Name one weight loss tip that worked for you besides tracking

Personalization: Figuring out how to lose and maintain weight eating in a way I enjoy, that's practical for me. Figuring out how to get fitter that are relatively fun for me, ideally so fun that I'd do them even if they weren't good for me. Happy habits FTW, habits that can become almost autopilot, so they are sustainable when life gets complicated . . . which it will, sometimes.

Tracking helped with that, of course: Reviewing my food diary, it was easy to see which foods "cost" more calories than they were worth to me for their tastiness, nutrition, etc. I could reduce or eliminate those, choose others that better met my goals.

On the exercise side (or really activity side, because it's not just about formal exercise), trying things that sounded interesting, giving them a fair try to get past the "newbie blues" phase where almost anything can seem impossibly awkward at first. (Things that are easy from day 1 get boring fast, IME. Things that seem more difficult at first can better hold my interest, be enjoyable long term. YMMV.)

Two things - one, always having portion controlled snacks around so if I need something to eat, there's something ready to go. That has helped a lot. Two, having a variety of sugar free beverages (for me this includes all kinds of different teas) so I always have something interesting to hydrate with. Both those things have really helped me out a lot.

I also do a lot with keeping my hands busy in order to reduce boredom eating, having things like popcorn or vegetables when I know that I will be nibbling, and making sure that the exercise I do is something that I don't hate.

Having enough patience not to quit. People don’t become overweight/obese overnight, don’t expect overnight results for losing weight

Don't eat as often ... I went from 3 meals and a couple of snacks throughout my day ... pretty much from shortly after getting up until right up to bedtime. I didn't start eating less often to lose weight, I did it to see if I could get my blood glucose under better control ( Type 2 Diabetes) ... it took some doing, but now a days I eat just twice a day. And I don't eat for several hours after waking up as well as very rarely anything after about 8 PM ... it got easy to do after some time slowly lengthening the time span where I relied on non-caloric drinks ( water or tea for me) instead of reaching for something to nibble in between meals. My a1C went from 7.9 to 5.4 ... and I have lost weight as a side benefit ... about 50 pounds just from eating less often.

My main tip would be to think and plan before executing. It's so common for people to leap straight to executing someone else's diet plan......
I reflected on what did and didn't work in previous attempts and then made a plan taking that experience plus my strengths and weaknesses into account.

Main points of my plan were:
Not having an everyday calorie deficit, I had a very uneven eating pattern with the majority of my days eating at maintenance levels. (I'm good at maintenance but everyday deficit kills my motivation.)

Picking a personally sustainable and suitable weight loss rate (1lb a week for me). Don't make a hard job harder.

Making my diet fit my lifestyle rather than the other way round. Being miserable isn't helpful for compliance.

looking for reduced the calorie of everything I eat. Yes, have the bread-but the 40 calorie/slice. Yes have the mayo-but light mayo. yes have the salad dressing--choose fat free. yes have the xxxxxxxxx saves hundreds of calories per day

Staying away from empty calories, drinking more water and an evening walk most days. It sounds so simple when I write it down but it has taken almost ten years to actually implement and maintain.

I'm doing IF with keto. My biggest breakthrough came when I followed the tip not to snack in between meals while in my eating window. Game changer! I still eat snack and dessert foods, but simply include them right before or after my main meals. Snacking throughout the eating window spikes insulin up and down too often and thus slows down fat burning progress, despite our being consistent with fasting times. Not snacking in between meals also low key causes us to eat less because when we focus on filling ourselves up at meal time we tend to realize we snack out of habit. So often, I anticipated my sweet dessert or salty snack but after eating my lunch or dinner, I lost the craving for it because I was fully satiated.

1. Making eating a deliberate activity with zero distractions -no more mindless grab and go whilst walking or other activity food. I can easily scarf down 400 calories on the two minute trip from the kitchen to my computer desk. Now I take all my meals and snacks mindfully at the table.
2. Declaring no-food times during they day. It's very tempting to boredom snack between my first meal and dinner. So I set aside 1PM-4PM as a no-food time. I also don't eat anything after dinner, but that's more about keeping my acid reflux in check.

1.) Use your initial enthusiasm to build habits that make it MINDLESS to stay on your plan later on when you aren't as focused. For example, take the time to build meals in MFP that you can fall back on whenever you don't know what to have for dinner. Find the restaurants where you can eat out and stay on plan. You won't always be focused on all this weight loss stuff, so you need to make your habits as easy and mindless as possible to stay the course.

