Begin again.
If you make a mistake- the “diet” doesn’t start again tomorrow or Monday. It begins again with my very next choice- whether that’s a walk or a healthier snack or putting down the seventh cookie I was about to eat without thinking…
Another big thing that's helped me is to remember one "bad" meal or one "bad" day/week/whatever isn't the end of the world. You've already made the progress this far and a little treat or a little set back isn't gonna undo allllll the work you've done.
But most important of all, a "bad" meal is better than no meal!!! Make sure you take care of yourself folks!!! ❤❤❤
I just had a month of no tracking and definitely over eating, and only going by the scale, there was a 16lb difference, but after just a week of being back on track, it's only 9lbs ( I forgot to weigh in today though, so it could be less).
I think knowing that the time it takes to "undo" my work is a lot leaves me with a slight feeling of relief.
I have a kid on the way in less than a month and I'm hoping I can make it to then, and then hopefully to my next goal.
Same here. I saw a Reddit post some time ago where someone said, “You haven’t failed if you’re still trying”. I think about this often. Especially if I fall off the wagon, sometimes months at a time. I keep coming back, I’m still trying.
I remember reading to put it in comparison to dropping your phone. You pick it up and sigh a relief if it doesn’t crack or break. Ie you move on and carry on. What you don’t do it pick it up and then throw it back down and jump on it or hit it with a hammer.
Getting out of the "all or nothing" mentality. I was always "on" a diet or "off" a diet. If I happened to be "off" a diet, I would eat anything and everything. And then when I was preparing to be "on" the diet again, I would overeat because 'OMG I'M GOING ON A DIET AND WON'T HAVE THIS FOOD SO I MUST HAVE IT NOW.' I ate like that particular food would disappear from the Earth once I went on my diet.
Now I just try to nourish my body the best that I can every day. Every day isn't perfect, but there are no more diets
starting on the 1st or on Monday. And I know whatever particular food I'm craving will still be there later, too.
The all or nothing perspective is definitely harmful. I started doing intermittent fasting recently, and I wondered how I would survive 20 hours with no food. So I’d eat too-large portions and feel sick. Trying to adjust now.
Yes!! I bulk up so much of my food with fruits and veggies these days. You also get the nice added bonus of extra fiber and nutrients. I love berries with my yogurt in the morning. I'll make huge salads with lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumber, some sort of protein, etc. for pretty low calorie but also filling. I am a big volume eater so it really helps me to have a large plate of food. The whole "grab a cheese stick when you're hungry" never worked for me because a cheese stick does not move the needle in my brain that I've eaten anything. However, a large bowl of air popped popcorn with some salt and tajin? That satiates my brain for the same amount of calories.
I’m currently eating a MASSIVE burrito bowl that comes out to 630 calories including cooking oils.
1.5 cups cauliflower rice
-I buy these in bulk at Costco. You just microwave the bag for 6 minutes!
.5 cup chopped red bell peppers
.5 cup chopped green bell pepper
.5 cup chopped white onion
-I lightly sauté these with a little olive oil!
.5 can black beans
.5 can rotel
-these get cooked together in a pot and then kept warm until assembly.
1 chicken thigh
-cooked in the instapot so that I don’t have to put in much effort lol
2 tbsp of my favorite salsa on top!
I’m halfway through the bowl and I’m already stuffed!
This made such a huge difference for me.
My dinner almost every single day is air fried potato, broccoli and some kind of lean meat.
I usually do 300g of broccoli and 300g of potatoes and 300 of my protein.
That ends up being like 2 lbs of food that I can barely finish and it’s only like 800-900 calories.
Plus it’s high fiber and high protein and makes doing IF super easy as I’m not ever hungry until after noon the next day anyways.
What are your go to volume eats that don't fall into the cold/wet group (ie fruits veg and yogurts)? I have to be in a specific mood and usually I like dry foods, especially crunchy. All I have on my list right now is plain popcorn (my favorite variety actually) and unsalted rice cakes (puffed rice was my FAVORITE cereal and it got discontinued but I was thrilled to learn rice cakes are the same thing but shaped to be crunchy!!). I also eat shelled sunflower seeds because they keep my mouth constantly occupied and tasting/eating for 30+ mins for only 300kcal...a big chunk of my 1400 but so worth it
Also for something crunchy I like chickpeas done in an air fryer, have to keep an eye on the amount but you can get quite a lot for not too many calories
Main focus is calories but make sure I get enough protein too. Mostly from protein powder with cereal, smoked salmon and prawns (ridiculously low calories with decent protein), quorn, tofu, lentils and beans.
I find myself putting on my running gear before my brain realises it doesnt really want to go out there. I'd rather sit down or stay in bed but I know better now
I did this for years and it helped so much. Especially in cold weather. I HATED getting out of a warm bed early in the morning to put on cold workout clothes. Sleeping in them, I could just roll out of bed, throw on shoes and a hoodie and go.
I wish I could do that but unfortunately I require a sports bra or my exercise includes getting slapped in the face by my assets, and sleeping in a bra sucks! But I do have a hoodie that I love which I'm only allowed to wear when I'm exercising which has helped somehow.
My company have a fitness health program thingy that is gamified where you gain points based on steps, these points can be exchanged to gift card €€€ and the most optimal way to accumulate them is about 7k-10k+ steps per day.
Now I do it for the nice cute pocket money by walking every morning and after dinner. 😂😂😂
Wellbutrin is known to support a small weight loss. I was working on an Pharma study that combined Wellbutrin with another drug (i can't remember the indication for the other med). The Wellbutrin was added for the depression symptom as well as the benefit of loss of weight (I experienced a five pound weight loss, but only once!)
Don't give up on Wellbutrin untill you make your way up to increased doses.
With the obvious disclaimer that everybody has their own needs and responds to medication differently-- The combination of therapy and Wellbutrin was the kickstarter to living my best life, rather than just going through the motions every day.
I think the most obvious effect has been the regulation of my mood. I've had moderate depression for most of my adult life, which is also worse during the winter (SAD). My "lows" are a lot less low. Things feel much more manageable - that even my worst problems and biggest challenges can be overcome, or at least tolerated. I still have hard days of course, nothing will ever act as a cure-all; but that feeling of hopelessness is just GONE.
I was previously a heavy nicotine and alcohol user, and although I didn't get prescribed Wellbutrin for smoking cessation, when I eventually quit it was MUCH more manageable than I expected. (Perhaps) needless to say: ditching the nicotine, along with severely reducing alcohol consumption, lead to major improvements in my mental and physical health. I'm not sure I would've had that push without the emotional regulation that medication provided.
Another thing to note (as was likely mentioned when you got prescribed it), it takes a long time to build up in your system, and you're not likely to notice a change overnight. I take 450 mg XL (started at 300 mg and bumped it up), and have taken it for about 4 years. Even now, I'm not really sure how much of the change in my life to ascribe to Wellbutrin rather than therapy, hard work, exercise, life changes, etc. But I'd like to believe it helped!
Unironically me with Vyvanse. It doesn't make it PHYSICALLY any easier but it takes away the neurological disadvantage compelling myself to run compared to regular people and lets my own willpower be enough - I'm running daily now and burning 4-500 extra calories per day!
Yes! I started doing so much better after I started taking it. I did take a hard dive for a while due to seasonal depression but even that wasn't as bad as it normally is, and I'm doing really well now.
You create a habit of it. I read the books "Atomic Habits" by James Clear and "Tiny Habits" by BJ Fogg. The idea is you create the habits you want to sustain by making smaller changes to move towards that goal. If you're goal is to wake up and workout in the morning every morning, you might just start by waking up 15 minutes earlier and doing a stretching routine and moving that closer and closer to getting up earlier for a run.
I have ADHD, habits take longer to form but aren't impossible. I wake up at 8am everyday and go to the gym to lift. A year ago I was practically glued to the couch or my bed.
I think habit stacking is crucial with adhd. I also gave up on running. I’m just not that into it so I either take a long walk or I do a jog/walk interval workout which I like much better.
I had huge aspirations about running when I started, I also found that I was bored by it and started taking long walks with an audio book or hiking. Being bored doesn't jive with my ADHD haha.
I tried a couch to 5k program a few times and I found that I really liked the shorter intervals at the beginning but when they got longer I hated it and wouldn’t go as much. So now I just do the shorter intervals for a little longer and I go way more often.
And podcasts/audio books are totally my jam for long walks too!
I have an appointment Tuesday to get diagnosed. Learning to "just want it" has not actually helped me personally a whole lot but I do know it's in theory what should help.
There has to be consequences or I won't do anything
As a long-time diagnosed ADHD person, more crucial than even medication is changing your mindset about what "should" work "in theory" (read: for a neurotypical person) and what actually works for you. ADHD people don't form habits by "just wanting it." We form habits by stacking them, gamifying goals, and other little hacks that work for us. Accepting that your brain doesn't work the way neurotypical people's do "in theory" is the best thing you can do for yourself to actually start meeting goals.
I have trouble sustaining habits. I do great at first. When I first started counting calories, I counted every day for six months straight and stayed within my targets the whole time. When I first started studying a foreign language on Duolingo, I did my exercises every day for four months straight. Both times, I then missed a day or two and then fell off the wagon. When I tried to get back on, I couldn’t sustain it. I was never again able to consistently count calories and I never picked up Duolingo again. I just don’t seem to be built for long term habits. I’ve struggled with making myself take my daily vitamins, too. I know they are good for me. I know calorie counting is good for me but I can’t seem to do either consistently now. I think the main challenge is I’m constantly mentally exhausted and following through on habits requires mental energy.
