PART II-Size 20 to Size 10: 71.6 pounds gone! Tips for those who want them!

caramel827 wrote: »

Hi. I decided to I decided to add to create a Part II to my success post after a few of my new and wonderful MFP friends asked me for tips. NOTE: If you would like see my original post with pics you will find it here:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10406957/size-20-to-size-10-pic-included/p1

DISCLAIMER: Please know that I am NOT trying to say I know it all, that I am an "expert" or that I have all the answers. But I did want to "pay it forward" as I know that my lifestyle shift would not have happened if not from learning and reading info from people on MFP and the internet who have done it. I then focused on what worked for me and what I can live with- so if someone reads this and takes just one thing that helps them lose just one pound it will really warm my heart! So here goes!

I know exactly what you mean by freeing to realize you can eat food you like and not have forbidden foods. It took my losing and gaining weight multiple times before i finally embraced this. I always felt it was "wrong" and I was cheating on my diet. The key is NO diet. I used to kind of hate when people said it was a lifestyle change because in my mind that meant no sweets, no french fries, only green stuff. But it doesn't. I now know it just means maintaining a way of eating suitable for you that you can live with in your life. I really feel like this time is different somehow. One because I was at my highest weight ever and NEVER want to be near that again, but also because my shift in the way I eat is truly what I can live with...anyway I digress so tips. Here are some random things that work for me.


1. LOG IN EVERY SINGLE BITE EVERY SINGLE DAY: I log in to MFP faithfully. Logging makes me so mindful. It is like your checking account-if you spend money without checking your balance and just swiping a card you tend to spend more. Think about it-I know when I just go shopping and don't look at my balance or track it when I do spend I am in shock I spent so much. But if I have cash where I constantly see it and know what's left..sooo much better. it is the same concept-if you don't log as you go you will go extremely over calories. Try to never ever skip a day. It matters. (Side note-I do ponder what if MFP doesn't exist? I guess I would have to write it...hmmm...well in 20 pounds I hope to "graduate" from the trying to lose boards to maintaining boards and see if they still log. I imagine I will and don't see why not. When you find what works you stick to it in my mind!)

2. CONSIDER NO FOODS ARE "FORBIDDEN" : I do not consider any foods forbidden. Everything is fair gam. I eat what want until I out of calories. Period. No matter what time of the day that may be.... I may eat a smaller serving size than I used to so I can ensure I stay withing my calories... (i.e. 5 Hot wings on Saturday night instead of 10 hot wings four times a week-they are my favorite that's why I used that example lol) but just knowing that it is not that I will NEVER eat them again-I am just choosing not to eat it as often so I can enjoy other things too, makes it so much better. When I lost weight before I cut out the "bad" foods..now for me there are no "bad" foods instead I am aware that I can eat too much of something and have too many calories, or eat it too often and it result in a gain.

I know this is not typical-I envy those who clean eat. I commend them. People who truly consider the sugars, carbohydrates, etc. I have to be honest. I am not there YET. I do plan to phase that piece in as I want to always feel my best but I LOVE food. I So if I totally cut things out I know for a fact that one day..one day I would eat that cheesecake again and then boom weight back.

3. THE SCANNER ON THE MFP APP IS YOUR FRIEND: I Use the scanner feature on the app. It is fast and far more accurate. Especially if you like to cook like I do! It helps so much with recipes. I have never used the recipe feature on MFP. I have no idea how. I just scan my ingredients and divide up serving size.

4. MEASURE EVERYTHING: Measure your food like milk sugar etc. I swear by that. I am willing to do it the rest of my life if needed (though I have been guesstimating and checking so that I don't always need measuring cups and spoons lol). THis helps me ensure my food is recorded accurately. I admit I don't weigh the meat but I do measure out servings like rice, mashed potatoes, etc. I always measure when I cook-no pinches of this and that-true measurement.

5. EMBRACE COOKING: Speaking of cooking..I cook more I noticed. I try to find new recipes to make my food fun. It helps me be in control of ingredients as well as portion size

6. CONFESSION: I like to eat out too. No surprise I'm sure. I now try to limit myself to no more than one time a day (this might frighten some-but I used to eat out two and three times a day often so once a day is good for me!) but since I started cooking and losing it has dwindled down to twice a week.

