Success Stories || Whats and Hows

whatthehellamidoing

Hey guys,
There are a lot of threads that tell the incredible journey of weight loss of many people, I wanted to start one to collect all the possible info I could,

Everyone is different, but there is a possibility that what worked for you might work for someone else.

So please answer the following questions to tell us how much successful youve been.

Age & Height:
Start Weight:
Goal Weight:
Current Weight:
Weight Loss Start Date:
Weight Lost Till Now:
What motivated you to take the initiative:
Did you have any medical conditions:
How many calories did you eat:
Did you follow any diet program:
What was your focused exercise?
What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing weight to do?(Like: Buy a Scale etc):


Let's hear your success stories.

jamiegillam69

Age 46. Height 5'8"
Start weight. 210 lb
Goal weight. 165-170
Current weight 179
Weight loss start date. Oct 2015
Weight loss till now. 31 lbs
Motivation. Wanted to be healthier
Medical conditions. Had high sugar and cholesterol. Normal after exercise and weight loss
Number of calories. 1700 at first now 1600 as I am smaller
Diet program. No. Just at to my calorie goal. Did cut way back on soda and chocolate
Exercise. Elliptical,walking
Suggestions. Take lots of before pics and measurements. Download happy scale app. Don't expect two and three pounds a week. Be happy with .5-1. Expect weeks where the scales are not gonna move or may even slightly increase. It is going to take a lot of commitment to make this work so it is something that you need to want for yourself. Track your calories every day for everything. Food scales do keep tracking more accurate.

Mycophilia

Age & Height: 24, 185cm
Start Weight: 121kg
Goal Weight: 80kg
Current Weight: 82,1kg
Weight Loss Start Date: Nov 2014
Weight Lost Till Now: 41,2kg, after that I started my first bulk and have gained 2,3kg since then.
What motivated you to take the initiative: Had trouble with insomnia so my doctor recommended I started to exercise. And the whole thing kinda snowballed from that.
Did you have any medical conditions: None
How many calories did you eat: 1700ish when I was losing weight.
Did you follow any diet program: My very own IIFYM hotdog diet™.
What was your focused exercise?: Strength training.
What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing weight to do?(Like: Buy a Scale etc): Educate yourselves about human physiology and the science behind fat loss. With a proper base of knowledge to draw upon, sifting through all the bad information becomes easy.

BikeToChron

Age & Height: 62, 5'10"
Start Weight: 228
Goal Weight: 175
Current Weight: 176
Weight Loss Start Date: August 2013
Weight Lost Till Now: 52 lbs
What motivated you to take the initiative: High sugar and cholesterol, and desire to be more active
Did you have any medical conditions: None relevant
How many calories did you eat: ~1800
Did you follow any diet program: No, just lots of vegetables, v. little red meat, higher protein, less refined carbohydrate, dropped most sweetened things but do love a bit of chocolate.
What was your focused exercise? Biking, weight training
What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing weight to do?(Like: Buy a Scale etc): Yes, buy a scale and count calories precisely (calories in/calories out). Also, do daily exercise if possible to increase the amount of calories you can eat back. I chose first working out in the gym with cardio, but now love biking. Commute to work if you can! I was lucky enough to have what to me now is the perfect commute distance (14-20 miles total with hills). Before a year and a half ago, I would have thought that was too far. No excuses (except rain)!

MrsMizart

Age & Height: Early fifties, 5'8"
Start Weight: 220 lbs give or take a bit
Goal Weight: 140 - 150,will see how I feel and look when I get there.
Current Weight: 189.5lbs
Weight Loss Start Date: 02/06/14
Weight Lost Till Now: 30lbs
What motivated you to take the initiative: Tired of hauling myself around. And wanted to feel good about myself. And buy another horse. And not have the health issues my parents had (heart disease and strokes).
Did you have any medical conditions: High cholesterol
How many calories did you eat: usually around 1500, often more that's covered by exercise.
Did you follow any diet program: CICO. Have IBS and am a sensitive flower with regards to dairy, so don't have wheat or dairy.
What was your focused exercise? Walking. Aiming to run a half marathon next year with a friend (we like a challenge).
What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing weight to do?(Like: Buy a Scale etc): Weigh food - don't guestimate! Be honest about intake and about exercise. Don't beat yourself up if you have a 'bad ' day. Make calorie space for the things you'd like to have. Don't fret if it takes longer than you'd hoped - my average is half a pound a week when things are going well.

