All u successful people: What are your top 3 tips for weight

I am loving all the tips! Thank you and keep them coming!!

One of my concerns is the amount of calories I eat. I am eating 1400 a day, and exercising 3-5 days a week (45-60min). Am I not eating enough? I am thinking about bumping my calolries to 1600.

Could be - I am 5'6" and I was working out the same as you eating only 1300 cals (plus my exercise cals).. Then I plateaued. So after a lot of thinking, I bumped them up to 1600 (eating exercise cals still) and I lost again until I was at my goal. Now my metabolism is quite high and I have to eat 1700 - 1800 to maintain.

I don't eat anything at all 2 days out of 7 each week.

Yeah, that'll work. Just like anorexia, doin' drugs and smoking :huh:

Don't listen to this nonsense.

It does work, and there's nothing unhealthy about it - I would not compare it to anorexia, drugs or smoking. It is called Intermittent Fasting, I would do the research before declaring it nonsense.

1. find exercise you love and look forward to doing
2. lift heavy and brag about it. flex, too.
3. eat plenty to fuel your body properly, but eat less than you did when you were fat!
4. write it all down, the good, the bad, the ugly. stay accountable and mindful.
5. find LOTS of non scale ways to measure progress: measure, bf%, how clothes fit, races accomplished, new classes tried, boyfriends you beat at arm wrestling, etc.

This is AWESOME. Especially number 5. It's taken me a long time to wrap my head around the fact that the scale is NOT the be-all end-all...

I don't eat anything at all 2 days out of 7 each week.

Yeah, that'll work. Just like anorexia, doin' drugs and smoking :huh:

Don't listen to this nonsense.

It does work, and there's nothing unhealthy about it - I would not compare it to anorexia, drugs or smoking. It is called Intermittent Fasting, I would do the research before declaring it nonsense.

I don't have any desire to fast for 2 days out of 7, but I know people who use intermittent fasting techniques--it works for some people...however...just a suggestion for the future--when you're giving that kind of advice to someone who is obviously new to MFP like the OP, you might want to preface your post with "I do Intermittent Fasting." and then explain it a bit or post a link to where they could learn more about whether it is right for them...just telling someone you don't eat is going to raise a lot of eyebrows like this :huh:

Since you are Moderatetely Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week), Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 2389.48 calories per day. If you are trying to lose 1 lb per week, then you would cut 3500 calories per week from your diet, or 500 per day. That puts you at 1889 calories per day. I would only eat back exercise calories that exceed 240 minutes per week

I don't eat anything at all 2 days out of 7 each week.

Yeah, that'll work. Just like anorexia, doin' drugs and smoking :huh:

Don't listen to this nonsense.

It does work, and there's nothing unhealthy about it - I would not compare it to anorexia, drugs or smoking. It is called Intermittent Fasting, I would do the research before declaring it nonsense.

I've done this in the past when I was in my teens. I have to tell you that this probably has contributed to my slow weight loss now. I still have a hard time eating and it stalls weight loss and slows your metabolism. Now it might not be true for everyone, but if you want to become weight loss resistant in the future, do this.No matter whom I've spoken to, personal trainers, doctors, weight loss experts, guys in the weight room, they've all said this, "Think of your body as an engine. If you have no fuel for the engine it won't work. It will shut down. If you have no oil in the it either, it will eventually have problems in the future, if not immediately."

I've done every diet under the sun in the last 25 years, expect for the South Beach and prepackaged food diets. Everyone does say eat, but eat the right stuff.

Remember, you can find research and media to back up any outlandish plan or idea.

For successful weight loss and maintenance, (I'm back here after deep depression during the holidays and making chocolate and pumpkin pie my only food groups for six weeks )

1. Make a nutritional lifestyle change. Don't get sucked into diets. You will gain weight later!
2. No processed foods. My seven year old and I say, "If God didn't put it on the earth like that, don't eat it." Cut processed sugar out of your diet.
3. Make a lifestyle change, not a temporary diet or fitness plan. Make the health club part of your life (if you can).
4. Drink water like mad!
5. As food as a fuel, look at the value of the food. What is it rich in?

Frankly I have a great deal of fun with this. It's time consuming and can be expensive if you're not smart. I make my own crackers out of flax, my own bread and muffins out of whey and soy. I make chips out of kelp. It's an entirely new way of treating food. Hey, good dark chocolate has it's uses too!

:flowerforyou:

Good luck to you!

1. Eat REAL food. Eat food its most natural state. Think nutrient density instead of calories.
2. Eat sufficiently. Food is fuel. It's not love, it's not a friend, it's not your enemy.
3. Drink your water.

Know that you're worthy of the healthiest body you can achieve

Log everything! Even when you've been bad or fallen off the wagon. It is the writing down that makes you accountable and prevents you from doing it again.

Make it a lifestyle not a diet. Don't think that in a few month's time you'll be able to eat what and how much of what you want because the 'diet is over'. As you get smaller so does your BMR (and sadly calorie burn from cardio) and this only means you can eat less. However you learn what you can eat in abundance and that with exercise that you can earn calories to eat anything you fancy.

