Best and worst habits you've learned??
janinemharris
Posts: 12 Member
Hey everyone, I'm new here. I need to lose at least 15kg and certainly have that goal in my mind. However I've read a lot about habit formation and have read about how changing your habits will have more lasting effects on weightloss than just dieting for a set amount of time to lose a set amount of kilos/pounds.
SO!!! I want to know, which habits have you formed to help with your weightloss and which have not been so useful?
I'm trying to swap out food for alcohol which will probably see a temporary weight gain but I know in the longer-term has worked in the past for me and makes me feel loads better. Cutting coffee has also helped me reduce anxiety and the urge to eat/drink. Now I'm working on just eating more veggies and drinking more water.
What are your habits, good, bad, tried, failed???
SO!!! I want to know, which habits have you formed to help with your weightloss and which have not been so useful?
I'm trying to swap out food for alcohol which will probably see a temporary weight gain but I know in the longer-term has worked in the past for me and makes me feel loads better. Cutting coffee has also helped me reduce anxiety and the urge to eat/drink. Now I'm working on just eating more veggies and drinking more water.
What are your habits, good, bad, tried, failed???
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Replies
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I quit smoking- then restarted. definatly helped for a while lol. Plans to stop again its easier to do good when you feel good. I try to rememeber that, I always feel good after a proper meal.Strive for the little things that make me feel good to sort of spiral off. Nice walks make me feel good. Getting my nails gone on occasion makes me feel good. Doing my hair and getting dressed up even with nowhere to go makes me feel good with the side benefit of making me want to go walking
Im the opposit coffee helps me to not eat which i find very helpful. I just swapped to black coffee- Was an easy swap weirdly. Gratefully.
When i began losing i went in with the mindset that 1000 of my calories was going to be proper solid nutrient dense food. Veggies, fruit, proper solid protein. Anything after that can be snacks, If i wanted more snacks id walk and exercise to earn it. I believe that mindset helped me ALOT. Im willing to work for delicious food. May sound disordered to the snowflakes here, But personally i find working out for extra food a good habit to build. I mean....sure i could just have icecream....And i do....But i earn it. Happily. Which sets me up for good habits in life of proper food being the majority and extras being earned.
I always keep extras of my workout clothes clean and ready to grab at a moments notice. When i feel lazy toss on my workout clothes easily and im more likely to just go out. Getting out is always the hard part.
I try to exercise in the morning generally a walk for small things from the grocery store or dollar store (40 mins walk each way) And set little errands for myself. I could get 2 things from dollar store but i could also make 2 trips... Im lazy so having a set destination helps me alot lol. And days i dont work it stops me from just sitting in bed and feeling like a *kitten* human. Also gets me sunshine and gives me time im not just at home eating. I have never regretted a walk once i finish it.
The main one was just stop waiting for motivation...it is a myth and cannot be trusted to show up. Determination is the ticket. Get up and do it anyway. Keep your goals in mind and try to make more good choices vs bad. Remember i am human and dont punish myself for the bad but celebrate the good. Aslong as i take more steps forward vs back im in a beter place thn i was before and there is nothing shameful about that.
editing to add: For bad habits i suppose after 110lb loss i have developed an all or nothing sort of mindset. No matter how hard you try it (mostly) seems to happen in one form or another with large weight loss. To this day i try to balance the mindset. I dont particularly think of it as a bad thing just a struggle i wish i didnt need to fight.12 -
Weighing and logging everything! Even and especially the stuff youre not proud of! It keeps you accountable to yourself and the more accurate your data is the better. The numbers do add up (CI/CO) but its not ALL about calories. adequate protein and fibre keep most people fuller for longer and it all helps to make sure your body gets all the other nutrients it needs. Dont label any foods as "bad" but do watch your portions.
Just a few tips based on my experience! Best of luck, you CAN do this!! X9 -
Awesome stuff guys!!0
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I think my worst habit is wanting to eat most of my calories at dinner, so I'm relying on protein shakes/bars for lunch to save calories and breakfast has been limited to coffee with flavored cream. This gives me 800-1000 calories to spend at dinner. If I don't eat all of my calories at dinner, I wait an hour or two and have a snack--usually nuts, dates, dried fruit and/or a piece of cheese.
I haven't given anything up, but I do consume less alcohol and try to hit my macros for optimal nutrition on most days.0 -
I started IF 16:8, so late night eating is gone. I no longer have heartburn or acid reflux. If I get hungry, I drink psyllium husk powder or Metamucil to get rid of the hunger and increase my daily fiber intake.0
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I really agree with you re habits. I think they are so much more important than motivation. I've lost 47 pounds and rely on my habits daily including:
Weighing myself daily reminds me first thing in the morning that my health and weight loss are important.
