What small changes have helped you lose weight?
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mimimunchery
Posts: 69 Member
So this isn’t my first time at the rodeo. I’ve successfully lost 20 or so lbs a few times now. But I always end up slipping into old habits and gaining it back.
This time I am really trying to determine what my specific eating issues/bad habits are so I make some hopefully more long-lasting changes. So far I’ve identified:
1. Coffee drinks - I never get Frappuccinos etc but I usually have at least one 100-200 cal drink like an oat milk latte a day. Trying to cut these out.
2. Eating my kids’ food. This is a big one - I make dinner for them and end up picking at it or even eating a small meal myself and then I have another big dinner later in the evening. Trying to not snack on kids’ food.
3. Wine. The calories but also the lack willpower when I have a few glasses. A big bag of Trader Joe’s licorice always looks real good after a few glasses of Prosecco. Trying to limit drinking to weekends only.
So those are my changes so far!
Just wondering what other small changes people have made that have really helped ? Let me know!
This time I am really trying to determine what my specific eating issues/bad habits are so I make some hopefully more long-lasting changes. So far I’ve identified:
1. Coffee drinks - I never get Frappuccinos etc but I usually have at least one 100-200 cal drink like an oat milk latte a day. Trying to cut these out.
2. Eating my kids’ food. This is a big one - I make dinner for them and end up picking at it or even eating a small meal myself and then I have another big dinner later in the evening. Trying to not snack on kids’ food.
3. Wine. The calories but also the lack willpower when I have a few glasses. A big bag of Trader Joe’s licorice always looks real good after a few glasses of Prosecco. Trying to limit drinking to weekends only.
So those are my changes so far!
Just wondering what other small changes people have made that have really helped ? Let me know!
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Replies
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I meditate on my relationship with food. There are never big changes that come from this practice, but small understandings that appear over time that change foundational behaviors.
I stopped eating low quality chocolate and accept only higher quality treats. I now can't stand milk chocolate as it is too sweet for me and can only accept dark chocolate that is 60% or higher. I still eat chocolate, but it really helped to start looking for higher quality versions of it as it became more and more noticeable that the low quality versions tasted terrible anyway. This happened incrementally.
I applied the same method with drinks. I gravitated away from milk entirely because it was upsetting my stomach constantly and I didn't notice it for a long time. I use coconut milk for my smoothies. I never really liked soda in the first place, but learned how I like to take water instead. I fill it with lots of ice because I love cold drinks.
I learned that being authoritarian on myself was far less productive than learning how to negotiate with myself. Telling myself that I can't have some food or that I have to limit it only eventually brought up rebellious behavior. There is often a reason why I want foods that I'm "not supposed to have" and instead of telling myself what to do, I ask myself why. Sometimes it's because I want a certain flavor and I will offer alternatives, and this is how I learned that I can curb pizza cravings with olives, and I used to hate olives too. In the case where I really genuinely want pizza, I ask myself if I can wait a day or two to see if the craving goes away. If a craving is really, really sticking, then it means my psyche is feeling too strained and I let it have a pizza. But more often than not, the craving goes away and I also gain experience in resistance. The skill in resistance increases over time.
Speaking of hating olives, I also learned how to introduce myself to new foods. Instead of forcing myself to eat it, I let my brain get introduced to it. In the case of olives, my friend gave me a small cup of them and I let myself smell them and understand how the flavor might be processed. I just sat with the olives until my brain was ready to try one after not forcing myself, but instead patiently letting it get accustomed to the undesired food. When I ate one it was a much different experience than when I forced myself to eat them before and they are now a favorite snack. I later accomplished accepting fresh tomatoes, coconut, and more with the same method.
