What small changes made a BIG difference?

13

Replies

  • neversaynever_43
    neversaynever_43 Posts: 59 Member
    Intermittent Fasting - game changer for me. If it’s not in my window doesn’t happen. So no snacking at night, no breakfast. Keep an eye on my calories during eating window but eliminating the other times makes it easier. And cheaper and requires less prep work.
  • chandraminick
    chandraminick Posts: 452 Member
    Keto and IF
  • Ziggyiguana82
    Ziggyiguana82 Posts: 29 Member
    When I go places, I used to look for close parking, now I park farther away (but still next to a cart corral so I don't lose my car 🤣). Not only do I not have to contend with finding space, I am improving my health, too.
  • Ziggyiguana82
    Ziggyiguana82 Posts: 29 Member
    @rhtexasgal lol, me too. I am fasting atm, but those packets of tuna are awesome, no? I've got chocolate covered coffee beans in my office drawer I need to remove XD
  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
    Intermittent Fasting (IF) in the form of Time Restricted Feeding (TRF) has made all the difference. I eat between 9:00am and 6:00pm. No night time snacking has made weight maintenance 'doable'.
  • dramaqueen45
    dramaqueen45 Posts: 1,009 Member
    Just not going too long between meals and not over-exercising, which leads to overeating. Eating a banana right before stopping at the gym on my way home keeps me from turning into an eating monster when I get home, and planning meals at dinner also helps because I'm not coming in tired, hungry and eating whatever I see.
  • evilokc
    evilokc Posts: 263 Member
    edited January 2020
    i increased my protein intake. my strength and muscle size blew up almost overnight.
  • brittlb07
    brittlb07 Posts: 313 Member
    Using a food scale!
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    Giving up wine. I would budget the calories in before but when I completely gave it up, I saw the scale drop.
  • katsheare
    katsheare Posts: 1,025 Member
    Shopping the perimeter of the grocery store. I seldom venture into the middle aisles anymore.

    This one always cracks me up: in the UK while you will find your fruit and veg on one of the perimeters, the opposite one is almost always booze. And if you want your dairy, it's frequently in the centre of the store. I always have to remind myself of the American layout when I visit my family back home.

    Particularly in the winter months, I drink hot water. I find that teas and other flavoured things make me peckish, but I can just keep going back to the steaming mug of H2O happy as anything.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    katsheare wrote: »
    Shopping the perimeter of the grocery store. I seldom venture into the middle aisles anymore.

    This one always cracks me up: in the UK while you will find your fruit and veg on one of the perimeters, the opposite one is almost always booze. And if you want your dairy, it's frequently in the centre of the store. I always have to remind myself of the American layout when I visit my family back home.

    Particularly in the winter months, I drink hot water. I find that teas and other flavoured things make me peckish, but I can just keep going back to the steaming mug of H2O happy as anything.

    At my grocery store (in the US, haha) soda is a perimeter item, lol. I think for my store they would want people to shop the front of the store mostly, which is where the fruits, vegetables, and fresh meats are.
  • designerdiscounts
    designerdiscounts Posts: 517 Member
    No food after dinner (which is about 6pm for us). Stopping eating before I feel full (leaving a little food on my plate). Halving any portions when eating out, taking the second half home for lunch the next day. No sweets - I know this doesn't work for everyone but sugar is a slippery slope for me. If I do crave something sweet, I have cocoa dusted almonds as a snack around 3pm. Increasing protein, hard for me since I'm vegetarian.

    But the number one game changer for me has always been logging everything I eat, no matter how small. It's a real eye opener, how many calories we are actually taking in.
  • peachvine29
    peachvine29 Posts: 400 Member
    edited January 2020
    Having a personal trainer has really helped me not skip workouts, improving consistency and gains, and has drastically improved my form and knowledge. And I have someone to talk about lifting with!
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
    I think for a lot of people getting rid of liquid calories outside of a glass of milk would make a huge difference.
  • ShinyFuture
    ShinyFuture Posts: 314 Member
    Planning. Who knew? I plan meals for the week, shop based on that plan (which also is saving me a lot of money I used to spend on impulse purchases) and then meal prep. My schedule is erratic, and having an actual food plan has made all the difference.
  • fluffyja100
    fluffyja100 Posts: 15 Member
    Apples, flavored sunflower seeds, ricecakes, and water,water,water,water. Instead of soda flavored seltzer water. Cuts those binges. And if you binge these are healthier options.
  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
    Grocery shopping and making my own meals. Also, not eating my meals while multitasking, so no tv, no phone, etc, because it helps me pay attention to my food and then I can truly realize if I’m full. When the tv is on or I'm scrolling on my phone, I just keep eating what’s on my plate.
  • lorabelllee
    lorabelllee Posts: 54 Member
    Logging always and putting my water in a pitcher in the morning and refilling my 16 oz bottle from that pitcher. I KNOW I get my water in that way. I'm starting with IF as well and it does help with late night snacking!
  • unstableunicorn
    unstableunicorn Posts: 216 Member
    Coffee. I find it’s a pretty effective appetite suppressant, so that in place of snacks works well for me.
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    In order to give me a better idea, I did some theoretical calculations and my daily milk consumption (about a cup per day, for tea / coffee): full cream - about 155 calories, fat free about 110 calories. Difference in a year is over 2 kg weight difference! Usually I use low fat, just because of the better flavour.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,254 Member
    I am assuming we're talking 3.5% (full fat/whole) milk vs 0.3% skim milk as opposed to talking about 10% (half and half) or 18% (coffee) cream?

    If we are talking 18% cream which is what most coffee shops will provide you with in Canada, you are talking much much more than a couple of kg per year.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    liftingbro wrote: »
    I think for a lot of people getting rid of liquid calories outside of a glass of milk would make a huge difference.

    This definitely helped me. Although I had to slow my roll on milk also.
    But I was always a big liquid calories person, and I didn't really recognize that stuff other than non-diet soda (which I stopped drinking many years earlier) was a calorie bomb. I drink super quickly so that made it even worse...other people sipping their mocha or smoothie for hours and I was done in 2 minutes and ready for lunch or whatever.

    Really helped.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,458 Member
    edited January 2020
    liftingbro wrote: »
    I think for a lot of people getting rid of liquid calories outside of a glass of milk would make a huge difference.
    Oh, noooooooo, honey. I was drinking only water and milk. No sodas whatsoever. At least a gallon of milk every two days, sometimes more, to wash down all the cookies and chocolate.

    Cutting out milk made a huge difference to me.

    The only “milk” I drink these days is watered down homemade almond milk, max two cups per day.

    Somewhere, there’s a dairy saying “what happened to all the demand for milk?”
  • designerdiscounts
    designerdiscounts Posts: 517 Member
    My previous comment was flagged, not sure what was in there that isn't allowed.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,399 Member
    My previous comment was flagged, not sure what was in there that isn't allowed.

    Sometimes I see posts like that and wonder if someone just hit a wrong button. But it's hard to say what people will flag and why. It won't matter unless it gets multiple flags and reviewed, and since there is nothing wrong they would just remove the flags anyway.



    Little thing for me... always having a meal plan of some sorts before I'm hungry. If I wait until I'm too hungry it's just game on, and no telling what I will eat.
  • vivo1972
    vivo1972 Posts: 129 Member
    Eating once, maybe twice a day - second meal a nutrient meal replacement shake.. Full meal with a fruit crumble everyday. I feel sated and not deprived, it's my natural way of eating.

    'It's only hunger it doesn't hurt' - wait for a couple of hours, walk the dog and prepare food - instead of diving for anything dueto emotional eating or a small rumble of hunger.