X

Oh, Katrina, you sell yourself short! I would certainly have paid a quarter for them, and I'm a bargain shopper!

Here are a couple of mine. I know I've stolen some of them from others on the site, so I apologize if I don't give credit where it's due.

1 - When I'm done eating for the night, I will often take psyllium powder (the stuff in Metamucil) so that I will continue to feel full and not be as tempted to eat in the few hours before bed. The regularity side effect is nice, too. I don't always do it, but it seems to help when I need an extra boost.

2 - The positive thinking thing. Telling myself "I am the type of person who seeks out a challenge" when I'm exercising, or "I don't eat when I'm upset. I prefer to journal, exercise, etc." I've let this one go a little bit, but I'm determined to use it more, 'cuz it's a great tool.

3 - I fight for my time now. Didn't used to. Love that I do it now.

4 - I play much more than I used to. I take my 3-year-old daughter to the "tallest mountain" (gotta be a Dora fan to get why we call it that), which is a very steep, grass-covered hill, and we roll down it. Great exercise to climb the hill, and doing it reminds me of why the weight loss is so important. That, combined with basketball, baseball, tennis, bike riding, etc. with my older kids is a great side effect of this weight loss effort. I am getting many great memories with my kids.

Thanks for the thread. I can't wait to read others' thoughts!

Laurie

I got new shoes today.. already have running shoes, but my other everyday type shoes were wearing out, so got some good walking shoes for my walking club.

I love the daily plate as opposed to fitday, same concept, but daily plate seems to help me more.

I make sure that I get my exercise time..

I am making sure my house is always clean, which makes me much better mentally..

Positive speak and keeping all negative thoughts and words away is my biggest tip.

Another tip is that I don't let myself get very hungry. I used to be on such a calorie restrictive diet, which I didn't lose a thing, because I usually gave in and ate way to much or the wrong stuff because I was so hungry. Now when hunger hits I have a big glass of water and eat a little something. So far so good!

I'm also faithfully filling in my Fitday everyday, and along with joining this board and beginning a blog, I joined TOPS last night so that I can have the weekly weigh-in accountability.

Staying focused and confident and believing that this time is the time I see a thin and healthy Pita!

I second (or third?) Dailyplate. I had the desktop version of fitday and it was so involved to update and the food list was too cryptic and weird for me. Dailyplate feels like it was made for me. Everything I've eaten is in there, including every item from Trader Joe's, Amy's frozen meals, etc. I just find it so quick and easy to use, I don't mind tracking my food anymore.

I also eat on the smaller plates and use the smaller utensils (salad fork instead of dinner fork, teaspoon instead of the big spoons).

I love using a food scale. It has taught me how out of whack my food estimating skills had become. Cereal was the biggest eye opener for me! A serving hardly covers the bottom of the bowl that I used to fill to the rim.

I don't let the food supply run too low in my house. That is a very bad thing for me as I take it as permission to forage for takeout.

This will sound crazy to some people, but I don't plan out my food for the day or week. I find it too restrictive and then feel like any deviation is cheating (which of course it isn't, but tell that to my brain). I just make the best decision each time I feel hungry. I think about what I've eaten and adjust in the moment: Have I had enough protein today? Have I had too many carbohydrates? Have I had too much or not enough fat or calories so far? For me it puts spontaneity in my food day and let me feel the success of making a lot of good decisions lots of times in a day. I do still log as I go to I make sure that I'm not totally off track, but I have memorized the stats for the things I eat most often.

Coming to 3FC of course!

Weighing daily. Keeps me focused even though it drives me nuts some days.

Tracking my weight daily and looking at how many times it goes down, goes up or stays the same. When my emotions say this effort isn't working, my chart tells me otherwise.

Journaling. I write everyday and put down how I'm feeling about everything, including the weight. I've been surprised how many emotions I feel in seemingly unrelated areas are tied in part to my weight! I rant, I whine, I give myself pep talks all in my journal. That's also where I keep my weight chart.

I walk every day, no excuses.

I do at least one nice little thing for myself everyday. It could be super tiny, but a least one a day.