I also learned that it is always easier to introduce more recipes and more food to try before I try to remove anything considered bad so that I have more options to rely on. I learned that I like finger foods and easy to prepare items, so I keep small cucumbers and cherry tomatoes around to snack on.15 -
I stay away from foods I don't particularly like:
- I used to drink a few glasses of wine at family dinners and lunches, going along with family habits. I don't particularly like wine, so since knowing how many calories it contains I only drink sparkling wine/an aperitif I like and no wine with the meal itself anymore.
- when offered a food I don't particularly enjoy, I will much more easily say no, especially if it's high calorie. For example pies with creme pâtissière/custard, no thank you.
I prefer spending my calories on foods I enjoy!9 -
I've come to the point of realization there are just certain foods I cannot keep in the house anymore. I'm not a 'limit myself to a serving' kind of gal. I used to buy ice cream or cookies by the package and eat the whole thing. Now I indulge in a pint of ice cream every weekend and fulfill my cravings for other healthier stuff in other ways. I also have increased my veggie intake by volumes and it fills me up. I stay away from cereals, pastas, breads, potatoes(and Cookies!)....all because I know me and they're all things I could easily binge on.
Basically, I'm a grazer so find healthier versions of my texture-cravings and try to build any snack/meal around veggies first, then protein, then add things to make them please me. Such as crunchy croutons on my humungous salads, or sugar-free syrup in my 0% fat plain yogurt.9 -
I started batch-cooking and preparing my lunches for the workweek a couple of years ago. At that point the motivation was to save time in the mornings more than anything, but once that habit was established, it was simple to shift focus from that to calorie-counting/weight loss. Learning how to batch cook/meal prep also allowed me to log entire days, sometimes entire weeks in advance, so I could clearly see what kind of space and flexibility I had for treats.5
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On-line/click and collect grocery shopping.
Man.
I did it starting early in 2020 (of course) but when I got back to the grocery store I quickly realized that being there was a PROBLEM for me. I don't have great impulse control and the grocery store is one long trip down impulse control lane, with a lot of temptations and 'interesting' stuff.
Online looking at pictures of food and utilizing the list of things I bought last time for ease saves me bringing a lot of things home that I don't really want and will eat just because they're novel and/or look good in the store.
I still get treats but they're the things I want enough to seek out, not things that are just SITTING THERE.19 -
A small thing I have done is stopped putting half and half in my coffee. At first, I missed the cream, but now I actually like the coffee black. I think it took me over a month though, so it is worth trying to stick it out even if your first thought is "no way".4
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I've come to the point of realization there are just certain foods I cannot keep in the house anymore.
I'm the opposite; if we have it in the house, I don't need to go out and buy it when I'm craving/stressed because in that situation I'm more likely to buy and consume a larger quantity. I try to buy pre-portioned items; for example Cadbury mini bars (16g I think) rather than a 200g bar that I then break down. That makes it easier to stick to one portion (or it's a conscious decision to eat more).
I try to get my 5-a-day of fruit/vegetables, then I flipped it on it's head and try to have 1-a-day of crisps/chocolate/baked goods/ice cream. As my calorie goal has reduced (as I've lost weight) I can't necessarily have one of each, but I'd try not to have two cookies on an average day even if it would fit in my calorie goal.4 -
Frank19556 wrote: »A small thing I have done is stopped putting half and half in my coffee. At first, I missed the cream, but now I actually like the coffee black. I think it took me over a month though, so it is worth trying to stick it out even if your first thought is "no way".
+1! I learned to take my coffee black in college. Good-quality beans make a huge difference - these days I get my beans from a local roastery so they're fresh and delicious, but if you're drinking preground Folgers from the red can right now, even just switching to whole-bean grocery store coffee and grinding it as-needed will upgrade your (general "you") coffee game. I also find that preparation styles that don't involve paper filters give me a smoother and more flavorful cup - coffee beans have aromatic oils in them that paper filters tend to absorb. I have a French press that I love, it's my go-to these days since it holds the same volume as my trusty travel mug, but an Aeropress with the steel mesh filter is also a good option. We also have an old Keurig and reusable fake K-cups (no DRM here), and the coffee it makes is serviceable enough, if there's not time to boil water and steep the grounds in the French press/Aeropress.
