My tips...

-Drink lots of water
-Eat everything in moderation - if I say I'm not eating chocolate, I'll crave it even more...

When dining with friends, and someone has a particularly tempting dish to share, I will have a bite, but I take the next to the last bite - that way I'm not tempted to eat too much, because it's gone!

My husband and I keep our measuring cups on a cup tree on the counter and our scale as well. That way if we are interested in having something to eat it reminds us we have to keep our portion control in check. Becca

My tips:

1. Water juice down (50% juice, 50% water). You get used to it after a while.
2. Eat veggies and dip instead of chips and dip. Dry veggies and hummus and veggies and salsa, or make your own dip with fat free sour cream.
3. Try chia seeds.
4. Eat before you grocery shop so you don't buy whatever looks good and try to stick to a list.
5. Try to make 50% or more of your diet raw veggies and fruit (or lightly steamed).
6. Teach yourself to make healthy stir fry and curries.
7. Keep a journal of everything you eat and the price. Fast food is NOT a good deal, even if it seems "convenient".
8. Use smaller bowls, spoons, forks, glasses... to slow down how fast you eat.
9. Avoid buffets and all you can eat restaraunt specials.
10. Try to identify why you aren't exercising more. If it's lack of time, try structuring your ay and count small moments as oppurtunities 9take stairs instead of elevator, etc). If it's illness or fatigue that is physical, focus on what you can do to give yourself slightly more energy. Take vitamins, drink enough water, get enough sleep.
11. Look into homeopathic remedies for health problems. I gained a lot of weight from allopathic medications (for a condition, it turned ot, was misdiagnosed... 5 years later still losing that weight).
12. Make sure you get enough vitamin D and enough sun light, especially in the winter.
13. Look into taking Co-Q-10 and L-Carnitine to boost energy levels.
14. Make sure you aren't anemic. Take an iron supplement if you are anemic or struggle with ongoing anemia.
15. Small things add up. If you make a sandwich, cut it in half and eat half for lunch with veggies and the other half later for a snack or for dinner with soup.
16. Read labels on food. If you can't pronounce something or don't know what it is, try to avoid that product.
17. Eat fiber rich foods. They fill you up and also help clean out your system. Also, eat spicy foods. They are generally good for you.
18. Take a walk after dinner.
19. Eat before you are full.
20. Try not to eat for 4 hours before going to bed.
21. make breakfast the largest meal of your day, lunch the next biggest and have a very light dinner. (Breakfast eat like a king, lunch eat like a prince, dinner eat like a pauper). Unless you are a night owl, but the meal you eat first in your "day" should be the largest.
22. Spread your calories out through out the day.
23. Eat simple, easy to make meals. Raw is generally the healthiest. Avoid things with added salt, fat or sugar, or chemicals.
24. Don't wear baggy clothes. Wear clothing that fits, and as you lose weight, use a belt. Get yourself new clothes that fit as you lose weight. Even a few days of wearing my "baggy" clothes has my weight going up, as I end up eating more.
25. Add ice to your water.
26. Take the skin off chicken, by lean burger meat as opposed to regular, bake or poach your meat, avoid food that is greasy to the touch.

Don't listen to fads!

Miracle diets aren't.

Simple: Calories in minus calories burned should equal a negative number, it's simply math, it doesn't matter what you eat or when you eat. It's about quantity.

Health on the other hand is about quality of food.

Drink lots of water.

Be careful of sodium, I found I retained a lot of water weight if my sodium is too high.

This is a great idea!
I am always looking for measuring cups and the 2 that we have seem to always be dirty.
I am going to buy tons more today so that they are always available.
I have a great flat scale already and it works wonders!

As I started my journey I have done a lot of learning.

I like concrete data.
As we all probably know by now...3,500 calories = 1 lb.

Based on my height, weight and lifestyle I am supposed to eat 1,200 cal to lose 1 lb per week.

I was having a hard time putting that into practice when we don't really know how many calories we actually spend during the day.

My trainer recommended me to purchase a heart monitor / calorie counter so that he could monitor my heart rate during our workouts because I have a condition that makes me not sweat. Yes, I can be running for 1 hour at 6 km/hr at an inclination of 3 and not a drop of sweat will show.

Not to worry...I carry a water spray with me at all times to refresh me and keep my brain temperature down.

What is cool is that I decided to wear the calorie counter all day from the time I get out of the shower until I go to bed and now I know exactly how many calories I used all day - including the work-out and I know exactly how many calories of food I consume.
Also when I realize that I have been at my resting heart rate for too long (seating in my office desk), I get up and do a walk around the office.

Because of this data I also know that expecting more than 2 lbs loss per week would be unrealistic for me a busy working mother of 3. But 2 lbs per week is OK. This means that in about 15 weeks I could be at my goal. I am OK with that.

So, my tip is...is you like concrete data (like me), buy a calorie counter/heart rate monitor and use it as a tool.

Aicha.

Smartphone, dataplan (even if it is a prepaid phone/plan) and MFP on the phone. If you enter your food, etc while on the go and don't wait until you get to a computer then you will eat less especially when dining out. I saw this myself during the week when I ate out twice (once in a restaurant and once at a friend's house) and each time ate less then half of what I would have eaten if I didn't enter the data.

Also - don't be embarrassed. Just do it. I'm a diabetic and I have no issues with checking my sugars and taking my shots in public. My feeling is that a) people that know me know I'm a diabetic and I have to do it and b) people that don't know me don't have the right to make a judgement about it. The same will hold true for monitoring your food. When I was at my friend's house the other night there was a person there who I did not know and who had an issue with my entering my food intake into my phone, My response to her was simple - when I have a stroke or something happens that I can no longer fend for myself is she going to take care of me? Her response - no why? And I rested my case.

Remember - this is not a case of being selfish but rather of being healthy long term. If others can't deal with it then it is their problem not yours....

Right on Brandy! That is awesome! I gained a lot of weight from meds, and am still losing it. But just being on MFP, even though I never over-ate, I am seeing how eating more veggies really works and looking at how to balance my fiber and iron and everything and I think this will help me lose weight that I wasn't shaking before.

80 pounds is GREAT! WTG!