How to Prepare?

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robingmurphy
robingmurphy Posts: 349 Member
in Getting Started
I've put on maybe twenty pounds over the last six months, and once I get past the holiday I'm going to get serious about tackling it. I know the mechanics of losing weight - plan what I'm going to eat, track calories on MFP, stay under my calorie goal. But if you know you're going to make a lifestyle shift in a week, what do you do to prepare? How do you prepare mentally? Physically? Anything that sets you up for success?

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    i found it to be far more beneficial to take baby steps than just trying to do a 180 overnight.
  • Rdsgoal16
    Rdsgoal16 Posts: 302 Member
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    I dropped the hammer on a specific day, a few days before I started buying healthy foods, a food scale and a used bowflex machine, I put a red X on the calendar and basically said "ok fatty, this IS going to be the day your life changes" I got rid of (some ate some trashed) bad foods in my house, asked for the support from my friends and then started on that day. That was three weeks ago I am 18 pounds down and feel better than I have in three years.
  • FitStrongHealthy
    FitStrongHealthy Posts: 220 Member
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    Definitely take baby steps.

    I wrote down my plan and a list of my goals for my journey, and I plan to focus on 1-2 things each month. Things that I need to work on to make myself a fitter, healthier person.

    Don't try to focus on it all at once, break it down in to smaller pieces and focus on working different things little by little.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
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    robingmurphy wrote: »
    But if you know you're going to make a lifestyle shift in a week, what do you do to prepare? How do you prepare mentally? Physically? Anything that sets you up for success?

    I can tell you sure fire ways to fail more than succeed.
    • Go in with that 'all-or-nothing' attitude: That is where you become the paleo-veggie,5x5-rawrz-beastmode-cuteverything-shake guzzling-etc-etc fitness cliche for a good xxx months before you realize it is not sustainable or fun
    • Make it is sprint: Again, this is the mindset that even though it has taken years (or even many months) to get out of shape, people think they will fix it in a few months (see first point)
    • Set weight goals instead of activity/eating goals: Nothing will burn a person out or make them give up quicker than NOT hitting number goals, even if everything they are doing is making them healthier overall. I set goals for better eating and exercise, and when I hit them weight loss happens naturally.
    • Not giving yourself leeway to enjoy life

    Anyway, all the best! You can do, just do it smarter than harder.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    Timshel_ wrote: »
    robingmurphy wrote: »
    But if you know you're going to make a lifestyle shift in a week, what do you do to prepare? How do you prepare mentally? Physically? Anything that sets you up for success?

    I can tell you sure fire ways to fail more than succeed.
    • Go in with that 'all-or-nothing' attitude: That is where you become the paleo-veggie,5x5-rawrz-beastmode-cuteverything-shake guzzling-etc-etc fitness cliche for a good xxx months before you realize it is not sustainable or fun
    • Make it is sprint: Again, this is the mindset that even though it has taken years (or even many months) to get out of shape, people think they will fix it in a few months (see first point)
    • Set weight goals instead of activity/eating goals: Nothing will burn a person out or make them give up quicker than NOT hitting number goals, even if everything they are doing is making them healthier overall. I set goals for better eating and exercise, and when I hit them weight loss happens naturally.
    • Not giving yourself leeway to enjoy life

    Anyway, all the best! You can do, just do it smarter than harder.

    fb4199ebe50aa3a19da488865a8a2c0d.gif
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Timshel_ wrote: »
    robingmurphy wrote: »
    But if you know you're going to make a lifestyle shift in a week, what do you do to prepare? How do you prepare mentally? Physically? Anything that sets you up for success?

    I can tell you sure fire ways to fail more than succeed.
    • Go in with that 'all-or-nothing' attitude: That is where you become the paleo-veggie,5x5-rawrz-beastmode-cuteverything-shake guzzling-etc-etc fitness cliche for a good xxx months before you realize it is not sustainable or fun
    • Make it is sprint: Again, this is the mindset that even though it has taken years (or even many months) to get out of shape, people think they will fix it in a few months (see first point)
    • Set weight goals instead of activity/eating goals: Nothing will burn a person out or make them give up quicker than NOT hitting number goals, even if everything they are doing is making them healthier overall. I set goals for better eating and exercise, and when I hit them weight loss happens naturally.
    • Not giving yourself leeway to enjoy life

    Anyway, all the best! You can do, just do it smarter than harder.

