Weight loss tips

[JessNew]

I'm new to Fitbit just wondered if anyone had any weight loss tips? I've just got my Fitbit and I am really enjoying it but just wondered if anyone had any tips. Thank you!

[BxGirl]

Portion control is the best advice anyone can give you. Read all labels and make sure you only have 1 serving by measuring or weighing everything before you sit down to eat.

[Phantom617]

I totally agree with BxGirl. Portion control and weighing the food you eat is key.  I bought a scale that measures grams, ounces and pounds. For me, I eat on a salad plate and have proteins and lots of veggies.

I do snack, but I make wiser choices and measure them out. I also write down everything I eat. It jelps keep me accountable. I used the app My Fitness Pal, its free. Exercise is key. Get your work out done in the morning if possible.

Most importantly don't get discouraged. If you can take off a 1-1 1/2 a week thats very good. You may find you keep the weight off.  I also reward myself once a week, but don't go overboard.

Since Oct. 2015, I have lost 32 lbs and have another 23 to go to reach my overall goal.

Good Luck.

[emili]

weight loss starts in the kitchen. eat leaner, mindful of portions and stay away from "fads". The key is to learn good nutrition and change your relationship and perspective with food. Then move. get your steps in, learn what works best for your body to get the most out of your workouts. It's education and changed behavior. Good luck in your journey!

[OCDOC]

A nice and recent-ish article that may help you. The "How to Eat in 2016" part at the bottom has recommendations that are excellent. All the best! Rob K

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wellbeing/diet/why-calorie-counting-doesnt-work/

[SunsetRunner]

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@JessNew wrote:
I'm new to Fitbit just wondered if anyone had any weight loss tips? I've just got my Fitbit and I am really enjoying it but just wondered if anyone had any tips. Thank you!

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Walk 2 hours minimum everyday in addition to eating the right carbs, protein and fiber.   Do some weight training a couple of times a week, too.   To have ripped abs do elliptical and spin bike.   

[Xakka]

My experience while going up and down over the last 2 years, currently down 100lb, has been to eat higher quality foods, the extra time required to prepare some fresh food is worth it! If your body is lacking nutrition it will continue to tell you that you are hunger, so alot of the usual things I used to eat, even when controlling for portions I found very difficult to stay on track as I constantly felt like I needed to eat something else. I have started keeping some frozen fruit on hand and making fruit smoothies in the blender. The smoothies worked wonders for me, and are very tasty. 

The other big thing that helped me was to not having a bag of food to snack on while watching tv or playing games. It is very easy to lose track of how much you have eaten when you aren't paying attention to your food as you eat.

Also dont try to do the weight loss in just the kitchen or with just exercise, they are both tools that can facilitate weight loss and it is easy if both are used. it is much easier to walk a little extra to burn an extra 250 cal, and take 250 cal out of your diet, then to take the 500 cal out of your meal every day without find the time for activitiy,  while if you only do exercise it can be difficult to find the time/drive to get the calorie defict you want every day.

[Dominique]

There’s really no "secret" in weight loss (or gain), or things they haven’t told you: it’s all about energy balance. Eat more than you burn and you will gain weight (this is the part most of us are familiar with), eat less than you burn and you will lose weight.

Fitbit is very good at telling you how you much you burn, and what impact exercise (or lack thereof) can have on your total expenditure. If you use its food plan (with or without MyFitnessPal), you will have a picture of the eating side. At any rate, it’s a good idea to educate yourself about the impact of the various foods you eat: start calculating the total calories of the food you eat most often. If you haven’t got a kitchen scale, invest in one. 

[Dominique]

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@BxGirl wrote:

Portion control is the best advice anyone can give you. Read all labels and make sure you only have 1 serving by measuring or weighing everything before you sit down to eat.

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Portion control: very good advice, same with weighing. Read all labels: yes, and even better if there are no labels at all (= minimally processed food). In such cases, Google is your friend: search name of food + nutrition facts.

[BWright1175]

As previously suggested (just adding my support), measure and weigh everything you can.

And I'd also recommend weighing over measuring, when possible, as it's much more accurate, particularly since volume measurements are much less "exact," particularly if you're measuring volume with your eyes.

Just one example... a serving of low fat cottage cheese is 1/2 cup (or 113 grams), ranging from 80 to 100 calories, depending on the brand.  As I take cottage cheese as part of my lunch nearly every day, I bought some small 1/2 cup serving size containers to put in my lunch box.  But the first thing I did was actually weigh the cottage cheese as I used the containers the first time... and 113 grams showed up on the scale before the container was full (more like 4/5 full, probably).  The lesson here... 113 grams is always 113 grams... but there will be differences between actual measurements of various measuring cups, spoons, containers, etc.

And I guarantee, if you try to just estimate 1/2 cup, you'll likely drastically overestimate.  Trust me... I've always eaten cottage cheese, but going from what I thought was a serving size to what actually was a serving size made me realize the value in weighing/measuring.