Best Advice

What is the best advice you can give someone who is just starting on their weight loss journey? It doesn't have to be just one piece of advice, it could be many! What has made you successful in your journey?

Replies

jdelot

Be consistent with your logging. Don't listen to naysayers. Don't beat yourself up over slipups.

ReenieHJ

If you have an off day, get right back to it.(THIS one has been my biggest mantra in recent months, I used to have 1 bad day and give it all up thinking I just couldn't do it anyways so why bother)
Be kind to yourself and forgive yourself.
Find movement and foods you can live a lifetime enjoying, so it will be easier to sustain.
Create different habits than the ones you've lived with all these years. New habits will bring new results, new motivation.
Make your goals mini goals(5-10 lbs. at a time) and don't look at the big picture(the whole 50 or more).

Talan79

Use a digital scale to weigh all solids.

sugarlemonpie

Weigh everything and log consistently. It's amazing the difference accuracy makes.

Also, move more. Walking in the evenings after dinner has really helped my husband and I both lose weight by moving, as well as not sit on the couch snacking during a movie. It doesn't have to be intense, just go for a nice walk.

Also, kick that "reward" mentality. I would have a tough day at work and want a glass of wine thinking I "earned" it. It made the lbs creep up. I find walking and talking out the stress way more helpful than eating or drinking those feelings.

Onedaywriter

Think of a this journey as a lifestyle change- not a diet!
For me, a “diet” implies a temporary situation. Also a lifestyle change encourages more or better exercise while a diet only focuses on food.

amtyrell

1. Use a weight trending app
2. Use a food scale
3. Be kind and forgiving to yourself

katsheare

(In addition to the really good advice above)
Don't be afraid of your data. The calories you're taking in and expending: data. Your weight: data. Use those numbers to guide your next choices.

nighthawk584

all the above and Turn excuses into action.

SisterSueGetsFit

Don’t let a “bad” meal, day or week derail you. And speak kindly to yourself along the way. I often need to remind myself of this one.

MikePfirrman

Do one thing a month like your life depends on it. One caveat. Just do one thing.

Weight loss, and fitness as well, are about changing habits. Studies show that if you change one thing at a time, just one thing, you have over an 80% chance of success. Add just one more thing to that and your success rate falls to around 40%. One more thing, well, you have 99% of Americans on New Year's Resolutions.

I've lost 80 lbs and been in maintenance nearly 10 years. If I had to do it all over again, I'd just do one thing for around one month, then layer in another thing. That could be as simple as logging daily -- eating exactly the same way as what got you fat -- just log daily. Religiously. Like your life depended on it.

Next month, look at the biggest calorie bombs and replace them with something healthier. Next month, move more. Commit to it.

I still use this in my fitness and daily business. Last month, it was to commit to doing my work plan the night before, so I could get to my desk and be ready to work and focused. This month, it's meditation every AM after I sit down to work on mindfullness.

It's really incredible what you can do if you only focus on one thing at a time, even if it's for 2 months. Get that one thing down and then add just one more thing to it.

sschauer513

Be truthful to your inner voice and don't lie to yourself if for example if cookies are a trigger don't lie to yourself that you can get a pack of Oreos and eat just 2 a day. And never let a bad day or even a bad week stop you from your goal.

neugebauer52

Don't stress. Trust the calculations provided for by MFP and learn from members who have been successful. Take it step by step, one day, one meal at a time. Any finally: don't stress.

dhiammarath

Whatever you do, however you do it, find joy in the act of doing it.

For me, that means slaying my dragonpants and gamifying the process. I WILL ARM MYSELF AND SLAY THE BEAST AND FIT INTO THE PANTS.

If it is something you enjoy doing, you will do it -- so don't do anything crazy. Pick a process you like and stick with it. A saying resonated very well with me from the moment I started: "A year from now, you will wish you had started today." And that is so true.

I look back to last year or the year before or the year before that... and I remember wishing (desperately) for what I have now back then.

Be kind to yourself, too. You are worth the investment! You are worth more than scales and diets and weight loss: the emotional aspect isn't easy, but you are worth every improvement, every desire for improvement, and the time it takes to invest in your emotional and physical self.

So when it feels hard, and the emotions take over, be sure to remember to tell yourself kind things daily. Negativity breeds more negativity, so buffer it with positive things. Find something kind to say every day to yourself. Even if it's only in your inner monologue.

Good luck!

