What is YOUR Best Weight Loss Tip Ever?!

I wanted to share something that has helped me eat a little bit better, and I was hoping that some of you might reply and tell me a little tip you discovered or change you made that made a big difference.

My biggest challenge is eating junk food (mostly candy and sweets). I keep from eating sweets mostly by writing myself little notes and sticking them in conspicuous places, like on the edge of my monitor at work. The three I have right now are:

"YOU are worth more than a donut!"

"If the problem isn't hunger, the solution isn't food!"

"Skittles are disgusting. The sugar makes me feel terrible - headache, stomachache, guilt... not worth it!" (I have a personal battle with Skittles, lol.)

Also, at my office, people are always giving me candy as a thank you, and I try to eat one piece and then share it with the rest of the office - if I stick the box out in the kitchen, it disappears in a matter of minutes, so there's no time for second thoughts! (I have one box of fancy chocolates that have lasted over a month, and I have a note on it that simply states my weight loss goal. It's effective without being overly "mean" to myself.)

By getting past the craving, the feeling of conquering that desire is way better than any sugar rush, and gives me even more motivation to eat right.

So, do you have any tips or tricks to share?!

I find I always do better when I plan what I'm going to eat for the week.  (Plan a few lunches/ a few dinners/a few snacks - and also plan to go out for dinner once and lunch once and have what I want!) and then write down what I eat.  I always stop writing down what I'm eating and that is always when weight loss goes down hill.  I might continue to maintain, but if I write down what I'm eating and am accountable, then I do better at losing weight.

SUGAR ADDICTION..............that's right!

Are you a sugar addict?

I asked myself this very question a year ago..........that wasn't the first time I had asked myself that question but it's the first time I think I finally heard myself!

I've done every diet program you can possibly think of...........and hey, they all worked. I did lose weight on them.

I lost 25 lbs on Jenny Craig

I lost 33 lbs on Nutra System

I lost 12 lbs on the egg diet

I lost 18 lbs on the grapefruit diet

I lost 47 lbs on Lindora

yes, weight loss programs DO IN FACT WORK......but for how long?

I know how long they worked for me..............in 2008 I weighed in at over 300 lbs............

that's how well they worked for me :(

I have to say though that of all the programs I have used that Lindora was the best and actually taught me something about calories, food and nutrition. That's a lot more then I can say about some of the others.

I also read a book (at least 7 years ago)..............I can't for the life of me remember the name of the book.........it was written by 3 doctors and an attorney...and it was all about Diabetes, refined sugar and the history of it and how one can overcome II diabetes by changing the way one eats. (in most cases)

Reading that information and doing Lindora..........is where I decided that for me the answer was............I WAS A SUGAR ADDICT......

I had to face facts..........so I decided to just simply STOP EATING SUGAR and everything that had sugar in it......period..if it had sugar in it I wasn't putting it in my mouth again.... ...

so here I am almost one year later and...............I'm down nearly 100 lbs by just stopping to put sugar in my body........

I KNOW that sugar is an addiction at this point in my life and it is the prime reason why there are so many FAT adults and children in the United States and around the world in places where they can afford to eat refined sugar............do the research you will see for yourself...

So at least for me........the truth is that most all Americans are sugar addicts. I had to literally WEAN myself off of it....and I am reading what a lot of you are saying in here and I see that you all are sugar addicts too....I can't say it enough.

NO DIET...will ever work or keep on working until you wean yourself from your sugar addiction. Believe me..........I KNOW THE TRUTH HURTS!!  Fat girl here who loved her soda and candy!~

Foods with sugar in them taste so strange to me now...........and sugar addicts don't even realize that until they just stop eating it.....and I truly mean STOP EATING IT.....none of that is worth my health and living my life to the fullest....the sugar was stopping all of that

but now life is grand........and I feel so much better

I really like this idea!

Original Post by knickshawks:

Personally, my favorite food is pizza. I use to eat it all the time, but now that I am getting in shape I knew that had to change. I still want pizza though so what I do is once a week I will buy a whole wheat pizza with veggie toppings from my local farmers market. calorie wise it comes out to about 1500 calories but I eat fruits and veggies for the rest of the day so that I can get my pizza fix and still stay in my daily calorie range. If there is a will, there is a way. You cant pig out on what you want anymore but the golden rule is everything in moderation. I hope somebody out there can take something from this. Lets do this, people!!!

