Weight Loss / Healthy Living -- TIPS AND TRICKS
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Rannoch3908
Posts: 177 Member
Just starting my journey here. Tried many times, failed many times.
Would love to hear your small tips and tricks that help you. Whether it be something that helps you get off the couch, helps you eat right, helps you track, helps motivate you, a workout you found, etc. I know there is no fast track - but I bet you guys have found some things that make the journey more simple and bearable.
Right now here is what I am doing and my info:
315lbs
Male
6ft 3in
Morbidly obese level
Goal weight - 216 - healthy weight
(1 pound per week for two years)
Past typical calories -- 4000+ daily
Current calorie goal -- 2000 daily
Would love to hear your small tips and tricks that help you. Whether it be something that helps you get off the couch, helps you eat right, helps you track, helps motivate you, a workout you found, etc. I know there is no fast track - but I bet you guys have found some things that make the journey more simple and bearable.
Right now here is what I am doing and my info:
315lbs
Male
6ft 3in
Morbidly obese level
Goal weight - 216 - healthy weight
(1 pound per week for two years)
Past typical calories -- 4000+ daily
Current calorie goal -- 2000 daily
- My plan is to simply eat at a calorie deficit. 2000 calories or less.
- I plan to exercise with resistance bands -or- body weight daily - 15 minutes.
- I plan to move more - that means walking, biking, cleaning, hiking - 15 minutes daily
- I plan to TRY to keep my carbs under 100
- I plan to get more sleep
- I plan to drink more water - 100 ounces a day.
- I plan to try to eat as much un-processed food as possible.
- I plan to try to eat REGULAR size meals (right now I eat a whole pizza + breadsticks instead of 2 slices OR I eat a footlong instead of a 6" sub)
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Replies
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My top tip to start with, be aware of the language you use.
I don't plan to do things, I am going to do things. It is a small but important difference in my brain.
A plan allows wiggle room that means I will talk myself out of it!
So for example: tomorrow I will go for a 15 min walk, cook dinner from scratch, and go to bed at xpm.
Much more definite.
Remember, there is no try - only do or do not do10 -
Make small changes. Practice them until they become routine. Male more small changes. Practice. Repeat. This is an ultra marathon, not a 500 yard dash. Don't make drastic unsustainable changes now that you can't live with long-term.
My first chance was committing to 15 minutes of exercise in the morning and 15 in the evening, 3 x/week. There is simply no way you cant fit in 15 minutes, so I knew I could stick to it. I did. Now, I dont even have time for all the activities I love and enjoy, and find myself having to prioritize!
In the beginning, I would sleep in my exercise clothes so I could just get up and get to it. No chance of backing out if I'm already dressed!
Try everything. You never know what you'll fall in love with. I dug my old rollerblades out of the shed when I first started. Now I do speedskating and love racing! Who knew?
You got this. It'll be the best thing you ever do for yourself.4 -
Try to find foods that work with your calorie goals that you actually enjoy. If you try to be too restrictive in your food selections, you will likely set yourself up to fail. Dieting doesn't have to mean only eating fruits and vegetables. You just have to work what you're having into your daily calorie allotment.
Also, try to find foods that are filling, but lower in calories.3 -
Eat when you are hungry. I used to try to skip meals or hold off longer to eat to cut calories. It always backfired on me because then I would binge eat later.3
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One tip I liked and has worked for me lately, actually came from the South Beach Diet books. (For the record,I'm not advocating for South Beach; I just like this particular idea). His suggestion is to eat a broth based soup as a first course...the idea being that it will help you feel fuller. I like this because not only does that work well for me, but it helps me fit more vegetable servings into my diet, and soups can be relatively easy to make. Some people do a similar trick by drinking a glass of water before a meal but I like the soup idea too. This will maybe help for your last bullet point.
I also like the suggestion above about 'do' vs 'plan'....Do or Do Not, there is no 'plan'..
