[bel1a7]

how did you guys start dieting? i mean did you just cut out all the crap one day and ate healthy? anytime i go on a diet i get really pissy so im trying to go about this without freaking myself out

[Mrs Snark]

Well, one day I did indeed get rid of every crappy junk food item, work up a general meal plan, and bring in a nice selection of healthy foods. From that day forward I wrote down everything I ate and made sure to track calories so I could stay within my range. I also started exercising.

The first 3 days I basically felt like I was going to die, and then I still felt pissy for about another two weeks because my body was withdrawing from the serious overload of fat and sugar that had previously been the main staples of my diet. But I did start to feel better after those two weeks.

[WebRover]

Yes, that's how I started this time around. My husband's doctor told him to go on a specific plan. I stopped on the way home, bought the book, and shopped for Day One. While I was reading the information about the plan, we were following the menus in the book. After the first week, once I understood the plan, we strayed more from the menus, but stayed On Plan.

I know there are others here who started by changing just one thing. Either way can work.

[lorilove]

I did go cold turkey - but inorder to get mentally ready I quit my job. So on day one of unemployment I knew I had to make it worth it. The funny thing is the minute that I removed the major source of stress in my life, all emotional hunger immediately ceased.

If you have never done this before, I would recommend to log all of your food for one week based on how you currently eat. Nice to know your starting point. Once you evaluate that week, make some mini goals for the next week. Like keep to a certain number of calories, or only have two deserts during the week or make sure to increase fruits and veggies.

You can slowly work yourself into your overal plan.

[chick_in_the_hat]

Is there more to your plan than "cutting out crap and eating healthy"? If so - have at it. Just don't plan on being perfect all the time, if you have a day that is higher calorie than you planned for...log it and move on.

[JayEll]

Well... all I can say is that I had had enough! I knew what foods were helping me stay fat and get fatter, so I was pretty clear they had to go! I was pretty angry about the condition I'd let myself get into, being obese. That anger helped me "get tough" about some things.

For example, Doritos. I love them. They are little calorie bombs, however! Was I going to stay obese because I wanted to eat some flavored corn chips??? HECK NO! It seemed just pointless to get whiny about not having a certain junky crap food. It also sounded like I was about 3 years old! "Mommy mommy I want my Dorito!" Oh give me a break.

So, I spoke to the "adult in charge within" instead of the "child within" and made a plan. No food is off limits--but every food has its price to pay. It's my choice. Twelve Doritos for 140 calories? I don't think so... not if my goal is to, like, eat lunch that day!

So, you get the idea. I was motivated and wasn't going to listen to the pissy side...

Jay

[Heather]

I started more slowly. When I began, I just started bringing my lunches and snacks to work and watching portions. I did start thinking more about the KIND of food I was eating, but I didn't get rid of all the junk all at once.

I also started thinking about "moving more" but it wasn't really exercise. I tried to park further away and use my stairs more rather than "yelling up"...

But I WAS consistent. And I lost 12 pounds the first month or so before I really began counting calories...

[wannalosealot]

i just started this week, and what i gave up first was my reg coke... switched it to coke zero... i was drinking about 2 -2liter bottles per day, so just leaving the coke alone is dropping my normal cal intake per day by leaps and bounds... that is what im doing this week.. next week.. when more used to not havin reg coke, ill work more on what im eating... i should say here tho, im not a fan really of cake, pie, chocholate, etc.. so i will be mainly cutting out the fried foods.. fried foods and soda were my two worst.. one down.. one to go

[FB]

My personality is pretty much 'all or nothing'. I found inspiration because my son (4) picked out a few hoodies for me at Christmas. They totally did not fit. Not a chance in ****. My hubby gave me several cashmere sweaters- nope, not fitting.

Since this was Christmas, with the clichéd New Years resolutions around the corner I gave myself a start date of January 1st. With that in mind I mentally prepared myself for the next week and started on the 1st full blast.

I think having a specified start date is really what helped me get into gear.

I was pretty pissy too, but got over it once I started seeing results. Now weight loss makes up for a lack of buffalo sauce!

[punchthekeys]

I actually started with Nutrisystem. I was having trouble getting the motivation to eat healthy and start exercising. Nutrisystem gave me a plan that I had to adhere to and it really helped me start controlling my portions. Since the food was crappy and expensive, I switched to calorie counting after 3 months. I will say I'm thankful for Nutrisystem helping me on my way.

[Watercolor]

I did it the slow way.
I spent 5 years in therapy figuring out why I didn't want to take care of myself.
Of course, I was fat the whole time.
Now I get my issues and why dieting makes me pissy, and I've learned to deal with it.
So now it's time to get to the gritty business.
So I'm keeping an eye on my usual calories on Daily Plate.
And any minute now, watch out! I'll start doing 1600 cals a day.
And walking, oh yeah babee!!!

[elanelaine]

I started by counting calories and writing everything down. I never bought junk food to begin with so that wasn't a problem. My problem was not eating out. I made a reward sheet and for every five pounds lost I got myself something (ex. new pair of jeans, custom license plate, new hairdryer, etc).

I did really well for two months and then my fiance and I started to fall off the wagon (we are so bad for each other), but you just have to keep getting back on. Don't focus on falling off, but getting back on. I would recommend focusing on one thing. At first you want to do everything (lose weight, exercise, etc), but I just focused on counting calories and that was it. And amazingly enough I lost 20 pounds with just that.

[sumu1]

My turning point was when my mom said she was diabetic last Easter. And she was in a healthy weight range and exercised. She just ate wrong... all those years of fad dieting and "fat free" commercial foods that were pumped with extra sugar to make up for the fat took it's toll on her insulin production. It was a HUGE wake up call.

My 2 biggest tools were the food pyramid and fitday. When I started logging on fitday I was way too heavy on the carbs and way to low on the proteins. I would shoot for a balance of 25% fat/50% carbs/25% protein. And the other thing is, I realize I'm NOT diabetic so I can enjoy all the goodies I wanted in moderation. It takes awhile to not beat yourself up too when you slip up. And I eat 1600-1800 calories on average. That way I don't feel like I'm dieting. Over the course of the last year I've averaged a .43 lbs loss per week. And I couldn't be happier. Good luck on your journey.

[aerogora]

I manage a doctor's office and one day I was chatting with one of the doctors I work for and he explained to me the exact relationship between the calories you consume and you weight. It just clicked with me. So I started keeping a journal and counting calories that day. I never realized how many calories were in the foods I was eating all the time. Plus I used to eat way, way, way too much food! I didn't really know when I was hungry but I always knew what it felt like to be stuffed! So I started keeping track and I realized the first week that if I continued to eat the same foods I was eating and keep my calories to 1500/day then I was going to starve! So I never EVER buy any packaged food without looking at the label first. It was like a light switch for me. I will never go back to the way I was eating before. And I owe it all to Dr. Jim!

[Horo]

I did the cheesy New Years Resolution thing. I binged throughout the entire month of December, binged on my birthday (January 1st :b ) and binged on the leftover lasagna and cheesecake from my birthday until January 3rd. January 3rd is when I finally said "enough" and really did cut out the crap. Started my FitDay account that day, and never looked back.