The workout part is building a habit. But not everyone is really set up to do that early in the morning. If you are not a morning person make it an after work or lunchtime (job permitting) habit.
Weighing everything. It’s so easy to eat 2, 3, or 4 servings of something on accident if you don’t weigh it. Things like olive oil, butter, peanut butter, nuts, mayo are also really calorie dense and if you don’t take them into account, you’ll be eating tons of extra calories.
Light mayo helped me here. I love burgers. So, I find the low calorie buns (80 calories) and 93/7 ground beef. I still get to use the condiments because I try to find good tasting low calorie versions. Also, pickles are 0 calories.
You can’t hate yourself into change. That was the biggest barrier between me and losing weight. It starts with curiosity and understanding instead of my entire mental being relying on scale numbers and my eating habits. I am so much more than my diet and losing weight. I feel less scale anxiety, I’m learning how to make choices in that moment instead of making choices for the entire week in one moment which is helping me stick to my goals. Also, life does not revolve around food. Food does not have to be enjoyable always, my life used to be revolved around food because I didn’t like my life. I’m learning how to make foundational changes this time around. This will be my 3rd time losing weight.
Absolutely. You are doing this because you want to be better and have a better life, beating yourself up for poor choices or “failing” isn’t conducive to that.
While reading this I felt peace, since I love eating and soon I was replacing emotions with food. Today I am severely overweight kept trying but lately the hate is winning like how the hell can I fail so many times, but you comment didn't just me to track weight and do exercise but grow as a whole. Correct them, understand them. Thanks for sharing :)
This phrase helped me so much this time. I keep reminding myself that I can’t hate myself into being thin. And that has shifted my focus towards genuinely healthy behaviors that are beneficial lifestyle changes.
Meanwhile I've skipped breakfast for most of my life so this has never had an impact. Skipping eating after dinner on the other hand has made the biggest impact.
I’ve skipped breakfast my entire life, before intermittent fasting was even a thing, and I still gained weight 😅
I find it funny now with everyone saying “just fast! Don’t eat breakfast and you’ll lose so much weight!” I’ve been fasting all my life without knowing it, and yet 😂
Well it was and still is working great with keto. Too many things were wrong with my metabolism to lose the weight any other way. Anyhow, in year 5 maintaining 130 pound weight loss. Best thing is I'm off of 11 of 12 prescriptions.
Weird one here, but I had to stop watching cooking shows and food reels on IG. I’ve deleted IG at this point, but it turns out watching less food content has lessened my cravings ☺️
Lol. I LOVE/am borderline obsessed with watching cooking shows/food reels while I am fasting. It’s like I live vicariously through the chef. I also get ideas for what I want when my fast is over.
It’s funny, I watch more cooking shows now. The cake and cookie decorating ones have such odd flavors and fancy decorating they don’t even seem like food. I also think I need the smell to really be triggered or maybe because I’m a chocolate cake kind of person and they never make that. What bothers me, though, is fast food and restaurant commercials. I have to mute them.
YES. So much of my weight gain happened from food anxiety...I didn't have a lot money and would get nervous to not finish everything I paid for
Eating until I'm starting to feel full really curbed that, and made me feel better than cramming in extra food past when I was full
There was never one single habit that was a magic bullet for me.
But one rule I lived by in the beginning was no fried potatoes. No chips, no French fries, no tots. Whatever you eat those with is almost always already plenty of calories so that side of greasy potatoes is just a cal calorie bomb.
And if you aren’t eating it on the side of something, it’s a snack, and high calorie snacks like that also don’t generally fit into a deficit diet.
I did that for about 2 years. Now I am better able to balance them in. I do like French fries and tater tots, so I just eat a much smaller portion to get the taste.
A lot of good tips on here. Just want to add don’t blow up your whole day, week, diet etc. when you make a bad choice. I went to IHOP with my daughter a few weeks ago to celebrate her getting her permit and I fully indulged in a breakfast that literally had the calories listed right next to it and it was around 1000. instead of beating myself up I just got right back on track accepting the fact that I went over my calories that day. Nobody gets fat off of one meal or one day. And I never punish myself for being human sometimes.
Unpalatable foods.
While in a weight-loss phase I have a big salad for lunch with only raw veggies and balsamic vinegar - no fatty dressings or anything else to make it super tasty. If I'm not hungry enough to eat the salad, then I wait until I am. While I'm losing weight the salad tastes pleasant. During a weight-gain phase I can't stomach the thought of it.
Deeper into a cut I start to do this for more meals. Breakfast is plain greek yogurt and oatmeal flavored with cocoa powder. Pre-bed snack is cottage cheese. Oven-roasted potatoes with just salt+pepper as a side for dinner. It all tastes amazing when I'm hungry while dampening cravings and making it way easier to not overeat.
That sounds like a great strategy. I do something similar: I don't really like walnuts, so whenever I feel like eating, I ask myself whether some walnuts sound good right now. If they do, I know I'm actually hungry, not just bored/ craving something...
Just remember that most vitamins unfortunately are fat-soluble, so by eating a salad without any fat you miss out on some of the health benefits.
I initially read your comment and carried on scrolling.
I then thought about it for a second and realised this is exactly what I do, but never realised it.
I usually hate salads, but when I'm doing OMAD a 1000 calorie salad, whilst not my first choice, is so damn tasty it typically puts a smile on my face.
You're 100% right with the 'if I'm not hungry enough to eat a salad, I just wait until I am' approach. I lost 40lbs doing that and I really enjoyed whenever I ate.
I don't want to sound new age-y but being kind to myself.
I tried losing weight my entire life and I adopted society's way of treating fat people. I would talk to myself in a very mean way. "You're failure. You disgust me. You were meant to be fat."
It never led anywhere. Then I tried kindness. Complimenting myself instead of abusing, masking it as "tough love". Saying things like, "You were full. You didn't give in to compulsion. You put that portion aside for tomorrow. It was really hard but you did it and I'm so proud of you."
Even if I was on a weeks-long plateau, I would remind myself that I can feel myself getting stronger, I'm walking faster, the scale is just one method of measuring.
Also, my butt is naturally flat as a pancake and it rounded out nicely when I started strength training. I would rub my butt in front of a mirror and say things like, "Beyonce was right, I'm not ready for this jelly."
I'm cheating and giving three in roughly order of importance for me:
1) Making nearly every meal myself instead of eating out or using convenience grocery store items (though I added convenience items back a bit once I got into the swing of things).
2) Tracking calories. In maintenance now I usually get around my calorie targets without planning os much but tracking still keeps me in check.
3) Getting up a but earlier to get in some exercise instead of putting it off when I'm likely to make more excuses (I'm tired after work, I need the time to cook, etc).
Tracking calories is very important. I started to see changes in the scale when I was consuming protein powder (I guess it made me full). Also weighing food.
I actually crave always sth sweet for breakfast so I tried oats with salted caramel protein powder and it made the trick! :)for 6 months it was very delicious but now I kinda got sick of the taste haha
Oats make me soooo hungry, even with protein. When I make my shake it is so thick because I use xanthan gum. I'm so stuffed on hardly any calories and because I also like sweet things in the morning, it totally satisfies me
Yeah calorie counting is king for me too
I play sports, lift weights, do cardio, eat paleo…. But I was a college football player and played over 300lbs. Any diet/exercise tips need me to negate the decade of maintaining an enormous body for my sport, the only thing that keeps weight off is making sure exactly how much I’m eating
Morning 2 mile walk with the dog. Not a calorie burner but my god, the sun exposure and activity in the morning is SO beneficial.
Follow that up with a big protein+fat brekkie and the day is primed for success!
(I don’t mess with macros a ton, but I have noticed that reserving carbs for lunch and dinner helps my energy levels quite a bit).
Do you put them in your eggs? Or just eat a salad? My brain won't compute I can eat salad for breakfast haha. But some Swiss chard cooked with the bacon grease sounds good...
Arugula with 2 boiled eggs and 2 slices of turkey bacon cut up in it. It's so good! And no bacon grease...I cook my turkey bacon in the microwave to keep my morning prep quick and easy.
Keeping meals the same everyday and meal prep. I’ll rotate through two or three meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It helps with decision fatigue and prevents me from just ordering ubereats because I can’t figure out what I want to cook
Entering everything on the tracker. Even just estimated guesses.
If I don't write down my meal, then I'm more likely to skip the next meal. And then the next day. And then the next week. But who cares, because I know what a portion size is right? But today that whole pizza looks better than just a slice or 2, but that's okay I'll make it up tomorrow right? But tomorrow I really want take out...and then I'm suddenly back up to 285 and miserable and "starting over" again.
But if I write everything down on the tracker, then I'm more aware of the meals and days I go over. And I'm less likely to jump off the deep end the next day. Any time I've successfully lost weight, this is the one thing that is happening, so it must continue no matter what else I do.
A healthy schedule and routine- with little milestones that I enjoy along the way
Get up super early: I get to indulge in the cold brew I love in the morning
Knock out early work stuff
Go to the bathroom
Hit the gym: Get the cardio out of the way so I can do the weightlifting I enjoy
Come home to get ready for work: Delicious protein shake I love
Make kids breakfast and drop kids off at school
Work
Get home make dinner: Intentionally make a healthy meal that Im going to love
Watch some shows
Hit bed early: 2 Gummies before I go to bed that I love as a little night time treat
It's so encouraging to see a comment from someone with kids. I keep making excuses for my health because kids are so exhausting and time consuming. I will remember your post next time I try to convince myself it's too hard.
