What's YOUR Weight Loss Tip/Secret?

Hey all! Ihilani here =) Aloha!

So I just wanted to post a fun, motivational, informative thread.

What's your weight loss secret/tip? What's the main thing that has helped you, personally, lose weight and keep it off?

Mine: PLENTY of water. Keeps your body hydrated and fills you up before, during and after any meal! =) Also, eating every 3-5 hours to keep up your metabolism.

And, of course, at least 30 minutes worth of exercise 4-5 days a week! =)

Love and Alohas!
Ihilani

I will have to agree with the water and exercise. Also being completely honest with myself and what Im eating! One must count every last crumb. VEGGIES...such a small amount of calories yet make you SO full.

Water agreed.

Other "secrets":

-Get rid of sauces in your household. I used to eat lot's of yogurt dressing to my meals(yeah lol). It only contained "15% fat" oh well, it turned out that 80% of the rest was WATER, great, so it was almost 100% cals from fat after all ;)

-Ketchup(and other tomatoe sauces) is fine, eat it. It's the only "sauce" you should think of!

-Get rid of CHEESE! And also YOGURTS! JUST DON'T TOUCH THEM! THEY ARE EVIL!

-stop snacking all the time! if you wan't to snack, have an apple or banana or other fruit ready. They might also have some cals inside them, but i t's no comparison to what sweets have!

-be active, working out is fine if you're in an office job. If you're in a job where you're busy all the time, on your feet, going arround never sitting(like me) then forget about working out to some extend. Do it when you have a day off, that will be enough!

-DON'T SKIP BREAKFAST! I can't say this often enough, it's really important to eat early or your metabolism won't turn on fast enough. It's fine to only eat about 200 cals at breakfast, so don't worry! It doesn't even matter what you eat at breakfast, but it would be best to have high fibre bread with protein(yeah i know, not everyone can eat ham in the morning ^^) and possibly a really low amount of fat.

-Drink a glass of water when you wake up, it will wake you up and it is said that you burn additional 50 cals by doing so first thing in the morning!

That's it from me so far :)

-Making sure the fat cals in the foods you eat are less than or equal to 30%.

-LOTS OF WATER

-Make sure that you look at the ingredients in the food you eat too.  Look for hidden sugars like dextrose, sucrose, etc. and corn syrup. 

-Instead of a glass of orange juice, eat an actual orange, way less cals.

-Wait a while after you eat before you exercise or vice versa.

-No soda, even diet.  Recent studies have linked even diet sodas to health problems like low HDL, increased blood sugar, and heart disease.  It's not good stuff...

-Don't eat in front of the TV.

Learn what an ounce is.  An ounce of meat, of fruit, of pasta, of whatever.   When I started measuring things out I realized that it is no wonder I wiegh so dang much!   I am 43 years old and just now figuring out what a "serving" is.

For me, the biggest key has been never saying "I CAN'T eat any......."

If I want chocolate, I eat chocolate.  I have just found that over time, I don't want it, and I am not willing to "pay" for it by sacrificing my other calories.  I am not feeling deprived at all.

Cut out the empty carbs.

Set small realistic goals.

Visualize where you would like to end up - realistically of course.

Seek out good role models and emulate them.

Dark chocolate!! At least maybe one or two pieces of dark chocolate (70% cacao) every day. It helps me because it doesn't taste as good as milk chocolate (of course) but it still kills my sweet tooth and saves me from devouring an entire milk chocolate 1/2 pound hershey bar! And it's good for the heart.

My only secret is to stay off my butt.

Even as I type, I'm standing because in about seven seconds I have to dart across the room to get the kittens our of my school books before they terrorise my notes.

And now that my books are safe, I'm going back to stretching.  And then homework.  Oooooh, the homework...

vendetta- yogurt is not "evil"

its actually good for you if you buy the nonfat kind and mix it with some fruit. its the ones made with whole milk and lots of added sugar that can get cha.

and cheese is okay. you can find low fat or fat free and use it moderately..

vendetta- yogurt is not "evil"

its actually good for you if you buy the nonfat kind and mix it with some fruit. its the ones made with whole milk and lots of added sugar that can get cha.

and cheese is okay. you can find low fat or fat free and use it moderately..

I agree with Kayla... yogurt is definitely not evil, especially the ones with live and active cultures because they help fight yeast infections, gastrointestinal infections and helps a LOT with the immune system. It can also prevent certain types of cancer.

