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

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.

Tag

1. Log everything - that means EVERYTHING - and be honest about it.
2. Eat your exercise calories - at least half of them.
3. Strength train - you can increase your resting metabolism and look better!
4. Get more protein - the MFP guidelines for protein are too low I think. I try to get close to 100g a day, especially with exercise your body will thank you.
5. Drink more water - I feel better and look better and perform better when I'm hydrated.

Awesome tips!!! Thanks!

1. Be patient.
2. Don't over complicate things.
3. I don't have a number three.

Love these. Thank you!

1. No fast food.
2. Exercise.
3. Keep food diary.
4. Be patient.
5. Stay positive.

These are all very true.... but to get more specific....

*eat lots of protein -- drink tons of water -- calories aren't the only thing that matter -- I track sodium too because that makes you retain water weight.... I try to get most of my sugar intake from veggies and fruits. I always try to eat a ton of fiber too!
*Make sure you're eating enough calories. I've plateaued a few times, and what broke my plateaus was increasing my calorie intake - every time.
*strength train 2-3 days a week -- rest a day in between sessions. you can do cardio on 'rest from strength days'.... don't be afraid to lift heavy just because you're a girl (i.e. avoid barbie'bells)
*your weight fluctuates. a lot of times when you see a gain it may just be water weight.... women have these awesome hormones that fluctuate on a DAILY basis that affect your weight as well!

SW: 303.4 1/1/11
CW: 199
stats: 29, female, 5'6''