What works for you??

Accurate calorie counting and add some exercise for fitness. Log everyday even if you have a bad day.

Get into the habit of logging every single thing you eat or drink that has calories. Everything. You don't need to change what you eat, you just need to eat less and keep track to verify that you are. I think one mistake people make is thinking that they need to overhaul their entire lives and they don't, especially not at first. Just eat less, try to move more and you'll lose weight. It's really almost always that simple.

Oh, and buy a kitchen scale if you don't have one. It's the best method for making sure your portion sizes are correct. Measuring cups are nearly worthless for solid food because smaller pieces mean more calories in the cup.

Weigh the food. Log the food. Follow the goals set by MFP with Fitbit adjustments and keep an eye on the net calories.

Low Carb here. I don't count calories. I don't exercise right now. Works great for me.

SueInAz wrote: »

Pre-portion. I buy the big bags of snacks or whatever at Costco and I measure a bunch of it out into servings for myself. I buy lots of Ziploc baggies at Costco, too. LOL I can easily grab what I know is a serving size and take it with me while I'm working on homework or watching TV and I know exactly how much I ate and when I'm done, I'm done. You can also just not buy the things that you know you're going to lose control with.

Another vote for the pre-portioned food baggies!
They are amazing, makes it super easy to eat only what you want and you know exactly what you are in for (calorie wise).

You noted that you eat back your calories. I'm assuming that refers to calories burned through exercise. How do you determine how many calories you burn? I don't have a tracker such as Fitbit so I use MFP. I learned the hard way that MFP is overly generous on calorie burns, so now I try not to eat back more than 1/2 of the calories that MFP gives me for exercise.

Log your foods - every.single.bite! This is what is making me successful this time. Previously I would log for a few days/weeks then slack off and stop. I also was of the mentality that if I didn't log it, it didn't count. Now that I have been HONESTLY logging for almost 2 months, I realize how many extra calories I was eating. A big spoonful of peanut butter can't be that much right? WRONG - easily 300+ calories. Grab a few cookies as I walk by - 300 calories. Poptarts for a midnight snack - 400 calories because who can eat just one. A handful of peanuts - 300. Thats more than a daily allotment of calories - No wonder I'm 100 lbs overweight. Those suckers add up.

Another thing that helps me is to pre-log. For instance I know what I'm having for dinner tomorrow night so its already on my log. I will even pad it a little and adjust as needed. For example, I'm cooking a pork butt in the crock pot so even though I'll probably only eat 3-4 oz, I logged 5 that way if I want more, fine and if not I'll have a few calories left over for a treat. It also helps me budget my calories for the rest of the day. I hate getting to dinnertime and realizing I have 200 cal. left. Makes for a sad dinner or a sad me when I go over my goal.

I start by watching what I eat and substitute unhealthy treats with healthier versions. Example I love ice cream but it's not good for you so I pick some made with coconut milk or almond milk. Then I find following a workout routine is best like Les Mills combat. It gives you a schedule to follow plus some yummy recipe ideas. I just started back into it. It worked awesome for me before.

Being realistic about what I can actually commit to. I try to lose 1 pound a month. Seriously. I can't be hungry or I overeat so I lift weights and have the smallest deficit ever. My goal is to be under 200 pounds when I turn 40 in 3 years

I started slow. What I did was log everything as accurately as I could for a couple of weeks to get a baseline and see any patterns. Then, I changed one thing: I swapped out soda for unsweet tea with Equal for lunches. That alone cut 200-300 calories out of my day. Once I got used to that, I changed something else. I did some research and found places near where I work that I can get a meal I like for under a set number of calories, I have pretty much the same thing for breakfast, so that leaves me a lot more calories for the end of the day to eat with my husband. I didn't cut out anything, just paid attention to what a listed serving is and followed that.

The point is, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can make small changes at first and give yourself a week or two to adjust to them. Then, change something else. It's slower, but for me it was much more sustainable. Because I still kept foods I like in my diet, just lowered the amount of them I ate, I never felt that I was depriving myself of anything. I did end up adding more veggies and things that have lower calorie content but higher nutritional content since I can eat more in terms of bulk that way, but I honestly still don't have a really healthy diet. ^_^; Still, I've gotten used to eating smaller portions, enough to the point that I can't ever finish a meal at a restaurant anymore. The portions are just too big!

I also don't keep much in the way of snack food in the house. My biggest craving is salty things like chips, so I don't keep them in the house. I either make some popcorn where I can add as much salt as I want, or I make myself go to the gas station and get a small bag of chips if I REALLY want chips. Being as I'm inherently lazy, I usually end up not going out. XD

You don't have to exercise either. My weight loss was done without exercise. I have pretty bad asthma, so starting any kind of exercise routine was very hard and I would lose interest because I just felt horrible afterwards. I did finally get into walking, but I don't walk fast or long distances, so I don't burn a large amount of calories doing so. It's not for weight loss, it's for my lungs. So if you don't like exercise, you don't have to start for weight loss. It's good for other things, but again, it's ok to start slow. Go outside, walk a random direction for 10 minutes, turn and walk back. Bam, 20 minute walk. Doesn't have to be fast, just go by time. Once you get used to it, either up the time or up the speed. Building slowly takes a lot longer, but at least for me, made it so I will continue to do it!

MarziPanda95 wrote: »

kim2004mc wrote: »

I start by watching what I eat and substitute unhealthy treats with healthier versions. Example I love ice cream but it's not good for you so I pick some made with coconut milk or almond milk. Then I find following a workout routine is best like Les Mills combat. It gives you a schedule to follow plus some yummy recipe ideas. I just started back into it. It worked awesome for me before.

Why isn't ice cream good? It gets my fat macro up, and has calcium. It's also good for when I've met protein and haven't met fat or carbs and have calories left. Calorie dense doesn't mean 'not good for you'.
OP, like other people have said, pre-logging is great. It doesn't work for some people, but it definitely works for me. I'll think 'I can't have that whole tube of pringles, I'm having a chicken pasta bake later'. If I didn't p

MarziPanda95 wrote: »

kim2004mc wrote: »

I start by watching what I eat and substitute unhealthy treats with healthier versions. Example I love ice cream but it's not good for you so I pick some made with coconut milk or almond milk. Then I find following a workout routine is best like Les Mills combat. It gives you a schedule to follow plus some yummy recipe ideas. I just started back into it. It worked awesome for me before.

Why isn't ice cream good? It gets my fat macro up, and has calcium. It's also good for when I've met protein and haven't met fat or carbs and have calories left. Calorie dense doesn't mean 'not good for you'.
OP, like other people have said, pre-logging is great. It doesn't work for some people, but it definitely works for me. I'll think 'I can't have that whole tube of pringles, I'm having a chicken pasta bake later'. If I didn't pre log I would have eaten the pringles and been starving for the rest of the day with no calories left! Allowing myself treats in moderation is also very important to me. If I didn't let myself have a treat every day - maybe some ice cream or some chocolate - I'd feel deprived and eat all the things.

It was an example of ways to substitute. I'm a sweet tooth so I need to watch my sugar intake. I try to get more protein and iron in my diet since I'm lacking there. Ice cream is also high in fat.