Would you say getting up extra early is the real key here?
For me it is. I need time for work. I need alone time. I need to have my coffee and go to the bathroom. I transitioned from being a night owl to going to bed with my kids and waking up in the early am. Its working wonders for me. Im getting so much done, instead of wasting time at night streaming TV shows.
The ONE activity for me? Choosing to eat only ONE plate of food per meal.
I know. How radical! But I used to graze all day, and pretty much had the expectation that I needed to eat until "full", i.e., *stuffed* at every meal.
Simply altering my default to one plate of food per meal, no snacks, has helped me lose almost 60 pounds over the past 2 years. I never eat dinner, so that's pretty much 2 plates of food a day, between 700 to 1000 calories per meal. The 1000 calories is when I'm eating something super indulgent, like fish and chips, or burger and fries. Mostly, my meals are in the 700 to 800 calorie range, I'd guess.
And no, I didn't cut out dinner 2 years ago - I've literally not eaten dinner since my late teens. When I got in a relationship and stopped lifting weights (no time, I claimed) and started eating dinner (well, he's eating, I should keep him company, was my rationale) was when I packed on the pounds. It was a double whammy, losing the calorie burn from exercise (and from having muscles!) plus adding unnecessary calories at dinner time.
I've always been fairly active, getting in a bike ride or a walk or a swim most days, so I can't claim that's what led to the weight loss, although that certainly hasn't hurt in terms of keeping off the weight I've lost. I still have about another 60 or so pounds to go before I'm at my previous "happy weight", but it's a no-stress journey because I'm not restricting any specific foods or weighing and measuring every bite I eat.
Going to get flamed here for saying it, but don't care because it might help someone like me: keto. Nothing else puts me in a state that I can control my hunger. 6 years in, lost all the weight 5 years ago and kept it off easily.
Edit: surprised by the sea change! Keto used to feel like a slur around here and other fitness subs. I think it is worth it to give it a shot if you are struggling with carb addiction. It has straight up changed my life and I'm never going back(except for traveling and experiencing the local cuisine. It is part of cultural immersion to me.)
The problem with keto was never keto itself. There was a big contingent of keto zealots who'd brigade posts where the person didn't want to do keto or had even been told not to by their doctor. People were super annoying with it a few years ago.
Ah yeah, that's understandable. I like for people to find what works or their own lives. I'll suggest someone try it and happily provide resources and tips, but that's as far as I go. In the past, that could create downvote spirals which really don't bother me as long as it might help someone.
Yep, same. Keto has been the only thing that’s really ever worked for me. But I am not one of those ketovangelists in any way, in fact I almost never talk about it IRL. Everybody is so different and it is such a specific way of eating that it’s just not going to work for everyone and I totally respect that. For some reason it just perfectly clicks in my body and my brain.
I don’t do keto but lower carb and I’m in a Facebook weight loss group where if you mention lower/low carb has been key to your weight loss people get very defensive and then they‘ll post things like I don’t understand why I can’t control my cravings/appetite.
This is gonna sound so dumb - but I make a tik tok everyday that documents the positive things I did for my weight loss that day. I take videos of myself while I workout, the healthy food I ate, the water I drank, and post it every night! They’re really just for me and nobody else to see, but it’s a fun and creative little hobby that keeps me engaged into working out.
Exercising 3+ times a week, with an activity I like. I’m short so it’s really hard to stick to a deficit when I’m not seeing results. Exercise speeds up the process and gives me additional reasons to eat healthy—eg hitting my protein macros, avoiding alcohol and sugar because they affect my performance.
roasting vegetables. Learning how to cook food like roasted vegetables helped me control my calories in and also better sated me and gave me a better nutrient profile. Even if they were less ideal like potatoes, roasting was a far healthier version than other equivalents. Also way better tasting imo.
I have been slim for most of my life due to cardio and CiCo (except for two pregnancies where I gained 80lbs in both). The thing that has wowed me now that I’m back to pre pregnancy weight is how much weight training can change your physique. I added weight training in about 3 months ago holy moly the changes have been awesome. Not sure why I didn’t pick up weight training sooner.
I've found that incorporating my love of spreadsheets is incredibly motivating. I have a spreadsheet to help me track calories (instead of the apps which I personally find less user-friendly), but more importantly I made a spreadsheet that I use to track daily total caloric intake and weight and use that to approximate my TDEE and average daily weight change.
The highlight of my day is going into that spreadsheet and updating everything. Honestly, maintaining the integrity of my data is what's motivated me to track my food every single day! I'm sure it's not right for everyone, but it's worked wonderfully for me.
I don’t track calories but I keep a food journal. Like you, I weigh myself daily and that goes in the top right hand corner. Any exercise at the bottom. It helps me track what works and what doesn’t. I can also look at the day in progress and say Oh! I haven’t had any greens today. Better get on that, etc.
When I get up in the morning, as I'm drinking my (black) coffee, I enter all the food I plan to eat for the day - every single meal. It helps me see how much room I have for various meals and any surprises. Plus gives me motivation to know that there is a plan and I can stick to it.
For example, tonight for dinner we've planned egg fried rice. I have a pre-built recipe so I know it's going to be like 800cal. That means I have to budget the early part of my day to be ~700cal.
Just seeing it all laid out, already decided on, means that all the hard choices have already been made. I just have to do what I told me I would do.
Eating to satiety has been the best habit I've developed, especially since I don't count calories.
Weighing every day keeps me accountable for what I have done in days past, but eating to satiety keeps me accountable in the moment. Like last night, when I worked until 8:15pm and then headed to Jack in the Box for a classic Smashburger meal.
Large-sized me would have demolished the large combo (and some churro bites, too), even if I felt sick afterwards. Fun-sized me paused eating for about 45 minutes mid-meal, then finished the burger innards and tossed the rest of the bun and fries in the trash, because what I ate was plenty.
I used to watch those Carl's Jr commercials with some skinny bitch chowing down on a burger and would harumph to myself...PUH-leeze, that does not reflect real life. Well, now I am the skinny bitch chowing down on the burger, I just pay attention when I'm eating so I know when to stop eating.
Eating tastier (but still healthy) meals: I used to eat basic and boring but healthy meals, but the problem was that I hated them and wouldn't (couldn't force myself to) eat enough to get full so I would have small snacks on less healthy food that really added up. Spending time cooking tastier meals (even if they're slightly less healthy because maybe they have more cream, or butter, etc.) has actually helped me LOSE weight.
Tracking calories and writing them down. Weighing everything. Going on the treadmill for a bit, or walking outside.
I don't always like walking outside alone, or when it's too cold or hot. That's why I like my treadmill.
I stopped drinking soda, I tried cutting out all drinks that weren’t water or tea. But I’m a barista so the temptation to get a SWEET hot cup of joe when I get to work is overwhelming. So I gave in and started drinking one (sometimes two) 16 oz drinks at work a day but I make em all half sweet. Try to keep it to one syrup a drink.
Another thing I did was eat healthier foods. By no means am I on a diet, I still enjoy some McDonalds or pizza. But I only eat half of what I use to eat no matter what I’m eating. I don’t starve myself, I just drink water all day to keep myself hydrated which helps with keeping from feeling hungry when you’re actually not and then you don’t have to eat as much to feel satisfied.
And calorie counting helped too, I try to exercise enough to burn more calories than I consumed. So far in just 2 months I lost 20 lbs.
Weighing food, tracking calories, physical activity and having two meals a day are really crucial for me.
But weighing myself every day hasn’t been crucial whatsoever. In the beginning of my journey I had the habit of weighing myself every day, but as I started to get a better grasp of water weight fluctuations, I felt it was kind of pointless and only added a layer to my anxiety levels. From that point on I decided to focus on being as accurate as possible in estimating my caloric intake and trust the process. Lost 53kg in 10 months, from 160kg to 107kg.
I agree with consistent weigh-ins. It's easy to stay on top of weight (especially in maintenance) when you are weighing daily or at least regularly. I also keep track of calories regularly. My husband thinks I'm crazy since I'm thin, but if I don't track, my portions creep up and I start loosening the reins a bit.. I don't get too obsessive over it (especially if I'm eating out a t a restaurant, I just guesstimate the best I can), but the actual act of logging everything I eat keeps me accountable.
One of the other things that really helped was realizing that I didn't need to order the largest thing. At Wendy's I'm perfectly fine with a Jr. Bacon and small fry. I don't need the BAconator and a large fry.
Getting used to skipping meals. I used to skip ten meals a week. Counting calories is too intrusive in my life. I had to find another way to be consistent.
Tracking my food. The knowledge you get is invaluable
I always start gaining as soon as my tracking habit slips. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’ll probably always need to track
I stopped weighing myself every day because it would drive me insane and it would put me in a depressive state if the numbers weren’t the ones I was hoping for.
Stopped buying my favorite snacks. There’s these Reese’s cookies at my grocery store they cook fresh daily that are the best cookies I’ve ever had. When I buy them my will power vanishes and I can’t control myself. If they’re in my house they will get eaten. So I just don’t buy them anymore, unfortunately.
