how did you get started on your journey?

For me, I think the key way I got started (and continued) was to add a little bit of structure to my eating.

I started with calorie counting, something I'd done before, but what really changed this time was:
1. I'm being reasonable with my goals. The last time I was counting calories, I was 350 pounds and trying to eat 1350 calories per day. Not at all reasonable, and I was (for good reason) always starving. I lost fast before (too fast, actually) but it never stuck. This time I started at around 1900 per day, which was still aggressive but not too aggressive - I lose about as fast as I can safely lose without risking health or too much lean mass, and I'm rarely all that hungry.

2. I have a plan. I still make sure that every day, my meals are logged in advance for the next day. This really keeps me on track - I know what I'll eat and when.

3. I track success and failure. It sounds silly, but I use Habitica, which is a game that involves you creating tasks that you want to do, and rewards you like an RPG - experience, levels, gold, gear, etc. It's actually a good feeling when I get to click a little "I did that" on my page and see myself gaining XP.

4. I became active in this community, rather than just a user of the app without any interaction with others. I think that kind of focus helps me keep on target, and it's nice to motivate others and have them motivate you.

5. I planned how I would respond to failure, temptation, and frustration. I think this is key - even if you start with perfect intentions, reality is messier. Going over one day is a minor stumble, allowing that one day to progress into a week, month, or year of not caring is devastating. At least two prior attempts failed because I was frustrated at "plateaus" that really, in retrospect, were likely nothing more than prolonged water retention that I could have waited out if I hadn't gotten impatient and frustrated. This time I approached this with a different perspective - this isn't something I'm doing for a limited time, it's my new life, and the only real time limit is the number of years of life I have left.

I started two years ago when a Nephrologist told me the pain I was feeling in my flank was "just because of the extra weight." So I bought a new pair of sneakers that day and lost 26 lbs. She was wrong of course, the pain in my flank was a big ole kidney stone stuck in my ureter. It took 5 day surgeries to get the stone out. During that time, my grandfather passed away, then my dad had a stroke and passed a month later. I was devastated by the loss of my dad. Then two months later my uncle died and my mother sold the house I grew up in. Needless to say , with all the emotional stuff I gained all the weight I lost and more back.

This May, my fitbit flex broke so my husband surprised me with a new ChargeHR. It kind of motivated me to get my grove going again. Then I saw a picture of what I actually looked like and I went full force.

This time I am not depriving myself of anything I really want, I just fit it into my calorie goal. That has made all the difference and I feel like I got it this time.

Picked up my gym bag aand went to the gym

I hold off from eating snacks in the morning. That was my start

I finally stepped on the dreaded scale, I knew it was going to be bad, but I was ready for it! So on Feb 22 2015 I WOKE up at 295 lbs, looked at my husband and said NO MORE! That night I joined MFP. I took over the cooking and the shopping. I started with cutting out pop and juice, than tea, now I pretty much only drink water. I spent a lot of time on the internet, researching and finding healthier recipes to much loved recipes and foods. I also starting moving a lot more, and starting eating throughout the day. I plan, shop and cook for a family of 5, we are on a very tight budget and can not afford to eat different things, so we all pretty much eat the same foods. I am nearly 60 lbs and my husband has lost close to 30 lbs on diet alone, and the kids are also much healthier.

Steadily increasing weight at each annual doctors appointment, I finally started back at the gym with 5 minutes of Zumba. That was all I could do before I got too winded and had to sit. Got fit, lost like 30 lbs, plateaued, read a post on another forum about not losing weight being about eating too many calories, and it finally clicked what MFP was even for LOL

rankinsect wrote: »

For me, I think the key way I got started (and continued) was to add a little bit of structure to my eating.

I started with calorie counting, something I'd done before, but what really changed this time was:
1. I'm being reasonable with my goals. The last time I was counting calories, I was 350 pounds and trying to eat 1350 calories per day. Not at all reasonable, and I was (for good reason) always starving. I lost fast before (too fast, actually) but it never stuck. This time I started at around 1900 per day, which was still aggressive but not too aggressive - I lose about as fast as I can safely lose without risking health or too much lean mass, and I'm rarely all that hungry.

2. I have a plan. I still make sure that every day, my meals are logged in advance for the next day. This really keeps me on track - I know what I'll eat and when.

3. I track success and failure. It sounds silly, but I use Habitica, which is a game that involves you creating tasks that you want to do, and rewards you like an RPG - experience, levels, gold, gear, etc. It's actually a good feeling when I get to click a little "I did that" on my page and see myself gaining XP.

4. I became active in this community, rather than just a user of the app without any interaction with others. I think that kind of focus helps me keep on target, and it's nice to motivate others and have them motivate you.

5. I planned how I would respond to failure, temptation, and frustration. I think this is key - even if you start with perfect intentions, reality is messier. Going over one day is a minor stumble, allowing that one day to progress into a week, month, or year of not caring is devastating. At least two prior attempts failed because I was frustrated at "plateaus" that really, in retrospect, were likely nothing more than prolonged water retention that I could have waited out if I hadn't gotten impatient and frustrated. This time I approached this with a different perspective - this isn't something I'm doing for a limited time, it's my new life, and the only real time limit is the number of years of life I have left.

Great tips - especially #5. I'm also going to check out Habitica. Thanks!

I was in so much pain from my weight I couldn't take it anymore. I have 2 special needs toddler that I take care of by myself. I could not hardly bend over the change diapers or pick them. I was done with it.
I pretty much just dove right into it. I don't know what in me changed, or what the motivation was, but I just did it:

I just started weighing and logging food. I worked on portion control so I never felt like I was depriving myself. For fitness I did what I enjoyed rather than what I thought I should do. I like to hike and walk so I kept doing that as much as I could. Exercising has gone out the window now the days are getting shorter though.

I just started eating more healthfully and substantially reduced the amount of "junk" in my diet. I made it a point to get in 6-8 servings of veg and fruit daily (emphasis on veg), started eating more lean sourced protein, introduced myself to whole grains, and started eating things like avocado and nuts and cooking with avocado and olive oil more than butter.

I had a lot of bad blood work when I started out so I started researching how I should eat to address those issues.

I dropped a good 20 Lbs before signing on to MFP.