Hey everyone,

I thought it would be fun to start a thread where we could share little tips or tricks that help us stay on track with our dietary and fitness goals. Maybe this sort of thread has been started before, but I couldn't find one.

My recommendation would be to give a separate post for each tip or trick.

I'll post a few of my tricks that I've talked about elsewhere.

Jen

I find that even on one's worst dietary day, if you've gotten your adequate water intake, you've done something good for yourself.

Here's my trick...

I like to get aT at least 100 oz of water per day (I know that's more than most), but it can be difficult to keep track.

I have a 32 oz water bottle, so I know that I have to drink at least 3 of them to reach my goal. I start the day off with 3 (or 4) rubberbands on my water bottle. For each bottle I've finished, I move a rubberband to the top of the bottle (or remove it altogether). When the rubberbands are all moved, I'm all done.

When I'm cooking a meal, I chew a piece of minty gum. This eliminates my temptation to taste as I go.

I try not to bake cookies too often, but when I do, cookie dough is an enormous downfall for me (I could eat an entire batch). The gum trick works here too!

I read this tip somewhere, but don't remember where.

There are so many times I just don't feel like working out. But, what I do now is force myself to do the first 10 minutes of my workout. If after that 10 minutes I am still miserable, I allow myself to stop, without guilt. The idea is that by the time you've done 10 minutes, the endorphins have started to work their magic, and you'll feel like finishing.

When I feel my motivation lagging I pull out my fat pics, or my fat pants or even my skinny pants and ask myself "do you want to have to wear these things again" or "would't you rather wear a size 14 then a size 20?" Usually works, but yesterday it sure didn't.

Thanks, Iwan!

Here's another idea...anytime I'm posting or surfing this site, I will have my water bottle at hand, drinking plenty!

Have a morning routine. I get up, take a vitamin, and drink 1 full 6 oz. glass of water before I do anything. That gets me moving to do the other stuff I have to do.

i do that too! i take my vitamin & green tea with a full glass of water before i do anything else!!

when I feel myself about to loose it.........I use self talk....ie...
I really don't want to eat this donut........I know i will feel like crap later if i do.........will this really matter 20 min from now?........Just breath deep and think of somthing else.........
I usually can talk my self out of doing something i will regret later............ sometimes i have to talk to my self for 2 or 3 min to get through it.....but what ever works right!!!!
STAR

Great tip!! I do the same thing with the water bottle, knowing I just need to drink 3 a day, but never thought of the rubber band thing, think I'll try that.

x
monica

Thanks for all the tips everyone! Keep them coming.

I use the mindset of never put off til tomorrow or later what you can do right now...

When I am tempted to eat or drink something I don't need, I try to calculate how much longer I am going to have to work out to burn off the calories from that ONE STUPID can of coke(or whatever the weakness). By the time I am done with the math, I usually realize it is just not worth it. If I think it IS worth it, I'll make a commitment to myself that I WILL do the work to burn it off that day.

I can't remember where I hear it(could have been on here), but I heard someone say once that when you are tempted just tell yourself to wait twenty minutes. If you still can not resisit in twenty minutes then go for it, but usually the craving passes and you have racked up another small victory. This one works well for me.

~tiffany

I love the gum while cooking idea. I'll definitely use that.

Love the rubber band idea. I'll have to give it a try!

Jenn