Ok, so I was at my meeting yesterday - and it's a brand new group of people - because it's weight watchers at work - so only a handful of us have been on WW before and I'd say about 3/4 of the group are all "new". Well, being the second week, our leader asked everyone what they changed this past week which they will continue to change to make into a "lifestyle change"?...

My thing is - being a lifetimer - I made most of the changes to my lifestyle over the past couple of years, and now these things I've changed really have become the way I live my life - thus "lifestyle changes." I'll list mine here in a second but I'm really curious - what changes have all of you made that you know you've seriously made a part of your new lifestyle?

Here are mine:

1. Exercise. I'm no "gym-rat" by anymeans...but I do go about 3 - 4 times a week. I LOVE exercising! I'm NOT one of those people who buy a gym membership and never use it...no I use it ALL the time!

2. Water. While I don't get ALL my water in every day - I do get in about half. Luckily, at work - we have ice/water machines all over our building - and so I usually get a 16 oz cup in the mornings and fill it up about twice during the day.

3. Portioning...now this is something that - while my boyfriend IS supportive of the way I eat (and thankfully he tries to eat healthy as well) he is one of those people that thinks the WAY i portion things is "no way to live"...but for me - honestly, it's become a way of life for me. Thing is - when I buy food - ie, chips, vegees, shredded cheese, oatmeal, cereal, etc...etc...- I portion everything out into ziplock baggies after I get home from grocery shopping so that I can A. know exactly what the portion/points are for that food and B. so I can "grab and go" for work. I also bought those little 2 oz cups that restaurants use for dressings...I pour my dressings, portion out almonds, parm. cheese, jelly, condiments of any kind that I use so that I can also "grab and go" and it's convenient to put in my lunch box. I've honestly done this for about 3 years now.

4. Lean meats - I will not buy any meat if it's over 10 g fat per serving. I prefer 96% FF ground beef (although i'll eat the 93/7 if it's the only available kind). But the super target here has a GREAT selection of extremely lean red meats.

5. Skim milk - I used to drink whole milk in middle school (no wonder i was fat! lol) - then 2% in high school - then my parents switched to 1% and when I got into college and ever since...I only drink skim!

6. Serving sizes. Before I was ever on weight watchers - I'd ALWAYS have to get the LARGEST size of whatever when I'd go out. Be it Dairy Queen - LARGE blizzard. Starbucks - VINTI with whole milk. But now - I've realized a SMALL/(tall) is perfectly enough! Really - I don't NEED a LARGE amount of whatever I'm getting. A small is PERFECTLY good enough.

I know I have more - but I also have to get SOME work done today...lol.

Anyways - i'm curious - what are yours?

Great thread. Thanks for starting it. I am curious to see other people's changes.

1- whole wheat everything. Even my kids love whole wheat pasta. Not sure how they well react when somebody gives them white pasta.

2-share a meal at restaurants. My dear hubby splits with me. He is not over weight but knows that half a portion is plenty.

3- no coffee creamer. I am a Starbucks fanatic. I used to work there. It is the only coffee I will drink. Only now, it is black for me. Or when I go there I get an americano with 1 pump of a sugar free syrup.

4- The gym........have gone every week now for two straight years. As long as I can afford, I will go there and will keep my personal trainer at least one day a week even after I reach goal.

I guess those are the big ones. Look forward to seeing others I could incorporate into my life.

This is a great idea...

1-Going to the gym 4-5 times a week, although during the summer months, I tend to back off a bit just because I'm able to be more active outside.

2-No more ordering out and gorging myself on pizza, wings, etc.

3-When eating out, I am very careful what I order

4-Making sure I eat enough protein throughout the day

5-Not binging on chocolate, especially thoughtless chocolate like melting chocolate chips and peanut butter

6-Water, water all the time

7-Being active whenever I can, taking the extra time to do it

These all feel so second nature to me, and feel so good to do it!

Wow, let's see. I have a bunch of them. But here's a few:

I use sweet and low alot more than ever. In coffee, tea, lemonade made with lemon juice and water and the sweetener. Love it.

I choose to be active at least a few minutes every day of the week. I might not do enough every day but I do something so I can keep my habit of moving more.

I park extremely far from the store, not that I go that often, maybe once a week I go to get what I need. But that habit has stuck with me since I started wearing my pedometer years ago. I actually do it when its raining too and there are plenty open up close (keeps ppl from hitting my door with theirs too. LOL).

I find support when I need it. Like coming here. I have very little in my life so I absolutely love this place and all of you who are kind enough to listen when I need to vent or just chat.

I snack on fruits instead of candy and chips. When I need something salty, I eat baked chips or saltines.

I use a baby silver spoon and my favorite coffee cup to eat dessert type foods like diced fruit, sorbet, grapefruit in tiny pieces with a little sw and low, etc. I eat slowly and enjoy each bite. It really does last longer. The spoon holds half as much.