I think what you have outlined above sounds very reasonable though.1 -
You asked a bunch of questions, which is good, because it shows you're thinking! And thinking is what will help you not only get through weight loss but well into maintenance.
I strongly suggest the Larger Loser group which can be found in by searching the sub-forums. Your desire to lose weight with a sustainable game plan will fit nicely with the culture and you will find a bunch of people who have tackled challenges that are similar to yours.
Don't get lost in the minutia.
Do a few studies probably show that there might be a slight weight loss advantage for people who eat breakfast. Even if the studies exist (and if they had actually equalized caloric budget adherence which I don't know that they had)... I sure don't eat breakfast when I first get up in the morning! I "save" my calories for a bit later because I am usually not hungry first thing in the morning and doing what I do better allows me to stick to my Calories. And guess what is the ONLY thing that achieves weight change? You're right, it is a caloric imbalance!
Is eating healthier a good goal? Absolutely. And if you check out the UN FAO web site you will find the national recommendations from pretty much every country in the world. The new Canadian ones and the Brazilian one make for some interesting reading. BUT, it doesn't really hold a candle when it comes to losing weight to you figuring out which foods are SATIATING FOR YOU for fewer calories.
And this will change over time. Today you may find celery filling and tomorrow you may find french fries filling--neither has ever been the case for me.. but you may be different! And this discovery comes from logging and then reviewing your logs and evaluating what you ate vs the caloric expense you incurred!
You don't have to kill yourself exercising (in fact it is probably not recommended when you start out)... but moving a bit more? Oh YES. It makes a big difference.
When I started out my first goal was to not have a single day for a month where I would end up with less than 5,000 steps. It took me a full three months before I got there. And I even had a dog so 5000 step days were not unknown to me... just not on a daily thing! Please note that 5K is less than an hour of walking at a moderate pace. And that MFP sedentary sits at around 3,500 steps a day.
Try to make plans and changes that you see yourself following not just for a couple of years while you lose weight but also for the first 3-5 years of maintenance. Will they remain in the books unmodified for 5-7 years? Who knows. But if it feels like they COULD, then you're probably making choices that have a hope of being sustainable.
The most basic "missing" item from your list is logging food carefully
Do you HAVE to log your food to lose weight? probably not. But it would help you "moderate" / "manage" the rate of loss.
Don't fall into the trap that only fast is good.
Similarly... the goals should not be absolute values: "I will eat under 2K Cal", it should be a DEFICIT goal... I will aim to eat 500, or 750 or 1000 Cal LESS a day as compared to my maintenance level. Actually percentage goals are even better in my books, albeit not supported by MFP
Look at some of the stuff @NovusDies and @AnnPT77 have written lately. Look through the "sticky" posts in the beginning of each forum: they are a treasure trove of information if you make your way through them.
Don't worry too much about intermittent fasting (not proven as of yet in terms of doing anything other than help some people control calories); lower carb (other than if it helps with satiation). Same goes for controlling non-intrinsic sugars. And ingesting reasonable quantities of artificial sweeteners that are classified as generally regarded as safe or safer!
You don't have to revamp everything in one day. You don't even have to cut from 4K Cal to 2K. You're probably going to be burning well over 3K cal with some movement and as mentioned faster is not always better.
Make a plan. Check how your weight trend responds to the plan. And adjust. And weight trend is not just your daily weight but the TREND of your daily weight over time. (check out weight trend apps and webs sites)
Take care and good luck.
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If ravenously hungry, drink some water first. Often we mistake dehydration for hunger.
Stock the kitchen with low calorie alternatives. I just rediscovered Jello. I can have four servings of Kroger’s sugar free jello for 20 (twenty!!!!!!!) calories! Frozen Wyman’s “wild” blueberries are God’s personal gift to me. I know others have heard me say this a million times, but I vastly prefer Greek yogurt whipped with sugar free instant pudding to ice cream now. Air popped popcorn. Deli roast chicken on low cal bread is a fantastic protein rich snack for very little calories. Hot drinks stave hunger for me, so i diary in a latte mid afternoon, and between dinner and late dessert.
