Share your Diet Tips "To Live By"

If you could give just one piece of advice that you feel helped in your quest to weight loss, what would it be?  Whether it be an unknown exercise tip, healthy dessert recipe, or excellent motivator- let us know!  What is the best diet tip you've ever recieved?

I used to mess up and eat something I shouldn't and then instead of stopping I would think, "crap, I've already screwed today up, might as well just start again tomorrow." and then consume who knows how much more bad food.  My diet tip is to move on with the day and if you eat something bad don't let it be the reason that you give up.  You haven't failed, you've just acquired a learning experience.   

I do that ALL the time.  If I grab a cookie I think "Well I already messed up, why not eat another"  and then another becomes half the box.  I've done that sort of thing the past two days. 

There are a few phrases that struck a chord when I started to get my weight under control...

"Don't do anything to lose weight that you can't see yourself happily doing for the rest of your life".... this one has kept me away from fad diets, crazy exercise ideas and other flash-in-the-pan stuff that I've done in the past but couldn't keep up. 

"Let your body process your food rather than paying a factory to do it for you"  .... this one enabled me to make better food choices and fell more satisfied on fewer calories.

and

"Fill half your plate with vegetables before adding anything else"... this one keeps me on the straight and narrow in any meal situation - buffets, parties, meals out, barbecues.

Mine's a bit strange...

If you're thinking about eating a chocolate bar or something naughty and you know you shouldn't be... say a snickers bar - imagine that you're going to have to carry the snickers bar underneath your clothes as if it was a lump of fat.

Believe in yourself - take time to acknowledge your strengths.  Take time every day to encourage yourself, don't rely on others to do it for you.  Cultivate confidence!

Start slowly.  Dont try to implement all of your plans at once.  Start with small changes in your diet, adding more veggies for example.  As each small change becomes a habit - add something new, perhaps a daily walk or cutting out soda.

I agree with GI Jane - start as you mean to go on.  Whatever you do, make your new habits things you can do for the rest of your life. 

Learn to weigh and measure your food properly - buy a scale!  Learn what the scale weight of your food looks like.  It is usually less than the volume measurement.  It will help you proportion your food later when there is no scale. For example, 4 grams of sugar, 1 serving, is actually only about 1/2 teaspoon by volume. 

nutella85- OMG i thought that was just me hahahaha!!!! no way lol. it works for me, ive done that since bout 15yr of age lol.  i think oooh cud murder slice a cake hmm imagine it under my top stickin over my jeans....errr no ta.

it does work for me, visual imagery is a great vice for me.  in the same way that when i av silly urges to eat or drink summat that i dnt really want il look on topshop at the gorgeous clothes i wanna fit nicely into or the bikini i wanna buy or if im out, il picture me in the skinny jeans n heels i wanna wear or lyin on the beach etc.  works for me.

my best tip though, which is a new vice after a huge mental journey through discoverin CC is....its a battle of the brain.  sounds mad but wt i mean is it isnt ur body tellin u need a choc bar or a takeaway, its ur brain makin u think that because of bad habits uve developed over the yrs.  not sayin u cant have em u can but fewer n better options maybe.

my biggest discovery was when i realised i control myself, food isnt my enemy its merely bad habits my brain has developed so its a case of retrainin n changin thought patterns.   been few weeks n ive never been so relaxed about food, a bad day is a bad day, theyre gonna happen throughout my life just go bk to norm the next day....never done that before. lol.   im not obsessed by food, i dnt despise it n i realise its merely a fuel for my body n an occasional treat for my brain

Hope it makes sense, works for me lol :-)  Im not crazy honest lol

Mine is less of a diet tip as it is a life tip that applies to dieting.

No matter how much you mess up (whether it's food, or exercise, or in your personal relationships or in your professional life), fix what you can, move on, and focus on doing the next right thing.

We are all human.  We make bad choices.  We make mistakes.  All we can do is learn from them and strive to not allow one mistake to compound.  Regardless of your last choice, make your next choice right.