Don't ask how, cause I don't even know... But pizza makes me lose weight. Seriously. If I eat pizza, whether its a piece or a whole pizza, I lose weight. At one point, I even ate pizza for a week straight, and still dropped 2 lbs. LoL.

But my tip is this: It doesn't take much to help out the weight loss. If you don't walk, walk for 15 minutes. It's better than nothing. What I do, (when I'm lazy), is during the commercials of my tv time, I walk in place. Or, if I'm going to the corner store, I walk instead of drive. Walking a little is better than no exercise at all. :)

The best advice i can give it to write down everything you eat.

Besides from typing it on this site, have a notebook and write down what you ate and how many calories you THINK it is, then match it on this site to see how you did. This will either let you know that you actually have an idea of what you are eating, or you will be surprised by the difference.

I did this before I came to this site, and have lost 7 pounds so far.

Simply knowing what you are putting in your mouth can make the difference in if you really want to eat it or not.

When I'm about to reach for an unhealthy snack, the first thing I ask myself is:

What will this do to my body?

I love eating chips and dip, and ever since i started asking myself this question, I've lost the weight.

Also, get a friend involved with you.

Two heads are better then one.

If you have someone there supporting you, and you support them, you are more likely to stay determined.

Plus, think how great the both of you will look come summertime :]

All great advice!

My tips are these:

Presentation and care in cooking: pour some love into the healthier food you're learning to eat it. If you don't like steamed veggies, that's okay! There are a thousand different and yummy ways to prepare broccoli, green beans, asparagus, et cetera. Every week, I plan the meals for me and my husband, go shopping, and take the time to 'construct' dinner.

Maybe it only takes me 30 minutes, but in the end, I have a top-notch restaurant meal in front of me. Tonight, for example, we had chopped asparagus on the side, tossed with some light soy sauce and garlic. For our main dish, we had 4 oz. of chicken each, cut into squares and tossed into a pot of simmering diced tomatoes, garlic, chili pepper, spinach, and a bit of mozarella. We put that atop a toasted piece of double-fiber wheat bread, combined with our asparagus, and couldn't even eat everything on our plates. Total calorie cost for the whole plate? 500. And we were STUFFED.

In fact, my husband has rejoiced in our better eating habits because he feels like he's eating out every night, feels better during the day, and goes to bed satisfied and not craving snacks.

Exercise, even if it's for 10 minutes, every day. For $50, you can get a low-impact, small stair-stepper that will get your heart rate going. It can fit in ANY apartment and any home. Set it up in front of the TV and you'll be amazed at the extra calories you burn.

I'm an editor from home, which means I do a LOT of computer work. I set my laptop up on my dresser and give five or ten minutes every few hours. It's amazing what that little bit of exercise does, especially when added to 30 minutes at the gym later in the evening!

Well having a supportive partner really helps I recently found out mine was keeping his chocolate in his truck so im not tempted, I just thought it was the sweetest thing.

But my challenge is also sweets and making sure I eat enough fibre, lately I have been eating alot of berries, after you have been deprived for a while they taste like candy and raspberries, blackberries only have like 65 cal for a whole cup so I take fat free no sugar added 35 cal a serving yogurt and add a 1/2 cup of berries and  1 tsp of sugar or not but its so tasty especially the vanilla yogurt. Lots of fibre in berries also.

and my other tip is...my teeth are bad so salads and raw veggies are out for me, so lately I have been making veg soup with just a small amount of either rice noodles or barley, 90 cal a bowl and lots of fibre and vitamins and I actually like it.

Not allowing myself to get too hungry cuz if i do all bets are off.And remembering weightloss is a cumulative thing it doesnt happen all in one day so dont weigh yourself more than once a week

I actually have some GREAT ideas that made me lose about 12 kgs(26 lbs), some of them might be old, but they are really useful :

1- Drink water, it keeps you hydrated and makes your stomach full, leaving no space for food for only 0 kcal!!! and you can never have too much water, because your body can take it out by several ways.

2- Sugerless gum can make you forget about food with the fewest calories taken.