Have a workout plan. Put it on your calendar. My devices give me electronic reminders prior to a planned exercise. I obey my watch, what can I say.
Get an Apple a watch or fitness tracker that has motivational features. My Apple Watch is so motivational I had to back off this month. Siri was on a campaign to wear my butt out, but boy, is she effective. And I luuuurve looking at charts and closed rings and all that stuff. If tech and numbers thrill you like they do me, that’ll get you off your bottom.
When you are ready, join a scheduled class. I am cheap as all get out and will drag my tired *kitten* to a class rather than forfeit the fee I’ve prepaid. I have an unlimited membership at one place, and in my OCDness, I enjoy making the cost per class diminish as the number I attend increases.
Keep your shoes and gear in an accessible place. My house is three stories, and if I have to run up two flights to get something I need for a walk or run, or to grab a mat that’s been drying on the upper balcony, that can aggravate me to the point of wanting to blow it off, or make me so late I’d be embarrassed to interrupt a class arriving late. And getting to a class and realizing you’ve forgotten your ring or blocks or whatever you need is disheartening, I got cheap backpacks from amazon and have a backpack prepacked for each type of class, on hooks in the garage, so I can grab n go.
By the same token, put binge-y foods as far away as possible until you learn to control impulses. My kitchen is on the second floor. If I have to go to the garage to get those chips or crackers, I’ll probably reach for the apple in the nearby fridge instead. My husband, bless his heart, hides his sweets in the console downstairs, and thinks I don’t know. I won’t mess with his stash.
Try to make things more “difficult”. If I need to mail a utility payment, I look forward to waking the mile round trip to the PO to drop it in the mailbox. In walking distance of the gym, or biking distance of the grocery? That’s an opportunity right there.
Reward yourself at goal levels. I just ordered a swanging new pair of boots for my two year anniversary of starting weight loss. Earlier goals earned me designer yoga leggings (versus the perfectly adequate but not nearly as fun $12 leggings on Amazon). My very first goal, I rewarded myself with a shoe fitting at a running store so I could begin C25K. I loooooove those shoes. I ought to have them bronzed. Me, running a 5k. Who’d’ve thunk it?
Which brings me to: think positive.
I went to years of sales classes about setting goals, and never “got it”. For whatever reason, setting weight loss goals and being positive about reaching them though, made all the difference. You can view weight loss as an ordeal, a torment, the third circle of purgatory. Or you can view it as opportunity to change habits, learn to enjoy new foods, do new things. The way you approach it is up to you, but you’re the one who makes it barely tolerable or an enjoyable, life altering plan of action.
Whatever you do, don’t go all “I’ve reached my goal so I can revert to old habits”. It has to be sustainable for life.
And finally, tune out “noise”. You’ll recognize “noise” when you start to hear it. Noise is people who don’t want you to succeed, question the way you’re going about it, are jealous of any success you achieve. You do you, and ignore the noise.8 -
I've been trying to lose weight for 6 years now only to watch it rise. My tip: don't eat anything that inflames your intestines.
Inflamed intestines do not take in nutrition as best as they should and this leads to your body trying to function while stressed. You may feel more tired and run down, plus your cortisol levels may be higher than they should.
Inflamed intestines can also lead to a condition called leptin resistance. Your body stops reading the leptin signals that tell your brain you are full and the result is that you're hungry all the time regardless of what and how much you eat. I had this problem last year and it made simple weight maintenance very difficult.
I did an elimination diet for two months and then slowly started reintroducing certain foods into my diet. Anything that caused bloating or adverse intestinal problems, I now stay away from those things. The leptin resistance faded away, I successfully dropped my daily calorie intake, and I have lost 18.6 pounds since April 2020.3 -
Rannoch3908 wrote: »Just starting my journey here. Tried many times, failed many times.