I log all of my food daily, even if I have to guesstimate, because it keeps me accountable.
I add a lot of vegetables to every meal because they make me feel great and bulk up my food volume.
I also never stress if I go over calorie limits because today is only one day. It's what I do long term that matters.
There are more, both those are my biggies. And they really work for me.
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I found fitness activities that I love so I look forward to exercising. In fact, cycling is kind of taking over my life. lol
I eat the same things for breakfast and lunch. High protein and high fiber. That gives me flexibility with dinner. Protein is the biggie for controlling my appetite.1 -
One of my best habits is having a small but satisfying breakfast. Usually between 180-250 calories. Keeps me on track for the day so I have more wiggle room in my lunch and dinner meals. I know some people prefer to snack or eat mini meals all day but I REALLY prefer a larger lunch and dinner.
Worst habit I try to avoid is drinking my calories. I'm a weirdly fast drinker, which is great when it comes to water because I can get a lot in each day. But I will also drink 24oz of milk like it's nothing and that's a ton of calories...so I avoid drinking "calorie laden" beverages. For me it's easy to fall back into old, bad habits like getting lattes...even skinny lattes are usually around 100-200 calories I do not need since I drink them in 2-3 minutes and barely remember the flavor!3 -
1) sitting down once a week and planning all meals for the week then shopping to have all the ingredients to cook on hand.
2) eating out only for special occasions
3) developing a regular workout routine and sticking to it
4) having a protein bar or handful of nuts in a baggie with me ANYWHERE I go so I always have a snack on hand
5) cooking extra food and freezing it for those times I come home late and and need to eat NOW (instead of grabbing fast food, pizza or something to go)3 -
My best habit is my meticulous logging. I log nearly everything I eat down to the gram. Many people in my family think it's obsessive or silly, but it helps me a ton and it's become part of my daily routine now.
My worst habit would have to be saving the majority of my calories until the evening. I'll eat under 500 calories all day and then eat until I am stuffed later. Though I stay within my calorie range, I think I need to work on the reasoning behind why I must be super full in order to be content.2 -
1) weigh daily
2) track/log everything
3) plan to go to the gym — like make an appointment on your calendar and keep it; my secretary knows not to book over these appointments with other meetings
4) try to drink 8 glasses of water a day
5) make good choices at the grocery store — if you don’t buy crap and bring it home, you’re less likely to eat it
6) read — signing on to MFP and reading blogs and discussions has been helpful
7) be mindful about eating — this goes back to #2 but pay attention to your body’s hunger cues so you don’t eat mindlessly when you’re not hungry and regret it later. If you’re going out to eat, try to look at the menu in advance and check the calorie count of what you would order... I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been surprised that a single dish is more calories than my daily allotment so it’s good to know this in advance and plan accordingly
8) love and take care of yourself— be your best you; this means you don’t beat yourself up if the scale moves in the wrong direction once or twice; remember this is about improving your overall health and well-being
9) incorporate strength training into your exercise routine. I aim for cardio at least 5-6x/week and weights 2-3x/week
10) do what’s fun! Exercise shouldn’t be torture — if it is, you won’t stick with it. So find what works for you. Personally, I love Zumba but others may love hard core boot camp. The same applies for everything — figure out what works for you. Remember you’re trying to develop habits for life so form ones you enjoy so you’re most likely to keep them.
Best of luck! You’ve got this!3 -
*I log as soon as I eat something so I won’t forget it
* I try to be brutal and will often log more than I probably ate because I figure I’ve undercalculated elsewhere
*Get a handle on which foods are correctly listed and which seem to be grossly wrong. I went months before I realized an entry was totally wrong and should be twice as many calories. Now I often confirm MFP against USDA site
*in the mornings I enter my entire day. I’m a snacker. I would hate to have dinner roll around and realize I only had 150 left!
*I plan meals a week in advance
*I eat before I go to the grocery store
*Avoid the candy, snack, cookie, ice cream and frozen meal aisles.
*at the grocery, I may pick it up and fantasize, but I always visualize how long it would take to get over those calories or how much of my daily it would gobble up (literally). This one drives husband nuts. He accuses me of fondling groceries, lol.
* I treat myself to bags of lettuce, spinach, spring greens. They’re expensive, but I will happily rip one open and make an easy fast salad, whereas if I had to rinse greens and drag out the salad spinner, I’d divert to something junkier. I go through a bag a day.
* Read the MFP forum religiously. Especially the “Success Stories”. Very motivating.