7. EAT EVERY MEAL: I do my best to never ever skip meals. In my earlier weight loss life I would do that. It is unrealistic. I could not do that forever. Sometimes it happened because of my job. I am an elementary principal and used to ALWAYS skip it then eat probably three times my calories at dinner! Not okay. Now I pack my lunch and I do things I can eat on the go-sandwiches, cup a soup etc.

8. PREPLAN/BUDGET YOUR CALORIES LIKE YOUR CHECKBOOK: I Plan out my meals in advance and sometimes log them the day before, maybe even two days. I am not as good as people who cook all their food and prep their meals-that is a dream! But thinking about what I will cook and eat and logging it helps me budget and ration out my calories. If I know I will eat out for example I eat a light breakfast (maybe yogurt and a coffee) to allow more calories for the meal I plan to enjoy.

9. RESEARCH THE MENU AND NUTRITION BEFORE YOU EAT OUT: Enough said. Log on locate the restaurant and decide what you want and how you plan to budget it in your tracker. It's odd but now that i have started losing I have no desire for high calorie items like appetizer samplers things that entertained me before. Don't get me wrong-still love a potato skin lol but eating a plate of miscellaneous things makes my tummy hurt at the thought. I think my body now knows what it needs too!

10. EAT KID'S MEALS: This will sound crazy but I think my stomach has shrunk-not how it looks on the outside but rather how much it takes for me to get full. If I decide I want a higher calorie item and there is a Kid Meal version-I buy it. This works best if you have kids with you lol but I have never had an issue when I didn't. At the movies I get the Kid's Movie Pack, Chipotle has a great Kid's Meal which really helps because it can get high up in calories when you build an adult bowl. I always tell myself if I eat it and I am not satisfied I can order something to add to it-but guess what hasn't happened yet!

11. WEIGH IN ONCE A WEEK: I weigh myself no more than once a week. I really wish I could wait 2 weeks but I am too anxious. lThe scale is just to fickle. Something I noticed about my recent weight loss is that i have had quite a few periods where I maintained-once I didn't lose for like 3-4 weeks. I even had a few weeks (different weeks not all in a row) where I gained a pound and I was HORRIFIED. But here's the good thing because I am not on a diet, I'm not on a special plan other than tracking my calories I don't get mad and go off the diet as I have in the past. This is my life. This is how I eat. Yes, I was bummed but I stayed the course. I also read posts on MFP that discussed weight loss is NOT consistent. And also described a true plateau which I have yet to have and hope not to! In my earlier years this would upset me and I would just say forget it, -stop going to the gym (more on exercise soon) but now....as mentioned there is no diet to go off of. I continue to eat the same way because there is no diet to stop-it is how I eat! Period.

12. CONSIDER WHAT CHANGES IN THE FOOD YOU EAT YOU CAN HONESTLY LIVE WITH: I do make some changes in ways I can live with. Skim milk instead of regular, Diet pop instead of regular pop (yep I still drink pop). But I do not negotiate or choose lowfat versions on certain things like McDonald's Sweet Tea-love love love it! Also regular salad dressing is a nonnegotiable for me-I despise non fat so if I am going to eat a salad I measure the dressing log it and move on.

13. MOVE MORE- Okay what i am about to say is not something you should say out loud-especially on a board with healthy people bu I hate exercise. I just don't enjoy it and I know people always say find an activity you enjoy but well, that just didn't work for me. I read somewhere that weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise. This freed me! I always thought why bother counting calories because I'll still way the same since I am not working out. It is not true at all! I know that I will never be that person who goes to the gym faithfully. and enjoys it. (I envy them too!) I did so once long ago 5 to 6 times a week in my early 20s before hubby and kids. Eventually I stopped-I couldn't maintain it, like got in the way. In my mind because I wasn't exercising I felt like I couldn't lose weight which meant why eat right and boom pounds back on. So I guess I did find somewhat of an activity that works for me-the Fitbit!

