I'm about three pounds away from my goal. It's taken close to a year to get here and my main strategy has been to write down everything I eat and limit the number of calories I eat per day. I can eat whatever I want, so long as I stay under my limit. I have to be under every day, I don't do the plan where I can be under a little one day and over a little the next.
Because I have a pretty low limit (started at 1200 calories per and am now at 1400 calories per day), this has forced me to eat much healthier foods. I eat a lot of veggies, fruits, low fat foods (if it comes in a non-fat or low fat variety, that's the variety I eat), low sugar foods, and lean meats. Things I would never have considered eating before, like non-fat yogurt, egg substitutes, low cal pudding, and reduced fat cheese are a regular part of my diet. I also think I eat more meat and a lot less pasta (although I haven't given it up entirely). I have a whole section in my recipe box of "retired" recipes: things I used to make before but that just don't fit into my calorie plan.
My second main strategy has been exercise. It was exercise that got me started on this--I only started counting calories after I figured out that exercise alone wasn't going to get me to my goal or anywhere near it. But at some point, it dawned on me (I think it was one day on the elliptical) that if I exercised more, I could eat more. It is that thought that gets me into the gym every day and it's how I've been able to increase my calorie intake by 200 calories per day. I like the muscles I'm developing and that I look more toned, but it's the thought of having an extra tbsp of peanut butter that really gets me up on the treadmill.
I have also worked out with a personal trainer 3 times a week for the past year (I now workout every day, but still only 3 days a week with my trainer). I absolutely could not have gotten to this point without my trainer. I don't think I really would have ever gotten started if I hadn't had my trainer in the beginning; I would have been just another gym dropout. At this point, I'm confident (well, fairly confident) I can continue to do this on my own, but in the beginning I would not have had the discipline, the self-confidence, or the motivation to do it on my own. It is expensive but when I look at the impact it's had on my life, I can't think of a better way to have spent my money.
- Barbara
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