to be worth eating.

    For me, there were no "magic bullets", no "tricks", no "gimmicks". Just understanding how many calories were at stake with each choice, and how much food was in a portion.

    Most of this!
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
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    Embracing that I actually want to change my life style not just lose weight. That simple approach took the pressure off & gave me the luxury of time to reach goals.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    usmcmp wrote: »
    The trick behind my success was education, accurate logging and setting my calories to an appropriate amount.

    This.

    Also, I didn't cut anything out, everything I did was 100% sustainable and I have never once felt miserable or that I missed out on anything. Eat the way you plan to for life.
  • markiend
    markiend Posts: 461 Member
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    Realising how much I was eating , stopped eating that much, started moving more. Then went off shopping for some smaller clothes
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    asflatasapancake wrote: »
    Consistency. Persistence. Vigilance. Accuracy. Humor. Humility.

    ^^^This

    The trick is there is no trick. ;)


  • coreyreichle
    coreyreichle Posts: 1,031 Member
    edited June 2015
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    One neat trick moms in (Fill in city name here) wish they knew about making a fitness/health program stick: Find a buddy.

    Your buddy will encourage you to stick by the routine, and you'll do the same for your buddy.
  • dpurzer
    dpurzer Posts: 17 Member
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    Thank you all!

    (However, the pineapple ginger water may not "work" but it's yummy)
  • dirtyflirty30
    dirtyflirty30 Posts: 222 Member
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    My "secrets" - :)http://www.dirtyflirty30.com/blog/2015/4/27/the-secret
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    dpurzer wrote: »
    First and foremost I would like to say that your success stories are great motivation to us just starting (or starting again). Secondly, I am very aware that consistency of exercising and nutrition are what win the war on the extra pounds.

    This question/post/discussion wants to know what "extra oomph" won you the weekly battles? For example, this week's magic motivation for me is boiled pineapple with ginger water that I brewed up over the weekend. It's healthy, it supposedly helps to lose weight, but most importantly it helps me when I want to give up to drink a cup of "the potion" and go back to exercising.

    It is a long road and the pineapple water number 9 will only keep my spirits up so long. What did you use?

    Thank you!

    First, pineapple water is not going to help you lose weight. So I would suggest that you need to learn to separate out all the woo woo, pseudo/bro science that is out there, which can be difficult.

    second - I will say that you need to learn to eat the foods that you like in moderation, and realize that no food is good or bad, it is just food that you use for energy and nutrients. Make sure that you hit your micro/macros and your calorie target. yes, it is ok to eat pizza, ice cream, etc, just make sure that the majority of your food is coming from nutrient dense sources.

    third - get a food scale and weigh all solids.

    fourth - find a form of exercise you enjoy and do it.
  • tedioustrainingap
    tedioustrainingap Posts: 78 Member
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    Finding an exercise I love has made all the difference. I'm new to this but probably wouldn't even be here, if I hadn't rekindled my love of swimming. I go 5 days per week, which raises my calorie allowance (I eat half back on average, across my exercise and rest days) to a level which I find hard to meet. So, weight loss is a pleasant side effect of doing something I love, rather the focus having to be on stringent eating plans - although my food knowledge has improved drastically since joining!

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,202 Member
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    My tricks ...

    I eat fewer calories than I burn.

    And if want to eat something outside my calorie limit, I work for it. I exercise until I have burned more than enough calories to compensate for whatever I want to eat.

    Pre-logging helps too. I don't pre-long much in advance ... sometimes maybe just an hour or two, sometimes the day before, to see how much exercise I need to do.
  • buttshrink
    buttshrink Posts: 32 Member
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    I found an exercise I loved! Zumba! And after the weight started to come off I was proud to learn what else my body could do. I lost 50 pounds this way and then hit a plateau.
    Recently I've started to add supplements to my diet and they have helped my weight loss start back up. I like to use Spark in the morning to get me going.

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