Day two of eating healthy and walking.

Great job taking those first steps! Keep it up!

Great attitude, and you can totally do it!

Best things I did in losing 95 lbs were:

(1) Accepting that I'm not perfect and I'm not either doing everything right and so "on plan" or messing up and "off plan" such that I had to start again later. It's a process and some days will be easier or better than others, but it's all a learning experience. It was helpful for me to reflect at the end of each day or beginning of the next what went well, what didn't, and why. It wasn't helpful to beat myself up, and I didn't

(2) Focusing on mini goals along the way to keep from feeling overwhelmed. Part of this was weight loss and I made it as concrete as possible (I could be down X lb by date) -- although make sure you are a person who will not be discouraged if you aren't 100% on target. More important were the process goals -- little habits or achievement goals to work on each week and month. Walk X miles, do a 5K, make dinner every night this week, stay in my calories every day, add in vegetables to each meal, get my protein to my goal -- little things like that. Going along with the point about not being perfect, it's all baby steps. Also, your goals should be what YOU care about, as that's what will be motivating. For me, I thought about "in a year, what do I want my life to be like? what do I want to be doing?" based on that, I chose goals to bring me along the way.

(3) I thought about how I'd been eating when gaining weight and figured out where the extra calories were from (since it's not always obvious). What I realized is that I ate more foods I didn't care about than I should (rice bores me, so why not avoid it or keep it to a minimum), and that I mostly ate pretty well at meals but snacked mindlessly at work. So I changed those things (stopped snacking, ate mindfully), and found that hitting my calories was painless. I also decided that I wouldn't waste calories on food that's not delicious, so even though I focus on having a healthy diet I probably eat tastier food on average than before I paid attention to calories.

(4) I walk everywhere I possibly can (or sometimes ride my bike or run). I am fortunate to live in a city where this is easier than some other places, but it's an easy way to increase activity level painlessly. I worked into it over time.

(5) I did not have unrealistic expectations and made changes gradually. I had a history of starting a get in shape plan, deciding I needed to go to the gym every day (or swim or whatever) and then burning out or getting discouraged as soon as I stopped feeling motivated to go. This time I started just with the walking for errands and then added in walking extra for my commute, and then other forms of exercise in a pretty easy and fun way 3 days a week for 30 minutes and worked up as I felt comfortable. It was surprising how quickly I got into it when I didn't start by making myself miserable with expectations.

Great job! I'm on day two of my diet/fitness challenge too; keep it up!!

You will notice that these are self centered statements - what tends to work for me, rather than what I think everyone should be doing.

-I use my exercise calories as my buffer - I can eat up to that much more, if I actually feel hungry.
-Eating mindfully (sitting down, taking away the distractions) helps me be aware of the fact that I am putting calories in my mouth. It also helps me focus on the taste of the food, so I don't feel deprived later. If I find myself slipping, this is one of the first things I make a concentrated effort to incorporate.
-I only weigh in once a month. This helps me keep my focus on the process, rather than the scale.
-I set fitness goals, not weight goals. I was working towards a goal to climb a particular set of stairs without stopping, but I might need to a smaller goal after recovering from this bronchitis. Today, walking up a single flight of steps without stopping to cough would seem like a miracle.
-For nutrition, most of my focus is (usually, my diary currently reflects what I can eat, rather than should) getting lots of veggies, some protein, and at least a serving of healthy fat. Anything else is allowed in, when it fits my calorie goals.
-When I do mess up, I just get back on track. I do not punish myself, I just go back to healthy habits ASAP. If I overindulged at an afternoon party, I don't have to give up a healthy dinner, unless I am genuinely not hungry. But lets face it, cake isn't exactly a filling food!
-I spend a lot of my free time here. I can't eat if I am typing, and I am unlikely to boredom eat if I am reading about dieting and fitness.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Great attitude, and you can totally do it!

Best things I did in losing 95 lbs were:

(1) Accepting that I'm not perfect and I'm not either doing everything right and so "on plan" or messing up and "off plan" such that I had to start again later. It's a process and some days will be easier or better than others, but it's all a learning experience. It was helpful for me to reflect at the end of each day or beginning of the next what went well, what didn't, and why. It wasn't helpful to beat myself up, and I didn't

(2) Focusing on mini goals along the way to keep from feeling overwhelmed. Part of this was weight loss and I made it as concrete as possible (I could be down X lb by date) -- although make sure you are a person who will not be discouraged if you aren't 100% on target. More important were the process goals -- little habits or achievement goals to work on each week and month. Walk X miles, do a 5K, make dinner every night this week, stay in my calories every day, add in vegetables to each meal, get my protein to my goal -- little things like that. Going along with the point about not being perfect, it's all baby steps. Also, your goals should be what YOU care about, as that's what will be motivating. For me, I thought about "in a year, what do I want my life to be like? what do I want to be doing?" based on that, I chose goals to bring me along the way.

(3) I thought about how I'd been eating when gaining weight and figured out where the extra calories were from (since it's not always obvious). What I realized is that I ate more foods I didn't care about than I should (rice bores me, so why not avoid it or keep it to a minimum), and that I mostly ate pretty well at meals but snacked mindlessly at work. So I changed those things (stopped snacking, ate mindfully), and found that hitting my calories was painless. I also decided that I wouldn't waste calories on food that's not delicious, so even though I focus on having a healthy diet I probably eat tastier food on average than before I paid attention to calories.

(4) I walk everywhere I possibly can (or sometimes ride my bike or run). I am fortunate to live in a city where this is easier than some other places, but it's an easy way to increase activity level painlessly. I worked into it over time.

(5) I did not have unrealistic expectations and made changes gradually. I had a history of starting a get in shape plan, deciding I needed to go to the gym every day (or swim or whatever) and then burning out or getting discouraged as soon as I stopped feeling motivated to go. This time I started just with the walking for errands and then added in walking extra for my commute, and then other forms of exercise in a pretty easy and fun way 3 days a week for 30 minutes and worked up as I felt comfortable. It was surprising how quickly I got into it when I didn't start by making myself miserable with expectations.

This is awesome! Great read. Thanks and congrats on the loss!!

In a time when everyone is lining up to go under the knife or add another rx to their regimen, you're taking matters into your own hands to avoid those things. Love it.