valuable lesson

have u been on CC for awhile now and u r effectively walking towards ur goal weight or have already achieved it ??

what is the most valuable lesson you can pass to new members who just started??... what mistakes did u make and wish someone told u about before??

just share any advice or useful thought :)

lessons learned...

if you mess up... don't beat yourself up about it! just keep going! this should be a lifestyle change and you can't expect to accomplish all your goals in a week :)

and.. without a good diet... exercise is kind of pointless. if you don't eat what your body needs, how would you expect it to perform properly?

NEVER GIVE UP!! EVERYONE DESERVES TO BE HAPPY AND HEALTHY!!

I am definitely getting there at an average 2 lbs a week. (Actually, I'm able to drop a lot faster but had a slight spring break backslide.)

For me, the first two weeks were ROUGH. Just stick with it. It's ok to have an off day when you've been doing well for the rest of the week, so don't stress and don't guilt and just start again tomorrow.

A kitchen scale and measuring cups are your best friends!

Reasonable portions sizes can be quite surprising until you've been measuring for awhile.

EAT SLOWLY!  That one seriously helped a ton!  I didn't realize how I used to just shovel food in without thinking until I made a conscious effort to slow down.

DO NOT UNDEREAT!  Yeah it just sets you up for LOTS of bad stuff later!

DRINK LOTS OF WATER! 

And a tip that really helped me:  eating with smaller utensils and dishes.  I put food in the smallest bowl/on the smallest plate possible to hold one serving.  That way, it looks like a lot and it's really hard to overfill your plate.  My favorite was to eat my oatmeal with a baby spoon =P It was actually kinda fun!

If you weigh yourself every day or even if not - DON"T FREAK out over fluctuations!  It's natural for you to weigh in a range (depending on the person could be 8 lbs).  So if you eat really well and work out and the scale says you've gained - Don't get depressed, just keep on doing well and you will see progress!!!  I promise!

Also, take your measurements when you start and every month or two weeks.  It will really help you see how you're getting smaller, esp if you get discouraged. 

Set a calorie range so that you can have room for treats if you need them.

today I discovered that by adding 500 (the daily deficit one needs to create a 3500 overall caloric deficit to lose just one pound) to my calorie intake, then subtracting that number from my overall expenditure helps me keep that deficit in mind, as the caloric expenditure advances over the course of the day, when you do that calculation and the difference is 200 or 300 or even just one hundred you can time your snacks to keep on track and keep your metabolism working throughout the day. I'm pretty proud of myself (not being big on math or figuring things)

Original Post by smwhipple:

Set a calorie range so that you can have room for treats if you need them.

 smwhipple ... can u give me an example to get what u mean...

Original Post by yuyie:

Original Post by smwhipple:

Set a calorie range so that you can have room for treats if you need them.

 smwhipple ... can u give me an example to get what u mean...

I think I can give an example... I always try to eat within 100 calories of 1500. So, like tonight for instance, I'm at 1475 and I really am craving something sweet so I'm going to have a 100 cal ice cream. Other nights I don't feel like I want something and I end up having 1400 calories.

Original Post by avengingadrienne:

today I discovered that by adding 500 (the daily deficit one needs to create a 3500 overall caloric deficit to lose just one pound) to my calorie intake, then subtracting that number from my overall expenditure helps me keep that deficit in mind, as the caloric expenditure advances over the course of the day, when you do that calculation and the difference is 200 or 300 or even just one hundred you can time your snacks to keep on track and keep your metabolism working throughout the day. I'm pretty proud of myself (not being big on math or figuring things)

hmm, interesting. can you expand upon this further? thank

Drinks lots of water, all day long.

Don't undereat during the day, it'll just lead to eating too fast or making poor food choices later (I tend to shovel food down as soon as I get home at night, so I try to have a light snack right before I leave work and it makes me not starving and able to make good choices).

Brush your teeth/chew minty gum at night/after dinner, especially if you're a late night muncher, like me :)

scarter17 - That is a really good idea.  I get a major sweet tooth after dinner so chewing gum is a good way to help fight the cravings.  I am also a big fan of sugar free popcicles - they are 15 calories and if you have a major late night sweet tooth they work really well. 

have a "free day" either once a week, or once every two weeks, whatever works best for you, really helps. Now, I'm not saying to go and completely pig out, but relax on the counting for the day and it'll keep you from going overboard. i.e. lets say you REALLY want icecream or whatevever that "it" thing may be. Just remember that you can have some on your "free day".

It really helps you control cravings too.

1. Eat plenty of fiber. (It's tougher than it sounds)

2. Drink lots of water.

3. Change your routine once in a while. You could call it a cheat day, but I find that if I eat really "bad" once in a while, it actually helps trigger weight loss. Sometimes I take a break from working out. Sometimes I work out a little more.

I'm not on the right track yet. It's been a month and I'm trying to learn my lesson now. I started on Feb 29 and By now I actually GAINED 6 pounds :(.

Check on a food and (possibly) log it BEFORE you eat until you know how many calories are in things.  I will never forget the time I ordered something from Burger King that I figured would be at most 500 calories and then found out AFTER I ate it that it was over 1,000!

I have a cute little dress I have not worn in over 2.5 years because I gained 10 pounds and it would not fit anymore all this time. 

I am going on a trip soon and want to wear it, plus it's just time for that extra 10 to go.  

I took it out of hiding and put it on the back of my bedroom door so it's there letting me know that it's time to get back into it. I tried it on the other night after only 2 weeks of efforts and it's starting to look good again.  Still a little bit tight but it's motivation to keep going and look great in it again! And to maintain the weight and not have it come back on again.

I've lost six pounds in the last six weeks. All I changed was no SODA! Biggest adjustment, and lots of cravings at first, but I was successful.

I am a vegetarian as well, and I walk a lot, I try to walk atleast four days a week. I dance twice a week as well.

Also, I never eat fast food. If it has a drive through I drive past it.

When I eat out, either I order it to go so that I can take it home, and put it on a small plate, or I ask for a smaller plate if i eat in the restaurant.  It really helps with portion control.

 

I use small paper cups (4 oz -  The kind that go in a dispenser in the bathroom) for portion control of things like nuts or pretzels.  I also use custard cups for portion control for rice, soups, coleslaw, etc. 

I decided to make a life style change as a new years resolution, so started January 1st weighing 220lb.  I was determined not to start something I couldn't finish so avoided making wishywashy resolutions but focussed on S>M>A>R>T> goals (an anacronym standing for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely goals).

For the first month I didn't weigh myself at all - just focussed on forming new healthy habits.  At that stage i hadn't discovered CC, so wasn't calorie counting or label reading at all.  The healthy habits I worked on were giving up coffee and drinking more water, eating 2 pieces of fruit a day and eating 5 types of veges a day and reducing the amount of bread I ate. Later i added a goal to aim for betwen 1400 and 1800 cals per day.   So far, I have lost 16lb. 

I do use CC to check my calorie intake - but not every day as I've come to know some basic patterns.  eg.  I know how much my apple and yogurt morning tea is so don't need to log it all the time.  I now focus more on logging my evening meal as this is the most changeable and least predictable part of my daily food intake.

I eat six times a day, never miss breakfast anymore!  I use a diet shake occassionally- eg. if I forgot to bring my lunch to work, I'll make up a shake rather than go out and buy takeaway food. My lunches and dinners only pass the grade with me if there are heaping helpings of at least 5 types of vegetables.  I try to make sure that I only have one high-carb vege at at time.

Now I am adding some new goals - to become consistent with a basic exercise program and to increase my hours of sleep!

Slow and steady is the way.

Good luck all!