What was your most beneficial first step towards weight loss?

alexldiamond1
alexldiamond1 Posts: 2 Member
edited 10:02AM in Getting Started
For those of you who are beginning your fitness journey, what was most beneficial to you in the first couple weeks? How did you start your process off right?

Replies

  • Unknown
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  • Rdsgoal16
    Rdsgoal16 Posts: 302 Member
    Logging and actually seeing how many calories going in my body, I bought a used bowflex and hit it almost everyday.
  • FitStrongHealthy
    FitStrongHealthy Posts: 220 Member
    Logging definitely opens my eyes to how much I'm really eating, and having a set plan so I have goals to focus on.
  • Montepulciano
    Montepulciano Posts: 845 Member
    The habit of logging and realizing that in the end, it is CICO (Calories in < Calories Out) and all the other stuff while interesting, is a personal choice for most people.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    Logging.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    entering my stats into MFP to figure out a good calorie target to lose weight and then logging as accurately as possible and hitting that target consistently.
  • Sweep79
    Sweep79 Posts: 30 Member
    I'm tracking religiously and see each day as a fresh start. I don't sabotage myself after one bad day. 29lb down since august.
  • WendyLaubach
    WendyLaubach Posts: 518 Member
    Logging, absolutely, though I also joined a gym immediately. (This was after my doctor said it was that or diabetes, which absolutely terrified me.) I had two surprises. One was that I got to like the gym. The other was that my stomach shrank and I was no longer hungry at the reduced calories. Nor was I feeling deprived, because I'm still eating the foods I like, only less of them.
  • KathyApplebaum
    KathyApplebaum Posts: 188 Member
    Another vote for logging. It made me really think about how much I was eating and why I was eating it.

    Second best thing was committing to regular exercise. Some days I'm not feeling it, but I still get out there. Might be a walk instead of a run (like today), but I'm still reinforcing the habit.
  • WillowKat2
    WillowKat2 Posts: 3 Member
    Definitely logging. I actually thought I was eating a healthy diet and realized I was eating over 2500 calories a day - yikes!!! Now I'm struggling to eat over 1,000 calories so trying to fix that and I've hit a plateau so thinking I have to commit to a regular exercise routine.
  • besdais
    besdais Posts: 76 Member
    Last February I challenged myself to walk my 10,000 steps almost every day (only missed one,) and log every bite for the whole month - focusing on eating better. By the end of the month, both had become a habit and I've gone from a size 16 to a 10 (being over 50, I'm working on losing about 1/2 lb a week, so it's totally do-able for me.) I've changed my lifestyle completely.
  • Qskim
    Qskim Posts: 1,145 Member
    Cut back on convenience food. Wasn't planning on ever counting calories.
  • KareninLux
    KareninLux Posts: 1,413 Member
    Logging, er, honestly, that is. I heard an expression once... what you eat in private shows in public ... that is so true. I think of the food log as 'public.' Really keeps me honest.
  • SolCielo
    SolCielo Posts: 5 Member
    logging for sure, surprised that I eat way more fat than I imagined and often eat under calories, which explains my binging; also invited a couple of friends to join who are in better shape and can see what they are doing like working out 4 to 5 times a week with high intensity.
  • k80flec
    k80flec Posts: 1,623 Member
    Montepulciano wrote: »
    The habit of logging and realizing that in the end, it is CICO (Calories in < Calories Out) and all the other stuff while interesting, is a personal choice for most people.

    This ^^^^ and moving more.
  • Paleodiet4beginnersdotcom
    Paleodiet4beginnersdotcom Posts: 31 Member
    alexldiamond1 wrote: »
    For those of you who are beginning your fitness journey, what was most beneficial to you in the first couple weeks? How did you start your process off right?

    Great post! For me it was switching my diet to Paleo diet. Haven't looked back since.

    Alfie

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Throwing away everything I thought I knew about diets, every fact, tip, rule that I had absorbed from media, friends, family etc

    And focusing only on calories in vs calories out

    On getting that estimate as accurate as possible without considering any food or food group bad

    Learning how to switch foods to reduce overall calories so I got to eat greater volumes or fit in that piece of chocolate, or chips
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    That put a stop to 30 years of yo yoing ...and with progressive resistance work turned my body shape and fitness levels back 2 decades
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    I started just by logging and exercising at home
    I used to think i didn't eat a lot it was the type of food I eat, logging opened my eyes
    Exercising showed me how awfully unfit I was
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    just getting off your butt and get moving!
  • Asianbutterflies
    Asianbutterflies Posts: 62 Member
    I changed my eating habits and began working out at home. I stayed away from fried foods for a solid three months. Slowly I intergrated them back as a treat. Did that for a full year and went from a size 20w-24 depending on the maker of clothes to a size 14. I never calorie counted. I followed a WW like plan (my mom is a WW member and she would share info and tips w me) 6 small meals a day. I joined a gym this year and went from 14 to 10-12. I slacked off some. But now I'm getting back on track as I want to lose my last 15-20 lbs. Now I am watching my calories.
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
    I started exercising first and didn't worry about my eating. I found getting active helped me to make better choices in the kitchen.

    Once I started getting more confident with my fitness, I introduced healthier foods into my diet and started to learn about my eating habits and working with it.

    When I combined both the weight started to come off and never came back. Now I've been maintaining for 2+ years.
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