Okay, folks, everybody's got something that helps them on the journey. It occurred to me that if we compile these, the best of the best, we will have a great resource for all of us to use.

It doesn't have to be anything huge, or something you invented yourself. Whatever the source, it's just whatever trick or technique helps you to be successful when you're under fire, or keeps you motivated, or makes it possible for you to succeed.

I'll start the ball rolling; please jump in on this. I'd love to see this one grow and grow.

1.) I start the day, when possible, by getting on the net and looking for success stories, or logging on here and checking in, or responding to posts. While I do that, I drink two mugs of hot water with lemon juice and sweetener. My mug holds 24-oz, so by the time I've had two, that's six cups of water. It sounds like a lot, but I usually take about an hour to get it all down, and if I'm interested in what I'm reading, I'm done before I know it. Then I eat a big nourishing breakfast--usually a bacon-cheese-red pepper omelet with cottage cheese and sour cream. Days that start like that are almost always losing days.

2.) My mantra: put on your own oxygen mask first.

3.) Okay, laugh, but this gives you an idea of the range of hints I'm hoping we can compile. I buy bags of the pre-cooked crumbled bacon from Hormel, and use it in everything from eggs to salads. Yesterday I took my neglected sugar bowl out of the cupboard and filled it with bacon bits and stuck a spoon in it. I keep it in my frig door, and it's convenient and even somewhat cheering. It makes me feel as if the plan fits my life that much better, if that makes sense.

So okay, what have you figured out that works for you?

Thanks.

Sounds like a great idea for a thread.....here's a few of mine.

Once a week or so I would cook food in bulk so I would always be able to whip up something quick for lunch or dinner. I'd always try to have 2 of the following things and a vegatable on hand: things like hamburgers, turkey burgers, chicken cutlets, meatloaf, etc. And because I knew I could have something on the table in 5 or 10 minutes, there's was no excuse to cheat no matter how bad my day at the office was.

Another thing that helped me tremendously was to always have a supply of Atkins treats on hand for an 8 or 9PM snack. That's my weakest time of the day and just knowing that I could have an Atkins bar or some low carb chocolate or even some Atkins ice cream was a wonderful thing. It really gave me something to look forward to and it helped me to stick to the program during the rest of the day.

And lastly, I think weighing myself twice a day and keeping a record of my weight was a huge help. I know many people say you should only do it once a week, but I can't do it that way. When I weigh myself first thing in the morning, I know right away if I over did it the night before. And when I weigh myself when I get home from work, I know if I over did it at lunch. I can almost always pinpoint the exact food that messed me up this way. If weighed in once a week and gained weight, I would have no idea where I screwed up or how to avoid it going forward.

1. I record EVERYTHING in Fitday! All my food is planned, my activity and exercise is recorded, my daily weight is recorded. I also recommend measuring your body at mybodycomp.com from day one and at monthly intervals to see your progress.

2. EXERCISE EVERYDAY!! I have found this to be so much easier than to make myself do it every other day. It is a habit and just as much a part of my day as drinking water, brushing my teeth and brushing my hair. I do it first, when I wake up right after weighing in. Before eating, drinking or anything, I do my exercise. That leaves NO EXCUSES when things come up during the day or when your tired after work. If you do it first, it is over and nothing can keep you from 'finding the time".

3. If you can handle routine (it is easier for me) figure out about 2-4 breakfast, 2-4 lunches and 2-4 dinners (and snacks) that you really like, fit into your program and that you can modify for flavor when you want, and stick to them. This helps so much when you know what you like, can and will eat and don't have to spend lots of time thinking about food. This is especially helpful when they are things you can make ahead, freeze and pull out for work lunches and quick meals when you get busy.

These things work for me. Find out what works for you, commit to it, and go with it!

These tips were successful on the first and second round of LC'ing years ago that helped me lose 55-65 pounds and get me below 175. I am following the same strategy now.

Tip #1, like ToastyBoy, I cook in bulk. When I barbeque I don't burn a stack of mesquite for just a few burgers, I will cook a brisket or pork roast, burgers and some sausage too. Same with pots of chili on the stove, baked pork chops or turkey in the oven. Then I grab the scale and put 4-5 ounces in a ziplock bag and freeze them. Making my lunch takes less than 2 seconds each day I barbeque throughout the year and really enjoy it in the winter.

Tip #2, again like ToastyBoy I weigh every day.

Tip #3, be faithful to myself and don't cheat.

Thanks, folks. I can see from your stats that you've had great success with this WOL.

Toastyboy, thanks for grabbing the ball and running with it. You must be so pumped, 10 pounds away from goal after all these months!
And thanks, Lynn and RD. In the parlance of teaching, those are "Monday morning" ideas--news we can use.

For me it's all about planning, I even plan when I will cheat so that I only do it for one meal or one day. Also I am lucky enough to have my own office at work and have small fridge I keep stocked for lunches and snack.

Thanks for the ideas. Last night, sandwiched between everything else that had to happen, I grabbed two turkey burgers from the freezer, pan-fried them in butter, melted some pepperjack on them and called it dinner, a direct offshoot of this thread.

