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What has helped you the most?

What have all of you found to be most successful in helping you toward reaching your goals? This includes nutrition and exercise. Are you following any specific diet? Doing anything special with your exercise?
I thought this info would not only be helpful to me, but also many others in the PT community.


Tue. Oct 3, 10:30pm

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In regards to food: tracking everything I ate and counting calories really helped me to understand and cut back on what was making me gain weight. I also do not stick to a set number of calories a day. Some days are low and some days are high, and this really keeps my metabolism guessing.

in regards to exercise: Intervals!! Once I started walking and running in intervals, it totally accelarated my weight loss and helped me reach my goal. I think it just really boosted my metabolism.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006, 8:08 AM

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Counting calories, but by the same token, not being too restrictive because it led to binge eating. Factor in a treat every day.

Weight training.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006, 8:52 AM

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an accurate digital recording scale. It makes it really hard to cheat or slack off. I can see trends develop, and I can't fudge my weight- no leaning back on the scale and losing 5 pounds, no little tick marks that are sooooo easy to fudge.

I've found that weighing myself a couple times a day helps me see what my trends are- I lose X amount when I run X distance, I gain X amount when I slack off, If I slack off for X time, I trend towards weight gain, when I eat and work out at X level, I hold steady.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006, 10:46 AM

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Oh where to begin...I've been doing this for nearly a year...

1) All diets work - you just need to pick one that suits your lifestyle and your taste buds.

2) Boosting fiber really does control hunger, and consuming it in the form of enhanced chocolate products controls cravings for sweets and bakery things.

3) Just because the perfect workout for weight loss includes X, Y and Z according to all the research, it may not work for you. Or, more annoyingly, it may work for you for a little while and then it stops. Be open to change.

4) Personal trainers are worth the $ if you have motivation problems, if you don't have a clue where to start, or if you need a new approach. Otherwise, save your pennies.

5) Set little behavior goals (not weight loss targets) to instill new good habits and put it in your log. Reading it every day, having your group members notice if you're doing it not - huge improvement in the likelihood of success.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006, 11:18 AM

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This has helped me lose weight:

1) Logging food and exercise
2) Support from PT
3) Counting calories
4) Cardio 6 days a week
5) 64-100oz of water per day (this is a BIG one that has really helped me drop the pounds)

Wednesday, October 04, 2006, 11:41 AM

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Really good advise....anyone else ??

Thursday, October 05, 2006, 4:57 AM

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personal trainer all the way.....so worth the outrageous amount of money

Thursday, October 05, 2006, 5:44 PM

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For me the absolute best thing was to measure my portions and count calories religiouisly for a month - every single bite. That plus regular exercise 6x a week helped me take off 20 pounds. I'm keeping it off by living moderately, staying honest with myself (that's what PT helps with) and continuing to exercise. I no longer measure my portions, but when I do (gotta keep honest) I am pretty accurate. This way I can also keep a reasonably accurate mental 'tally' of how many calories I take in on a given day. One thing I often do is make a dish and divide it into the appropriate number of portions before I eat. Then if it's not quite satisfying enough I have a salad with LF dressing to bulk up the meal plus I have leftovers to take for lunch.

When I first started my only criteria was that I had to have all my fruits and veggies and eventually I replaced refined carbs with whole grains and went for leaner cuts of meat and less fat overall. It's just more satisfying to me and a better compliment to the veggie dishes I make. Now I eat almost entirely whole, unrefined foods and rarely eat packed or pre-prepared foods. It's not a religion to me like it seems to be for some folks I meet and I didn't start out with that as a goal - that's just happened in the course of my 'lifestyle evolution'.

And it is a lifestyle. I am not doing this so that I can lose weight and then go back to 'normal' - this IS normal for me.

Also, I couldn't keep it off without exercise. It helps me drink more and beat any stray cravings and I absolutely love the toned look and strong body I've gained as a result. I don't think I would enjoy my healthy diet as much if I didn't exercise regularly. When I am slothful I tend to crave rich, fatty foods and when I exercise I enjoy light, crisp flavors and textures.

Best wishes in your own journey!

Thursday, October 05, 2006, 6:07 PM

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Cutting out sugar.

Friday, October 06, 2006, 6:57 AM

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Letting myself live

While I'm cutting calories and excercising. I'm working hard on letting myself live too. I've been dieting for 8 full months now and I've lost 30lbs so far. I drink diet soda because even though it's not great it's 0 calories and lets me feel like I'm cheating. I plan in chips, cookies, ice cream, etc so that while I don't eat my favorites as much as I used to I can still enjoy them when I really feel the need and don't have to feel like I'm depriving myself.

Friday, October 06, 2006, 9:42 AM

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