But what did you really do to lose weight?

VintageFeline

Oh you want the minutiae?

Okay, here goes.

Came off psych meds that contributed to prior weight gain by making me hungrier. Had appointment with my lovely GP who made it clear I was at the point where I do something or my physical health would start to suffer. I'm good with just being mental so decided it was time to not be fat any more. Started eating less, lost about 8lbs. Suddenly got a lot more motivated.

Bought Insanity, overhauled my diet. About a month into Insanity got really serious and started weighing everything and got a HRM (heart rate monitor). I was at about 1550 calories plus exercise burns at that point. My goal is 1lb per week because I like to eat and my muscle mass, eating and body composition trumps rate of loss.

Completed Insanity with a bit of knee ache because realistically I was too fat to be doing it. Started T25. Started running with a friend. She stopped after a couple of weeks, I kept going. Started free wheeling with the exercise, running about 3-4 times a week and doing an Insanity/T25 or Fitness Blender workout 1-2 times a week.

That brings us to now. I've relaxed my diet now I'm in control (for the most part, I still have the odd emotional binge). I log everything, weigh most calorie dense items. I still have take away and junk food and all that good stuff, it just has to fit. I'm currently doing an 8 week Fitness Blender program just because I felt like it. I never set foot in a gym. Run maybe once a week at the moment but I bore easily so I'll chop and change all the time.

Now I have 1400 calories per day plus exercise burns. Lower target because I'm 41lbs lighter and my burns are lower because I'm lighter too. I track my weekly average calorie intake, so some days I eat more, some less, as long as it's reasonably close to my weekly goal, I'm happy. About 30lbs to go, ish, won't know until I get to where I'm going what my target is. Likely the upper end of a healthy BMI for my height because I have reasonable muscle mass.

I have also had a two week break from exercise due to mental health and a two "diet" break just to help me keep on track, which worked perfectly.

Duchy82

I put my stats into mfp set it to 1kg weightloss a week initially and ate the calories it gave me. I haven't really changed my eating habits that much but I stopped adding sugar to anything and slowly but surely I changed my choices because I just don't think certain foods are worth it, tastes change and all that. I just don't love donuts enough for the calories they are for example.

I have managed to lose 28kg that way, I am more adventurous and I am more willing to try new foods (mainly vegetables I've never tried before). As the weight goes down I have to make more changes to get more bang for my buck so to speak.

As for exercise it's sporadic at best mainly walking and yoga. I'm trying to add body weight exercises too to start 'toning' so to speak. But I can't say I have been consistent enough to say it contributed to my weightloss.

Jen2133

For a couple of years I had been trying to lose 20lbs – very unsuccessfully. My past strategies have been to try any drastic "diet" and run obsessive distances very frequently.

Eight months ago I started weighing and tracking all of my food with MFP, reduced my running and joined Crossfit. I was able to determine that for me – 5' 3" and age 48, a 1600 calorie diet would allow me to lose about 0.5 lbs per week. I do avoid processed foods, and reducing the amount of sugar in my diet has changed my 'hangry' feelings to just hungry, which is much more manageable. I still enjoy a bit of red wine and agree with all of those who follow the CICO plan. You must track everything honestly and be OK with being hungry from time to time. I eat what I want, but my choices do tend to be pretty healthy.

I enjoy exercise and I think the change for me from low-end endurance to interval-style training (Crossfit) was a shake-up. I have now added some pure strength training to add more muscle definition now that the fat is gone. I do Crossfit three times per week, strength 2x and then run or cross country ski 2x – each session about 1.5 hours with warm-up and cool down. I will also do some walking if I want to earn some extra calories.

I believe another positive move on my part was to expect less weight loss per week and to have the patience to wait out the ups and plateaus. I've lost 18lbs and am now 124lbs.

jonathansilas1984

I eat one meal a day . breakfast is black coffee, around 4pm ill have a V8 juice then around 8pm ill eat anywhere from 900-1300 calories.

AllOutof_Bubblegum

My method:

I ate a calorie deficit. Consistently, and without regard to what types of food it was. I simply focused on staying at a specific number of calories.

Then I slowly started figuring out which foods were keeping me full better, and making me feel better and more energetic, and I kept eating those foods more often, while gradually cutting back on the frequency of foods that made me feel like crap, or left me feeling hungry.

Then when I got that down as a solid habit I joined a gym and started lifting heavy weights.

jenilla1

I logged my calories and stayed at or under my daily limits. I weighed and measured my food for accuracy. I eat what I feel like, but tend to naturally prefer less processed foods. I cook most of my own meals, but that's just my preference. To earn more calories I exercised whenever I felt like it. It's not complicated. In fact, it's very straightforward and simple. I do the same thing to maintain. I've been successfully on maintenance now for well over 3 years.

mjwarbeck

After I lost my job (fortunately with enough severance to not worry for a while), I had to set a routine, of which exercise was a key component. I am now at the gym pretty much every day. 30 minutes on weights, 30-40 minutes cardio. Also, since I no longer have a company car, I walk pretty much everywhere. In the morning I walk my kids to daycare and continue to the gym and then back home. This is about 3km. In the evening I pick up the kids as well for another 3km. Given the snow it is a bit more effort to push the stroller :-)

For food, I had been just eating properly...but am now starting to record so as to ensure to me and others I am getting enough calories around (~2250)...but still lose in the 1.5-2lbs per week.