After a meal if you're hungry still, wait 5-10 mins and drink a pint of water before going back for seconds. For me, It takes my tummy time to catch up. By the time I used to have seconds.. 20 mins later Id be in agony Id be so bloated and stuffed. I cant say I'm over that completely but im aware at least Im probably not still hungry. :)

Take a walk!

My "trouble" time for healthy eating used to come after work and before dinner.  I was ravenous and very susceptible to high calorie snacks at this time.  Now, I take a nice walk after work (20 to 45 minutes), come home, have a big glass of water, and start dinner prep.  Much easier to avoid snacking and "tasting", and my appetite is good for a healthy dinner.  Somehow the walk suppresses my urge to eat junky snacks while making dinner really appetising.  This habit has become a calorie lifesaver for me.

Find healthier ways of preparing some of your food favorites.  For example, substituting ground chuck with ground white turkey or super lean beef into your meatloaf really makes a big difference.  Use mustard instead of mayo most of the time.  Use cooking spray instead of butter or oil whenever possible.  Allow yourself treats.  I buy quite a few non-fat frozen yogurts or no sugar added ice creams to get my "sweet" fix.  All of these small, simple things really add up over the long haul and you will never feel deprived when eating this way.  That is the key to me is to never feel as though "I'm on a diet."

The famous saying that is taped to my refrigerator door .. "EAT TO LIVE, DONT LIVE TO EAT"

I read a book a few years ago where an author describes how she lost a huge amount of weight through Overeaters Anonymous.  She said she called her sponsor one morning saying "I can't do this, I can't eat oatmeal for breakfast and salad for lunch, it's so depressing, etc., etc." and her sponsor said "can you do it for today?  JUST for today?" and she said "Sure, I can do it just for TODAY!" and the sponsor said "Then do it for today, and we'll deal with tomorrow when it comes." 

I think that's excellent advice.  I get depressed thinking so far ahead.  Try it one day at a time when it feels like you'll be doing this forever and before you know it you've lost some weight.

Never eat anything straight from the package! One serving will quickly become 4!!!!!!!! Unless of course it's a single serving package.

Thank you Jack Links Beef Jerky for single serving packs. LOL!

This is what I do and it works great! I used to be much smaller (college, baby, stress.... 40 pounds later)- I put a past pic of myself on the refrigerator as a reminder of what I want to be again.

My best tip isn't diet advice either; I was not able to successfully lose weight and keep it off until I quit beating myself up over being fat.  Once I accepted that I'm not a horrible person because of my weight I was able to start looking at things objectively and began making better choices and before I knew it the weight started coming off. 

I am a 52 year old woman and have lost 25 pounds in the last 3 month (30 left to go) using this site.

The biggest thing that I have learned and my best advise to others is to make sure you eat enough!  I struggle to get the 1650 calories in every day now that I am not eating junk food but find that I lose the most weight when I eat 1650 and sometimes have a little splurge of a big meal and go over that amount.

All those years of restricting my food intake (not necessarily to lose weight) caused my weight to creep up, so I am hoping that I remember this lesson and keep eating enough.

The best advice that I had was to cut out the "shouldn'ts" and the negative thinking. This helped me beyond measure. I now can eat anything I want with no guilt because I discern what I really want to eat, instead of doing what the imaginary food police think I should do. I now eat healthier food, exercise more and have a better self image and attitude.

I've never been successful at weight loss until I started a food journal.  I know it's not new advice, but it's the best advice.  Write down everything you eat.  I also include my weight goal in the journal, as well as my daily weight.  This way I can look back over a week or two and see the progress.  It's nice to be reminded of where you started.

I agree a journal is an excellent way to keep track. I not only list food and weight, but I also include my mood, sleep patterns, exercise goals and accomplishments. Moreover, I have made long and short terms goals (other that weight) so that I can be reminded of where I was and where I am going.

I really like that thoguht about picturing the food as fat on different parts of one's body - burger belly - aaah.  I am going to try that.  Thanks for the laugh!