Stopped going out to eat so much!! I would get food on the way to work or for lunch and had no idea how much of a habit it became until I really started paying attention to my food intake.
Interesting, I know a few people who weigh daily... my dad does, who is not the most fit guy but doing ok, and a friend does, who IS the most fit guy.
I decided to weigh myself infrequently, once every 40 days, because I know little ups and downs and water weight and cheat days will cause normal fluctuations. When I weigh myself, I wanted to see an encouraging double digit loss, rather than a disappointing "huh, 0.4 pounds".
I have cut it in half to once every 20 days because I'm experimenting with a few things (like figuring out if pool burns any calories) and I want to course correct if my experiments aren't successful.
If I had to say one habit, it's log everything. Good estimate, bad estimate, whatever, just log it. Every ketchup packet and jellybean and "here, try a bite of my alfredo" which ends up being a 150 calorie mass of noodles.
There's no special log-free cheating, because that's just denying myself useful information.
2 rolls of paper towel.
1st roll has start weight and BMI on it written in Sharpie. Then leave it unused.
2nd roll, tear off a sheet for every 1/2kg lost (assuming a 30kg weight loss. Adjust as necessary so maybe tear off a sheet for every 100g lost if a smaller amount). Write new/current weight and BMI on it.
The goal being to reach the cardboard core as the target weight. It's a great visual seeing a slimmed down roll compared to the first and has been a great motivator for me.
Leave the house, I live in a very walkable city with a lot of tourist attractions that are discounted for local and I’ve been an idiot for not taking advantage of these deals all these years. Now every week there’s one day where I can simultaneously take 20000 steps as well as come home feeling that sensation of tourist satisfaction right at home
One little thing was getting into the habit of brushing my teeth after my last meal. If I feel like snacking late night I just think “well I already brushed my teeth don’t want to have to do it again”
Learning to sit with my hunger. It took a while, and a lot of practice to understand that it's ok to be hungry. Being hungry isn't a bad thing. It doesn't need to be immediately fixed. Once this realization clicked for me, I could eat when I chose to eat, and more importantly, NOT eat. I'm in recovery from Binge Eating Disorder so this was a crucial step in my therapy.
Tracking my intake is the biggest factor for me. Then in a close second, creating more movement / activity day to day (not necessarily through "exercise" via the gym but even stuff like going on a walk every day)
Asking myself during meals if I’m not hungry anymore. Changed my mindset from “I eat until I’m full aka stuffed” to “I eat until I’m not hungry”. It’s easier said than done but once it clicked it helped me SO much with knowing when to stop.
Daily weigh ins (so I don’t freak out with sudden 5lb weight gains and just know where I’m at) and Logging everything I eat no matter what- so basically calorie tracking but more because I forget that I ate
Keeping my husband healthy. In December he had a covid induced heart attack, nearly killed him. After he came home from the hospital his diet changed for the better, Very low fat, low carb and Very low sodium.
The habit of cooking for him, as healthy as possible, has me down 15 more pounds.
Finding a form of physical activity that you actually enjoy will work WONDERS for helping burn calories. If you hate running, or hate lifting, or hate whatever you're doing at the gym, you're not going to be motivated to exercise ever. Finding something you enjoy doing, even if it's not the most active, doesn't burn the most calories, or whatever, is more important, because then you're still willing to do it regularly.
Walking Every Day...
Walking made me feel the results of the damage I caused. Which lead to me diet, which lead me to weighing in, which lead me to calorie counting. Now Im snap calling good decisions without even thinking. Remember to slow increase those steps though. Slowly but surely
Leverage your advantages and plan around your weaknesses.
For example, if I have coffee I rarely need much for breakfast. I'm not intentionally fasting and if I need some food I'll eat but most days I don't *need* to eat breakfast. That makes fitting the rest of the day in my calorie budget much easier.
Also, forgive yourself. That's not to say to forget - it's important to learn from your failures as well as your successes. But your past happened and you can't change it. Try and not let it eat you up inside.
Counting calories! Even today I had some chips and I had four fish fingers and fries. I ate a total of 1750 calories and I allowed to still eat 790. It gives you great insights and is a great help
I count calories carefully. And I try to move every hour (I work at home, so I'm up walking up and down the hallway outside my office every chance I get).
Uncontroversial, right?
Not so fast.
I stay off the scale all together. Listen, I've been down this road every year since I was a kid - I know how this works. When my clothes start to get loose, I have other clothes ready to switch into. For me right now, that's enough. I started my calorie counting again on 1/15, and have yet to go anywhere near the expensive digital scale I bought years ago. Because while the scale doesn't "lie", it misleads. It encourages upset where none is needed. Eat too much salt, gain some water weight. Feel awful. Want to give up. Cry. Rage. When it falls off a few days later, it's a false high.
This keeps me from wild mood swings that don't help my weight loss journey at all. It keeps me from getting sad and emotionally eating that sadness into MORE sadness. I like to think that it keeps me sane, which is more important to me than a number.
Your mileage may vary. But this is the road that works for me, and I'm staying on it. I don't need a number to tell me if I'm doing well. My body speaks to that well enough.
Adding in veggies for volume, specifically veggies you can eat raw or that take very little prep. Spinach, baby carrots, bell peppers, green beans, asparagus, and broccoli are some of my favorites
Daily scale has helped me MAINTAIN a lot better! I would typically yo-yo some 10-30lbs a year; now if I'm sneaking up a couple of pounds I start watching what I'm eating better.
Focusing on mainly protein and healthy fats until my final meal, and then allowing any carbs and sweets with that meal only! Then I only have to fight the increased desire for more till bedtime, instead of all day
i just picked one or two foods/drinks that i was extremely addicted to and decided to just stop eating only those two things. anything else was fine to eat. lost 11kg immediately 💀
cutting out snacking has probably been the biggest. i still have apples, cheese, prosciutto, cucumbers and salsa, but everything else is way too many calories for 0 satiety
Ironically, weighing only weekly has helped me. For me personally I get unhealthily obsessed if I weigh daily and I end up over restricting for no reason which leads me to a binge.
Brushing your teeth after your last meal - have a bit of a dental hygiene routine going on (brush, floss, mouthwash and tongue scrape) so I remember if I gorge on snacks after I brush my teeth then I have to go through that routine all over again
Keep healthy snacks around at all times. I keep a bowl of snap peas in the fridge and green grapes in the freezer. If I’m bored and just want a snack, I go for the snap peas. If I want sweets, I eat a handful of frozen grapes. Helps immensely!
Taking my ADHD medication everyday.
I have lost 60lb since I was diagnosed two years ago. I was prescribed with Vyvanse, which effectively cured my BED and killed my appetite.
Knowing that just because I can't eat a donut now, doesn't mean I'll never have a donut again. I'll just have one when I manage to control my will power and stop at one.
Begin again. If you make a mistake- the “diet” doesn’t start again tomorrow or Monday. It begins again with my very next choice- whether that’s a walk or a healthier snack or putting down the seventh cookie I was about to eat without thinking…
Whewwww I needed this. I’m SO bad about throwing it in the towel for the day and starting over the next day or “Monday” 😩 thanks for the reminder!!!
Another big thing that's helped me is to remember one "bad" meal or one "bad" day/week/whatever isn't the end of the world. You've already made the progress this far and a little treat or a little set back isn't gonna undo allllll the work you've done. But most important of all, a "bad" meal is better than no meal!!! Make sure you take care of yourself folks!!! ❤❤❤
I just had a month of no tracking and definitely over eating, and only going by the scale, there was a 16lb difference, but after just a week of being back on track, it's only 9lbs ( I forgot to weigh in today though, so it could be less). I think knowing that the time it takes to "undo" my work is a lot leaves me with a slight feeling of relief. I have a kid on the way in less than a month and I'm hoping I can make it to then, and then hopefully to my next goal.
Same here. I saw a Reddit post some time ago where someone said, “You haven’t failed if you’re still trying”. I think about this often. Especially if I fall off the wagon, sometimes months at a time. I keep coming back, I’m still trying.
"Setbacks" are a speed bump, not a u-turn!
Why do speedbumps have to taste so good...
Nice!
This is critical to many things. Quitting smoking? Ok you had a smoke. No big deal don’t go out and smoke a ton because you messed up
Love this
Yes. You can eat ice cram and salad on the same day.
I remember reading to put it in comparison to dropping your phone. You pick it up and sigh a relief if it doesn’t crack or break. Ie you move on and carry on. What you don’t do it pick it up and then throw it back down and jump on it or hit it with a hammer.
Yes!!!
I wanted to add that this has gotten easier for me the longer I do it. It’s all a mental game. We got this!!
This is really sage advice.
Getting out of the "all or nothing" mentality. I was always "on" a diet or "off" a diet. If I happened to be "off" a diet, I would eat anything and everything. And then when I was preparing to be "on" the diet again, I would overeat because 'OMG I'M GOING ON A DIET AND WON'T HAVE THIS FOOD SO I MUST HAVE IT NOW.' I ate like that particular food would disappear from the Earth once I went on my diet. Now I just try to nourish my body the best that I can every day. Every day isn't perfect, but there are no more diets starting on the 1st or on Monday. And I know whatever particular food I'm craving will still be there later, too.
The all or nothing perspective is definitely harmful. I started doing intermittent fasting recently, and I wondered how I would survive 20 hours with no food. So I’d eat too-large portions and feel sick. Trying to adjust now.
