Your game changer

goal06082021 · September 2021

Meal prepping and logging my food in advance. I've talked about it all over the place on these boards but it's really made a huge difference.

springlering62 · September 2021

Learning the correlation between calories eaten and calories burnt, ie, a 3 mile walk is not going to burn off a whole package of cookies.

Like I thought it did.

gentle_sir_hulk · September 2021

My game changer was a mental state to focus on my health. Rather than looking at a glass of wine and complaining that 'it's not allowed ', I started to try to look at it and think of the negative health implications. It's similar to looking at cigarettes as an ex smoker- I used to enjoy it but I now know it's just not good for me.

Cutting out (almost) all processed food also was a game changer. Processed food is designed to be addictive and I needed to break that cycle of addiction.

Thinking of binge eating as addiction disorder rather than just 'having an appetite ' was probably the single most important game changer for me once I started to prioritize my health in my life.

Happy to share more if there is interest.

EyeOTS · September 2021

Ronnysmomma wrote: »

EyeOTS wrote: »

Taking care of my mental health

For someone struggling with depression and anxiety this hits so close to home. Once you start taking care of your ming everything else starts following suit

A lot of people are struggling with that right now due to all that's going on in the world and country. Or existing issues are intensified.

nikolasubaric · September 2021

How different nutrients such as fructose and glucose affect various hormones and make it so much harder to lose weight. This I learned from a documentary called "Sugar the sour truth". You can find it on youtube, I cannot recommend it enough.

Before that I foolishly believed that it was feasible to lose weight eating whatever you want but I was not aware of how much of an effect certain foods had on me mentally.

Weightloss becomes so much easier when you finally go from just counting calories to actually paying attention to what is good for both mentally and your body physically.

SezxyStef · September 2021

There wasn't just one....

it started with as Ann put it "flipping the switch"
Then coming here and logging my food....which lead to education....which lead to my food scale.

Then prelogging my food and prepping to make life easier...

60+ lbs later....

That was 2013....8 years later I am maintaining my weight loss fairly easily.

I still log sometimes just to get a grip in that creep up because no I will never be one who can look at my food and know...esp things like pasta...or potatoes...*shrugs* and that's okay.

macvicar195 · September 2021

Like you said, food scale was a major game changer. I always thought that dieting was small portions, restrictive, etc. but when you actually weigh out certain foods the portion size can almost be too much!!

Another game changer for me was waiting until I was "actually" hungry to eat, prior to changing my mindset I would instantly eat as soon as I thought I was hungry. Now when I sit down to eat I am actually hungry, not just my mind playing tricks on me to binge eat.

I also fell in love with working out, once I realized upping my protein intake would help with the muscle aches afterwards.

MercuryForce · September 2021

Skyler103 wrote: »

The realization that I don't have to banish my favorite foods in order to lose weight. I still eat all of the things I love while losing weight, I just have to make sure the amount of them fits within my calorie goal.

That was the big one for me. I was always of the philosophy that "I'd rather be happy and eating cake than miserable and dieting". But, when I finally realized I needed to change and started working with my dietitian, I also found out that I can eat cake and lose weight. Now I just feel bad for all the dieters I know that would either sit around talking about how they wanted cake (or cookies or candy or whatever) and couldn't or beating themselves up if they did eat any.

The other, somewhat related, was realizing that it isn't an all or nothing prospect. And, as long as I stay within my goals most days, it's okay to have that day where I eat that giant plate of pasta with cream sauce, a large order of buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing, or large road trip soda, or whatever else I want. I don't need to beat myself up over it, I don't even bother "budgeting" my calories around it to let it happen. I just accept that sometimes life isn't perfect.

Ms_Mia_ · September 2021

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I got some great insights and motivation! You guys all rock!

Lia13mfp · September 2021

For me
-using the scale
-logging on MFP
-cooking as much as possible, not eating out (I sometimes "have to" eat lunch out when in office, but then I pick the best option, not necessarily the one I think I will like the most)
-always having boild eggs and peeled carrots in the fridge

and maybe a bit special, but for me really important:
- when cooking, as I don't use as much butter/olive oil as previously, I have to increase spices and other tasty ingredients, to make sure I get a lot of flavour. Example: I just made fried fish and veggies, w/very little fat in the pan. So I added lots of onion and garlic, and black pepper. Then I also added diced fresh tomatoes from my garden, to create somewhat of a sauce to it. Was great. Other times I add lots of dried or fresh herbs, curry powder or chili. I need the food to taste a lot.

amusedmonkey · September 2021

Counting calories, food scale, logging...etc. was what I naturally jumped into right away when I first started dieting. I had little to no experience with dieting before that, so I was not i influenced by the dieting culture, and doing it that way felt like the most logical thing to do. What really was a shock is how many calories I spent on things I didn't particularly like or want, like grabbing random items left on the counter or mindlessly fridge surfing. The game changer was limiting myself to foods I like and want. This made it possible to diet eating a wide variety of foods I like and I didn't feel deprived.

Another game changer was added calories from exercise. It still feels like a victory whenever I stubbornly eat my regular portion of some high calorie foods I like (that won't be satisfying in smaller portions) without going over calories.

ChaoticMoira · September 2021

Definitely like you, learning what proper portions looked like. When I first saw it, I was like, "omg, I can't do that," and then it turned out it was a totally reasonable amount to eat. This was huge because I realized I could still eat food I liked, I just needed to change the way I was seeing it.

Also learning that weight loss is mostly about food, and exercise is about health. Not that their isn't cross over between the two, because of course their is. But I always saw food as the biggest health factor, and exercise as the biggest weight loss factor. It totally changed my approach to how I eat, and how I workout.

sijomial · September 2021

Mine was a series of three linked game changers......

A serious throat infection meant I couldn't eat for a while and surprise, surprise, I lost weight. That flipped a switch for me (silly as it sounds) as I had to admit despite what my Mum told me - I'm not special.
I'm not immune to the effects of energy balance and subsequent weight loss.

That triggered a bit of self-reflection as to why I stayed overweight for 22 years. Although I could make a compelling argument that the driver that mangled my knee triggered my sudden weight gain but I couldn't escape the fact the although the blame for the gain wasn't my fault, staying fat really was both my fault and my responsibility to resolve. Ironically, I faced and conquered much greater challenges in that time but my weight was a blind spot. PMS (Poor Me Syndrome!) really isn't in my personality but in this one aspect it definitely held me back.

That led to the "how to" game changer. I did a bit of research and planning (I tackled the task like a project) and as I looked back on my failed attempts, I realised that daily restriction had always bored, frustrated and ultimately sapped my determination. Tried the 5:2 IF eating style and it really gelled with my very determined short term, but bored by routine, strengths and weaknesses.

Your game changer

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