Would love to hear your small tips and tricks that help you. Whether it be something that helps you get off the couch, helps you eat right, helps you track, helps motivate you, a workout you found, etc. I know there is no fast track - but I bet you guys have found some things that make the journey more simple and bearable.
Right now here is what I am doing and my info:
315lbs
Male
6ft 3in
Morbidly obese level
Goal weight - 216 - healthy weight
(1 pound per week for two years)
Past typical calories -- 4000+ daily
Current calorie goal -- 2000 daily- My plan is to simply eat at a calorie deficit. 2000 calories or less.
- I plan to exercise with resistance bands -or- body weight daily - 15 minutes.
- I plan to move more - that means walking, biking, cleaning, hiking - 15 minutes daily
- I plan to TRY to keep my carbs under 100 Unless you have insulin resistance.
- I plan to get more sleep
- I plan to drink more water - 100 ounces a day. Drink enough to stay hydrated. Your urine color will guide you
- I plan to try to eat as much un-processed food as possible.
- I plan to try to eat REGULAR size meals (right now I eat a whole pizza + breadsticks instead of 2 slices OR I eat a footlong instead of a 6" sub)
I have modified your list to one that I believe you should start with and make your minimal daily goals. Much of what you planned sounds good on paper and some of it is diet rhetoric that has no actual bearing on weight loss. To lose weight you need a calorie deficit. To be healthy and happy long term doing it you need to master the art of eating the correct number of calories for yourself. Experiment. Make notes. Learn how to log in a way that gives you fairly reliable eating numbers with a system you do not find overly tedious. It is better to start tedious though so you can assess all your habits and then look for corners that you can cut. For instance I log the same weight of onions each time I make a frittata or scramble regardless of how much I use. I do this because it is faster and it generally is 5 to 10 calories more than I actually need to log most days. The days it works out to be more than I log are offset. I do the same with other ingredients. I did not do this at first but I am comfortable doing it now because I know my habits so well.
As far as REGULAR size meals... that is open for debate. I personally eat HUGE meals. I have lost over 250 pounds doing it. I eat a high volume of low calorie foods. I love it. I have also eaten a whole (thin crust) pizza nearly weekly for the past 2.5 years.
I do not want processed foods to be a large portion of my weekly diet. Some weeks it is more than I like. Some weeks it is hardly any. I just roll with it. My aversion is the calories to satiety ratio and the sodium. With that said I keep enough handy that if I need them they are there. They have rescued me many times when time has run short or preparing a meal has gone badly. The only reason I watch sodium is that I can sometimes retain ridiculous amounts of water which can be hard on em.
Add exercise and exercise type activities AFTER you master eating in a calorie deficit, controlling your hunger, and logging correctly. Take 2 weeks or a month if you need. Forming an exercise habit will be easier if your hunger is controlled and you are eating the right number of calories.
Remember this is not a time to prove what you can add on and do. This is a time to do everything as easily as possible. You will have high motivation days and low motivation days. You need to survive both easily and as happily as possible. Sustainability is staying inside your calorie goal most days. Some days will go badly. Some days will be special and you may choose to eat your maintenance calories. It really only matter what you do most days. I am generally only losing weight 46 out of 52 weeks.
I also suggest not worrying about goal weights. Just worry about what you can do today. Do what you need to do today and let tomorrow and all the rest of the days ahead be future you's problem. If today doesn't go well just dust yourself off and try to do better tomorrow.14 -
I agree with Novus, don't try to do everything all at once. It' to overwhelming. Just pick the most important thing, eating your calorie deficit, get comfortable at that then start worrying about the other stuff like carbohydrates and macros.
Like the song says...Take it easy on yourself.3 -
littlegreenparrot1 wrote: »My top tip to start with, be aware of the language you use.