However, don't get yogurt confused with the candy-coated topping imposters on things like "yogurt covered pretzels" or candies.

There are healthy brands of yogurt, and not so healthy. Some may contain more sugar than others, like the ones geared specifically toward kids. Yogurt is fine and perfectly healthy as long as you know which kind to get.

I lost about 80lbs in the past and ate nothing but sandwiches (WITH cheese) and yogurt. Yogurt and fruit for breakfast, sandwich and yogurt for dinner, and another two sandwiches (or chicken and veggies) for dinner.

Eat healthy and you'll lose weight; it's KEY!

Water, Water, Water, Water.....I drink it non-stop! If I have to drink something with flavor I drink crystal light. I also started working out with a rubber sweat suit to really get my body to sweat and it really works!! I try and trick my body and not do the same workout routine everyday, keep th ebody guessing.

EXERCISE!

1) no junk food in the house... AT ALL
2) for munchies: air popped pop corn sprayed w/cooking spray and a)splenda and cinnamon for a sweet craving or b) salt for...*duh*
3) oatmeal for breakfast
4) GEORGE FOREMAN! I buy bulk boneless chicken breasts, cut them into 3-4oz portions, and freeze them (individually wrapped in celophane, and then packed in a freezer bag), so that all I have to do is pull one out in the morning and place it in the fridge for dinner
5) Progresso's 100 c/serving soups (yeah, sodium levels are high, but dude... check out the v-o-l-u-m-e!)
6) caffeine pills 30-40 minutes before a workout to jazz me up
7) turning off the tv *tear*

Keep a food diary every day, step on the scale every day... and chart your progress.

I have a friend who dieted and lost 50 pounds. She didn't want to keep a chart... even though I offered to make her one.  Well, dang it, I made a chart, and posted it on the wall in my home office, just didn't tell her. She would weigh in at the gym, and always tell me her progress.  I would go home and mark it on the chart.  She would have days when she thought her progress stalled... she believed she hadn't lost anything.  I would go home and check her chart, then send her an email saying, "Nope you're doing great... you still lost a half pound over last week."  Or, "Yeah, you went up a smidge this week, but last week you lost three pounds, so you're doing great." People's perceptions about their progress is often different than reality.  (I eventually told her about the chart, and we laughed about it.)

My husband started losing weight last winter, then got sidetracked for several weeks and regained some.  So I made him a chart.  Starting from when he first started losing, I happened to know his progress dates (had included note in emails to friends) so was able to reconstruct. He started using the chart, and got back on track. He's lost about 30 pounds so far.  So charts help you be accountable.

That chart idea is a good one. I weigh in every week (Sundays or Mondays) and I write down my weight and compare it to the week before. I also keep track of my calories, but I'm falling out of that routine for the simple fact that there are some things that I just can't find the calories for and there's no point in estimating because I'll probably be completely off.

I think, starting tomorrow, I'm going to be a little more strict on myself. I've been eating a lot lately, even when I know I'm not HUNGRY just BORED or just because something sounds good. Like today... I had chicken for lunch. It was good and it filled me up, but I also had a sandwich that ALSO sounded good. Instead of saving the sandwich for later, I decided to eat it right after the chicken just because I wanted it right then and there. So now I've just about reached my calories for the day.

Starting tomorrow I plan on having 5 small meals consisting of 1 serving (3/4 cup) of Total (bran cereal), 1c skim milk and 1 fruit, probably a small banana. I want to see how effective that is. I'll try it for maybe 5 days.

Initially, I wanted to try the diabetic exchange diet but it's too much measuring and too much special foods. I don't plan on going out and buying a ton of foods just to make sure I have the perfect menu that is compatible with my diet. Right now, I have like 3 boxes of Total cereal just waiting to be eaten, so I think I'll finish that up first.

KEEP COMIN' WITH THE PERSONAL TIPS/SECRETS! What works for you?

-Love and Alohas-
*Ihilani*

More exercise, always veggies and fruit around to snack on, and cook something good every night. Grilled shrimps, other fish, some chicken, sometimes just a great salad. One wine or beer with it to make it a real nice sit down dinner. Oh, and it helps tremendously to have my husband on board with it.

eat less.  works wonders.

- Definitely, drink loads of water. I aim for the recommended 2 litres a day. 
- Don't have anything with aspertame in, like diet coke, "no added sugar" squash etc.
- Green tea extract tablets
- Moderation!!