Haven't really cut out any foods...though exploring the grocery, the kids and I have started buying honey pomelo...fruit of the month for us!

FWIW: down 19lbs in a bit over 2 months.

alphastarz

1. Truly decide you want to change and you have the power to do so, no excuses.
2. Let MFP determine calorie deficit goal based on age, weight, planned loss. For me that is about 1400 currently
3. Log everything, try to meet or be under goal 9 times out of 10, without eating back exercise calories. Splurge days or special occasions no more than 1 out of 10 days, still log and goal to stay within maintenance calories and eat exercise calories back. Splurge days for me work out to be about no exercise 1800, with exercise up to 2300.
4. Log everything even better, if your using cups vs scale you probably end up under counting. If you eat back exercise calories, careful you don't overestimate calories burned, which is easy to do without heart rate monitor.
5. Bonus points: Deal with emotional eating, self image and worth issues if applicable. Frame success with flexible and attainable goals, short term and long term. Drink more water. Exercise more, even if starting small like walking more. Get friends, support or other motivation to surround yourself with positive thoughts and encouragement. Work on improving macronutrients goals, eating healthier with the same calories.

jdhcm2006

I figured out my TDEE (someone already posted the acronym, so I won't do it again), and subtracted that by 500. That was my goal to eat daily. I logged everything that I ate on MFP. I exercised for about 5-6 times a week. I used Shaun T's T25, Insanity, and Insanity Max 30. Now, I do pole dancing, which is cardio and strength training rolled into one addicting hobby, and I've just added in yoga this month to help supplement my poling.

The key is burning more than you eat. So invest in a digital food scale. It's really necessary, IMO. Even if you decide you don't want to workout, you can still lose solely by eating less. If you do decide to also workout, find something that you really enjoy doing. That way doing it won't seem like a chore, and you'll be excited to workout.

AmyRhubarb

Basically I counted cals, watched my macros, and started moving - first just walking, then adding in some workout videos, Jillian Michaels stuff. Weight started coming off & I reached my first goal of dropping 10lbs.

When I decided I wanted more than just a lower scale number and my squishy self slimmer than I was, I looked to the people on MFP who had that firm, fit body that I was after. They were working out less than me, and eating more! I had to know more!

I started adding more weight/strength training, really focused on getting enough protein, and made sure I was eating enough cals rather than too few. Two specific sources I followed are In Place of a Road Map and Eat More To Weigh Less, two groups you'll find here on MFP as well as on Facebook, etc. Great info, great testimonies.

I've gone from a size 12 to a size 4/6 and maintained it for over 3 years. I've lost inches and pounds and fat, and gained strength, flexibility and endurance. I'm eating pizza right now. I still drink alcohol, enjoy dining out, going to parties, and celebrating holidays. No crash diets, no huge calorie restrictions or temporary fixes.

As for exercise, I workout from home 5-6 days a week. I alternate days of strength with running (3-5 miles, tops), and 30-45 minutes of strength training with dumbbells at home. I'd go for the big barbells, but don't have the space for them right now, and I'm not into the gym. I use FitnessBlender.com for free workouts - check them out, they are awesome.

Mostly, it's been about a sustainable lifestyle change - make time for exercise, eat well, drink water, get good sleep.

victoria_1024

I'm down 77 lbs in the past 11 months. What I did:

Weighed my food and logged accurately on mfp

Almost never went over my calorie goal except for a random day here and there

Worked out most days of the week doing a variety of things and ate back 50% of my estimated burned calories

Increased my protein intake significantly because I wasn't getting enough and it was affecting me negatively

I didn't give up ANY foods that I love. I ate chocolate every day. Ordered pizza once in a while. Ate ice cream. Just fit everything into my calorie goals and macros

I didn't give up. Not every day is perfect. Sometimes I stay under my calorie goal but I ate crap all day and I feel gross. I just pick up the next day. I went through a highly stressful time in my family so I stopped logging for a while but continued being mindful of my food and exercising. I managed to maintain and when I felt less stressed I went back to logging.

I'm only a few pounds away from my goal weight. It's actually harder losing weight now because I'm less motivated and my calorie goals are much lower. But I'm happy to lose slowly if that's what I do!

nvmomketo

I am awful at moderating my sweets. Awful. When I tried to cut back I gained weight. A real problem because I was developing insulin resistance.

I decided to try a very low carb ketogenic diet. I was shocked when my carb craings were gone within days and my appettite fell. I was feeling healthier and that made me feel less like eating for energy as well.

I ate 5% carbs (about 20g) with 20% protein and 75% fat. My caloric goal was 1420 kcal, which I usually ate over. Regardless, I was losing 2-3 lbs per week until I hit 155lbs, which is well into a healthy BMI for my 5'8" height. I've upped my calories some more (more like 1800) and I've lost 5 more pounds.