I don't plan to do things, I am going to do things. It is a small but important difference in my brain.
A plan allows wiggle room that means I will talk myself out of it!
So for example: tomorrow I will go for a 15 min walk, cook dinner from scratch, and go to bed at xpm.
Much more definite.
Remember, there is no try - only do or do not do
Agree with the above. "Plan" sets one up for failure.
Best of luck.1 -
So the past couple days have been great.
-- Eating under 2000 calories (more like 1700 naturally)
-- Prepped a few meals for lunches. Bought tons of fruit, veggies, and healthy snacks.
-- Yesterday I went for two walks and got in 5000 steps.
-- Today I played three different disc golf courses and got in 7500 steps.
-- Still have a bike ride planned this afternoon.
-- Under calories today.
-- Lost weight - 3lbs since Friday.
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you haven't lost 3 pounds of fat since friday. you've lost water weight and you've lost weight from having more food traveling through your system that hasn't yet been... er..,. removed.
fruits have plenty of calories, and if you're focusing on protein and long-chain carbs, they're not a replacement. if they make you happy, eat them, but 100 calories of a hershey bar and 100 calories of fruit are both 100 calories and both have sugar.
an extended walk works better for me than counting steps. i lose more weight and build more muscle by continuously walking for 40 minutes than i do counting a bunch of trips to the kitchen, to get the mail and walking to my car.
that being said, i wear a fitbit, but i don't take it too seriously. i haven't once hit 10,000 steps since august 1, but i've taken walks of up to 40 minutes, and even though that doesn't hit 6000 steps, i've lost just over 4 pounds and built i'd guess a pound of muscle - my biceps have obviously grown, my chest has visibly lost fat, i've lost an inch around my waist and i've added 25 pounds to my lower back exercises in that period. woohoo on that last!2 -
The first thing that helped me was to concentrate on eating smaller portions. I stuck to pretty much eating the same food that I always have done, but less of it. If I'm eating food I like, I'm more likely to stick to my overall goal.I reduced the number of potatoes / amount of pasta, rice, noodles etc on my plate and upped the quantity of veggies, but it's still the same foods. I still eat cake, biscuits, crisps etc - but smaller slices or bags, one biscuit rather than the whole pack etc.
You're more likely to stick with it if you're eating things that you like.5 -
I'm eating veggies and turkey sausage for lunch.
Caprese for snack (tomato, cheese, cucumber, dressing).
Eating pretzels, chocolate, apples for snacks. Bananas and grapes as snacks.
Avocado with salt and pepper for breakfast.
Revive smoothie with almond milk for dessert.
All meal prepped and seperated so it's easy to grab and I don't eat anything else.
Eating dinners from a meal service at night. They are awesome. One portion. Always 700 calories or less. Healthy.
I wish I could eat what I loved in moderation but I don't have much moderation or control once those foods hit my lips. That would be deep dish pizza, cheesy bread, sub sandwiches, calzones, pasta w/ bread, fried chicken, XL burritos with all the worst dressings and queso, blizzards from dq, etc. Thinking maybe I'll take one of the previously people's advice. Indulge in a thin crust pizza once a week. But I'm sure it won't be the same --- love bread and cheese and grease and as much of it as possible all at once.
I know people said the start with just eating but Ive started walking, playing disc golf, and bicycling around neighborhood. Just 30 minutes a day. Still lots of time just sitting in front of tv and computer. Not sure how to be even more active. Maybe in time.3 -
or extend the logic - indulge in a deep dish pizza once a fortnight or once a month - and do it in a way that stops you over eating - for example order the smallest size.
But dont deny it altogether
Ive found it best to allow everything - but of course some things only occasionally and/or only in small portions1 -
We make personal pizzas using lavash or naan breads.