So, can we have a peek in the office frig, Cheeze, and see what you have in there? Not to be nosy--just looking for ideas.

the plan is to prepare in advance. i too cook only one or 2 days a week in bulk. on sunday i cooked a beef roast, chicken legs, sausages, and turkey roast, and turkey legs, i had salad on hand and cream cheese ball with celery and 6 boiled eggs for breakfast all of the meats cooked down to smaller sizes but i want to have variety. so every night i pack my lunch and breakfast and keep a snack handy at work like pieces of cheese. if my food is not cooked i have to rely on eating at a rest. and i do not trust what is in their food (sugar and carbs). i am happy checking at the weekly ads in the paper for meats, cheeses, frozen veggies, and snacks. my deep freezer is always full. and i also keep on hand a couple boxes of blue bunny low carb ice cream bars (i have to buy bars for portion control) for cravings. and for other rare cravings i have on hand russell stover low carb candies (in the red package) made with splenda. not sure if this is helpful..but always have the right foods available at any given time.

I keep my work fridge stocked with (of course )cheese, microwave bacon, tuna packets, LC bread, mayo, and sugar free jello.

sugar free jello! Mmm for only 10 calories.

Excercise too! Just 15 mins on a bike can get me exhausted, after that walk a half mile or so for cool down.

Drink lots of water, it keeps ya from feeling hungry and is vital for your body to function.

Lots of great advice here! Is it possible however to drink TOO MUCH water?

Just curious!

David

The things that work for me-

1. Use fitday everyday. I wasn't using fitday in the beginning and instead just guesstimating what I ate. I decided to plug in what I'd eaten the day before in fitday and was shocked at the amount of calories I'd had for what I thought was a normal day. Now every morning I plug in what I plan to eat for the day. When I hit my calorie limit for the day I stop adding foods to the list. Then I can distribute the foods in my list throughout the day. I eat when I'm hungry and still know what I have left in the back of my head. It helps me to eat say only 5 oz of chicken at one sitting instead of all 10 oz I'd allotted myself. If it's 3pm and I've only had 1/4 of the food in my list, I know I should eat more and if it's 3pm and I'm 3/4 of the way through I know I need to slow down or I'll be starving later in the night.

2. I write a journal entry every night. I keep it private and record anything I think of. If it's only for you, you can feel more free to write everything you're thinking and not worry about spelling, grammar, etc. I find that I discover so much about myself when writing the entries. I start out writing about my day or how I'm feeling and the words just flow, sort of like a stream of consciouness, and if that entry happens to be about a problem I'm having, a lot of the time I have deeper insight into why or what causes that problem.

3. Excerise daily. Right now I'm at home most of the day because my new job won't start until Feb. 14th. Instead of sitting around just watching bad daytime tv I hop on my stationary bike and watch bad daytime tv .
In the beginning it hurt my butt sooo much, but now I've gotten pretty used to it and I can do two 45 minute rides each day with little to no problem. I also find that watching mindless action movies (e.g. the matrix) seems to pump my energy level up while riding. I guess all the adrenaline pumping during the action scenes makes me go faster. Plus, I'm so into the movie the minutes fly by on the bike.

4. Modify your low carb diet to fit you. I've been on Atkins induction for about 2 months now, but I've never followed it to the letter. I eat low carb bars and chocolate and sometimes go over my cheese limit or cream limit, but it keeps me on the diet. I find that restricting the foods I want only leads to eventual overeating of worse things. If I allow myself a little low carb chocolate everyday and fit it into my carb/calorie limit, I'm more likely to stick to my program than if I weren't allowed these things. I know people say all the time that the cravings lessen and eventually you don't miss the bad foods, and I agree to some extent. I don't crave bread or rice or potatoes or cookies or pies anymore, but when I want some chocolate I want some chocolate and I'm gonna have some- it'll just be low carb chocolate. If you want to make the low carb lifestyle part of your life for the rest of your life, you have to do what works for you or you won't make it. This definitely will involve trial and error with finding foods that cause weight gain or don't cause weight gain, but when you find that happy place where your body works how you want it to while still having things you enjoy, it's bliss!

I'm on South Beach now for the past 9 months. I have a few things that have helped me to stay in the game, so to speak

1- I got an indoor grill with removable plates(fast and easy cleaning) and grill meats, chicken and fish. I too, will grill up about 2 lbs of chicken breasts in different marinades so that I always have a good and fast snack or meal.

2- I made a promise to myself to log all my food each day, into my journal here, keeps me accountable.

3- I weigh everyday!! In the morning only!! I keep an index card near the scale and record it each day.

4- I walk for my work so I'm walking 4-5 hours , 5 days a week.

5- I joined the challenges here. They keep me engaged in my porcess.

6- I come here daily and read some, write some, support some. This place has made a big difference for me!! Thank you forum originators!!

7- I think in terms of 10 lbs at a time. The total number was too big for me to think about.

8- I have learned that if I eat 6 times a day and that each time it is a small amount, I don't get hungry and I keep losing!!

9- If there is a food that I love, like dreamfields pasta, I have it as a treat about once every 2 weeks!! Keeps me feeling like I can have what I like!!

Hope some of this helps!!

Great pointers everyone.

My number one rule is to ALWAYS have something with me to eat and drink. I do not leave my house without a water bottle and a bag of nuts/chunk of cheese/advantage bar - something in case I get caught without good options. I keep a little insulated lunch bag ready to go and just put a 1/2 frozen water bottle in it when going out the door. This way when I am suddenly starving while out shopping or stuck in traffic with only a Dunkin Doughnuts in sight I have a safe choice.

My other tried and true is fresh baby spinach.

Marie

760 pounds!

That's how much weight has been shifted so far using these tips. One cannot argue with success like that.
A big thank you for all of these contributions, and I'd like to encourage even more of them from anyone who feels they've picked up some wisdom or insight on the way.