If you could offer ONE piece of advice you've learned the hard way to someone, what would it be?

So most of us have made mistakes doing this whole Weight Loss thing. We've tried a bad diet, tried diet pills, maybe we put ourselves in Starvation Mode. Whatever.

If you could offer ONE piece of advice, something you'd learned yourself to avoid, to the people on this site, would it be?

My piece of advice...

Log your calories, semi-regularly. It's just way too easy to lose track of what you're ACTUALLY eating when you don't log your calories. Logging keeps you honest and helps you keep control of what goes into your mouth.

My advice

"Diets dont work!"

If you see this whole eating well thing as temporary then your wieght loss and overall healthy lifestlyle will be the same!

I am not on a diet, I eat well, exercise regularly, if i fancy chocolate I eat a piece, but 99% of the time I make healthy choices in my diet.

Unfortunately, one of the problems I think is happening when kids are given the option of throwing away their food is that they selectively pick the foods that taste good to them and throwing away the good stuff (ie, vegetables) And I still think that if they are given the option of wasting food, they are more likely to become spoiled just from the lifestyle. Just making sure, though, the style of eating that we're talking about is self-serve at the dinner table, or set plates with a certain amount of portions of certain foods? Overall, though, like I said, this is my opinion, and my Asian background tends to condone that kind of lifestyle for kids.

-edit-

Wait a sec, how did I even get backed into this position?  It's not like I'm all for forcing kids to eat their food.  I am just pointing out that wasting it so easily is a bad habit. x_X

well i guess another weight loss (or maintenance) piece of advice is to respect food. there that should cover the kids thing (just to get us back on track here)

- Start each day fresh...This is a main one for me especially when i have an "off" day and i feel really depressed i just tell myself to do better the next day

Great thread!

Three things...

#1 - Eat to live...not live to eat. There's so much more to life than food! (though it's one of the more enjoyable things)

#2 - Diets don't work, as many have said here already. Chantel Hobbs writes in her book, "Never say Diet", that in order to lose weight and keep it off we have to go through a "brain change".  Learning to eat smart and be active...takes some minor adjustments in our thinking.

#3 - Tomorrow's a new day! We all have bad days when we go for that quart of ice cream and eat like it only has 100 calories in it.   Don't give up on yourself. Keep working on being the best YOU you can be.

don't lose hope.

Don't blame.  All those years I thought I didn't have enough willpower - now I know I had low blood sugar. 

Find out what your emotional needs are - and satisfy them!!

It takes 21 days to form a habit.

 

let yourself live a little.

 

I've adopted this one. I don't deprive myself of anything anymore. If I want Ben & Jerry's I eat it. I try and make sure it goes into my calories, but if I go over, oh well, tomorrow's another day. Deprivation just led to hating food, hating myself for wanting the 'bad food', and feeling crappy when I wanted something I 'couldn't have.

Have foods you want, in moderation. Never deprive yourself completely. It will only lead to binges, to hurt feelings, to guilt, and to a cycle of hatred. Eck.

my advice is just dont drink alcohol

i drink a couple of pints and before i know it ive drank 8 more, a few shots then had a large Dominos to myself with extra chicken strippers.

alcohol is a nightmare

Original Post by white_sakura:

Original Post by jennpz89:

Original Post by cellophane_star:

Stay motivated! Don't give up! It gets easier with time.

It took you a number of years to gain weight... it's not going to come off overnight. Keep your eyes on the prize.

Be informed and don't fall for/rely on "diet" food. Eat real food (in proper portions).

Exercise! Get active!

The number on the scale shouldn't determine how you feel about yourself and your progress.

It's ok to say NO to food and it's ok to NOT clean your plate.

AMEN to the last one!!!

It's crazy how some people (ie. me in the past) think they will die if they don't clean their plate. Parents should stop teaching kids this.

Well, it IS wasting food...and the food you wasted could be used to feed one starving kid in Africa.  Just pointing out that it's not a good habit to be wasting resources that could have been allocated elsewhere.

 It's also wasting it if you eat it when you don't need it.

i would sayyy.... dont get disssapointed by the scale when it doesnt telll you what you wanttt.

 

just stay motivated and make that make you work harderr!!!!!!!

 

 

 

:)

My advice is to get new cloths! When I started to loose my weight I continued to wear my old cloths that was to big. I felt like I had not lost anything even though the scale said I have. The cloths where to big, but I use to hate shopping because, I would pick a cute shirt or a pair of pants and they would be to small and nothing would fit that I like! So, after I lost weight I pushed myself into a clothing store. To my surprise I had to go 2 sizes down! I was so excitied at the size that I was in know! I tried on everthing! Getting cloths in a smaller size and being able to see your hard work is such wonderful motivation!!

DON'T GIVE UP!!!

My one piece of advice: dont look at it as a diet, but as a lifestyle change - it's the only way to lose weight and KEEP it off.

I lost about 70 lbs and have kept it off for over 5 years, but i made sure it was a slow process...and i've regained a few pounds here and there, but have always maintained a smaller healthier weight.

it's a working process and it never ends. cheat for a day, even a few when on vacation, but remember, to keep the weight off, you have to stick to what you have started for life.

I loved the cheesey British tv show! I thought it was great.

Dont crash diet!! It took years to gain the weight so its gonna take some time to loose it

well... where do i begin

what i have learned is

1  dont ever completely deprive yourself of anything  moderation is key

2 if you have a binge in the morning or a huge piece of cake at lunch dont think that its ok to just let the rest of that day go... never wait till tomorrow

3 know that the results you want will only come with time

Be honest to yourself!  Know what you are putting into your body, ignorance will keep you from losing weight!  If you want a piece of cake, then eat it knowing your are consuming 300+ calories.  Don't lie to yourself and say, oh it is only 100 calories...you know!

 

On the subject of feeding children, if you are throwing away food then it is the parents fault not the kids.  You are preparing and serving the food, you are ultimately responsible to know your child's limits.  I usually give my children a small serving of what ever dinner may be.   I don't make them finish it, if they barely touch it and aren't hungry then they are done until snack time or the next meal.  However if they finish their initial serving of dinner and want more of anything (potatoes, meat, veggies) then they must have eaten everything including their vegetables.  Then I will give them only a smaller portions than I previously gave them of everything including vegetables.  Again if they finish that and want more, then I give them an even smaller portion...ect until they are full.  If you start out with a small portion and gradually get smaller and smaller then they can learn where their limits are without leaving a large amount of food on their plates.  Therefore very little food is wasted!

If you really want to lose weight, make an effort. 

A girl asked my boyfriend for weight-loss advice recently (he had lost a lot of weight the past few months).  He suggested that she cut down on calories; she said she didn't want to change how much she ate.  He said add some exercise to your routine; she said she didn't like exercise.  He said exchange some of your meals for a low-calorie salad; she said she doesn't like salad.  Well??  I guess she thinks she can wish those pounds away.

I never contimplated eating off of a smaller plate. Sounds like a great idea, and I will be trying it!

Stay true to yourself.