I used a squeeze of tomato paste in a tube, some pizza spice seasoning, snip 2 or 3 ounces of lovely fresh mozarella on top (same or lower calories than the bland bagged shredded stuff and boy! does it make a difference!) and an ounce of pepperoni on top. Stick it under the broiler for a couple of minutes and it does the trick for a fraction of the calories of a boxed pizza. Trader Joe’s Ciao pepperoni is really good.
I’m planning to make a fresh batch of naan tomorrow to restock the freezer.1 -
I started at near your stats about 2.5 years ago. Weighed 308 at about 6’2 1/2” or so. Tried many times with the big calorie cut thing- could NOT maintain it and went back to bad!!This time worked! I’m currently about 204 but had gotten to 195 bounced up from covid quarantine being stupid and bringing it back down now.
Here’s what worked for me - I didn’t count calories in the beginning- I just tried to eat “better”. Also I started to move a lot more. I lost about 60 lbs in six months and then it slowed a little so I started counting/tracking. I kept a vague track in my head, and I shot for maintenance calories at my goal weight. Not saying don’t track/count- it is very helpful- I didn’t because it felt like too much effort and too much like a “diet” not a lifestyle change. You know what better is- half a pizza instead of an whole etc. I also started moving much more.
To this day I find it hard to go under 2000 calories. MFP tells me that if I eat about 1800 cals plus exercise cals. I’m good and will lose about 1.5 lbs per week. So I pretty much eat around 2200/day and exercise 400+ cals and I’m losing steadily.
In short- I think 2000 calories a day is too low at your weight and height and you will not be able to sustain this. Please consider upping this to at least 2500 or even better 2500 plus 1/2 exercise calories. I just checked and 2500 cals is maintenance at 216 lbs for your height and sedentary. So this is the amount you’ll need once you’re “there” anyway. At 2500 cals you’ll still lose like 3-4 lbs per week in the beginning and if after a few months and 40 or 50 lbs you can always drop lower.
I’m sorry. Seeing the numbers move almost daily on the scale is awesome. But I can tell you from experience that keeping the scale number low is even better!!
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Onedaywrite -- what movements did you start with? You said you didn't count calories but stated moving a lot more. What types of things did you start with when you were same weight as me and not used to moving?
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I am at one week of changing my life. Down 7 pounds so far whether that be real or just water weight. But still makes me happy and like something is working. Was moving basically all weekend - played 5 rounds of frisbee golf, went of walks, walked around stores, anything to be up and off couch. Kinda hard to find things to fill 7 hours of normal tv time per day with healthier options -- what does everyone else do from after work till you go to sleep?
Pretty proud of myself - I broke down and went for fast food this weekend. But when I got to drive in I ordered 16 GRILLED chicken nuggets at Chickfil-A. No sauce - no fries - no drink. That is only 280 calories.Wasn't very delicious and pretty boring since it wasn't breaded and there was no ranch to drench them in but I have to make those kind of decisions if I want to be healthy. In the past I would have said "screw it" and got 16 nuggets, a sandwich, fries, a large shake, and tons of dipping sauces. So big deal for me.5 -
BABeautifulBadass wrote: »Make small changes. Practice them until they become routine. Make more small changes. Practice. Repeat. This is an ultra marathon, not a 500 yard dash. Don't make drastic unsustainable changes now that you can't live with long-term.
This is exactly right.
The other thing is to know what you are trying to do. You are trying, slowly, to adapt to a way of living that results in your sustaining a healthy body. To do this, you need to eat less and move more.
You cannot, suddenly, at 315 pounds, start to live like someone of healthy weight and succeed. To eat so little and move so much would not keep your present body healthy and would lead to discouragement and quitting. You need to take small steps to get there eventually.
Start by determining your current calorie needs at your present weight and level of activity. Start eating a bit less by subtracting just enough to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week. Add in a little light exercise. Reassess after a week or two and readjust your calories and your exercise a little. Keep doing this and eventually you will reach a healthy weight by eating a healthy amount and exercising a healthy amount.
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