What is your BIGGEST . . .

The main thing I learned was watch the cheese/milk and your morning coffee (if you drink it). They add a lot of calories to regular foods, it was the initial easiest way to cut my calories! The only other thing that I learned is that I stay motivated if I log on to the website and spend a few minutes reading my friends pages and the forums.

Buy a food scale. It was eye opening to see what proper food portions were and how off things like cereal can be. For example the box might say 3/4 of a cup is a proper serving size but if you go by actual weight it is way closer to 1/2 cup.

1. Find your motivation. Mine was the death of my best friend at the age of 49 to a massive heart attack.

2. Cook! Use fresh fruit and veggies as much as possible. Vary what you eat and how you eat it. I eat mostly chicken for protein and you can make it a million ways.

3. Stay on this site. You will find and make friends on here and they will support, encourage and cheer you on.

Feel free to add me and best of luck on your journey.

Slow & steady is the best way to lose weight & keep it off so do it one step at a time. Another thing is to know what is your body type so that in this way, you will get to know if your goal is realistic to you or no. Analyze properly the food labels & not just concentrate on the calories. Watch out for anything that has trans fat or ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, yellow or red#'s or any scientific names that we cannot even spell out because it means chemicals.

I've never had a lot of weight to lose, and only carry it around my stomach really. But I have had some pretty bad eating habits in my life, and never exercised much at all, binging used to be a regular occurence.

It takes a long time to find what works best for you. Don't be miserable, find healthy foods that you actually like. I love fruit, and most veggies, so it was just about eating more of those in replace of biscuits, corn chips etc - but I never deprive myself of anything. If you don't treat yourself every now and then, there's a chance you'll fall of the wagon. It's all about portion sizes of "bad" foods really.

You can do it! Good luck.

Two things: Food is fuel and muscle burns fat.

Eat enough calories because otherwise your body won't be as effecient at burning calories (eat back some of your exercise calories) and the higher your lean body mass (all the stuff that isn't fat) you have, the more calories you can eat because the more calories you burn and the thinner you will be because a pound of muscle is smaller than a pound of fat.

1. Write before you bite. Or, in other words, look up a food or log it into your diary before you even eat it. This was you can see exactly what it does to your day.
2. Diet is a four letter word. Don't think of it as a diet, you're eating healthy for an overall lifestyle change. "Diets" can be forboding, lifestyle changes allow for more freedom and is something you'll be more apt to stick with.
3. Remember that no one thing works for everyone. I lost almost all of my weight ignoring my macros and eating stuf like breakast bars, microwave meals and processed 100 cal snacks. It was crazy high carbs but I lost steadily. For some people, they need low carb to make it work, others need more fat. Just find what works for you and don't stress about the "right" way to eat, because there is no single answer.
4. Don't be afraid of food. Like I said, it's a lifestyle change, if you eat out with friends and go over your calories, it's fine, it's not going to ruin everything. Life happens. Don't go out every night and blow out your calories, but if you're going on vacation or out for a special night with the SO, splurge on your calories. Food is meant to be enjoyed, not feared.
5. Get moving. Go for a walk, run, buy a workout DVD, get a personal trainer, whatever way works for you, include exercise in your plan. I wish I had sooner than I did, not for the weight loss, but the overall awesomeness that working out exudes. It just feels good on a whole.
6. Take measurements as well as weight checks. This is my number one regret, I didn't do this and I constantly wish that I had. Waist, hips, thighs, and arms. I'd love to be able to see my progress in that way rather than only in weight.
7. Get a heart rate monitor. Don't trust the gym machines, even if you enter your stats, they'll always think you're male and burning way higher. MFP is closer, but the HRM is your best bet.

It's helped me to think of this as a permanent lifestyle change instead of a temporary diet. Exercise! And learn to love your veggies!

Everyone is different. Read articles, read the forums, ask your friends, read books -- but at the end of the day everything you read or hear isn't going to work for everyone. Don't be afraid to step outside of the box in order to learn what will work for YOU. Too many people want to jump on the "popular" wagon and end up frustrated because what everyone else is doing isn't working for them.

FIND WHAT WILL WORK FOR YOU! Is it easy? no. Will it happen overnight? No.

Love all the advice and tips! Thanks!!!

i have 3 words only that will cover it!
PLAN,
ROUTINE
and
EXERSICE

if you stick to them you WILL do this!

Realizing and ACCEPTING that this will not happen fast. That will allow you to go with the flow- the ups and downs of the scale, the occassional splurging on something you think you shouldn't have, etc. Once you actually accept that this will take time, effort, patience, and committment, you will do just fine- and probably will enjoy the ride!

Love ALL of these answers...I'll just add this:

NEVER wait until tomorrow - make good choices TODAY (even if you made a bad choice during the day, don't let it drag you down for the entire day). Seriously...how many "tomorrow's" have there been for ALL of us? It wasn't until I got that in my head that I truly began to make progress. Good luck!!

*edited to add: actually the MOST important thing has been having the BEST pals EVER!!! They totally keep me motivated and their feedback is priceless!! Love, love, love my peeps!!

DON'T GIVE UP!! Even if you don't lose weight for awhile stick with it. Log everyday for motvation. I didn't lose a single lb for a month and a half and then bam! the scale finally moved. You can do this with a lot of hard work and motivation!

Thank you for this! It's what I needed to hear! It has been an entire month and I haven't lost any weight. NOT ONE SINGLE POUND. I just started in August and lost 3 lbs right away, but after that nothing else. I have been so aggravated with myself and the way everything is going that I just wanted to give it all up. Then I realized HELLO giving up isn't going to get me where I want to be. So thank you for this

Hi there -

This is what works for me:

Log in here every day and record every.single.thing. you eat or drink. Be completely honest.

Drink your water. Water stave's off cravings.

Speaking of cravings realize that a craving only lasts for 7 minutes at a time. (no kidding, it's a scientific fact, they did a study)

Stay off the scales -- meaning, don't weigh every day. I whittled myself down to once a week. I weigh on Saturday mornings, as my week for this begins Sunday morning and goes through Saturday morning.

Weigh after you poop:) (I know gross but it makes sense)

Remember you didn't put this weight on overnight it's not going to come off over night, slow and steady wins the race.

Pre-plan snacks, and if you have to go out think ahead of what you are going to eat, it helps curb temptation to go crazy with the menu.

Get up and move, do something every.single.day.

Get support from your family, friends, and folks like us.

I blog, and that helps me get my feelings down on paper.

Hope this helps.