whats your secret?

In Soviet Russia, weight lose you.

Haha EPIC

what's everyone's secret to a successful weight loss?

I don't want answers like eating healthy and exercising..that's a given! lol

I wanna know what foods and which exercises

I think the the secret to my sucess has been that (thanks to MFP) I now have control over my food and snack intake. The first day I started I took what I would consider a normal portion and then I weiged it and saw I was putting 2-2.5 portions on my plate (and once it was on my plate I ate it). The same thing with snacks... instead of snacking mindlessly I measure out my snacks and enjoy. The foods I have have not changed just the amount of them that I consume in a single meal.

As for exercises, I like to do my PT in the morning and normally do 35 mins of elliptical trainer but also have stationary cycles or treadmills (one of my NSVs was graduating from walk/run to 30 mins of running @ 5 mph) to choose from. Also, we just recently rescued a dog from the local Humane Society and now include dog walks throughout the day as well.

Being a hardliner for accuracy.

This doesn't mean that I go out of my way to measure things to get it perect, however it does mean:
> I verify the nutritional info in MFP as much as possible (and reasonable)
> I don't "play it safe" and underestimate exercise / overestimate food
> I don't skip logging any calorie burn or intake.
> I weigh myself daily, calculate the moving average, and continuously verify that my calorie targets will give the exact same weigth loss that I want it to. In other words veryify results.

This is all estimating 101. If you aren't going to keep accurate records don't be confused when things aren't going right. Accurate records allow you to troubleshoot problem areas.

I personally think the vast majorty of people suck at estimating, compounding play it safe errors on top of play it safe errors and eat WAY LESS than they should be.
- Is your daily calorie goal based of of what you beleive is the most right number, or off of a safe number?
- Do you pick safe/high numbers when choosing foods in MFP's database and tend ot overstimate portions to be safe?
- Do you not track exercise calories or if you do be safe and estimate conservative?
Look at all the layers of error. Say 30% error on each. Each one compounds the other, you aren't even in the ballpark because you are playing it safe. (with this example, your body could want 2000 calories (w/500 cal/day deficit), you target 1400 calories, miss 300 calories of exercise, and only actually each 1100 calories, you are at a net of 800 a day, thinking you are at a net of 1400 a day, and your body wants a net of 2000 a day, your etsimating sucks and troubleshooting the problem (this plateau you surely are in) will be near impossible).

The key to estimating is to always strive to be RIGHT, not safe. Accurate data will be much, much, much better for troubleshooting problem areas, and you should be able to catch things like "I lost 1.3 lbs per week average in the last month, I'm only supposed to be losing 1.0 lb per week, so I should increase my calorie intake by 150 cal/day so that my daily target will produce my expected loss".

GOALS:
You have to have a goal.

I have a long term goal, but I set short term goals as I move forward.

My long term goal is to look great for my wedding in July. Current short term goal is to see if I can train like I am going to compete in a Bikini competition by following this competition workout routine for the next month.

EXERCISE:
I believe in challenging myself. WITHOUT CHALLENGING OURSELVES WE WILL NEVER CHANGE!

I joined a run clinic in January and it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have seen so many changes in my body and I feel a sense of pride in myself that I have never experienced.


FOOD:
I stick to what is easy for the week when it comes to food. I prepare and package all my vegetables on Sunday for the work week.

I usually make extra lean protein at dinner (like chicken) so I can bring leftovers to work…
I also boil half a dozen eggs for the week.

It is all about making things easy…

Portion control is the key. This little trick helped me, so I'll share. Hope it help you too...

Someone told me about a relative who had moved into a house built in 1910. As she was unpacking, she went to put her dinner plates in the cabinet, but the plates didn't fit because the cabinets were from an era before people started using these oversized plates for their oversized meals. I had never really thought about that before. It was a real eye opening moment for me. So I decided to work on portion control.
This was easier said than done because putting the correct food portions on a full size dinner plate left me feeling deprived and hungry. I decided to start eating my meals on a salad plate instead and wow what a difference! It has helped me maintain portion control and believe it or not, I think it helps to tricks my brain into thinking I am full by the time I am finished eating. The whole plate is full, no empty spaces to make me feel like I'm missing out. It works for me. Hope this help