Vanessalookingood

Age & Height: 41, 5'7"
Start Weight: 283
Goal Weight: 160
Current Weight: 257
Weight Loss Start Date: January 1st, 2016
Weight Lost Till Now: 26 lbs
What motivated you to take the initiative: Feeling utterly at my lowest emotionally. Ready to change my life. A desire to feel good about myself.
Did you have any medical conditions: No
How many calories did you eat? Between 1200-1600 cals daily and about 1800-2000 on Saturday (Treat day)
Did you follow any diet program? I eat smaller meals on smaller plates, I eat more slowly, I do eat often,every few hours. Drink water only with one coffee daily, Lots of vegetables and healthy meals prepared from scratch not much high processed foods (boxed carbs, granola bars, high sugar foods etc.) Gave up diet pepsi, No alcohol.
What was your focused exercise? I hour walk on treadmill 5 days per week
What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing to do?(Like buy a scale etc): Lose the " I am just going to eat 800 cals a day and this weight will just disappear overnight" mentality. Be ready for a "lifestyle change" there is no magic speedy way. Small changes over time are what bring lasting success.

FitEqualsSmile

Age & Height: 44 5'5"
Start Weight: 183
Goal Weight: 125
Current Weight: 163
Weight Loss Start Date: 12/1/2015
Weight Lost Till Now: 20
What motivated you to take the initiative: Migraines
Did you have any medical conditions: Migraines
How many calories did you eat: 1500
Did you follow any diet program: Very clean due to migraines, removed all processed foods from my diet, rarely eat out, seldom alcohol
What was your focused exercise? My migraines can spike when my blood pressure goes up rapidly so any high impact exercise is off the table. I do yoga 4 days a week and work out with a trainer 3 days a week for weight training
What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing weight to do?(Like: Buy a Scale etc): Buy a food scale and use it for everything. Weight is much for reliable that measuring spoons and cups. The individual packages are even off a lot of the time. Weight yourself but also measure your progress in pictures and how your close are fitting. If someone tells you how easy it was for them...kick them in the shins. This *kitten* ain't easy.

McCloud33

Age & Height: 33, 5'-9"
Start Weight: 235
Goal Weight: 175lbs@10-12%BF
Current Weight: 180lbs@~16%BF (I had gotten as low as 168, but then I moved and bulked up for a few months...trying to get back down in the 170-175 range at least)
Weight Loss Start Date: 1/1/2014
Weight Lost Till Now: 53lbs
What motivated you to take the initiative: Didn't like how I looked and how inactive I was after growing up always playing sports
Did you have any medical conditions: no
How many calories did you eat: 1900 to 1700 to 1500.
Did you follow any diet program: Just calories in/calories out
What was your focused exercise? The first 50ish lbs came off in about 4 months doing only running. Then, I added in weight training having never lifted weights in my life.
What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing weight to do? Start *progressive* weight training early on. If you don't like how you look fat, you probably won't like how you look "skinny fat" either. Lifting helps you hold onto the muscle that you already have so that more of the weight that you're losing is fat. And along with that, not all scale weight is equal. 1lb of fat weighs the same as 1lb of muscle, but looks ALOT different on your body. Look at the difference in my pictures between 185 and 182. This is when I started lifting weights and is only 3lbs different.

