what was the one thing you did that really helped you lose weight?

[AnnieW625]

I am in a rut and have been for pretty much the last 18 months since I stopped losing weight after I had DD2. I am going to Weight Watchers tomorrow morning for the first time in almost a year, but I think I need something else to kick start the weight loss so what has worked for you? I wish I could do just MFP, but I do need more accountability and in the past pre kids I really got that from WW.

I think I am really going to try and do wheat free, but am also contemplating going dairy free. I have zero interest in doing South Beach because I find it confusing, Atkins is much more user friendly and easier to do with less meal planning.

[hillview]

Can it be 3 things?
last summer I
walked an hour almost every day
weighed all my food and put it in MFP
focused on protein

/hillary

[Green_Tea]

For me:

No carbs that weren't fruits or veggies - so no bread, pasta, cookies, crackers, granola, oatmeal, cereals, cake, etc.

Lots of protein

No alcohol during the week, 1 glass of win on Sat and/or Sun (I actually CAN drink and still lose weight, but when I have wine, I want to snack.)

I never gave up dairy. If I gave up dairy and carbs at the same time, I think I might need to be committed .

[arivecchi]

More protein
More exercise (an hour)
log all my foods in MFP and stick pretty close to the calorie limit (I was eating too little at first and not losing weight)

[BabbyO]

Well, the only time I lost a significant amount of weight was when I cut dairy & soy because I was BFing DS1 who has FA's to dairy & soy.

DS2 is intolerant of dairy but OK with soy. I've only cut dairy out and not lost nearly as much weight.

I think that if you can cut soy out of your diet (even soy oil & soy lecithin) you are likely to loose a lot of weight. I found by cutting out soy, I was cutting out a lot of prepared and highly processed foods. This forced us to make more of our own food...but we also controlled what was put into our food. I'm certain that I consumed less sugar & carbs by cutting soy.

I also make it a point to walk everyday during my lunch break.

FWIW DH lost over 50 lbs using WW and has kept at least 40 lbs off for more than 2 years.

[lizzywednesday]

The last time I was under 200lbs, I'd gone vegetarian and was walking up hills and stairs every day, with an occasional bike ride thrown in for good measure.

I'd love to go vegetarian again; it really seems to work very well for me, but DH is a meat-and-potatoes kind of a guy and I'm not a short-order cook, so we have to work together for meal-planning.

Also, I felt better if I had a consistent workout schedule, like the one I had before I got married - I'd joined a gym that had group classes, several of which I really liked (including one that combined small freeweights, step aerobics and yoga moves) and a pool. On non-class days, I'd swim laps for up to 45 minutes.

I kept the gym bag in my car on my front seat so I'd have it in my head that I was going to the gym after work, and the gym was immediately on my way home from the office, so I had two reminders before the turn to go home came up.

I miss that gym!

[infomama]

Stopped eating refined sugar. Lost weight and got tons of energy.
It was torture in the beginning but got easier. I'm off the wagon now but every time I want to fall asleep in the middle of the day I remember that time and kick myself for starting to eat sugar again

[lowrioh]

I just lost 20 pounds. I did WW but I wasn't as strict about tracking as I should have been. I did a couple of things.

1) Egg Beaters for breakfast....EVERY morning. They are very low points and keep me satisfied for a long, long time. Sometimes I threw some low fat cheese on top but mostly not. Two minutes in the microwave and d.o.n.e.

2) No alcohol during the week.

3) No specialty coffee's. As much as I loved my Peppermint Mocha, the calories added up quick. I did buy some Coffee Mate flavored creamer and used that instead.

4)Cut way back on bread....which led to completely cutting out peanut butter

Good Luck! I know that getting motivated is one of the hardest parts of the journey.

[LexyLou]

Carbs...no carbs.

I hate counting calories. It makes me obsessive and then I go hardcore and then totally lose it and binge.

I just cut the carbs and try to eat sensibly.

Depending on how hard core I'm going, I might even cut the fruit for 1-2 weeks to jump start it and then I'll add some fruit back but no breads, pastas, rices.

If I have a hard workout, I'll have a sweet potato.

[Globetrotter]

I've always eaten healthy meals with low sodium and fat, but I'm a snacker, so I cut back severely on junky snacks and switched to greek yogurt with honey and almonds with some dark chocolate chips when I needed a snack.

slicing my bread thin - I have an avocado sandwich almost daily with a little parmesan. I've always done light cheese on pizza, egg white omelettes, etc...

cutting back, but there is no way I can cut out carbs or sugar. I would go nuts

And, of course, exercise! I work out twice a week with weights and cardio.