After 1000 Days, My Top 3 Weight Loss Tips

Yesterday was my 1000th login day at MyFitnessPal and a friend asked me for my top 3 tips from my journey.

I took a little time to think about it, and here they are.

  1. Eat whole, unprocessed foods. If you are truly hungry, eat, even if it means going over your calories a little bit every once in awhile (as long as you are eating healthy whole foods.) No need for “fads”, like eating every 2 hours or not after 6pm. Listen to your body and eat when you feel it’s right.
  2. Treat yourself every once in awhile. Don’t call it a “cheat”, it’s a treat to reward yourself for a job well done. When treating, make sure to choose something really worth the calories, not some crappy Oreo cookie. Treat yourself to a piece of chocolate cake or dinner at your favorite chain restaurant. And LOG LOG LOG. Don’t hide your choices, always log!
  3. Soul Search to figure out what made you overweight in the first place. It’s a long process, and you might not ever be “cured” but once you understand what’s inside your brain, you can learn to live with it.

    It might feel scary to keep your food diary “open” to your friends, but it will force you to be accountable for your actions, and that is a good thing. Don’t ever be ashamed of your food choices, just strive to get better.

Remember that nothing happens overnight.

Food choices don’t magically become healthy in one week; it might take months before you transition to whole foods.

Baby steps! You are in this for the long haul, not for a quick fix! it’s a lifestyle not a diet!

1000 Straight Days of Logging Into MyFitnessPal

Whoo hoo.

Today marks the 1000th day of login days at MyFitnessPal!

Even though I am in weight-loss maintenance, for me, it’s important to continue logging my daily food intake. It keeps my calories and other nutritional data on track and since my diary is open to my MFP friends, it keeps me accountable.

Happy 1000th day to me! :)

1000 days of logging in at myfitnesspal

900 Days of Logging at MyFitnessPal

Today I am celebrating my 900th straight day of logging into MyFitnessPal.com. Next month, it’ll be 3 years since I started on my healthy journey! What a wonderful experience this has been!

It all started with a quote on a Facebook friend’s wall on July 20th, 2009:

God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me.

After various unsuccessful attempts to “get healthier”, I saw her post, and for some reason, it clicked! I knew this time would be different, I knew this time I was going to stick to it no matter what!

I started tracking my calories on fitday.com, but a few days later, I found that Myfitnesspal.com was better, so I copied all my food info from fitday. Ever since then, I’ve been logging in and tracking my food, even before MFP kept track of the total log-in days. I don’t think I missed more than one or two days of tracking, even while on vacation.

I wasn’t always perfect in the foods I chose, but I logged them anyway, and now looking back, it’s awesome to have a record of my food diary, and how I’ve evolved through the years.

In fact, here is a screen shot of food diary on July 21st (click for larger version):

first day of food diary

During the last 3 years, I have lost (and maintained) 65+/- pounds. I’ve never felt healthier! I’m going to be 50 this year, and I didn’t feel this good, with so much energy at 30!

Life is good! Happy 900th day, next stop 1000!