What are the lifestyle changes you made?

Tracking food and exercise

Everything else seems to have followed from there.

More water
Packing snacks
Always eating breakfast
More exercise, a little everyday
Tracking everything... Makes you eat better if you track it.

16lb since early Jan and feeling better for it.

Have just booked my first squash lesson as a reward for the first stone gone.

Your list and add:

-30 min more a day exercise
-eliminated all gluten from my diet (I have Celiac Disease)
-eliminated all caffeine from my diet (cuz I was too dependent on it)
-eliminated all artificial sweeteners-read up on the bad side effects of them. The minute I drink a diet pop (not literally) I get ringing/itching ears, headaches, etc.
-started taking my vitamins and supplements EVERY DAY
-wash off my makeup at night before bed
-use my night and day face creams (if I'm going to treat my body well no I should make sure my skin looks good on my face)
-try and cook dinner every night-this is a hard one, but I'm getting better at it
-do the grocery shopping weekly and with a planned list of meals (no winging it)
-weigh all my food

I think the biggest change is my drinking water. I've never liked water, but to be fair I was drinking tap water. The worst was when I spent a week in Mississippi and an adult with our group (it was a church thing) made us drink 1 glass of water for every glass of soda and the water there, I kid you not, tasted like tires had been soaking in it. But I've been drinking nothing but water for a month straight now and I'm used to it.

I've also been watching what I eat as far as types. x amount of starches, x amount of meat, x amount of fruit, etc. I like to make sure I get a little bit of the essentials each day or at least when I can.

And yes, lots more physical activity! It's kind of hard when you're an artist who's literally in one spot, one position for hours on end but I manage.

I think the biggest change is my drinking water. I've never liked water, but to be fair I was drinking tap water. The worst was when I spent a week in Mississippi and an adult with our group (it was a church thing) made us drink 1 glass of water for every glass of soda and the water there, I kid you not, tasted like tires had been soaking in it. But I've been drinking nothing but water for a month straight now and I'm used to it.

I've also been watching what I eat as far as types. x amount of starches, x amount of meat, x amount of fruit, etc. I like to make sure I get a little bit of the essentials each day or at least when I can.

And yes, lots more physical activity! It's kind of hard when you're an artist who's literally in one spot, one position for hours on end but I manage.

I live in MS and I know EXACTLY what you mean about the water. I only drink bottled water.

If you converted 10 8oz cups of water a day to a water bottle, you'd be drinking 5 16oz water bottles a day. I don't think you have to drink that much. :O Three should be enough, right?

Some lifestyle changes I've made recently:
- Drinking (trying) at least three water bottles a day.
- Constantly sipping green tea throughout the day.
- At least 30-45min cardio exercise 3 times a week.
- Severely cutting my calories to 800-1000 calories a day.
- Making lunch instead of buying it at the university cafe.
- Cutting out fried dishes completely (and fast food in general).
- Cutting out sweets for the most part.

I started doing Zumba 5-6 times per week, and some light calesthenics on my work breaks. I'm now adding some free step with a weighted vest and dumbell work as well.

The only diet change I made was to limit to 1/2 bottle of wine per night on (most) weekdays. And I seem to have unintentionally developed an addiction to cocoa roast almonds.

Cocoa roast almonds are the BOMB

Two things I can input:
1. No alcohol at all! Alcohol seriously affects performance and muscle growth (which is key to burning calories). Since women generally have less testosterone then men, they don't develop muscle as easily; anymore alcohol consumption will reduce that growth.
2. QUALITY/INTENSITY of your exercise sessions. For example, doing 10 minutes of a very difficult total body exercise regiment is more effective than a 30 minute "jog." I would say two 30+ minute jogs a week of at least 70% of your max HR, two 15-20 minute exercises that are much more intense and engage your whole body (squats, burpees, planks, pushups), and then one easy cross-training workout at around 30-40 minutes.

In my opinion, your caloric intake (1300 calories) is quite low especially if you exercise 5 times a week and if you are already going full blast with your workouts for 30 minutes.

Bump for later!

Logging EVERYTHING I eat. I've been tempted to "skip" a little snack here or there, but then remind myself that it would only be ME whom I was cheating!
Stopped about 98% of fast food. And now, when I HAVE to eat it, I try to select the healthiest options available.
Exercising 3-4 days a week, an hour each session. Have grown to really enjoy the "ME" time that workouts give me. I just close off the world, click on my music and sweat the stress out.
Read your success stories EVERY DAY on MFP. It really makes a difference in my motivation and, thus, my life as a whole, to read comments from people just like me who are trying to turn their lives around.

Thanks everybody!

:flowerforyou:

- Cut my alcohol consumption in half
- Increased consumption of fruits and veggies
- Increased consumption of water
- Added 15-20 minutes of exercise to my schedule most days
- And, of course, I log in EVERY SINGLE THING that I eat and stay close to my calorie goal except for an occasional spike day.

With just these changes, I'm having the success that I didn't seem to be able to achieve before I found MFP. Woo hoo!!