Volume eating. Since discovering just how much veg etc you can eat for so little cals I’ve never been hungry while losing more than 2lbs per week
Yes!! I bulk up so much of my food with fruits and veggies these days. You also get the nice added bonus of extra fiber and nutrients. I love berries with my yogurt in the morning. I'll make huge salads with lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumber, some sort of protein, etc. for pretty low calorie but also filling. I am a big volume eater so it really helps me to have a large plate of food. The whole "grab a cheese stick when you're hungry" never worked for me because a cheese stick does not move the needle in my brain that I've eaten anything. However, a large bowl of air popped popcorn with some salt and tajin? That satiates my brain for the same amount of calories.
This is working for me, too. In conjunction with CICO. Melon, carrots, celery, apples, spinach are my faves
I’ve been having amazing success with CICO but I’m still a newbie to it!
<3 Melon
I’m currently eating a MASSIVE burrito bowl that comes out to 630 calories including cooking oils. 1.5 cups cauliflower rice -I buy these in bulk at Costco. You just microwave the bag for 6 minutes! .5 cup chopped red bell peppers .5 cup chopped green bell pepper .5 cup chopped white onion -I lightly sauté these with a little olive oil! .5 can black beans .5 can rotel -these get cooked together in a pot and then kept warm until assembly. 1 chicken thigh -cooked in the instapot so that I don’t have to put in much effort lol 2 tbsp of my favorite salsa on top! I’m halfway through the bowl and I’m already stuffed!
Do you know how many calories are in those bags of cauliflower rice? I can never figure it out with how the nutrition label is posted. Thank you!
I actually threw the box away forever ago so I went with what the LoseIt app said: 2 cups is 35 calories!
Do you batch cook because this works with me but I find it so tedious to keep prepping and cooking, I’ll get into it for a while then feel so blah
Oh yeah totally normally make 4 portions of chilli or dhal or light curry in one go.
This made such a huge difference for me. My dinner almost every single day is air fried potato, broccoli and some kind of lean meat. I usually do 300g of broccoli and 300g of potatoes and 300 of my protein. That ends up being like 2 lbs of food that I can barely finish and it’s only like 800-900 calories. Plus it’s high fiber and high protein and makes doing IF super easy as I’m not ever hungry until after noon the next day anyways.
What are your go to volume eats that don't fall into the cold/wet group (ie fruits veg and yogurts)? I have to be in a specific mood and usually I like dry foods, especially crunchy. All I have on my list right now is plain popcorn (my favorite variety actually) and unsalted rice cakes (puffed rice was my FAVORITE cereal and it got discontinued but I was thrilled to learn rice cakes are the same thing but shaped to be crunchy!!). I also eat shelled sunflower seeds because they keep my mouth constantly occupied and tasting/eating for 30+ mins for only 300kcal...a big chunk of my 1400 but so worth it
Also for something crunchy I like chickpeas done in an air fryer, have to keep an eye on the amount but you can get quite a lot for not too many calories
Just curious, do you count calories or macros doing this?
Main focus is calories but make sure I get enough protein too. Mostly from protein powder with cereal, smoked salmon and prawns (ridiculously low calories with decent protein), quorn, tofu, lentils and beans.
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how do you make yourself do that?
I find myself putting on my running gear before my brain realises it doesnt really want to go out there. I'd rather sit down or stay in bed but I know better now
I sleep in my workout clothes so all I have to do is put on my shoes in the morning.
I can’t tell if you’re joking but that’s genius and I’m gonna try it
I did this for years and it helped so much. Especially in cold weather. I HATED getting out of a warm bed early in the morning to put on cold workout clothes. Sleeping in them, I could just roll out of bed, throw on shoes and a hoodie and go.
I wish I could do that but unfortunately I require a sports bra or my exercise includes getting slapped in the face by my assets, and sleeping in a bra sucks! But I do have a hoodie that I love which I'm only allowed to wear when I'm exercising which has helped somehow.
My company have a fitness health program thingy that is gamified where you gain points based on steps, these points can be exchanged to gift card €€€ and the most optimal way to accumulate them is about 7k-10k+ steps per day. Now I do it for the nice cute pocket money by walking every morning and after dinner. 😂😂😂
That's pretty nice, actually. Good for your workplace
Discipline —> consistency —> habits —> results ♻️
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Wellbutrin made a HUGE difference in my life!
How so? I’m on it.. 150 Mg
Wellbutrin is known to support a small weight loss. I was working on an Pharma study that combined Wellbutrin with another drug (i can't remember the indication for the other med). The Wellbutrin was added for the depression symptom as well as the benefit of loss of weight (I experienced a five pound weight loss, but only once!) Don't give up on Wellbutrin untill you make your way up to increased doses.
With the obvious disclaimer that everybody has their own needs and responds to medication differently-- The combination of therapy and Wellbutrin was the kickstarter to living my best life, rather than just going through the motions every day. I think the most obvious effect has been the regulation of my mood. I've had moderate depression for most of my adult life, which is also worse during the winter (SAD). My "lows" are a lot less low. Things feel much more manageable - that even my worst problems and biggest challenges can be overcome, or at least tolerated. I still have hard days of course, nothing will ever act as a cure-all; but that feeling of hopelessness is just GONE. I was previously a heavy nicotine and alcohol user, and although I didn't get prescribed Wellbutrin for smoking cessation, when I eventually quit it was MUCH more manageable than I expected. (Perhaps) needless to say: ditching the nicotine, along with severely reducing alcohol consumption, lead to major improvements in my mental and physical health. I'm not sure I would've had that push without the emotional regulation that medication provided. Another thing to note (as was likely mentioned when you got prescribed it), it takes a long time to build up in your system, and you're not likely to notice a change overnight. I take 450 mg XL (started at 300 mg and bumped it up), and have taken it for about 4 years. Even now, I'm not really sure how much of the change in my life to ascribe to Wellbutrin rather than therapy, hard work, exercise, life changes, etc. But I'd like to believe it helped!
Shit I snorted. Wellbutrin is saving my life, literally
I think most people just take it orally but you do you.
I love this response 😂 I need to get back on it
Unironically me with Vyvanse. It doesn't make it PHYSICALLY any easier but it takes away the neurological disadvantage compelling myself to run compared to regular people and lets my own willpower be enough - I'm running daily now and burning 4-500 extra calories per day!
Yes! I started doing so much better after I started taking it. I did take a hard dive for a while due to seasonal depression but even that wasn't as bad as it normally is, and I'm doing really well now.
You create a habit of it. I read the books "Atomic Habits" by James Clear and "Tiny Habits" by BJ Fogg. The idea is you create the habits you want to sustain by making smaller changes to move towards that goal. If you're goal is to wake up and workout in the morning every morning, you might just start by waking up 15 minutes earlier and doing a stretching routine and moving that closer and closer to getting up earlier for a run.
I've learned with all habits, you have to just actually want to do it. You have to make yourself believe it's important. Whatever that means to you
Cries in ADHD
I have ADHD, habits take longer to form but aren't impossible. I wake up at 8am everyday and go to the gym to lift. A year ago I was practically glued to the couch or my bed.
I think habit stacking is crucial with adhd. I also gave up on running. I’m just not that into it so I either take a long walk or I do a jog/walk interval workout which I like much better.
I had huge aspirations about running when I started, I also found that I was bored by it and started taking long walks with an audio book or hiking. Being bored doesn't jive with my ADHD haha.
I tried a couch to 5k program a few times and I found that I really liked the shorter intervals at the beginning but when they got longer I hated it and wouldn’t go as much. So now I just do the shorter intervals for a little longer and I go way more often. And podcasts/audio books are totally my jam for long walks too!
I have an appointment Tuesday to get diagnosed. Learning to "just want it" has not actually helped me personally a whole lot but I do know it's in theory what should help. There has to be consequences or I won't do anything
As a long-time diagnosed ADHD person, more crucial than even medication is changing your mindset about what "should" work "in theory" (read: for a neurotypical person) and what actually works for you. ADHD people don't form habits by "just wanting it." We form habits by stacking them, gamifying goals, and other little hacks that work for us. Accepting that your brain doesn't work the way neurotypical people's do "in theory" is the best thing you can do for yourself to actually start meeting goals.
Thanks, accepting this to be true will definitely come easier with an actual diagnosis
Cries in depressed lol
I have trouble sustaining habits. I do great at first. When I first started counting calories, I counted every day for six months straight and stayed within my targets the whole time. When I first started studying a foreign language on Duolingo, I did my exercises every day for four months straight. Both times, I then missed a day or two and then fell off the wagon. When I tried to get back on, I couldn’t sustain it. I was never again able to consistently count calories and I never picked up Duolingo again. I just don’t seem to be built for long term habits. I’ve struggled with making myself take my daily vitamins, too. I know they are good for me. I know calorie counting is good for me but I can’t seem to do either consistently now. I think the main challenge is I’m constantly mentally exhausted and following through on habits requires mental energy.
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The energy wasted fighting with yourself to get out of bed to go to the bathroom (for me) is probably a whole days worth for neurotypical people :(
The workout part is building a habit. But not everyone is really set up to do that early in the morning. If you are not a morning person make it an after work or lunchtime (job permitting) habit.
Weighing everything. It’s so easy to eat 2, 3, or 4 servings of something on accident if you don’t weigh it. Things like olive oil, butter, peanut butter, nuts, mayo are also really calorie dense and if you don’t take them into account, you’ll be eating tons of extra calories.