14. GET A FITBIT IF YOU CAN: So now I simply try to move more and I use my Fitbit which is tied to MFP app-LOVE!!! I park farther away, I take the long way, I embrace walking at festivals and outside. Boy do I admire marathon runners. I celebrate those of you who made that change in your life for me for now it is the thrill of the competition with Fitbit. I try to get 10, 000 steps most days of the week and I am very very competitive and like to win challenges! Inbox me if you have one so we can be Fitbit Buddies!

15. NO SWEAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVEN"T EXERCISED: I realize now that I don't have to sweat and be tired out to have done what is considered exercise. This was another misconception I had. When I do have time to go to the park and I walk laps with my kids I don't sweat nor am I tired but I do get in my steps and move briskly -that is what mattered.

16. DO NOT EAT ALL OF THE EXERCISE CALORIES JUST SOME: While the MFP app gives me exercise calories on my Fitbit it is my thought to eat no more than half as I am not sure if it is truly accurate-just like the reader on the cardio machine. I am monitoring that now since I haven't had a loss the past few weeks.

17. SLOW AND STEADY REALLY DOES WIN THE RACE: I had to accept that with my lifestyle change the weight does not rapidly fall off like it did when I was in my 20s, worked out five times a week and did not eat the "bad" "forbidden" foods. It is slow but steady. I also read and believe it that rather than losing weight rapidly, I am getting rid of weight slowly but surely and it will stay away.

18. HAVE LOTS OF SMALL GOALS: Yes I have an ultimate Goal-150 pounds size 6 or 8. But I have always had and will continue to have small short term goals. While ultimately this would mean a 95 pound weight loss when I hit my goal, if I thought about it that way it became discouraging. Instead I would set my goals in 10 pound increments. I also made size goals so that I had checkpoints. Right now I am at one of my checkpoint goals- the size 10 175.

19. SLOW AND STEADY REALLY DOES WIN THE RACE!: I had to accept that with my lifestyle change the weight does not rapidly fall off like it did when I was in my 20s, worked out five times a week and did not eat the "bad" "forbidden" foods. It is slow but steady. I also read and believe it that rather than losing weight rapidly, I am getting rid of weight slowly but surely-and it will stay away.

20. FIND A SUPPORT SYSTEM OF PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND THE MFP "LIFE": It is important to me that I have someone that I can talk with about getting rid of the weight -I really prefer that phrase to saying lose it, as when you lose something you may find it again However, for me it isn't any of my friends or family. Don't get me wrong I do have supportive people in my life but what I mean by that is that for me I use the MFP community to read advice, discuss my goals and if I reached them. I accept that it can difficult to talk to the people in my life who may be currently struggling with weight. If they ask of course I share tips as I am doing now but if not I would never discuss because I don't want to come across as if I know everything-I most certainly do NOT. I do know a few people who log but for some reason I feel more comfortable with discussing my weight loss on the boards so I log in daily for encouragement and to cheer others on.

21. FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU: If you made it this far thank you for reading! I hope it was worth it and you got at least one useful tip that will help you on your journey! I never do anything I can not live with for the rest of my life-I always heard that but never truly understood the importance of it in regards to nutrition until now. Once you find what works for you and what doesn't the rest is cake - no pun intended!

In closing I have to say that writing all of this has been very therapeutic (if there are typos I missed and didn't correct please forgive me-I have been interrupted so many times by my four year old lol) because it allowed me to see how far I have come..which I needed since as I mentioned above I haven't lost but maintained for the past three weeks. Don't get me wrong I do recognize that maintaining is NOT a bad thing at all but sometimes I just need to remind myself of this. One day..One pound at a time. I considered not eating any exercise calories...I am sure if I didn;t I would lose more and faster but...then I would be hungry! LOL. I do not EVER feel hungry now and have not since I started logging and making my shift. So I think I am going to coast it out for the next few weeks and enjoy some of my NSV like seeing someone I haven't seen for two years and she didn't even recognize me! When people ask me how I am losing weight I give all credit to MFP (tracking and the community) and my Fitbit!

And to the remaining 25 pounds or so I have left to get rid of before reaching the ultimate goal-enjoy yourself because this time next year you will be such a distant memory- I believe it so I will achieve it