What would have been most helpful to you when you started to lose weight?

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terizius
terizius Posts: 425 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What would have been most helpful to you when you started to lose weight?
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  • KrisiAnnH
    KrisiAnnH Posts: 352 Member
    edited July 2015
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    "most helpful" in relation to what exactly? Most helpful tips or advice? Most helpful calorie intake/workout plans, diet advice etc?
    If you make your question a bit more specific, you're more likely to get replies and helpful advice :)
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    A food scale. Oh wait, I had one, do you?
  • KrisiAnnH
    KrisiAnnH Posts: 352 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    A food scale. Oh wait, I had one, do you?

    Definitely this! Weighing everything (and I mean everything, measuring liquids etc) and track everything you eat and drink on mfp. That's the only reason I've stuck with it so long.

    Also ignoring people that tell you there are 'good' and 'bad' foods, any food is 'good' food as long as it works within your calorie goals :)
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    KrisiAnnH wrote: »
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    A food scale. Oh wait, I had one, do you?

    Definitely this! Weighing everything (and I mean everything, measuring liquids etc) and track everything you eat and drink on mfp. That's the only reason I've stuck with it so long.

    Also ignoring people that tell you there are 'good' and 'bad' foods, any food is 'good' food as long as it works within your calorie goals :)

    EXCEPT kimchee! GAG!
  • KrisiAnnH
    KrisiAnnH Posts: 352 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    KrisiAnnH wrote: »
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    A food scale. Oh wait, I had one, do you?

    Definitely this! Weighing everything (and I mean everything, measuring liquids etc) and track everything you eat and drink on mfp. That's the only reason I've stuck with it so long.

    Also ignoring people that tell you there are 'good' and 'bad' foods, any food is 'good' food as long as it works within your calorie goals :)

    EXCEPT kimchee! GAG!

    haha well I forgot to mention personal preference! I'm sure for some people it's considered a 'good' food (no idea why though! eww)
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
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    Not really, but I wish it hadn't taken me 5 yr on MFP to discover there was a forum.
    Making up for it now.

    Cheers, h.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,038 Member
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    terizius wrote: »
    What would have been most helpful to you when you started to lose weight?

    I'm sort of puzzled by the wording of the question. What would have been helpful ...

    What was, indeed, definitely helpful were:

    -- signing up for MFP. I have used other sites like this in the past when I have found it necessary to tweak my weight a little, but MFP is the easiest site I've used yet.

    -- getting a food scale and weighing my food.

    -- going grocery shopping and spending time looking at what is available and carefully reading labels. I went from eating the same ol' thing to eating a much wider variety of food ... and yet consuming fewer calories.

    -- working for anything extra I wanted to eat. If I want cheesecake on the weekend, I need to cycle or walk enough to burn it off first ... and then some, just in case.

    -- faithfully sticking to a net 1250 cal diet.

  • terizius
    terizius Posts: 425 Member
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    The reason I phrased the question as I did is because most people end up learning as they go (welcome to the forums middlehaitch ;) But, I'm certain there were things that would have been "most helpful" had they been known from the very beginning.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited July 2015
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    Machka9 wrote: »

    -- going grocery shopping and spending time looking at what is available and carefully reading labels. I went from eating the same ol' thing to eating a much wider variety of food ... and yet consuming fewer calories.

    This was probably the big one for me too. Actually planning and making decisions about my meals - starting with a thoughtful grocery list, instead of blindly grabbing whatever - made the hugest difference, I think. Prior to that, I was haphazard about food. I'd let myself get hangry and grab whatever was nearby and looked good. (A lot of things that are "nearby" and "look good" are high-cal wonders :/ )

    Also, doing exercise every day kept my appetite down (I know that's not true for everyone). And it kept my head in the game - made me want to fuel my workouts better. Also helped with mood, energy, outlook, sleep, which all indirectly helped with motivation and consistency.

    Went hand in hand - working out made me feel good, and eating more home-cooked food (more veg etc) made me feel even better (and more satisfied on fewer calories).
  • peterjens
    peterjens Posts: 235 Member
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    This post - http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1
  • adriennel502
    adriennel502 Posts: 72 Member
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    Everyone's said it - scales!! Both bathroom and kitchen. Also getting a good group of friends through the forum -very motivating to have your own cheering squad!! Took me a while to do this.
  • Diana_GettingFit
    Diana_GettingFit Posts: 458 Member
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    I wish I'd known about this site years ago. Then again I didn't exactly look for it...
  • michelegreen99
    michelegreen99 Posts: 28 Member
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    For me, it was realizing the importance of real food. Back in the 80's and 90s, (I know, I 'm old), I was the queen of nonfat this, low fat that. I avoided fat at all costs and I ate Lean Cuisines/WW meals. Now we know better and I eat real, whole food, keeping the processed stuff to a minimum. And now, Sugar is a treat, no longer an everyday thing. When I consider all the harm done, I wish I had known this back in my 20s! And grateful to know it now and have MFP to keep me accountable! Best tool ever!
  • Yiotatort
    Yiotatort Posts: 2 Member
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    I wish someone had told me about mindful eating. I also learned how to use mindfulness to be aware of emotional eating. I also got a treadmill desk - which I'm using right now. I like spending my evenings on the computer - but I need to move. A treadmill desk allows me to do both. And finally I learned to make small changes as I felt comfortable with them. It's not necessary to rush things - that's one reason why doing a pound at a time is helpful.
  • javakitty
    javakitty Posts: 31 Member
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    Don't keep anything in your house that you overeat.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    javakitty wrote: »
    Don't keep anything in your house that you overeat.

    this too
  • CandiedCarrion
    CandiedCarrion Posts: 94 Member
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    Restricting and dieting are two different things.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    I'm not sure that I could've done it differently. I do wish that I'd known, when the weight first started coming off, that it was going slow waaay down. When I realized how fast it was coming off, I thought I'd be done in a year or less. Ha!

    But my goals changed as I went along and so did my approach. When I started, I couldn't have done what I do now because I had to go through all that to get where I am.

    Probably 90% of it is mental for me and it came with experience - paying attention to what I do, how it works, what doesn't work, etc. That's stuff I couldn't have known until I learned it, KWIM?
  • SuseAndo26
    SuseAndo26 Posts: 54 Member
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    javakitty wrote: »
    Don't keep anything in your house that you overeat.

    100% !!!!!

  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    A time machine so I could lose weigh years earlier.

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