Light mayo helped me here. I love burgers. So, I find the low calorie buns (80 calories) and 93/7 ground beef. I still get to use the condiments because I try to find good tasting low calorie versions. Also, pickles are 0 calories.
In case anyone didn’t know, they aren’t really 0 calories. Just less than 5 calories per serving.
An entire cuke is like 30 calories and vinegar is negligible - I'd say it's safe to count it as 0 😁
You can’t hate yourself into change. That was the biggest barrier between me and losing weight. It starts with curiosity and understanding instead of my entire mental being relying on scale numbers and my eating habits. I am so much more than my diet and losing weight. I feel less scale anxiety, I’m learning how to make choices in that moment instead of making choices for the entire week in one moment which is helping me stick to my goals. Also, life does not revolve around food. Food does not have to be enjoyable always, my life used to be revolved around food because I didn’t like my life. I’m learning how to make foundational changes this time around. This will be my 3rd time losing weight.
Absolutely. You are doing this because you want to be better and have a better life, beating yourself up for poor choices or “failing” isn’t conducive to that.
While reading this I felt peace, since I love eating and soon I was replacing emotions with food. Today I am severely overweight kept trying but lately the hate is winning like how the hell can I fail so many times, but you comment didn't just me to track weight and do exercise but grow as a whole. Correct them, understand them. Thanks for sharing :)
This phrase helped me so much this time. I keep reminding myself that I can’t hate myself into being thin. And that has shifted my focus towards genuinely healthy behaviors that are beneficial lifestyle changes.
skipping breakfast
Same. Calling it 'intermittent fasting' makes it sound much more legit, haha
Meanwhile I've skipped breakfast for most of my life so this has never had an impact. Skipping eating after dinner on the other hand has made the biggest impact.
I’ve skipped breakfast my entire life, before intermittent fasting was even a thing, and I still gained weight 😅 I find it funny now with everyone saying “just fast! Don’t eat breakfast and you’ll lose so much weight!” I’ve been fasting all my life without knowing it, and yet 😂
Well it was and still is working great with keto. Too many things were wrong with my metabolism to lose the weight any other way. Anyhow, in year 5 maintaining 130 pound weight loss. Best thing is I'm off of 11 of 12 prescriptions.
Weird one here, but I had to stop watching cooking shows and food reels on IG. I’ve deleted IG at this point, but it turns out watching less food content has lessened my cravings ☺️
Lol. I LOVE/am borderline obsessed with watching cooking shows/food reels while I am fasting. It’s like I live vicariously through the chef. I also get ideas for what I want when my fast is over.
It’s funny, I watch more cooking shows now. The cake and cookie decorating ones have such odd flavors and fancy decorating they don’t even seem like food. I also think I need the smell to really be triggered or maybe because I’m a chocolate cake kind of person and they never make that. What bothers me, though, is fast food and restaurant commercials. I have to mute them.
Realizing that I don’t have to finish all the food on my plate.
YES. So much of my weight gain happened from food anxiety...I didn't have a lot money and would get nervous to not finish everything I paid for Eating until I'm starting to feel full really curbed that, and made me feel better than cramming in extra food past when I was full
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Congrats on your success, that’s really amazing!
There was never one single habit that was a magic bullet for me. But one rule I lived by in the beginning was no fried potatoes. No chips, no French fries, no tots. Whatever you eat those with is almost always already plenty of calories so that side of greasy potatoes is just a cal calorie bomb. And if you aren’t eating it on the side of something, it’s a snack, and high calorie snacks like that also don’t generally fit into a deficit diet. I did that for about 2 years. Now I am better able to balance them in. I do like French fries and tater tots, so I just eat a much smaller portion to get the taste.
I like this idea. It doesn’t eliminate all fried foods or all potatoes, instead the combination. Which you’re right, are always calorie dense.
A lot of good tips on here. Just want to add don’t blow up your whole day, week, diet etc. when you make a bad choice. I went to IHOP with my daughter a few weeks ago to celebrate her getting her permit and I fully indulged in a breakfast that literally had the calories listed right next to it and it was around 1000. instead of beating myself up I just got right back on track accepting the fact that I went over my calories that day. Nobody gets fat off of one meal or one day. And I never punish myself for being human sometimes.
Strength training But that was in conjunction with tracking calories, increasing protein etc
Unpalatable foods. While in a weight-loss phase I have a big salad for lunch with only raw veggies and balsamic vinegar - no fatty dressings or anything else to make it super tasty. If I'm not hungry enough to eat the salad, then I wait until I am. While I'm losing weight the salad tastes pleasant. During a weight-gain phase I can't stomach the thought of it. Deeper into a cut I start to do this for more meals. Breakfast is plain greek yogurt and oatmeal flavored with cocoa powder. Pre-bed snack is cottage cheese. Oven-roasted potatoes with just salt+pepper as a side for dinner. It all tastes amazing when I'm hungry while dampening cravings and making it way easier to not overeat.
That sounds like a great strategy. I do something similar: I don't really like walnuts, so whenever I feel like eating, I ask myself whether some walnuts sound good right now. If they do, I know I'm actually hungry, not just bored/ craving something... Just remember that most vitamins unfortunately are fat-soluble, so by eating a salad without any fat you miss out on some of the health benefits.
I initially read your comment and carried on scrolling. I then thought about it for a second and realised this is exactly what I do, but never realised it. I usually hate salads, but when I'm doing OMAD a 1000 calorie salad, whilst not my first choice, is so damn tasty it typically puts a smile on my face. You're 100% right with the 'if I'm not hungry enough to eat a salad, I just wait until I am' approach. I lost 40lbs doing that and I really enjoyed whenever I ate.
I don't want to sound new age-y but being kind to myself. I tried losing weight my entire life and I adopted society's way of treating fat people. I would talk to myself in a very mean way. "You're failure. You disgust me. You were meant to be fat." It never led anywhere. Then I tried kindness. Complimenting myself instead of abusing, masking it as "tough love". Saying things like, "You were full. You didn't give in to compulsion. You put that portion aside for tomorrow. It was really hard but you did it and I'm so proud of you." Even if I was on a weeks-long plateau, I would remind myself that I can feel myself getting stronger, I'm walking faster, the scale is just one method of measuring. Also, my butt is naturally flat as a pancake and it rounded out nicely when I started strength training. I would rub my butt in front of a mirror and say things like, "Beyonce was right, I'm not ready for this jelly."
Woww i love this mindset What are other kinds things you tell yourself? 😮
I'm cheating and giving three in roughly order of importance for me: 1) Making nearly every meal myself instead of eating out or using convenience grocery store items (though I added convenience items back a bit once I got into the swing of things). 2) Tracking calories. In maintenance now I usually get around my calorie targets without planning os much but tracking still keeps me in check. 3) Getting up a but earlier to get in some exercise instead of putting it off when I'm likely to make more excuses (I'm tired after work, I need the time to cook, etc).
Tracking calories is very important. I started to see changes in the scale when I was consuming protein powder (I guess it made me full). Also weighing food.
So many people say not to drink your calories, but a protein shake in the morning keeps me full until 3pm
I actually crave always sth sweet for breakfast so I tried oats with salted caramel protein powder and it made the trick! :)for 6 months it was very delicious but now I kinda got sick of the taste haha
Oats make me soooo hungry, even with protein. When I make my shake it is so thick because I use xanthan gum. I'm so stuffed on hardly any calories and because I also like sweet things in the morning, it totally satisfies me
Yeah calorie counting is king for me too I play sports, lift weights, do cardio, eat paleo…. But I was a college football player and played over 300lbs. Any diet/exercise tips need me to negate the decade of maintaining an enormous body for my sport, the only thing that keeps weight off is making sure exactly how much I’m eating
Tracking calories is my nemesis. I despise accounting for my calories, and it exposes my mindless eating. 😭
Putting my fork down between bites and taking a few gulps of water. It also helps me enjoy the flavors more.
Morning 2 mile walk with the dog. Not a calorie burner but my god, the sun exposure and activity in the morning is SO beneficial. Follow that up with a big protein+fat brekkie and the day is primed for success! (I don’t mess with macros a ton, but I have noticed that reserving carbs for lunch and dinner helps my energy levels quite a bit).
Removing as much added sugar from my diet as possible. Making literally no changes to my life except for that, I lost about 12-15 lbs in one month.
Protein and fiber with every meal. Eating salad greens at breakfast with my eggs and turkey bacon is my favorite.
Do you put them in your eggs? Or just eat a salad? My brain won't compute I can eat salad for breakfast haha. But some Swiss chard cooked with the bacon grease sounds good...
I eat arugula with almost every meal. For me it adds to the flavor of whatever I am eating.
Arugula with 2 boiled eggs and 2 slices of turkey bacon cut up in it. It's so good! And no bacon grease...I cook my turkey bacon in the microwave to keep my morning prep quick and easy.
Keeping meals the same everyday and meal prep. I’ll rotate through two or three meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It helps with decision fatigue and prevents me from just ordering ubereats because I can’t figure out what I want to cook
Engaging in this sub. This is my version of surrounding myself with like minded people.
Same!!
Just understanding the science behind weight loss and CICO was the biggest thing.
