starting out. baby steps. is this enough?

I began with taking a fifteen minute walk every day, logging everything that I ate (even if I wasn't quite sure how to log it), and eating five servings of vegetables every day. Some days I did more than this, but that was my baseline because I was starting from a place of feeling very overwhelmed.

I think I spent about a month just getting very comfortable with those habits. Then I began moving more and having the goal of hitting my calorie goal the majority of the time. Since I was already comfortable with how to log, it felt easier to shoot for a specific target at that point. And because I was already eating lots of vegetables, it felt easier to meet my calorie goal (because for me, vegetables are very filling -- you may have a different experience).

IMO, there's no such thing as a change that is "too little." Even if a change isn't big enough to result in weight loss, if it makes you feel better or teaches you something or gets you motivated to try bigger goals in the future, that is worthwhile.

If I try to do only BIG THINGS, I wind up never doing anything that all. When I do a bunch of "little things," not only do the little things make a difference collectively, they also give me the courage to try some of the big things I was previously too scared to ever contemplate.

I started out walking fifteen minutes a day, now I run marathons. I promise you, if I had told myself I had to run a marathon in 2015, I wouldn't even have had the guts to walk fifteen minutes.

Some people are motivated by really big goals and those people should make them and I wish them the best. But I do best tackling big problems by starting with little changes.

Cutting out soda and drinking more water sounds like it could be a good goal. Many people find that they drink enough in caloric beverages to make a difference in their weight (I know this was true for me - I drank SO MUCH juice!). And the absolute worst thing that can happen is that you try it and decide that you'd rather go after another goal. So you'll have learned something and that is still worthwhile.

My approach was:
Step 1: log everything I eat
Step 2: stay within my calorie goal (choosing a modest weight loss rate!)
Step 3: increasing my activity level, first and foremost by walking more (allowing me to eat more)
Step 4: being more attentive to what I eat - more satiating foods, easy lower calorie substitutions and increasing my protein intake to at least 100gr per day
Step 5: upping the exercise - more challenging exercise than walking

I've never really consumed a lot of soda, but cutting it out seems like a significant step if you're drinking a lot of it. You're reducing your sugar consumption and also cutting out 'empty' calories. A very good basis to improve your health.

Every journey begins with a first step and all that stuff.
Really I just decided to start tracking my food. That's all I did. Looked at how much i was consuming and modify it to be under my calories. I didn't change what I was eating (that's a great way to fail for me) I just ate less of it. I did cut out all soda cause that was like 2000 calories a day that I was wasting but there are times when I want a soda and I will make it fit in my calories. I do exercise now but it was almost 10 months of calorie counting before I started that.

I started small. I wanted to be successful this time so I wanted to see what habits were keeping the weight on. I stared by tracking everything I ate for 2 weeks. Then I looked for places where I could make adjustments. Healthy food swaps,getting my steps in extra.

Then I bought a food scale and saw how inaccurate my eyeballing and “cup” measures were. This was a game changer for me.

After a month I started to work out. Just once a week at first and now I’m up to 4-5 per week.


Every other time I tried to lose weight I put a time limit on myself and wanted it to happen really fast. I would go really hard for a month or two and then start to feel depressed and burnt out. Then I would start eating poorly again and tell myself I’ll try again next month and end up putting on more weight.

So for me it’s slow and steady wins the race. It’s the only time I’ve seen real success.

This time I started by just trying to be a bit more fit. So, going for a walk most days, going to the gym... those sorts of things. That was a thing I did for about 6 months without anything else.

Then I started eating just a bit healthier. Less (but not no... not at all) processed stuff, oatmeal for breakfast, cutting out a lot (but not all) sugar. - That was another 3 months.

Then I went to a health coach for some tips. She had the idea of starting a food diary, not with calories attached, but just to get a better idea of what I am eating and to be more mindful of it. She also wanted me to slow down when eating. - About 1 month. 4 meetings, I think.

After this I decided calorie counting would be better for me than just "getting a feel for what I am eating" and re-registerdd at MFP. - I kept up with the slower eating, but discarded advice of cutting down on drinking my calories (soy latte), as I realised I can fit them into my calorie goals quite easily. - That has been the last 3 months and a bit.

That's where I am so far. There are definitely more improvements I can bake, but I'll make them when I am ready.

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Last time my first step was simply switching to no sugar soft drinks. Nothing more. I lost about 10 kg with that change alone (I was pretty heavy), and that kinda kick started my motivation to get going. While I later fell of the wagon I I never gained back those first 10 kg of the second 10 I lost through other small changes I stuck to, so that was improvement.

So, hey, in my opinion cutting out sugary soft drinks is a great first step.