Best tip you've learned..
 

What's the best weight loss tip you've heard or learned whilst trying to lose weight? One that has stuck with you, and really helped you along your way?

Please share!

One that has stuck with me is that you should avoid temptation - clear your cupboards and fridge of all the unhealthy foods that made you gain weight initially, and replace them with lots of fruit and veg and low cal options. I'm far tool lazy to go out to the shop i what im craving isn't in the house, so I settle for a piece of fruit or yoghurt and my craving subsides!!

A great staple in my fridge is low-cal jello!!

Plan ahead! Plan your meals for the day and stick to your plan.

ditto bargoo on the plan, plan, plan. It also really helps me a lot to document everything I put in my mouth. Helps me keep myself accountable - not to mention once I started doing that, I discovered I was getting almost a full serving just from my "nibbles and tastes" while I was cooking dinner :o

Planning ahead is way up there in terms of importance for me.

And really knowing that this process isn't painless. Weight loss and maintenance are not easy. Knowing that for some reason has always helped.

Super ditto on the planning. Also - just get your exercise in. At least 3 times a week. Sometimes the inspiration does not come, but if it is in your daily plan, do it anyway.

Don't eat the same calories evey day. Add a hundred calories every third day. Your boddy gets used to the same amount of calories and starts to store accourding to those calories.

Planning is a must!

Make yourself do just a few minutes on exercise - chances are once you start you'll keep going.

What you do today takes a 2-3 days to show up on the scale.

also i learned this a WW, if you go out to eat and get more on your plate than you know you should eat, put what you want to the side and pour salt on the rest.

My best tip is to pick myself back up and get back on plan, should I have fallen off on a day of overeating and/or not exercising. Never just "give up" and take it a day at a time.

I agree....planning. Meal planning is a must for me, along with not allowing myself to get hungry.

As for exercise...free weights - lift 'em and lift heavy. BEST piece of advice ever...I wish I would have started doing that right in the beginning.

Healthy eating is a lifelong commitment. Planning each day makes that easier to accept. If you're derailed one day start again the next. Aim to have more days on plan than off plan and the weight will come off.

Ah so, grasshopper :p (my apologies to David Carradine)

Dagmar :D

Add some intervals to your cardio workout. For example, if you like to run, sprint for one minute, than walk or run at a recovery pace for one minute. Do this for 15 to 30 min. You can do the same thing with any type of cardio (swimming, elliptical, bicycling, etc.). This seems to really make a difference for me in terms of losing fat.

I agree with what everyone else has said. Another tip might be to let someone else know that you're dieting. Kind of helps keep you on the straight and narrow. I also like to read a lot, so I have really read up on nutrition and health stuff. Helps my head to really get into it. This forum helps me stay current on health news as well as the support I get.

Great tips! Keep them coming. I agree completely with the planning, too. A fitness partner really helps to get you started exercising.

Hi goinforthegold!!! *waves* I started doing free weights this week. I'm sore but am working through that...any tips you can offer?

Oh and this one....sometimes when you're hungry...it may just be that a glass of water will tide you over.

Here's another one.

Don't Diet - Change!

ooooo, I like that one!

I have tryed to lose weight countless times, and everytime I fall off the healthy eating wagon and give up. I have found writting down what my goal weight is on a sheet of paper and then taking a pic of it with my camera phone and setting it as my background has helped me stay on track this time. I normally only last a week or 10 days at the most. Ive been doing this 6 weeks now and lost 7lbs. Seeing that number every time I use the phone (which is a lot) helps me stay focused much easier.

The best one I heard is to eat lots of little meals. It not only helps your metabolism, it keeps you from overeating and getting that "gross never eating again" feeling!!

Get a good night's sleep every night!!!

The other day, we had a visitor that showed up at 10 PM and we stayed up past midnight talking. Once I went to bed, I had a hard time falling asleep and I figure I had only 4 hours of sleep (or less) that night. The next day, regardless of how much I ate, I was ravenous! Nothing would satiate my appetite. And because I was so tired (and hungry) I made a lot of poor choices (and missed my morning run because I just couldn't fathom getting out of bed).

Carrying food (healthy snacks) and a water bottle with me everywhere I go. I can't let myself get overly hungry, or it gets ugly when I finally find food. I now have high-protein granola bars, Laughing Cow Cheese, Wasa crackers and other assorted "goodies" in my purse, my briefcase, my car ...

I don't eat a lot of carbs past 4:00. I also love the feeling of not being totally full. Weird? I read where one poster on some website said she felt that being not getting full and left wanting a bit more was like a "badge of honor."

Most helpful tip for me is that it's not "all or nothing"... you can have a donut, it won't kill all of your weight loss efforts leading to that day and all the days after... everything is fine in moderation, so have your donut and then get right back on plan. Your body will hardly notice the blip. This is LIFE, not a diet.

And one more...

the whole exercise thing gets easier over time. The beginning is always the most difficult. This tip is GOLD.

Don't get starving hungry. It takes a lot more calories to recover from ravenous than to keep it at bay. Always have something available for a snack that's on plan and ready to eat.

I think setting reasonable goals (and figuring out a reasonable plan to achieve those goals) has been one of the most helpful things psychologically for me. Knowing that say, I want to lose 5 pounds this month, and planning to go to the gym 4 days a week and eat so many calories, (or whatever your plan to get there), it makes it so much easier to do well. So much better than the ambiguous "I want to lose weight" goal and not really having any way of acheiving it other than vague plans to cut down on pizza and fries and working out 'more', its a way to keep yourself accountable and I think you feel more accomplished when you hit your goal.

As far as actual tips to lose I've found that taking the time to figure out all the healthy foods I like, and making sure to eat them more often. feta cheese, jalapeno peppers, onions, scallops are some of the ingredients I've been making it a point to cook with because I love them and they're healthier than my old staple ingredients. Also, looking at what foods I like that aren't quite healthy and finding ways to make them better. hungry girl's website has a lot of tips to make things that aren't healthy better for you.

Also allowing myself to eat things I crave in moderate portions rather than depriving myelf entirely. its not sustainable to never eat your favorite things, just don't have a 1000 calories worth in a sitting and do it every night and you're going to be fine :)

If you find yourself wandering into the kitchen looking for something to nibble - chew gum instead. Or have a sugar free drink. Or always have some sugar free jello in the fridge and have some of that.

Don't go food shopping when hungry.

Log your intake.

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." - Michael Pollan