What tip/rule has helped you the most in your weight loss journey?

Buy a food scale. Use it. Log religiously.

Get enough sleep & stay away from copious amounts of alcohol. Too little sleep and/or too much alcohol cause the body to go looking for quick energy and you raid the fridge like crazy!

Besides the food scale - water, water and more water.

Being mindful of alcohol consumption helped me a great deal. I certainly wasn't drinking in excess in that I would get intoxicated, but realizing that some of my favorite beers were up to 300 calories a pint was eye opening for me.

For me personally, I don't eat past 7 at night. This has helped me tremendously.

• Track accurately
  • Food scales are very helpful
  • Everything is an estimate so don't be afraid to adjust calories/burns as needed
• Be consistent
• Be patient
• Trust the process

I need to eat all of my allotted calories. And most of those I earn by exercise. If I don't do that, it's hard to prevent snack binges.

This isn't true for everyone, but it works for me.

Don't try to numb emotions using food. It doesn't work.

Having a more indulgent breakfast reduces my cravings throughout the day

Get a really good, substantial lunch in which helps me eat a small dinner. Don't eat after 6:00pm, because once I start I usually can't stop and I go to bed relatively early (like 8:30-9) so 6:00 is a good time for me. And don't keep candy in the house. If it's there I'll eat it. I have no willpower

Weigh and measure my food

jessicarose22492 wrote: »

OK so obviously everyone is different and there isn't one "magic trick" to losing weight but I'm curious to know if there is something (or a couple of things) besides the standard "limit calories, cut sugar, work out, etc" guidelines that you've found has helped you lose weight that you'd like to share? I've heard so many things like "eat your carbs in the morning" and "exercise on an empty stomach" that I'd like to hear from you all what works great for YOU. Please feel free to share your tips below!

Consistently being in a calorie deficit over time. You don't want to here the "standard"...but really, that's all I did...all I did was consistently hit my calorie targets.

ETA: over time my diet evolved because I knew I would need to make some adjustments if I ever hoped to maintain my weight without logging. I eat way more veggies than I used to...probably the biggest dietary change.

Food scale and counting calories.
You have to be honest with yourself when you track your intake.
Don't rely just on your scale, take body measurements and lots of photos.
No more excuses why you can't lose weight, just do it. If you want it bad enough you'll make time for it.
Set realistic weight loss expectations. It took 2 decades to gain all this weight, you are not losing it overnight. It's a marathon and not a sprint.

Along my journey what works for me has changed over time. At first it was- get as much protein as I can, try to keep the carbs and the fat low. Protein used to satiate me the most and now I find it is the fat that does it. So now I'm trying to keep fat higher, protein (still high) and limit the carbs. Not for any reason than this is going to keep me from snacking at night. Earlier on in my journey, night snacking wasn't a big deal because I had so many calories to work with but now with only 10-15lbs left I've had to tighten up the logging.

Buy a food scale, weigh everything, play around and find what works for you. Listen to your body, pay attention to what makes you full, hungrier, tired, energized.

Lately I've been having to practice my willpower. It is definitely a skill that you can develop. Just like you can make something a habit you can make not doing it a habit.

Get a good baseline for your TDEE so you know the calorie deficit you need/can comfortably/safely handle and stick with.

Get a food scale and weigh everything you consume. Even if you get good at estimating, pull it out from time to time to check yourself.

Figure out what style/frequency of eating satisfies YOU. Three meals only? Six meals? Two large meals? Eat all day? All of your calories within eight hours? Low carb? High protein? Balanced macros? You probably have a preference, so allow yourself to experiment for a week or two at a time. Eat this way most often, but don't freak out when it's not possible.

Learn to make simple and satisfying meals at home. It's really not hard!

Don't give up any food while dieting that you're not willing to give up for the rest of your life. Figure out how to incorporate occasional "treats" into your week.

Don't over rely on exercise for weight loss. Find an accurate way to estimate calories burned.

Don't buy into/get distracted by any "magic." It's calories in and calories out for weight loss.