Drip percolators, like your classic Mr. Coffee, are okay if you can drink the coffee right away; sitting on the warmer for a long time is what makes the coffee bitter and unpleasant. If that's what you have access to, though, putting a tiny bit of salt in that bitter coffee can help smooth it out without adding calories. Just a tiny bit, mind - err on the side of not enough, for sure, then taste and adjust. I usually tip some salt into my hand, usually about 1/8 tsp.3 -
Absolute #1 thing I did was begin weighing and logging.
That led me to realize how many calories a day I was consuming. And that my occasional evening walk wasn’t burning off the family size package of Oreo Doublestuffs I’d consumed earlier, as I innocently - and stupidly- thought.
Planning meals and sticking to my shopping list. It makes life so much easier than meal planning while pushing the cart. If I make an impulse buy these days, it’s usually for a deal on fruit. $1.69 cherries yesterday? Yes, please!!!!!
Pre-logging meals by the day(a) helps me control calories and use my leftovers more efficiently. It’s also helpful to change plans in the fly, knowing “OK if I have a big lunch now, I’m going to have to tweak dinner and dessert by exactly this much”.
I no longer keep packaged snacks or sweets in the house, other than small hard candies (dislike hard candy, easy not to binge on them), or a couple of small size individually wrapped chocolate bars in the freezer. I forget all about food when it’s in the freezer because I simply think of it as “meat storage “.
I used to wash down all my chocolates and cookies with a half gallon of milk a day. I use less than half a cup of milk a day to froth for hot drinks. I switched to homemade almond milk, and then to Silk plain cashew milk (richer texture and taste, 25 cal per cup).
Swapped fruit and cottage cheese, topped with fruit balsamic vinegars for candies and cookies.
Can make a mean smoothie that tastes like a milkshake for about 200 calories, and fills a 32 ounce insulated mug. Very filling. And hydrating, since that’s a major issue for me.
Forgave myself the guilt and began treating myself by buying bags of prepared, washed mixed greens. I eat a bag a day. Soooo easy. Rip it open and top with chopped veggies and pre-cooked meat I have in the fridge. I’ve discovered many leftovers go great over a giant bowl of greens- carnitas, taco filling, tikka, grilled vegetables, even leftover couscous or bulgur.
Use balsamic or calorie free salad dressings.
Hot drinks are a great snack substitute.
I walk everywhere. Rode my bike to the doctor yesterday and will ride it to the grocery store this afternoon to get the broccoli I forgot yesterday. (My bird is complaining vociferously that we’re out.)
I do many of the strategies I found in this thread:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1
Probably best tip of all is reading these boards religiously and asking questions.14 -
weighing and logging food
being more active
keeping 'trigger' foods out of the house. if i want something bad enough i will go get it, but that involves me having to make that effort and usually... its just not worth it.
finding lower calorie replacements for higher calorie items. salad dressings, etc.
My coffee creamer is non negotiable2 -
I volunteer at a front desk position once a week. It’s usually quiet and a bit boring. I’m bad for boredom eating so I used to tuck a fresh pound bag of M&Ms in my tote and would usually finish them off. That’s 2240 calories.
Now, I pack a bag of crisp vegetables and a container of zero calorie ranch dressing.
Today’s haul is nearly 20 ounces of veggies, for a total of 93 calories.
That’s a savings of 2147 calories, which is almost as much as my entire daily allotment.
Think through your day. Be aware. What habits have you developed that you can tweak? How does occasional events or infrequent behavior affect you? Log everything that crosses your lips til you get a handle.
Someone has a nice graphic on another thread indicating that awareness is 50% of winning.
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- Forcing myself to portion control. I used to eat 3 times what I should have. Once I got used to it, it was so easy.
