What's your secret weapon?

[Guzzi]

We have probably covered this before, but what the heck!

 

Getting healthy can sometimes seem like you're facing an uphill battle, but along the way we all find little tricks and tips to make the journey easier.  Considering how big the market for losing weight/ getting healthy is, and just how many products are marketed as THE invention to get us there, it makes me wonder.... Just what are the best tools, inventions or weapons (<-sounds much cooler!) to use when you are trying to lose weight, gain muscle, or otherwise get fit?  

 

What has been your secret weapon?  

 

Now this can be anything that has helped you achieve your goals, whether that's something you've purchased, a technique you've learnt, or simply a mindset you've adopted.  What is is that you would recommend to other people following in your footsteps?

[SevenofSeven]

Squat rack. Without this I would have been having real trouble getting to where I am. 

[Guzzi]

For me, the best purchase I've made was my Fitbit Flex, and the best app was My Fitness Pal

 

My fitbit was an impulse buy, it cost me £80 (ouch!) but it was totally worth it. I love having data to work with and between the data from my fitbit and MFP it allowed me to feel like I was in control of my weight loss.  And anyone who's tried losing a lot of weight will know how much that matters.

 

Also, I think taking part in the challenges was really important in keeping me motivated and on track.  They gave me focus where before I was just kinda drifting.  I had got to the point where I had lost most of the weight, but I was starting to feel like "ok, so I've got here, I'm not fat anymore, what now?" 

[Guzzi]

2 minutes ago, SevenofSeven said:

Squat rack. Without this I would have been having real trouble getting to where I am. 

 

The bf and I are looking at houses for us to get somewhere together and one of our "must haves" is space for a weights room with a squat rack.  I envy your rack  

[SevenofSeven]

3 minutes ago, Guzzi said:

  I envy your rack  

Hahahaha! Why thank you! 

[insanity]

Keeping it simple. I'm an underpants collector of the highest degree. I would always be researching things, trying to find the best option before starting...to the point that I never started.

 

Then I found this site and read about the 5x5 and the idea of just starting, don't worry about the best, the fastest, most efficient anything...just start, you can tweak it later.

[Traxex]

While I think many people would say MyFitnessPal is their secret weapon for weight loss, mine would be portion control. Some people just can't count calories for whatever reason -- they hate it, they get obsessive about it, they find it too restrictive. Whatever.

 

So I don't count calories. I count portions and use really stinking cute measuring cups. I know for a set number of portions, I get a set range of calories. Usually 1500-1800, with a roughly 30/40/30 p/c/f split. which is a "good enough" range for my goals. I no longer stress out about being below 1700 or bust. Or hitting that 120g protein goal or I'm a failure. It could get really unhealthy and obsessive.

 

So for example, per day I eat: 

• (4) 1 cup servings of veggies
• (3) 1 cup servings of fruit 
• (4) 3/4 cup or 4 oz servings of protein
• (3) ~100 calorie servings of carbs (1 bread roll, 1 tortilla, 1/2 cup cooked rice or oatmeal. stuff like that.)
• 1 oz of cheese, split across meals if necessary
• Various condiments within reason

It doesn't matter what part of the day I eat these during. There's no eating window. There's no "carbs after dark" rule. I have no rules other than, "eat this amount stuff in one day." If it fits in a measuring cup, I eat it. It's really simplified my way of tracking what I eat. 

 

 

[Traxex]

3 minutes ago, insanity said:

trying to find the best option before starting...to the point that I never started.

 

I've heard this called "analysis paralysis" before. It's something I can sometimes have a big problem with! 

[Igaduma]

my polar V800.  I'm a nerd, I like numbers... it collects numbers for me (and the built in gps - take me back home function comes in handy for walks as well).

 

second thing: podcasts.  I do mostly cardio stuff at the moment (going to change soon, as soon as I hit 30 minutes running).  Listening to podcasts keeps me distracted from what I'm doing, making me able to last longer.

[Guzzi]

4 hours ago, Igaduma said:

my polar V800.  I'm a nerd, I like numbers... it collects numbers for me (and the built in gps - take me back home function comes in handy for walks as well).

 

second thing: podcasts.  I do mostly cardio stuff at the moment (going to change soon, as soon as I hit 30 minutes running).  Listening to podcasts keeps me distracted from what I'm doing, making me able to last longer.

 

OMG! I had never even heard of this! It's amazing. Makes my £80 for a Fitbit seem like chump change, lol!

[Igaduma]

37 minutes ago, Guzzi said:

Makes my £80 for a Fitbit seem like chump change, lol!

yeah, it had been poking my eyes out for a year before I finally decided to buy it.

it's a shitload of money

 

Got it for myself as a birthday present and a reward for two things I accomplished.

And as a stimulus to keep on running.  as in "Iggy, you spent that much money on a watch, get your butt outside and run!"

 

I'm happy with it though.  It doesn't do everything I want it to do, but it works.

[Guzzi]

Haha! That's kinda the same logic I used with my Fitbit. "You've spent £80 on this thing, you'd better bloody well use it!!!"