* Learn who the knowledgeable posters are. Don’t get involved in tit for tat, or debate on which WOE wins. If it works for you, that’s the important bit.
*I use an app to schedule workouts. It automatically charges my account, adds them to my calendar, and sends me reminders. A lot of gyms and yoga etc studios use apps like this. It also gets it writ in stone because they will charge you if you are a no show, motivation itself.
* Finding a trainer I love and admire has been life changing.
*investing in great walking shoes: worth. every. penny.5 -
I've developed a handful of good habits.
1. Changing my diet. I've added more protein, I used to eat very little of it. I've drastically increased my fruit and vegetable consumption. I just joined a produce delivery service and am excited to get my first box! I used to get one from a local farm and loved it!
2. Making a habit of using my exercise bike most days. It's great for me physically and mentally.
3. Weighing every day.
Habit I need to work on:
1. Breaking my habit of buying a cold brewed coffee. I add cream to it and it isn't worth the price and calories. I borrowed a home cold brew kit as I can make calories lower and it's brewing right now.
2. I need to lower my sugar consumption. I'm T2D and while most my sugar comes from my apple and yogurt, I do like coffee cream and light ice cream. I'm planning on trying soy or cashew milk with a Splenda once I run out of cream. I need to start making my own yogurt again. There's always Yonanas for making frozen fruit "ice cream", I'll have to see if I can still get one.
3. Not doing strength training. I ordered a book that was recommended here on weight lifting yesterday. My goal for the week is to stop being intimidated by the gym and go at least once this week. I have a routine from when I was in physical therapy that I can do until I get the book.
It helped to write this out to see in black and white, thanks for starting this!1 -
1) track & log food daily
2) log weight regularly
3) consume at least 30 g protein with each regular meal
4) mostly eat food that my grandmother (born in late 1800s) would recognize
5) maintain reasonable level of daily activity outside of any scheduled exercise
ETA: this is all "best habits" which mostly undid all the "worst habits"
When I add regular weight-lifting to the above, I am golden.2 -
Great idea for a thread, @janinemharris.
Good habits:
1) Weighing food whenever possible. That also helps me estimate quantities when weighing is not feasible. And logging everything.
2) Weighing myself everyday and using a trending app. Gives me the long view and keeps me on track.
3) Keeping plan friendly foods on hand at all times - including in a cooler in the car - keeps me out of the fast food joints and convenience stores.
4) Cutting way back on beer consumption. I miss it, but the weight loss is worth
Recent bad habit: skipping workouts and walks.
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If I'm in the kitchen, my phone is with me, so I don't forget to log anything.
Enormous jar full of my favorite chocolate sits in a corner out of sight. I get one or two. A habit of regular chocolate has really helped the random intense cravings for ALL the chocolate.
Water flavor drops everywhere so I don't have an excuse to not drink water.0 -
Good habits:
1. walk everyday (this is as much for stress relief and a break, as it is for exercise)
2. Morning HIIT or strength workouts
3. have a cup of tea instead of a sweet snack
4. Try to have veggies with every meal
5. Garden. Provides me with lots of fresh veggies and gets me outside daily.
Habits to revitalize
1. Consistently tracking calorie intake
2. Avoid the kitchen when not meal time or to prep a meal (I have a bad habit of killing time on my phone while mindlessly snacking from the cupboard)
3. Meal plan and grocery shop with a plan
4. Practice piano (helps to keep me out of the kitchen mindlessly snacking)!
Years ago I suffered an infection that left me immobile for some time. I promised I would never take my mobility for granted again. I walk daily, rain or shine, usually in the evenings or on my lunch break. It is very much a habit now and notice that I get restless without a walk!1 -
carakirkey wrote: »Good habits:
1. walk everyday (this is as much for stress relief and a break, as it is for exercise)
2. Morning HIIT or strength workouts
3. have a cup of tea instead of a sweet snack
4. Try to have veggies with every meal
5. Garden. Provides me with lots of fresh veggies and gets me outside daily.
Habits to revitalize
1. Consistently tracking calorie intake
2. Avoid the kitchen when not meal time or to prep a meal (I have a bad habit of killing time on my phone while mindlessly snacking from the cupboard)
3. Meal plan and grocery shop with a plan
4. Practice piano (helps to keep me out of the kitchen mindlessly snacking)!
Years ago I suffered an infection that left me immobile for some time. I promised I would never take my mobility for granted again. I walk daily, rain or shine, usually in the evenings or on my lunch break. It is very much a habit now and notice that I get restless without a walk!