I didn't exercise more than a handful of times while losing weight.

I think eating LCHF was the key to my success. I am not very successful at restricting calories on a moderate or higher carb diet.

Carlos_421

jonathansilas1984 wrote: »

I eat one meal a day . breakfast is black coffee, around 4pm ill have a V8 juice then around 8pm ill eat anywhere from 900-1300 calories.

This is not only miserable but that's an unhealthily low number of calories.
Intermittent fasting is fine if it works for you but eat enough during your eating window.
900-1300 calories per day for an adult male is not enough. Please stop starving yourself.

FitGirl0123

I ate less calories than I burned.

Meganthedogmom

For the first 50 pounds I lost, I didn't even know about MFP. One day I got on my parents' treadmill after work and started walking, then jogging for very short time periods, then walking, then jogging. I did this about three times a week for 30-60 minutes, each time being able to jog a little longer.
While doing this, I also cut out fast food and most "junk" food. I also completely quit drinking and smoking within a couple months of each other. Prior to this I drank daily, and my diet consisted of cigarettes and coffee for breakfast, no food all day until I got home from work, then i'd gorge on things like mac n cheese, Oreos, ice cream and chips. So I pretty much turned my whole life around. Started cooking my own meals, and limiting my portions. Instead of a giant mixing bowl of cereal, I'd have a serving. Things like that... I didn't really count my calories, and I would still eat things I wanted to eat, but definitely cut back and made a lot more healthy choices. The weight came off consistently for me for a long while, at 1-2lb per week.

After losing the 50 pounds, I moved to New Orleans and my routine got really screwed up. A lot of life-changing crap and awful drama and depression happened. I stopped working out for a while, but was still eating pretty healthy. So I basically stalled out for several months.

Then one day I decided to face my fears and join a gym. Either shortly after or before, I discovered MFP and began counting calories which worked great. At some point over the last year I also purchased a food scale to be more accurate in my counting. I still cook most of my own meals, limit junk food, no alcohol, and almost never have fast food (every few months I'll indulge on some Whataburger though).

My workout routines have varied greatly over the years. It's gone from just the treadmill as mentioned, to becoming a full on gym addict 6x a week, combining strength and cardio, to doing mainly strength, to abandoning strength training and just doing running... I vary a lot because I get bored. I make new goals all the time to try not to lose motivation. Currently I go to the gym one day a week for strength training, and I do cardio almost every day, as well as fitness blender videos and body weight exercises & calisthenics at home. Lots of variety - trying not to get bored

Right now my calorie goal is around 1350 - I'm 5'3", 165 and would like to lose 25+ more pounds. I believe I have MFP set to lose .5lb per week.

This was really long, but you asked for detail so there ya go!

Orphia

• I put my stats into MFP.
• I read all the stickies in this forum.
• I made friends with the unicorns and learned a lot from them.
• I ate all the things I loved - just less of them.
• I fell in love with walking, and began running.
• I ate back my exercise calories and got to eat more and still lose weight.
• Did some bodyweight and overhead press machine exercises for upper body strength.
• Started doing Les Mills Body Balance in December.
• I used Happy Scale to track my daily weight, which smooths out the daily fluctuations and shows the general trend.
• I used iPeriod to track my monthly cycle and give me data I can compare with Happy Scale.
• I made a plan to keep using MFP and the other apps because I see maintenance as a similar challenge to weight loss.
• I lost 29 kg (64 lbs) since April 2015, and only need to lose 4 kg more.

tbowmanjohnson51

I had to find the right plan for me. I've tried them all:) I've recently lost 13!bs by trying to eat as clean as possible and drinking green smoothies. I have1to 2 a day usually for breakfast and/or dinner and a healthy meal; 2 -3 snacks (raw fruit and veges with hummus, almond butter or plain; plain Greek yogurt with fruit, cinnamon, sometimes add vanilla or almond extract to the yogurt .

I have JUST resumed exercise after a break of several months. I love all types of exercise. Due to a back disorder, I'm a little limited. I ride a stationary bike and use the elliptical. Working my way back up to 5 days/ wk, 2 hr/ day.

CooCooPuff

I went from stuffing myself to starving myself to lose a lot of weight. I was going through a pretty rough time and let some hateful thoughts about myself get to me. I wouldn't reccomend this to anyone and regret letting it go as far as it did.

Now, my focus has been maintaining in a way that's good for my physical and mental health. I look for recipes that fit into my goals on Pinterest and freeze as needed, discovered a love of running, do a bodyweight because I don't have access to a good gym, prelog the next day to fit what I have planned, use Fitbit with MFP to determine my TDEE, keep track of my weight on Trendweight, weigh what foods I can, and let myself take it easy if I need to

daross16

jonathansilas1984 wrote: »

I eat one meal a day . breakfast is black coffee, around 4pm ill have a V8 juice then around 8pm ill eat anywhere from 900-1300 calories.

But whhyyy