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.

alcohol the secret calorie packer, even wine and straight distilled spirits have a heavy impact.  Of course, not as much as beer and mixed drinks, margaritas and long island ice teas being two of the worse.

VTW

that was very inspiring.. good post
!! peace

Really get clear that this is a "forever"change, so make the food choices and the calorie counting work for the long term.

Dont "give up" high calorie  favorite foods, just make them a treat instead of a daily practice.

I advocate giving up booze altogether for the first few months, because there is nothing like it to undermine your sense of purpose and your conscious contact with what you are eating.

Dont organize your whole life around eating or dieting. Food is a part of life, and necessary to sustain it, but unless you are a chef it is not the main focus of your daily activity or thoughts.  

hey paul

 

What a great thread, especially the geeky/nerdy bits!  Personally, I feel that anyone that prefers the movie to the original UK TV series is simply wrong!  Seriously, I've enjoyed reading everyon's advice - wonderfully motivating.

So, my advice - I'm probably re-iterating what others have said, but:

This is a lifestyle change.  There will be days that don't go so well but don't beat yourself up.  Tomorrow is another day - learn from today, forgive yourself and move on.

If you really want something then plan for it.  As someone else said, much better than I am, if you deny yourself, you'll probably end up bingeing on whatever it is.

Don't give up!  Keep logging on here, keep talking to people and just hang in there.  My motivation disappeared for around 6 months, but sticking with CC meant that I pretty much maintained (instead of gaining - my usual pattern) and all the support I received has paid off - I'm losing weight again.

"Never give up, never surrender!"

My advice...

1. NEVER weigh yourself after a big meal unless you want to become chronically depressed

2. Eating late at night does WAY more harm than good

3. Binging and then fasting... not a good combo. Not a good combo at all. Just don't binge, and you won't need to fast! See how easy that is ?

4. When you do strength training and build up muscle, then you stop exercising for a while, your muscles will get droopy and disgustingly flabby. You can either do two things: Don't gain muscle in the first place, or make SURE you stay consistent with your work out patterns.

Try to keep up no matter what!seeing your old xxl clothes fit again after you were an xs it is the most horrible feeling!NEVER GIVE UP AND LET GO!NEVER

Your body needs more than just calories. There is no point in filling up with junk food, even if you are under maintenance calories. Treat your body with respect.

 

On the other hand, there is absolutely no point in beating yourself up about the slice of someone's birthday cake you had. You will occasionally want chocolate, chips and pizza. Indulging is not a reason fall into a pit of despair. It soul-destroying, not to mention annoying to people around you.

 

Be honest: think of someone you really, really love. Say they stand to lose some weight. Would you give them as hard a time for having a "forbidden" snack as you give yourself?

Never. Give. Up.

The main one I learned (and wish I knew before) is:

It takes only 21 days to create a habit - if you  follow the "rules" of calorie counting and clean eating religiously for 21 days, by no means depriving yourself from the things you love to eat (moderation is the key, though!), after 21 days you should have created a habit of healthy eating. 

...and we all know old habits are hard to break, and the only way to break a habit is to replace it with a new habit.. 

(utilizing this knowledge I have so far lost 60 Lbs, never feeling deprived or starving  - and I have been at this life change for 8 months now)

 

My advice would be first to understand serving sizes. I have been counting calories on and off since January and finally I THINK I am understanding what my body needs on a daily basis. I can feel it when I over eat or drink too much like never before. It really makes me feel terrible, upset stomach and all that.  It has taken a while, but the cravings have gone away.

Also if you have the time and the means I recommend going on a fitness retreat. I went on a meditation and yoga retreat for a week. All the meals were included-- and they were delicious. I began eating mindfully... and not quickly, but at a natural pace. I lost quite a few pounds that week and never felt better.

Hi there,

I am new here but I have done something successfully which is using the palm of my hands to count food. Meaning pasta takes half of my palm and meat takes one and veggies take one times three. It was so easy for me and I will still stick to it.

 

regards

the most important thing I have learned is not to ever tell myself I CAN'T have something...if I want it, I have it...in moderation...and then make up for it by stepping up my exercise or cutting back somewhere else. Once I tell myself I can't have something I find that I start obsessing over it and that is never a good thing!

Plan...Plan...Plan... Figure out what you are going to eat the day before you eat it. If you find that you like a "treat" of whatever it is, factor it into you meals for the day. Everything in moderation, so treat yourself in moderation...everyday, week or whatever you need. Give yourself time. Working out is a short part of your day. Food is 24x7. It will take time to feel comfortable with your healthy habits, so set realistic goals and stick to it!

Here is what I learned form my failed attempts  in the past.

Don't expect what you don't inspect.     If you expect to loose weight you must do the following inspection tips!  

1) Inspect your weight daily by stepping on the scale every morning same time same light clothing.

2) Writing everything down and look it over before each meal and at the end of the day to see where you are in your plan and if you are sticking to it.  To see if you need to make adjustments to make up for slips.

3) Note every success.  That includes noticing a weight increase when it first occurs and then adding some exercise time and reducing calorie intake back to the plan starting with the very next planned meal.    That is a success in itself.

Other thing I learned is change your thinking about food.  Change the way you eat by eating slowly and without distractions.  Put the fork or spoon down between each bite and chew slowly and concentrate on the taste of the food.   Don't put more on your plate than you plan to eat.  Make bite sizes small and try to enjoy each bite as much as possible.  Even this act is an inspection of how your eating and what it tastes like.

Measure out 3 liters of water each morning for the days drinking.  To make sure you drink your water.  OR write down what you have been drinking.  

Inspect your urine each time to elminate it to be sure it is clear.  If it is dark you need more water.

Don't drink at the same time you eat or you will not get the most out of your food and then you'll end up hungry again before its time to eat again. 

Inspect your work outs.   IF they are too long  or too tense you won't stay with it.  Better to have a 10 minute workout three times a day then to have one 30 minute excercies if 30 minutes is too long for you to endure each day.   Breaking up the exercise into 10 minutes sessions still has accumulative effect and burns up some of the daily calorie intake.   So do what works for you not what works for somone else. 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing ...

There are no bad foods, only bad diets.  Either your diet is balanced and moderate, or it's out of balance and not moderate (whether from overeating or undereating).

 

I've learned lots of very useful things in this journey...but what let me make use of all this knowlege and enabled me to reach my goals (finally after 4 years of attempting and failing) is just one scentence: "Look at this journey as a Lifestyle Change rather than a Remedy!

Since I started looking at it this way I become very Patience about my Weight Loss plan becuae I made up my mind that there is No End to it. And there are of course days that I fall off the track, but I say to myself I will go back to my normal healthy lifestyle tomorrow!