- Identifying the junk foods I crave and binge on the most (trigger foods), and finding healthy/low cal substitutes has been a massive help for me. I make sure I have those substitutes at hand always, or else I will binge on a substitute... (Protein shake ice cream is a godsend)
- Forcing myself to get over my dislike of sweeteners, and using them to make homemade low cal treats.
- I don't drink any calories.
- Logging what I eat helps way more than I expected it to when I started. I thought it would be a nuisance. But it turns out I find it motivating.
- Prepping my food for the week in advance. This means I never think about "what do I want," or "what sounds yummy.." And not thinking about food, is like conquering my nemesis.
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When I start to get over my 5 lbs of "cushion", I change a few things. I'm not a morning eater anyway, so this isn't as hard as it sounds, but I skip the AM eating. I eat after my workout at lunch for the first time (around 1:30 PM).
I've also been cooking better, healthier (and large) meals on Sunday. If I plan it that way, starts the week off on a good foot. Plus, I eat leftovers for lunch. Back in the day, the wife would want something like Spaghetti and meatballs on Sunday and we'd use like 5 lbs of meat. Guess who at all of the leftovers? Not the wife. I can't do that stuff any longer and maintain.
At night (when I do most of my calories), I'll switch out things like popsicles or ice cream for fruit or a protein drink instead.
One big thing for me is not keeping honey PB around. It's like crack for me. Worse than Ice cream or anything, to be honest. If it's regular PB, I'm fine. Add that 3 to 5g of sugar into it and I can eat half a jar.1 -
It’s a series of small sustainable changes:
- make water my drink of choice
- Reduce ( I try to eliminate, but that’s too big of a change) my after dinner snack. Instead of a bowl take a handful, then eat one at a time.
- Track food.2 -
PopGoesTheCoyote wrote: »
I learned that being authoritarian on myself was far less productive than learning how to negotiate with myself.
Great insight.0 -
Reducing Wine, eating mostly vegan, with the occasional lean protein, and weighing my food.0
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I agree with the poster who suggested using a hot drink as a snack. Lots of times I'll just have my cup of coffee instead of something to eat. Sadly, I have never developed a taste for tea which would be even better.1
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I agree with the poster who suggested using a hot drink as a snack. Lots of times I'll just have my cup of coffee instead of something to eat.
Seconded (thirded?) on the hot drink as snack.
My Go-To to substitute for dessert is a cup of decaf chai and then I add Truvia. It's pretty much the only time I use an artificial sweetener, but the hot, sweet drink really satisfies the need for something sweet after dinner.
In the afternoon, I will sometimes make iced coffee from any leftover coffee from the morning. Again adding Truvia or just a little sugar - I don't use either in my hot AM coffee, so that makes a nice sweet treat. And the fact that it's cold makes it different from my regular morning joe.
Hmmm, looking at my answer in Preview, it seems my solution is a sweet drink rather than something hot.2 -
My small change is the only beverage I drink now is water and ice tea every once in a while sweetened with truvia. I gave up soda and alcoholic beverages weeks ago and I do not miss them at all.3
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mimimunchery wrote: »
2. Eating my kids’ food. This is a big one - I make dinner for them and end up picking at it or even eating a small meal myself and then I have another big dinner later in the evening. Trying to not snack on kids’ food.
This has been a really big one for me! I used to snack on what they left on their plates while doing kitchen cleanup. I figured it couldn't be that bad since it was usually only a couple bites, but now that I weigh everything I know it easily could add up to hundreds of calories! If I really feel bad about throwing it out I can put it in a small container and whatever kid left it can eat it when they inevitably say, "But I'm SO hungry!" in an hour.
Related: I have a personal rule now that I only eat when sitting down. So unless absolutely necessary I don't taste test in the kitchen or nibble on things throughout the day. I can get a dish, put my food on it (and weigh it!) then sit down and eat. If I'm not willing to do all those things, then I'm probably not actually hungry.
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