3- Eat protein, because it's a good source of power that could rarely be transformed into fats, so if you feel hungry, go eat a can of tuna in water, don't eat a donut or a cookie.

4- If you really feel tat you want to have something sweet, have a fruit, maybe an apple or a banana, it is much better than chocolate or other types of candy, and you can have those mini mars, twix, etc...  maybe once or twice a week, because they have about 100 kcal each.

And remember that a small reward every two or three weeks won't be that bad if you control the portions, I mean don't reward yourself with a double cheese burger, a small bar of your favorite chocolate would be a better choice, and always think of your goal before you eat anything extra, and it makes it harder to reach it.

I try to view my changes in eating habbits as health related not weight related.  Same goes for exercise, it's not to lose weight, it's to be healthier.  Being healthier is the goal, losing weight is a bonus.

I also find that substituting something unhealthy for something healthy helps take the "edge" of your craving.

If I am craving chips I tell myself that I will have a few olives or a cucumber and tomato salad first, by the time I am done eating I don't crave the chips so much anymore.  Helps for me...

One very simple tip that my cousin taught me is to always grab a small plate (at home, at events etc). That helps with portion control and I find it works.

Also, I am a career person and I hate cooking. On Sundays I prepare all of my lunches for the week. I cut up all the veggies for the week, make a soup that I can bring to work, and any other items. Preparing ahead of time is what has kept me on track.

That is good advice, another good saying that helps me keep on track is:

"Once on the lips, forever on the hips"

when I go to take a bite of something that is bad I always think of this and it helps

When I start craving sweets, I ask myself if I really, really want to undo all the hard work I've put in the almost 9 months. Or I look at all the beautiful clothes I recently bought (have swapped food rewards for shopping, so much more fun) I ask myself if I really don't want them to fit me anymore.

And most of all, I ask myself if I like the way I look now (a resounding yes I've lost over 80lbs and dropped 5 dress sizes) and think about how I'd hate looking at myself in the mirror if I gave in to ALL my cravings.

I've pretty much gotten used to healthier eating and the cravings aren't as strong anymore (only when I'm PMSing haha).  Plus I keep to my cheat day religiously. I'd have treats on Sundays, which is really important to me. Although, and this is the important bit: I stay within my calorie allowance for maintenance. Plus the shock that gives  my metabolism from time to time can only be good for it. :p

Breathing helps. Piano and art help very well. Just being ina good mood. As for more specific stuff then i think the best method is to talk to yourself in a very serious manner without scolding. Just ask yourself why are you always fighting with yourself? why war? make peace. Imagine there is no I-good and I-bad. There is only one, preferably positive

I just think the best thing a person can do is simply eliminate salt in all food and I realize a lot of stuff already has salt in it but I swear that if you drastically cut back on salt for a period of time you will find you cannot eat salty food anymore and the same is for sugar but I find salt is more of a culprit

Hi All,

Here's hoping that some CC forum reader will reach their goal faster from the reading the great tips in this thread. I certainly found some I closely related with.

x

What a great conversation!!  Inspiring........

My one "tip" is that I remind myself when I have something to eat that I especially want and really enjoy is...."my mouth and taste buds do not know if I'm eating a bucket of this stuff or a spoonful of this stuff"...........and then I try to enjoy the small amount I've taken of the food I'm enjoying.   This really worked for me at Thanksgiving.   I "sampled" all my favorites....ate a lot of salad and vegetables to fill me up.....but the samples satisfied me as if I had eaten tons of the foods I shouldn't.     I never allowed myself to get hungry, so I wasn't really tempted to go overboard.   I wouldn't suggest trying this technique if you're ravenous because you might lose control.  Try it.

I hear you exactly.

I try and say to myself when deciding if I am going to have the Candy...

"This will go directly to my hips and butt, and will it make me happy when 2 days later I see it?

I wish "us" good luck to a no candy or very little candy year!

Christine

Original Post by anniepook:

Original Post by stevis78:

Every day, tell yourself to wait until tomorrow to pig out.  Then the next day, tell yourself the same thing.  Procrastination, but in a good way.

 Good strategy! That's exactly how I quit smoking.

that's an amazing tip, thanks!

thanks for sharing your tips, i am struggling, and when i don't see immediate results want to stop but i know i cant!  thank you thank you!!