I measure myself each week. And every single time I haven't lost pounds I have lost at least a half inch somewhere on my body. That took the sting out of the scale that sat still.

What a great thread idea. Love reading everyone's.

Hugs, Selina

Let's see...

1. I don't use sugar anymore... I only use Splenda.

2. No more butter... only ICBINB, and the spray kind as often as I can (0 points!)

3. I only drink diet sodas now instead of the regular ones.

4. I only buy whole wheat pasta now instead of the white kind (hubby likes it better, too!)

5. I downgraded from whole milk to 1%.

6. I have water with me all the time!

7. I park as far away as I can everywhere I go... and at my college campus, that's quite a hike from my car to the classroom! (Not so fun in this winter weather though!)

8. I do some form of exercise daily, some more than others.

9. I plan all of my daily food in advance - it's made things so much easier on me!

And that's all I can think of for now!

Great idea;

1. I always hae a bottle of water near by. I drink at least 4-20 oz. bottles a day, many days 5-6.


2. I eat much more fruits and vegetables than I use to, but still not enough.

3. I'm very carefull about what I order when eating out.

4. I pay attention to what I put into my mouth, no more mindless eating.

5. Exercise at leat 4-5 times a week.

6. I usually stay away from fatty and fried foods.

7. On the rare occasion I eat fast food, I order a childs meal.

8. I buy fat free or low fat everything.

That is all that comes to mind right now.

Excellent thread! After reading the other posts I've realized that I've changed so many things without really realizing it. Here are a few of the things that I do think about!

~ I exercise every day. I think I've missed like 4 days since August. This, from a former couch potato!

~Water, water, water! I kicked the iced tea habit and no longer drink it. I could do almost a gallon of tea a day by myself, with about 1 and 1/4 cups of sugar mixed in that gallon. Now the tea and the sugar are gone. I guess that means caffeinne is gone from my life too!

~Portion control. I cut the small portion in half, rather than eating a whole large portion like I used to. If I'm still hungry after that 1/2 portion, I might eat more, but I let my body decide if I'm actually hungry or if it just tastes good.

~I park at the end of the parking lot. The extra walk energizes me, and I feel good about myself!

~1% milk. I buy it for ME. No one else in the house likes it, so I always drank the 2% rather than buying two kinds. Now I buy both.

~I think about ME now. What's best for me and my body, regardless of what the rest of the clan wants to do or eat. If they want pizza at 10:00 pm, that doesn't mean I have to join in the eating frenzy.

Great thread!

My lifestyle changes include:

- eating out less and cooking healthy meals at home
- rediscovering my love of cooking
- banning almost all pre-made or processed foods from my diet
- brown bagging lunches
- learning portion control
- cutting back on my coffee and tea drinking, which also cuts back on my sugar intake
- being more active by walking, taking dance and yoga classes
- eating breakfast each day
- discovering new fruits and veggies
- making better choices about food

I think the two most important changes for me have been exercising 4 -5 days a week, and tracking my food choices, whether they are good or bad. I don't know that I will always log my food as precisely as I do now, but I think that I will always be more aware of the nutritional value of what I'm eating than I was in the past.

Also, in the past, I was unwilling to face my weight problem so I hid the scale and never weighed myself - now, I want to track where I'm at, and I think even when I reach maintenance mode (someday!), I will continue to regularly check my weight (perhaps a bit less obsessively).

Though I would give my two cents.

1. I have had to "grow up" finally and realize that every time I eat out is NOT a "special occasion". We eat out at least once or twice a week, so I must order accordingly, every day is not a birthday, anniversary, party, etc. I would always use eating out as an excuse.

2. Splenda works for me most of the time.

3. One of my biggest changes to date is reading labels of just about everything that goes into my shopping card. Skim milk is all that exists for me and I have not had real ice cream in ages, and that used to be my downfall. WW frozen desserts are good but I also am OK with FF/SF chocolate pudding with lite cool whip.

4. I try to portion control, that is still a challenge for me but I am working on it.

5. I am very aware of fiber and healthy oils were never really part of my life as they are now. Hardly a day goes by that I don't have my oils.

6. If I have eggs/an omelette I use one real egg and 1/2 cup egg whites from a carton. I get the taste and texture of eggs without all the extra calories.

7. I'm learning to really like melba toast and 94% FF popcorn is something I prefer to pretzels and chips.

Great thread, I loved reading what everyone else has done.

Oh yes, I sure wish (I'm really trying) I was doing a better job with exercise.

Linda

Some of my lifestyle changes are

Drinking 64 oz of water daily,
Excercising daily (either walking or running 5km 5 days per week)
Eating 5 fruits or vegetables daily
Drinking at least two glasses of milk per day
Rarely eating out
Working on portion control
Making better choices about food
Eating healthy snacks
Preplanning my meals for the day.

I didn't realize all the things I have changed. This is a great idea.
Ann