JDubbs2

Age & Height: 41/ 5' 11"
Start Weight: 210 lbs.
Goal Weight: 170 lbs.
Current Weight:198 lbs.
Weight Loss Start Date: 2/5/16
Weight Lost Till Now: 13 lbs.
What motivated you to take the initiative: Feeling better, keeping up with my kids
Did you have any medical conditions: no
How many calories did you eat: 1500
Did you follow any diet program: my fitness pal
What was your focused exercise? alternating days between cardio and strength
What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing weight to do?: Totally eliminate sugary drinks. Get your calories in check. It's a marathon not a sprint.

dalem54494

Age & Height: 48/5'6"
Start Weight:348
Goal Weight:155
Current Weight:165
Weight Loss Start Date:2/2/14
Weight Lost Till Now:183#
What motivated you to take the initiative:decided I wanted to be healthy
Did you have any medical conditions:luckily no
How many calories did you eat:1500
Did you follow any diet program: just CICO
What was your focused exercise?none in particular
What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing weight to do? created a MFP profile and bought a food scale

SezxyStef

Age & Height:43/ 5" 7"
Start Weight:205
Goal Weight:165
Current Weight:150ish
Weight Loss Start Date:2011 but got serious September 2013
Weight Lost Till Now:60lbs
What motivated you to take the initiative: sick and tired of being sick and tired, high cholesterol
Did you have any medical conditions:yes see above
How many calories did you eat:started at 1460+exercise which is about 1600
Did you follow any diet program:at first yes and I yo yo'd till I just counted calories
What was your focused exercise? circut training then heavy lifting then added cardio
What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing weight to do?(Like: Buy a Scale etc):buy a food scale, take measurments, scale weight pic etc. Put all numbers together to get the real story not just scale weight.

All numbers include scale weight, tape measure, body fat %, miles ran, weights lifted, clothing size, number of compliments, new jeans/pants,....last but not least the number of teeth you see when you smile at yourself in the mirror....see where I am going

zgiarc

Age & Height: 44, 6'1"
Start Weight: 284
Goal Weight: 180-185
Current Weight: 253
Weight Loss Start Date: 12/27/14
Weight Lost Till Now: 31 lbs.
What motivated you to take the initiative: Tired of being tired and out of shape
Did you have any medical conditions: No
How many calories did you eat: I eat between 1,800 - 2,700 per day - depending on activity level
Did you follow any diet program: I eat similar foods as before, just less of them. I do try to make healthier choices though.
What was your focused exercise? I started out walking. I am now up to around 7 miles per day as a goal. I've also started C25K and play pick up basketball 1 or 2 nights per week.
What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing weight to do? Get started for you, nobody else. Realize that the process will take time. Some weeks are great, some weeks aren't. The longer that I've stuck with this the more motivated that I have become. Enjoy the journey and picture yourself reaching your goals.

G33K_G1RL

Age & Height: 29, 5'7.5''
Start Weight: 202 lbs
Goal Weight:155 lbs
Current Weight: 167 lbs
Weight Loss Start Date: Jan 2015
Weight Lost Till Now: 35 lbs
What motivated you to take the initiative: Kickboxing progress was stagnant, felt heavy, saw a good deal for online coaching
Did you have any medical conditions: No

How many calories did you eat: 1800-2000 For most of the weight loss, ~2500 for maintenance August to February (Life got in the way so I decided to focus on weight training and NOT gaining), 2200 right now for the last weight loss, will go lower if I plateau.

Did you follow any diet program: Protein centric CICO

What was your focused exercise? Weight training to keep and improve muscle, continued kickboxing and badminton

What is the first thing that you suggest all the member's losing weight to do?(Like: Buy a Scale etc): Focus on building healthy habits, not on the number on the scale. The number is just a number, and only has meaning when you aggregate it with all the other metrics (tape measure, pictures, health, etc.) and their progress over time. Make some small and big goals, celebrate the little victories as much as the big ones. There is no shame in taking a weight loss "break", but careful not to slide back in bad habits!