Exercise 6 days a week (even if it's just walking for 30 minutes) As someone said before it becomes a habit. I NEVER thought I would be one of those 'gym-goers' and now I find if I miss a day doing any exercise I get cranky because I miss it!

x

I don't eat anything at all 2 days out of 7 each week.

This advice is idiotic!

- NO OR LITTLE CARBS
- DONT GET HUNGRY OR STARVE YOURSELF
- 8 MEALS A DAY
- EXERCISE HARD
- GET A GYM PARTNER
- PEOPLE TO MOTIVATE YOU
- TO WORK FOR SOMETHING - LIKE A COMP
- PICS AND VIDEOS
- DONT GIVE UP!!!

Just to add mine.

1. I remembered that this is a lifestyle, not a temporary diet. These are exercising and eating habits FOR LIFE. So I'm not racing to lose weight in the next month, by summer, by the end of the year. I want to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of my life.

2. I have a bad day/week/meal where I will drink too many beers, eat too much pizza or dessert, and feel like crap. I remind myself that I can do that every now and then, but I need to remember how much better I FEEL when I fuel my body with wholesome, fresh foods.

3. Dont exercise just through designated exercise. Make small changes in your life. Walk instead of taking easier options. Get a bike. Get a dog if possible. Find friends who would be interested in starting an after work game, like Ultimate Frisbee. Hike. You'll find you will eat less the busier you are as well.

While it's important to count calories, it really matters WHAT you're eating. If you think about it, you could be eating junk food all day but staying within your suggested calorie intake. Try to eat things that are as close to their natural form as possible. Eat a lot of veggies and fruits (more veggies than fruits), grains, and protein. If you can't identify the source of what you're eating, don't eat it. Avoid things that can't spoil or come in a box.

Hear, hear! It's creepy when it can't spoil or even attract insects.

Definately im finding logging what food you eat to be useful.
exercise, do cardio and resistance training. Im not saying become a hulk, but aside from building muscle (which increases metabolic rate) resistance training is also useful to keep bones dense and hence lower chances of bone disease like osteoporosis.
Drink water/low or zero cal beverages. Have coffee but only with milk and artificial sweetener. If you exercise that day try to get about 2.5-3L for that day.
Try to up the protein (generally men about 2g per kilo of weight if u do resistance training, women possibly about 1 to 1.5g per kg of bodyweight). Fibre is also good and filling, not to mention the variety of vitamins and minerals one can get from veggies. Just go crazy when u want to make a salad, put in whatever you want!
DON"T restrict calorie intake too much. According to a book i read "burn the fat, feed the muscle" a useful rule of thumb is 20% of your maintainace weight (the book has a rough formula for working that out). I think women should not go below about 1400kcal and men about 1800kcal a day. Some studies reveal that if you do drastically starve yourself, a survival mechanism can kick in which causes you to retain/create fat because ur body thinks that there isn't food for you to eat-something we inherited from our ancestors.

Nonetheless, starving yourself is bad also because ur body is more likely to use carbohydrates and breakdown non essential muscles first (for amino acids-another source of energy) first. Eventually fat is used however the process of breaking down fats in the body (ie. beta oxidation) is a slow one and requires lots of oxygen.

Another tip, and this again goes under my "speculative" list (just like the starving mechanism thing) is the use of interval training for cardio (ie. start one minute of moderate running on the treadmill and then alternate fast with slow, you can choose the speed and length of the intervals). Some studies have show this to be more effective at FAT LOSS than long distance endurance training (compare the physique of an endurance trainer vs a sprinter).
Try to measure FAT LOSS rather than weight loss. In the end u wanna lose fat and not muscle hence get ur hands on one of those bioelectric impedance scales that can measure body fat and muscle. Keep track of this on a weekly basis and match this with what you are eating/exercising. If you see no fat loss, don't dispair you have a result which is simply telling you that u need to change something in your diet or exercise. Your body is remarkable at adapting to certain conditions.

Finally and possibly most important, set goals. Write/type them up and look at them daily (maybe chuck em on ur smart phone and look at them on the train). Use positive language IN THE PRESENT TENSE, otherwise ull just keep putting it off til tomorrow.

Eventually all of these things will become an integral part of ur lifestyle and not just some temporary fix!!
ill be quiet now
All the best everyone

I haven't lost alot,but it has been pretty steady. No fast food,no booze, lots of water, lots of fresh fruits and veggies, lots of walking,and or general moving. I am sticking close to the 1200 calories, but If I want something I will have it occasionally..Bagels...warm..yum. once in awhile seems to be just enough. Keep going..it will kick in. just try consistancy for a couple weeks...boring but I bet it will get things going.....

My # 1 tip is that you need to make your health a very high priority. Just as important as work and family. You get up and go to work every day even when you don't want to. Now you need to treat being healthy the same way. You eat well and work out every day, even when you don't want to.

My #2 tip is that this is a lifestyle change. In order to be successful you will never, ever, ever be able to go back to your old ways. EVER. If you think that once you lose the weight, that you can go back to the way things were, you WILL fail. You will gain all the weight back and then some.

My # 3 tip is to use this time to determine what you want this new lifestyle to be. Where do you see yourself in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years.