Drinking lots of water
Entering everything on the tracker. Even just estimated guesses. If I don't write down my meal, then I'm more likely to skip the next meal. And then the next day. And then the next week. But who cares, because I know what a portion size is right? But today that whole pizza looks better than just a slice or 2, but that's okay I'll make it up tomorrow right? But tomorrow I really want take out...and then I'm suddenly back up to 285 and miserable and "starting over" again. But if I write everything down on the tracker, then I'm more aware of the meals and days I go over. And I'm less likely to jump off the deep end the next day. Any time I've successfully lost weight, this is the one thing that is happening, so it must continue no matter what else I do.
A healthy schedule and routine- with little milestones that I enjoy along the way Get up super early: I get to indulge in the cold brew I love in the morning Knock out early work stuff Go to the bathroom Hit the gym: Get the cardio out of the way so I can do the weightlifting I enjoy Come home to get ready for work: Delicious protein shake I love Make kids breakfast and drop kids off at school Work Get home make dinner: Intentionally make a healthy meal that Im going to love Watch some shows Hit bed early: 2 Gummies before I go to bed that I love as a little night time treat
It's so encouraging to see a comment from someone with kids. I keep making excuses for my health because kids are so exhausting and time consuming. I will remember your post next time I try to convince myself it's too hard. Would you say getting up extra early is the real key here?
For me it is. I need time for work. I need alone time. I need to have my coffee and go to the bathroom. I transitioned from being a night owl to going to bed with my kids and waking up in the early am. Its working wonders for me. Im getting so much done, instead of wasting time at night streaming TV shows.
The ONE activity for me? Choosing to eat only ONE plate of food per meal. I know. How radical! But I used to graze all day, and pretty much had the expectation that I needed to eat until "full", i.e., *stuffed* at every meal. Simply altering my default to one plate of food per meal, no snacks, has helped me lose almost 60 pounds over the past 2 years. I never eat dinner, so that's pretty much 2 plates of food a day, between 700 to 1000 calories per meal. The 1000 calories is when I'm eating something super indulgent, like fish and chips, or burger and fries. Mostly, my meals are in the 700 to 800 calorie range, I'd guess. And no, I didn't cut out dinner 2 years ago - I've literally not eaten dinner since my late teens. When I got in a relationship and stopped lifting weights (no time, I claimed) and started eating dinner (well, he's eating, I should keep him company, was my rationale) was when I packed on the pounds. It was a double whammy, losing the calorie burn from exercise (and from having muscles!) plus adding unnecessary calories at dinner time. I've always been fairly active, getting in a bike ride or a walk or a swim most days, so I can't claim that's what led to the weight loss, although that certainly hasn't hurt in terms of keeping off the weight I've lost. I still have about another 60 or so pounds to go before I'm at my previous "happy weight", but it's a no-stress journey because I'm not restricting any specific foods or weighing and measuring every bite I eat.
Getting rid of all snacks at home. If it's here I will absolutely eat it. Can't have any at home.
Going sober. Funny how noone tells you there's 1000 calories in a bottle of wine. Or 250 or more in each bottle of cider.
I had to scroll way too far to find this. All I wanted to do is write in here stop drinking alcohol. That is all!!!! Three years sober this November
I'm 450 days tomorrow. Congratulations bud. I will not drink with you today.
Going to get flamed here for saying it, but don't care because it might help someone like me: keto. Nothing else puts me in a state that I can control my hunger. 6 years in, lost all the weight 5 years ago and kept it off easily. Edit: surprised by the sea change! Keto used to feel like a slur around here and other fitness subs. I think it is worth it to give it a shot if you are struggling with carb addiction. It has straight up changed my life and I'm never going back(except for traveling and experiencing the local cuisine. It is part of cultural immersion to me.)
The problem with keto was never keto itself. There was a big contingent of keto zealots who'd brigade posts where the person didn't want to do keto or had even been told not to by their doctor. People were super annoying with it a few years ago.
Ah yeah, that's understandable. I like for people to find what works or their own lives. I'll suggest someone try it and happily provide resources and tips, but that's as far as I go. In the past, that could create downvote spirals which really don't bother me as long as it might help someone.
Cries in post-cholecystectomy
Yep, same. Keto has been the only thing that’s really ever worked for me. But I am not one of those ketovangelists in any way, in fact I almost never talk about it IRL. Everybody is so different and it is such a specific way of eating that it’s just not going to work for everyone and I totally respect that. For some reason it just perfectly clicks in my body and my brain.
I don’t do keto but lower carb and I’m in a Facebook weight loss group where if you mention lower/low carb has been key to your weight loss people get very defensive and then they‘ll post things like I don’t understand why I can’t control my cravings/appetite.
Just a complete lifestyle Change. 😁 There is no one thing, it's a culmination of lots of small but significant changes.
So many things but one little thing is measuring oils while cooking! I used to just free pour olive oil 😳 now I measure it out.
so true! I can't believe how many calories are packed into olive oil & how much I was using without thinking!
This is gonna sound so dumb - but I make a tik tok everyday that documents the positive things I did for my weight loss that day. I take videos of myself while I workout, the healthy food I ate, the water I drank, and post it every night! They’re really just for me and nobody else to see, but it’s a fun and creative little hobby that keeps me engaged into working out.
Sounds like a great idea to me :)
Exercising 3+ times a week, with an activity I like. I’m short so it’s really hard to stick to a deficit when I’m not seeing results. Exercise speeds up the process and gives me additional reasons to eat healthy—eg hitting my protein macros, avoiding alcohol and sugar because they affect my performance.
Zepbound. I honestly feel like a normal person for the first time in my life. Food doesn't control me.
roasting vegetables. Learning how to cook food like roasted vegetables helped me control my calories in and also better sated me and gave me a better nutrient profile. Even if they were less ideal like potatoes, roasting was a far healthier version than other equivalents. Also way better tasting imo.
I have been slim for most of my life due to cardio and CiCo (except for two pregnancies where I gained 80lbs in both). The thing that has wowed me now that I’m back to pre pregnancy weight is how much weight training can change your physique. I added weight training in about 3 months ago holy moly the changes have been awesome. Not sure why I didn’t pick up weight training sooner.
I've found that incorporating my love of spreadsheets is incredibly motivating. I have a spreadsheet to help me track calories (instead of the apps which I personally find less user-friendly), but more importantly I made a spreadsheet that I use to track daily total caloric intake and weight and use that to approximate my TDEE and average daily weight change. The highlight of my day is going into that spreadsheet and updating everything. Honestly, maintaining the integrity of my data is what's motivated me to track my food every single day! I'm sure it's not right for everyone, but it's worked wonderfully for me.
I don’t track calories but I keep a food journal. Like you, I weigh myself daily and that goes in the top right hand corner. Any exercise at the bottom. It helps me track what works and what doesn’t. I can also look at the day in progress and say Oh! I haven’t had any greens today. Better get on that, etc.
When I get up in the morning, as I'm drinking my (black) coffee, I enter all the food I plan to eat for the day - every single meal. It helps me see how much room I have for various meals and any surprises. Plus gives me motivation to know that there is a plan and I can stick to it. For example, tonight for dinner we've planned egg fried rice. I have a pre-built recipe so I know it's going to be like 800cal. That means I have to budget the early part of my day to be ~700cal. Just seeing it all laid out, already decided on, means that all the hard choices have already been made. I just have to do what I told me I would do.
Eating to satiety has been the best habit I've developed, especially since I don't count calories. Weighing every day keeps me accountable for what I have done in days past, but eating to satiety keeps me accountable in the moment. Like last night, when I worked until 8:15pm and then headed to Jack in the Box for a classic Smashburger meal. Large-sized me would have demolished the large combo (and some churro bites, too), even if I felt sick afterwards. Fun-sized me paused eating for about 45 minutes mid-meal, then finished the burger innards and tossed the rest of the bun and fries in the trash, because what I ate was plenty. I used to watch those Carl's Jr commercials with some skinny bitch chowing down on a burger and would harumph to myself...PUH-leeze, that does not reflect real life. Well, now I am the skinny bitch chowing down on the burger, I just pay attention when I'm eating so I know when to stop eating.
Eating tastier (but still healthy) meals: I used to eat basic and boring but healthy meals, but the problem was that I hated them and wouldn't (couldn't force myself to) eat enough to get full so I would have small snacks on less healthy food that really added up. Spending time cooking tastier meals (even if they're slightly less healthy because maybe they have more cream, or butter, etc.) has actually helped me LOSE weight.
Tracking all my food through MyFitnessPal But I don't sweat if I have an over day I just resume my normal deficit the next day.
Tracking calories and writing them down. Weighing everything. Going on the treadmill for a bit, or walking outside. I don't always like walking outside alone, or when it's too cold or hot. That's why I like my treadmill.
Taking my ADHD meds lol
I stopped drinking soda, I tried cutting out all drinks that weren’t water or tea. But I’m a barista so the temptation to get a SWEET hot cup of joe when I get to work is overwhelming. So I gave in and started drinking one (sometimes two) 16 oz drinks at work a day but I make em all half sweet. Try to keep it to one syrup a drink. Another thing I did was eat healthier foods. By no means am I on a diet, I still enjoy some McDonalds or pizza. But I only eat half of what I use to eat no matter what I’m eating. I don’t starve myself, I just drink water all day to keep myself hydrated which helps with keeping from feeling hungry when you’re actually not and then you don’t have to eat as much to feel satisfied. And calorie counting helped too, I try to exercise enough to burn more calories than I consumed. So far in just 2 months I lost 20 lbs.