 

It worked too! I got sooo much benefit from having it and as soon as I can start walking again I'll be using it to track my steps and take control of my recovery. Though the days of aiming for 10K steps a day are long gone, my first target will probably be to reach around 300-600 steps a day, lol! 

 

I think my Secret Weapons will actually be even more useful this time around because I will have them from the start. I will have a plan and the tools to follow it through. Watch this space!  

[Igaduma]

 

2 hours ago, Guzzi said:

the days of aiming for 10K steps a day are long gone

10000 steps isn't that far!  It's like 5km a day or so.

[SevenofSeven]

"Fail to plan........plan to fail"

[Guzzi]

10 hours ago, Igaduma said:

 

10000 steps isn't that far!  It's like 5km a day or so.

 

Only 5K, pffft! Let me get my running shoes on.  

 

10 hours ago, RandMart said:

 

Plans are good; Plans are useful

 

Agreed!

10 hours ago, RandMart said:

“Aaron. Aaron, c’mere. I have a man on the phone; a REAL man. A man, who sets a goal, formulates a plan, performs to that plan and achieves his goal. Then this MAN, after his success … does it AGAIN. That’s a man, Aaron!”

 

This is awesome! But how did you manage to run with such a big head after that...?  

 

[Igaduma]

2 hours ago, Guzzi said:

But how did you manage to run with such a big head after that...?

every time he tried to lie down, the inflated head would make him bounce back up

[Jakkals]

Secret weapon?

 

In the darkest of the dark depression I have this little voice that tells me I will win one day. I have no idea why it does not give up, I do not know where it comes from, but it has always been there, even in the times I've tried to ignore it.

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

Time traveling.

 

No, really. I imagine myself in the future and make a mental picture of what I want myself to look/be like. Then I ask myself if the choice I'm about to make will lead to this vision.

 

I'm getting a lot better in using this strategy with body-related challenges, but applying the same method to life and mental-related challenges is still a work in progress.

[Guzzi]

Wow @Naxius, that's a brilliant way of putting it.  I'm stealing that!

[Guzzi]

21 hours ago, RandMart said:

Vitamin I = Ibuprofen [in a Boba Fett PEZ dispenser]

 

 

10 points for originality.  

[Igaduma]

22 hours ago, RandMart said:

Vitamin I = Ibuprofen [in a Boba Fett PEZ dispenser]

 

medication in a toy

somehow that just feels wrong

[IrishPiratess]

I know many people say that "Learning to say NO" was their trick.

 

for me, saying NO was the easy part. Being OK with saying NO was the hard part. Once I accepted that I am now "that guy" when it comes to crappy food, and things I am, and am not willing to put into my body, things started to take a drastic change for the better for me.

 

 

[insanity]

On 7/7/2016 at 7:43 AM, Naxius said:

Time traveling.

 

No, really. I imagine myself in the future and make a mental picture of what I want myself to look/be like. Then I ask myself if the choice I'm about to make will lead to this vision.

 

I'm getting a lot better in using this strategy with body-related challenges, but applying the same method to life and mental-related challenges is still a work in progress.

I've done the reverse of that "Where would I be now if I had started last year"

 

When I put that together with how short of a time the last year seems to be, it kind of puts things in perspective.

[Evicious]

My greyhound. Since she's a retired racer, she only has a tentative grasp of what "housebroken" means - so, she'll get up in the morning, come stand by the bed and breathe on you... but if she gets no response, she simply goes to the back door and does her business in front of it. And since we have carpet, cleaning up her mess can be a genuine pain in the ass. It's excellent motivation to get out of bed in the morning - bolt out of it, is probably a better description. And once I've stumbled hurriedly over her, the pit-mix (who by then is bouncing around excitedly because OMG MY PEOPLES IS UP!), and both cats (who have learned that yelling at us is the most efficient way to get fed), I'm pretty much awake. At that point it's actually easier to get dressed and go workout than it is to try to go back to bed.

 

Also, everyone should own a greyhound at some point in their lives. They are the absolute weirdest dogs - and they're totally awesome.

[Guzzi]

4 hours ago, Evicious said:

My greyhound. Since she's a retired racer, she only has a tentative grasp of what "housebroken" means - so, she'll get up in the morning, come stand by the bed and breathe on you... but if she gets no response, she simply goes to the back door and does her business in front of it. And since we have carpet, cleaning up her mess can be a genuine pain in the ass. It's excellent motivation to get out of bed in the morning - bolt out of it, is probably a better description. And once I've stumbled hurriedly over her, the pit-mix (who by then is bouncing around excitedly because OMG MY PEOPLES IS UP!), and both cats (who have learned that yelling at us is the most efficient way to get fed), I'm pretty much awake. At that point it's actually easier to get dressed and go workout than it is to try to go back to bed.

 

Also, everyone should own a greyhound at some point in their lives. They are the absolute weirdest dogs - and they're totally awesome.

 

I laughed sooooo hard at this!