    THIS^ - an all or nothing attitude is horrible. The #1 thing to prepare - get rid of the "I screwed up today, so now I need to start over tomorrow" attitude. We are not perfect. But the good news is we don't need to be perfect to improve our health. We just need to improve our eating habits and (often) the amount physical movement we do.
  • taco_inspector
    taco_inspector Posts: 7,223 Member
    edited December 2015
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    One of my "issues" is not having enough of the 'right things' on hand. My largest calorie source had been eating-out when nothing at home seemed good or 'fast enough'... For someone like me, this may work (everyone is very different, so addressing your particular needs will likely vary)

    As I began this change about a year ago, I sorted through my kitchen and got my shopping list together so that I'd have yummy & quick meals available to me at home.
    • I added small freezable storage containers (to help me pre-portion pre-prepared food)
    • I added an inventory of quick-to-prepare foods so that I had options readily on hand for meals at home . This inventory included frozen skinless chicken breasts, frozen veggies, frozen fish, tolerably low-cal/proper macro canned soups, the "Flatout" flat-breads that I would be using in lieu of breads for lunch, etc...
    • I also assured that my contact grill ("George Foreman"-like) and my slow-cooker were cleaned and ready for use
    • Perhaps more importantly, I began to log my intake... everything. It helps to learn how to manage MFP inputs and the collection of data helped me to re-align what I was eating. My first 30+ pounds of losses came from just logging while still eating out, so all of the preceding "prepare" work didn't come into play for nearly 3 months...

    Preparing in this context is more about getting used to where you are, and looking forward to where you're going (just like the posts above say) -- Nothing in my cupboards, counter, or freezer drove my change. Sustainability should be something at the top of your "how to prepare" list; more of a knowledge-based mindset than anything more tangible.
  • Montepulciano
    Montepulciano Posts: 845 Member
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    Things that I either did, or wish I had done the week before I started:
    1. Have plans for my meals. Nothing extreme, foods I like but that will fit into my calorie counts.
    2. Clean out/organize my kitchen with those meal plans in mind
    3. Buy a scale
    4. Place my goals around habits, not weight goals
    5. Remind myself regularly that it took time to put on the weight, and it won't come off in a day
    6. 90% is good enough, so don't let the 10% drag your motivation down.
    7. Be as kind to yourself as you are to others.

    Hope that helps.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
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    So not to seem like a negative Nancy here (apologies too all present Nancys). Here are things that have worked for me. Mind you I am not that fitness model or success story with the amazing pictures that everyone loves seeing and reading. Not that I don't want to be, and in the back of my mind have that as cool thing to achieve, but at my age I am very focused on maintaining my quality of life, both in being healthy and enjoying it.

    When I am focused:
    • I don't vary much in meals. I have three or four easy to make or bulk foods I can have at any meal.
    • I do a lot of bulk stuff and make meals I freeze or have prepared for the week or so
    • When I go out to eat, if I know it is a calorie dense meal, I ask the server to split it and box up half BEFORE it is served at the table. Oddly, even as half a meal, most restaurant meals still fill the whole plate. It is a mental trick for me since I was brought up to eat everything there. I use this at fast food places when I can too.
    • I always add in exercise, forgetting about weight loss. The fact is, most people only burn off about 300-500 calories in an hour session, where simply giving up that big ol' Pepsi or cutting some snack out in a day would do for counting calories. Exercise should be done for the health benefits. This includes strength training and cardio.
    • Vary workouts between hard and just plain fun! I walk, do sprints, do calisthenics, run, lift, and vary things because I get bored in too steady of routines. My goal is fitness though and this lends to my favorite activity, tennis - which is exercise AND fun.
    • Track calories. Obviously that is why we are here, but that really gives you the picture on where you are doing good and bad. Doing the meal prep above makes this REALLY easy too (copy/paste day to day with already measured stuff)
    • The mental part is the toughest. That is where a healthy lifestyle is won or lost. Positive talk, self-love (no creepy comments people), and reinforcing the good - those all make way to break the learned habits and replace them with new habits. Just know, some thing (like my cleaning my plate) are REALLY tough to break, so just find way to trick yourself or make small progress in changing.
    • I know my health is NOT all or nothing. That is SOOOOO important in keeping yourself motivated. NO ONE can walk the perfect, righteous path of fitness and health. We enjoy free will in life. The mantra we must maintain is that of MODERATION. This isn't always with in a day, and sometimes not within a week. But we must keep applying that effort as often as possible so it happens more often than not.

    Anyway, again...you got this.

    Stay AMAZING!
  • robingmurphy
    robingmurphy Posts: 349 Member
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    This is some great advice - thank you! You are all so wise. I will take all of this to heart. Here's one that's hard for me: 'The #1 thing to prepare - get rid of the "I screwed up today, so now I need to start over tomorrow" attitude' I definitely have the tendency to feel like one mistake means I might as well just throw it all out the window! I know that doesn't make sense, but one screw up just kills all my motivation. Honestly, part of the reason I'm waiting until January is that I am in an environment over the next week where I KNOW I'll overeat (Christmas, making cookies with the kids) so it's impossible for me to motivate myself to stick to a calorie plan now when I know a screw up is coming around the corner. I know every calorie counts and it makes no logical sense to feel that way, but I can't help it. Anyone had advice for developing a more realistic perspective and maintaining motivation even after I've just overeaten?

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