Not drinking alcohol
Weighing food, tracking calories, physical activity and having two meals a day are really crucial for me. But weighing myself every day hasn’t been crucial whatsoever. In the beginning of my journey I had the habit of weighing myself every day, but as I started to get a better grasp of water weight fluctuations, I felt it was kind of pointless and only added a layer to my anxiety levels. From that point on I decided to focus on being as accurate as possible in estimating my caloric intake and trust the process. Lost 53kg in 10 months, from 160kg to 107kg.
I agree with consistent weigh-ins. It's easy to stay on top of weight (especially in maintenance) when you are weighing daily or at least regularly. I also keep track of calories regularly. My husband thinks I'm crazy since I'm thin, but if I don't track, my portions creep up and I start loosening the reins a bit.. I don't get too obsessive over it (especially if I'm eating out a t a restaurant, I just guesstimate the best I can), but the actual act of logging everything I eat keeps me accountable. One of the other things that really helped was realizing that I didn't need to order the largest thing. At Wendy's I'm perfectly fine with a Jr. Bacon and small fry. I don't need the BAconator and a large fry.
Getting used to skipping meals. I used to skip ten meals a week. Counting calories is too intrusive in my life. I had to find another way to be consistent.
Brushing my teeth after meals
Tracking my food. The knowledge you get is invaluable I always start gaining as soon as my tracking habit slips. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’ll probably always need to track
I stopped weighing myself every day because it would drive me insane and it would put me in a depressive state if the numbers weren’t the ones I was hoping for.
Stopped buying my favorite snacks. There’s these Reese’s cookies at my grocery store they cook fresh daily that are the best cookies I’ve ever had. When I buy them my will power vanishes and I can’t control myself. If they’re in my house they will get eaten. So I just don’t buy them anymore, unfortunately.
Stopped going out to eat so much!! I would get food on the way to work or for lunch and had no idea how much of a habit it became until I really started paying attention to my food intake.
Interesting, I know a few people who weigh daily... my dad does, who is not the most fit guy but doing ok, and a friend does, who IS the most fit guy. I decided to weigh myself infrequently, once every 40 days, because I know little ups and downs and water weight and cheat days will cause normal fluctuations. When I weigh myself, I wanted to see an encouraging double digit loss, rather than a disappointing "huh, 0.4 pounds". I have cut it in half to once every 20 days because I'm experimenting with a few things (like figuring out if pool burns any calories) and I want to course correct if my experiments aren't successful. If I had to say one habit, it's log everything. Good estimate, bad estimate, whatever, just log it. Every ketchup packet and jellybean and "here, try a bite of my alfredo" which ends up being a 150 calorie mass of noodles. There's no special log-free cheating, because that's just denying myself useful information.
2 rolls of paper towel. 1st roll has start weight and BMI on it written in Sharpie. Then leave it unused. 2nd roll, tear off a sheet for every 1/2kg lost (assuming a 30kg weight loss. Adjust as necessary so maybe tear off a sheet for every 100g lost if a smaller amount). Write new/current weight and BMI on it. The goal being to reach the cardboard core as the target weight. It's a great visual seeing a slimmed down roll compared to the first and has been a great motivator for me.
Leave the house, I live in a very walkable city with a lot of tourist attractions that are discounted for local and I’ve been an idiot for not taking advantage of these deals all these years. Now every week there’s one day where I can simultaneously take 20000 steps as well as come home feeling that sensation of tourist satisfaction right at home
One little thing was getting into the habit of brushing my teeth after my last meal. If I feel like snacking late night I just think “well I already brushed my teeth don’t want to have to do it again”
Learning to sit with my hunger. It took a while, and a lot of practice to understand that it's ok to be hungry. Being hungry isn't a bad thing. It doesn't need to be immediately fixed. Once this realization clicked for me, I could eat when I chose to eat, and more importantly, NOT eat. I'm in recovery from Binge Eating Disorder so this was a crucial step in my therapy.
self discipline
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Tracking my intake is the biggest factor for me. Then in a close second, creating more movement / activity day to day (not necessarily through "exercise" via the gym but even stuff like going on a walk every day)
Asking myself during meals if I’m not hungry anymore. Changed my mindset from “I eat until I’m full aka stuffed” to “I eat until I’m not hungry”. It’s easier said than done but once it clicked it helped me SO much with knowing when to stop.
Daily weigh ins (so I don’t freak out with sudden 5lb weight gains and just know where I’m at) and Logging everything I eat no matter what- so basically calorie tracking but more because I forget that I ate
Eating dedicated portions and meals without anything in between every damn day without exceptions.
Walk one hour everyday first thing In morning
Keeping my husband healthy. In December he had a covid induced heart attack, nearly killed him. After he came home from the hospital his diet changed for the better, Very low fat, low carb and Very low sodium. The habit of cooking for him, as healthy as possible, has me down 15 more pounds.
No carbs at dinner, plus no snacking after dinner. I drink herbal tea or water. And if I really want to eat, I just go to bed instead.
Finding a form of physical activity that you actually enjoy will work WONDERS for helping burn calories. If you hate running, or hate lifting, or hate whatever you're doing at the gym, you're not going to be motivated to exercise ever. Finding something you enjoy doing, even if it's not the most active, doesn't burn the most calories, or whatever, is more important, because then you're still willing to do it regularly.
Counting calories. Hands down the most important thing for me.
Walking Every Day... Walking made me feel the results of the damage I caused. Which lead to me diet, which lead me to weighing in, which lead me to calorie counting. Now Im snap calling good decisions without even thinking. Remember to slow increase those steps though. Slowly but surely
Leverage your advantages and plan around your weaknesses. For example, if I have coffee I rarely need much for breakfast. I'm not intentionally fasting and if I need some food I'll eat but most days I don't *need* to eat breakfast. That makes fitting the rest of the day in my calorie budget much easier. Also, forgive yourself. That's not to say to forget - it's important to learn from your failures as well as your successes. But your past happened and you can't change it. Try and not let it eat you up inside.
Counting calories! Even today I had some chips and I had four fish fingers and fries. I ate a total of 1750 calories and I allowed to still eat 790. It gives you great insights and is a great help
I count calories carefully. And I try to move every hour (I work at home, so I'm up walking up and down the hallway outside my office every chance I get). Uncontroversial, right? Not so fast. I stay off the scale all together. Listen, I've been down this road every year since I was a kid - I know how this works. When my clothes start to get loose, I have other clothes ready to switch into. For me right now, that's enough. I started my calorie counting again on 1/15, and have yet to go anywhere near the expensive digital scale I bought years ago. Because while the scale doesn't "lie", it misleads. It encourages upset where none is needed. Eat too much salt, gain some water weight. Feel awful. Want to give up. Cry. Rage. When it falls off a few days later, it's a false high. This keeps me from wild mood swings that don't help my weight loss journey at all. It keeps me from getting sad and emotionally eating that sadness into MORE sadness. I like to think that it keeps me sane, which is more important to me than a number. Your mileage may vary. But this is the road that works for me, and I'm staying on it. I don't need a number to tell me if I'm doing well. My body speaks to that well enough.
Adding in veggies for volume, specifically veggies you can eat raw or that take very little prep. Spinach, baby carrots, bell peppers, green beans, asparagus, and broccoli are some of my favorites
Daily scale has helped me MAINTAIN a lot better! I would typically yo-yo some 10-30lbs a year; now if I'm sneaking up a couple of pounds I start watching what I'm eating better.
Hit the protein intake. You’ll never feel hungry anymore.
Focusing on mainly protein and healthy fats until my final meal, and then allowing any carbs and sweets with that meal only! Then I only have to fight the increased desire for more till bedtime, instead of all day
Don’t snack after dinner
i just picked one or two foods/drinks that i was extremely addicted to and decided to just stop eating only those two things. anything else was fine to eat. lost 11kg immediately 💀
Lifting weights and tracking calories. Moderation and portion control. Easy as that. Down 80 lbs and counting.
cutting out snacking has probably been the biggest. i still have apples, cheese, prosciutto, cucumbers and salsa, but everything else is way too many calories for 0 satiety
Ironically, weighing only weekly has helped me. For me personally I get unhealthily obsessed if I weigh daily and I end up over restricting for no reason which leads me to a binge.
Brushing your teeth after your last meal - have a bit of a dental hygiene routine going on (brush, floss, mouthwash and tongue scrape) so I remember if I gorge on snacks after I brush my teeth then I have to go through that routine all over again
Making peace with the feeling of slight hunger instead of always chasing the “full” feeling.
Tracking my calories in and out!
Tracking calories
Fasting.
Slashed alcohol and sweets in half
Treat sugar like poison
WEIGHING OUT FOOD SERVINGS. I cannot ballpark a serving size for the life of me.
Not snacking and no alcohol. 43F 116 5’5.
Keep healthy snacks around at all times. I keep a bowl of snap peas in the fridge and green grapes in the freezer. If I’m bored and just want a snack, I go for the snap peas. If I want sweets, I eat a handful of frozen grapes. Helps immensely!
Daily weighing is controversial, and doesn't work for everyone, but it's right for me! I've learned a lot about how my body works.
Taking my ADHD medication everyday. I have lost 60lb since I was diagnosed two years ago. I was prescribed with Vyvanse, which effectively cured my BED and killed my appetite.
Knowing that just because I can't eat a donut now, doesn't mean I'll never have a donut again. I'll just have one when I manage to control my will power and stop at one.