2.) Log the next day the night before. That way you don't have to make a decision when you're stressed, rushed, and hungry. You can always choose to change it, but I find having it written down makes me less likely to make bad decisions in the moment. Like, I'll be tired and not sure what I want, so I just end up eating what I already logged because that's easier than figuring something else out.

3.) Brush your teeth after meals and snacks. It sounds silly, but having my mouth taste "clean" makes me less likely to reach for a snack. It signals my brain that meal time is over, and it makes me more likely to drink water.

4.) When you do laundry, put your workout clothes together for the week so you can grab and go easily. Likewise, have a tote bag with workout gear that stays in your car. Again, the goal is to make your exercise regimen an easy decision-free thing that you just do as a habit. The fewer decisions you have to make to get it done, the more likely it will happen when you're tired and unenthused. Even little things like having to find your tennis shoes can make you more likely to give up for the day. So remove as many mental/organizational barriers as possible.

5.) Begin as you mean to go on. That is, find a way of eating that you'd genuinely be willing to do the rest of your life. That way you won't have to worry about falling off the wagon because they're won't be a wagon. For me, this means eating out when/where I want. It also means I don't avoid any foods or food groups. I just fit them into my calories. Early on I found substitutions and foods that met my goals and gave me pleasure to eat. So now, in maintenance, I just have the ability to treat myself a little more often, but I haven't really changed how I eat.

6.) Have a good plan for whatever is your weakest time of day when you're prone to snacking. For me, that's evenings before bed. My solution is I have a Chocolate Protein/Vitamin Shake in the evenings while I watch tv. Then I eat a Greek Yogurt every night before bed. Both of these are logged ahead of time so my daily food fits around them. This gives me a daily treat to look forward to, and a healthy filling snack to help me sleep. Some people like to eat a bigger dinner, but I do best with a lighter dinner and an evening treat.

7.) Make your log fit YOUR patterns instead of MFP's. So don't be afraid to edit your macro goals or rename your meals to fit your life. For example, my meals are Breakfast, Mid-Day, Late Afternoon, Evening Routine, Snacks, and Drinks. That lets me track things more accurately. I also shoot for a lot more protein than the MFP default, so my macros are set to 35% Protein, 35% Fat, %30 Carbs. I decided on the fat/carb ratio based on what I gravitate to naturally by season. In Winter, that means more fat. In Summer, I may change it to 35-C/30-F because I eat more fresh veggies/fruits. The main thing is to bend MFP to YOUR needs instead of beating your head against a wall trying to meet someone else's idea of what you should eat. The more personalized you make your plan, the more likely you are to keep up with it.

All this to say...make it MINDLESS and make it EASY...if you do that, you will be consistent enough to see results over time. The harder you make it on yourself, the more likely you'll eventually throw up your hands and quit.

A food scale. More than anything knowing exactly how much I am eating is key. Pay more attention to the food scale and less to the number of the people scale.

I have been tracking my food on and off for more than a decade, now. I have gotten down to 155, where I wanted to be 145. I was constantly hungry. I was running all the time. I binged on the weekends. It was no good. I have been 220, where I indulged whenever I wanted to, and got to such a size that I was constantly low-level winded. All the time. It was also no good.

The single biggest thing that helped me lose weight happily besides tracking is- to reduce the suck.

If I want a ton of food, I up my protein instead of hitting the pantry. I go for a walk instead of getting ice cream. I recognize my feelings might play a part in my wanting x food. But if I'm burning out, time for a diet break eating at maintenance. If I want to eat with friends, make it a day eating at maintenance. If I really want a cookie, have a cookie. And no cheating it, a real cookie, the one I wanted.

Sure, weight loss is slower this way. I am not setting any goals for when I am done losing weight. Because this is practice for how I need to eat for the rest of my life- honoring what I want or need in a way that doesn't compromise my goals long term.

The only thing that helps me stick to tracking and weight loss is reducing the suck. Life is stressful enough, no need for me to stress myself further.

Meal Prep: Every week, I roast vegetables, cook lentils (you can make a big batch and freeze some for later use) cook up chicken and fish. That way, I always have healthy food I can eat for lunch or dinner without having to cook every day. End up cooking 2x a week and the rest is just heating up. Makes it so much easier to stay on track.
Limiting trigger foods: Mine are alcohol and cheese. I can have them but they are special occasion "dessert" foods instead of every day foods. Pretty amazing how many calories I rack up when I consume either or both of these.