Hi,
Here are some things that help me...
1. coming here daily, reading peoples stories, ect..
2. using fitday to log in my food.
3. not having junk food in the house.
4. I don't plan my food for the day either. Breakfast is usually Kashi go lean oatmeal or go lean cereal with grapefruit juice, Lunch and dinner depends what I feel like eating and what I have in the house. Of course I usually have enough lunch and dinner food in the house.
5. Thinking positive....I can do this, if I make a mistake I pick myself up and try again.
6. I think exercise is very important, I exercise 5-6 days a wk for 60 minutes. There are times I have to talk myself into it, but I never give up
cheryl

This is a great suggestion. I, too, find planning out meals to be too restrictive. It FEELS too much like a diet.

I can't claim to have been on program lately, but one thing that keeps me on track better is stocking my pantry with plenty of good, healthy foods. Even if I don't plan my food, some ingredients for a good meal are always on hand.

Logging my food has helped SO much!

I make time to walk at least 5 days a week. It's good exercise, it makes me feel good, and it's so nice to have some quiet time!

I'm not so afraid to get all sweaty. Who cares? The shower is going to be there when I get home.

I try to stay more active during the day.

I take time to do my hair and style it to my liking (usually only takes 10-15 minutes, but something I usually didn't take the time to do).

I always make sure I get on 3fc at least once, if at all possible, to keep me on track!

Not having junk food in the house. Filling my fridge with fruits/veggies.

Well, I am single .... and I have been out of a relationship for over a year and my eyes are roaming LOL. So, when I have to go to the market to pick up my veggies and fruit and other *healthy* foods, I get ready as if I were going out on a date. Keeps me focused, and it's fun.

I also agree with doing all of the feminine grooming items -- like getting a manicure, etc --- it just reminds us that we are committed to caring for our bodies as much as our minds or souls or emotions.

I confront issues as they arise ... I have a problem with keeping my anger and disappiontment with others and situations to myself and letting it turn to binging. So I try to avoid that.

I also do not plan out my meals, other than having a general idea of what is available and taking some fruit and veggies in my bag to stave off fast food. If I end up going to a fast food place, I just allow myself one item --- I can have a burger OR fries or whatever along with a garden salad. I cannot have both items.

For me, it's been more about portion control and finding other things to do when I am upset, bored, etc.

I put food into single serving size bags/containers - grapes, almonds, cereal, crackers, raw veggies, etc. That way if I have no excuses to stop and buy something for lunch or for a snack...the individual servings are always ready to go.

I measure everything - but whatever the serving size is, I don't quite put in that amount. So 2 oz of turkey is really 1.8 ounces, 1 cup of cereal is really 5/6 of a cup, etc. It's not much, but at the end of the day it adds up to at least 100 less calories consumed.

Silly...I won't read the weekly weigh-in threads on this board. Like many people have to say NO to the scale because they can't handle the daily up's & down's of the number, I have had to said NO to the weekly weigh-in threads. I found that while I was happy for everyone else having great losses, I wasn't able to stop comparing all the great loses (all in one thread, all at one time) to my little loses each week. I can still see everyone's progress thanks to all the nifty little trackers in the signatures, so I can still be happy for their progress without feeling like I don't measure up.

Exercise daily. I recently joined a gym so I'm able to add a little more variety. Every day includes 1 hour of cardio - I make sure I vary the machines/DVD's each day so that my body doesn't get used to it. Mondays I add strength/weight training for abs, back & butt. Wednesday I add strength/weight training for arms & chest. Friday I add strength/weight training for legs. Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday I add 30 minutes or more in the pool.

Journal all food! Even though I eat the same general foods each day, that one extra apple or that one extra wedge of Laughing Cow cheese can add up and throw me over my daily calorie maximum in no time!!

Oh my goodness, a light bulb just went off above my head. I think this is what I need to do. As I get closer to my goal and as I increase my running miles, my weight loss seems to be slowing down even though I'm doing everything right. My body is sort of settling into this lower weight and isn't in a hurry to change. When I see all the losses in the weigh-in thread, I feel bad that I can't always post a big loss too. I think it's better for me if I just log it into my spreadsheet and change my ticker. Thanks for putting it into words -- it clarified something I've been thinking about already!!

My tips and tricks aren't really different from everyone else's, but here are a few things that have made a difference for me:
*Log all your exercise so you can see your progress and set goals accordingly.
*Log your weigh-ins and make a line graph so you can see the downward trend, which will motivate you in those bad weeks.
*35-calorie fudgsicles are a wonderful invention.

X

I do a wii fitness test every day. I like the boxing on wii sports- It feels real!

I try to eat more salads, a lot less carbs, no snack foods in the house. I would really like to have some watermelon, is that ok to eat?