I was bedridden for a long time and know what you mean about not taking your mobility for granted anymore. Pretty amazing to be doing HIIT and strength training! I'm so grateful for what I can do now.1 -
Lol @carakirkey I am a classical musician so know what you mean about practising
Thank you so much for your comments!! I'm trying to swap out food for alcohol and slipped up today as I Just. Wasn't. Hungry. But progress not perfection, right? And .staying somewhere without all my exercise gear so I can't do that ATM which I find really frustrating.
Logging is an awesome habit, I'm so glad I do this now but I think I will also try avoid the kitchen too now, lol
Keep 'em coming! I LOVE knowing I'm not alone in this.0 -
1) Keeping the same sleep/wake cycle (even on work days, off days, weekends, holidays, etc.). Probably my best habit
2) Ability to be consistent in terms of kcal intake and purposeful exercise (not NEAT necessarily - too many variable factors to stay consistent with)
3) Mind tricks - making "boring" LISS cardio fun by always giving myself reading material, participating in live online continuing education lectures, having music to listen to reviewing notes/articles while on the "dread"-mill/stair stepper, etc. I've honed this skill for going on 20+ years & makes multitasking seem like a breeze
*Working on trying to drink more water (my Blood Urea Nitrogen is consistently borderline high); easier said than done. Trying to incorporate in more "superfoods"/micronutrient dense foods/foods with potential benefits (even if not 100% backed by science yet) - mainly stuff like blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, turmeric, etc.
Worst habit: eating too quickly in front of computer/watching videos/entertainment (I am still cognizant of my kcal intake & know when to stop but my pace of intake is faster than I'd like)1 -
I prelog both calories and exercise in the morning. I sometimes have to adjust in the evening, but this helps me stay on track (like commitment to myself in the morning) and makes sure I don't arrive at dinner time with only 300 calories left for the day.
Eating simply so that I can get a healthy meal together with minimal time and energy.
Eliminating most processed food from my diet.
Worst habit is falling into a rut with eating the same foods over and over.3 -
janinemharris wrote: »Lol @carakirkey I am a classical musician so know what you mean about practising
Thank you so much for your comments!! I'm trying to swap out food for alcohol and slipped up today as I Just. Wasn't. Hungry. But progress not perfection, right? And .staying somewhere without all my exercise gear so I can't do that ATM which I find really frustrating.
Logging is an awesome habit, I'm so glad I do this now but I think I will also try avoid the kitchen too now, lol
Keep 'em coming! I LOVE knowing I'm not alone in this.
I'm just relearning piano. Played as a kid and lapsed as an adult. I heard that 10 minutes practice a day is enough to form a habit and learn piano. So I'm starting there!0 -
Best habits so far (still working on nailing all these)
- logging all food
- promising i would do 20-30 min of SOME activity every day. Whether it's just a simple brisk walk or a full workout video, I am trying to focus on improving my physicalhealth and energy levels instead of just looking for weight loss
Bad habits I'm trying to break
- eating in front of the tv. Way too mindless
- snacking ifI'm having a drink. I can down a whole bag of chips that way
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I'll beat a dead horse and say my best habit is weighing and logging my food. I've also developed a habit of adding my favorite vegetables or fruit to everything to bulk it up, and those foods just happen to have added nutrition as well.
Bad habit is I've developed a taste for frozen foods, as they're convenient little low-calorie boxes of joy. However, their salt content is not so joyful, lol, and they are expensive compared to prepping the food myself.0 -
Good habits: regular exercise (especially lifting), tracking my trend weight, being prepared, making chicken in bulk, having convenient protein sources at all times, not trying to be too strict or eat super clean, being able to have coffee without a snack, going up and down the stairs many times per day, parking really far
Bad habits: Too much wine, not enough water. Not sleeping enough. Too many breaks/distractions between lifting sets. Limiting myself with my goals.0 -
1. Measuring and weighing my portions for each meal, and logging it! Amazing how the eye can trick you.
2. Found exercise routine that works for me. Made amazing difference to my ability to form exercise habit once I found a method I enjoy instead of feeling I had to do the norm/popular ways.
3. Set a daily exercise time - "As soon as I wake up I exercise". This way I don't have it in mind it is a certain time of day, just that it is first thing I do to energize my day
4. Weigh daily. This works for me, may not for you. I can see the numbers fluctuate without obsessing too much, and seeing daily fluctuations helps me maintain the logging habit. Otherwise I slip into "one little chocolate won't matter. Or this extra serving at dinner. or this snack" too easily!0 -
- Meticulously and relentlessly weighing and logging ALL food and drink
- prelog and preplan meals and whole days as much as possible
- identify and eliminate obstacles; make the preferred path be a path of least (or lesser) resistance1
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