TanyaHooton

You should try to enter your 40s and 50s in the best shape of your life.
Overestimate your food and underestimate your exercise.
Let go of a bad day or a bad month. MFP will be there again when you're ready.
Practice the "abundance" mentality and not the "scarcity" mentality.
When you feel hungry, ask yourself if an apple or broccoli still sound good. If not, then you're not really hungry; you're just craving something.
It's only the first 2-3 bites of something that's really great. All bites after that are just trying to recreate the initial pleasure.
Find an exercise you love. Don't use the treadmill if that feels like a torture device.
Think of the calorie allowance like your money budget. When you overspend, that's when you get in trouble.
You can have whatever you want, but you can't have everything you want.

ReenieHJ

TanyaHooton wrote: »

You should try to enter your 40s and 50s in the best shape of your life.
Overestimate your food and underestimate your exercise.
Let go of a bad day or a bad month. MFP will be there again when you're ready.
Practice the "abundance" mentality and not the "scarcity" mentality.
When you feel hungry, ask yourself if an apple or broccoli still sound good. If not, then you're not really hungry; you're just craving something.
It's only the first 2-3 bites of something that's really great. All bites after that are just trying to recreate the initial pleasure.
Find an exercise you love. Don't use the treadmill if that feels like a torture device.
Think of the calorie allowance like your money budget. When you overspend, that's when you get in trouble.
You can have whatever you want, but you can't have everything you want.

Love these words of wisdom! And one thing I especially agree with is you only taste the first few bites. Hard to remember when you're in the heat of a binge but it's so true!

Sylphadora

The best diet is not just any diet that works, it's the diet that works but that you can comply with. If you find it too hard it's time to find another diet. There's no shame in trying something else

seltzermint555

Drink plenty of water.
Don't undereat.
Cook/eat at home the majority of the time and then going out to eat (even 1-3 times a week) won't be a big hit to your diet.
Make peace with the scale, do not fear the number...whether that means weighing every day or not.

Mr_Healthy_Habits

Many years ago an ailing and aged Winston Churchill was called to give a commencement speech at a university...

While the crowd waited patiently Churchill made his way to the podium, out of breath and slowly one step at a time, refusing help from his aids as they tried to assist him up the stair case...

When he finally reached the top he took a moment to compose himself and catch his breath, looking like he just barely made it...

He looked out at the crowd as they sat quietly waiting to see what words of wisdom this great leader might have for them...

As he raised a trembling fist in the air he said only this...

"Never give up... Never NEVER NEVER!!!"

staceybuchanon

Be patient. There is no quick fix with weight loss. It will pay off in the end when you feel great and look great too.

ElBence

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Whether you intend on a diet or diet/exercise regimen, you'll be uncomfortable at the start. You're going to be hungry. You're going to be sore. You may be sleep-deprived. If you work out in the morning, you will not want to leave the warm bed at 5 AM. Comfort foods are out. Discomfort foods are in. Once you're comfortable being uncomfortable, the rest is downhill. You can have an off day where you don't eat the best, and that won't throw you for a loop because you'll be comfortable going back to discomfort. You can get sick and miss a week of working out and eat to fight the cold, and you'll be comfortable going back to not being comfortable. Holidays won't derail you because you'll be familiar with your friend, discomfort.

J_NY_Z

Your weight will fluctuate day to day, sometimes 5 pounds at a time. Don't fret over that. Watch the trend.

Nanaluvs2sweat

Educate yourself about food and how your body uses it. From the calories, carbs, protein and so on. I still have a long way to go to reach my goal and a lot more to learn. I never in a million years thought I would ever be the type of person to read labels and count calories but now I do because I have a better understanding of what I am putting in my body and what my body is gonna think about it! Lol Best of luck!

gopgirl425

Fasting

mysteps2beauty

For me, each meal I eat I include a fresh veggie or fresh fruit, frozen okay, canned never (too much sodium/sugar). Proteins and other carbs are good and some necessary but the veggies and fruit tend have lots of fiber, I get to eat a lot of them, they fill me up quicker and they are inexpensive.

Don't forget to drink water. It really is important, and sometimes will stave off that hungry feeling.

Take a picture of yourself now, and as you progress. Sometimes you will see it more than you what the scale says, especially if you are doing muscle building activities.

When you see the scale move in the direction, don't panic. Just get back on course.

When you weigh yourself, do it at the same of the day. Me, it's when I just get out of the shower, and when I get home at night before I eat. Sometimes you will have eaten something and it won't show on the scale until the next day. Same as when you have eaten really well that week and the scale does not move until the next day or two.

Try new spices to make boring meals fun and different. MFP mobile includes great recipes on its feed.