Your story and your best advice

lovetem

I was not quite sure where to post this so I hope this is ok.
I always enjoy reading people's journey even if you are just getting started or have already achieved your goals.

I have 3 kids and was on my way to gaining weight every month because of bad eating habits after the 3rd. I used this app a couple of years ago and got to 134 but gained it back plus more. I don't consider myself super overweight but my eating habits were horrible. I think this app is even good for health purposes.
I convinced myself because I didn't really drink soda drinking other things was fine. WRONG. I was drinking sweet teas constantly as well as sugary coffee drinks. Lattes loaded with syrups. 2 medium hot caramel lattes on the weekend was 700 calories just for those alone!
Eating very little calories of food through the day always led me to binge eating late at night. Processed snacks, plates of loaded nachos
My only activity was walking to my daughter's school and home almost a mile a day.

I stepped on the scale one day and discovered my heaviest weight not being pregnant. I knew I needed to change. Since then I have logged for around 30 days and lost 5-6lbs. Also my acid reflux has gotten better without the late night binges.
Adding in the treadmill and Pilates has me moving and having more energy.

My best advice when you are feeling discouraged or hit a plateau is that you would have loved to be at the point you're at now when you first started so don't give up!

lovetem

I'm not sure what happened to the rest of my post ahh

awolf2011

Well, my story started in 2012 when my MIL passed away at the age of 63 from a massive heart attack. She was diabetic and really didn't take care of herself. She was a farmers wife who always cooked enormous meals for her family and everyone else for that matter. So, she loved the comfort food. I realized that I didn't want to fall into that category, so I decided to use this app (found by mistake) and I lost 40 lbs in 6 months. Felt awesome!! Well, key my 4th pregnancy with my 4th boy. I was exclusively pumping and my weight was steady, I gained 50 lbs with all 4 of my boys. I was ok with myself. I decided earlier this year to get back on the bandwagon, but I hit another road block. I had a hysterectomy last fall at the age of 35 and now I'm going through menopause. So, I'm on meds that have made me gain 10 lbs in 1 month. My clothes are fitting horrible and I don't want to go back to that place again. I'm starting to log everything for the next week and hit the gym for my 4 workouts per week. My advice is don't hit it so hard that you burn out, that can be worse. I find that if I totally change right away, I'm more likely to not stick with it. Add me as a friend if you want

timurkhial

For me it all started back in 2012. I started doing Muay-Thai (very rigurous) and it helped me build up some endurance. I was losing weight but nothing really life changing because I didn't change my diet one bit (fast-food, crisps, ...)

A couple of months after I started I had gotten a stomach ulcer so I kinda had no choice but to really change my eating habits. Things started improving, I lost (coming from 125kg to 107kg) 18kg's and dropped like 2 sizes.

Fast forward 2 years I got into Uni and started living in a dorm. I stopped doing Muay-Thai or any form of sports and indulged myself into my old lifestyle again of eating fast-food or take-away with very little excercise. I thought like what's the worst that could happen ...

Well, I regained my 18kg's and added even a whopping 3 more (from 107kg to 128kg .

Now, since 3 months ago, I started working out and changing my food habits and it really helped because in 3 months time I've lost about 10kg's (from 128kg to 118kg ). I started doing Muay-Thai 3x/week again and I am trying to combine it with things like push-ups, sit-ups, running, ... It really motivates me that I know that i've already lost 10 kg's ...

So yeah, that's my story in a nutshell ^^

cee134

Started in 2011. Lost 100 lbs than gained it back when I stopped paying attention to my diet. I want and do eat much healthier to greatly reduce the genetic markers I can change that will greatly increase the chance of getting heart disease and diabetes in the next 10 - 15 years. I found what helps me out is a mostly plant based diet while counting my calories. So far down 30 lbs since I got serious again.

clambert1273

I will mark this to answer later because it is a long one

JennifrClaire

Best advice I read was dont go into a diet & exercise routine because you hate your body- it's all part of YOU, after all.
Changing your eating habits is not a penance for being overweight.
Its something you are doing for your own benefit, finding new foods and activities you enjoy.
This has helped me a great deal.

abatonfan

This is the super condensed version of my story:
I weighed around 230lbs at my highest (5'6", 18 years old at that time). Between July-November 2013, I lost roughly 75lbs while still eating relatively "normally" (if anything, I may have been eating slightly less, because I was too tired to eat). While losing weight, I was also experiencing things like an unquenchable thirst, having to pee every 60 minutes (if I did not go to the bathroom, I would wet myself bad), severe fatigue, fruity-smelling breath, and eventual hair loss. I went to my hair stylist the night of November 6, 2013, and after seeing the hair loss (and how easily my hair fell out), she urged me to get myself checked out at the local urgent care that night. I listened to her, and it turned out that I am a type 1 diabetic and was in DKA (pretty much would have been in a diabetic coma or dead if I waited a few days longer to see a doctor).

I started intensive insulin therapy and gained about 15lbs within two months. Since then, I've lost that weight plus an additional 25lbs (a bit over 100lbs lost so far) by simply counting my calories and exercising more (I get at least 14K steps a day). I'm now maintaining my weight, switched to insulin pump therapy (and maintaining an A1C within nondiabetic ranges), and am working on eventually getting my RN and Certified Diabetes Educator license.

My best piece of advice is that your food scale is your best friend. It's super easy to overestimate portions by eyeballing or using measuring cups (you're apparently not supposed to stuff as much food as you can into those cups). For me, those portion inaccuracies is enough to affect how much insulin I take, which will then cause my blood sugar to become more extreme (1 unit of insulin covers 20g of carbs for me and lowers my BG by 80-100mg/dL. Being off by a half cup of pasta is about a 20g carb discrepancy, which could then cause my BG to go from 120 to 40 or from 120 to 200).

JeromeBarry1

Today I had my annual physical exam. My Dr. is a rail thin Hindu vegan who has been blah blah telling me to lose weight for 10 years. Finally in January she informed me that my cholesterol numbers, my pride and joy, had turned bad and the only solution was to exercise and lose weight or go on statin drugs. I hate drugs. Today she expressed that she was impressed with me and proud of me and wanted to know how and why I say, "This is easy". Extemporaneously, I described that despite her and so many in the popular culture trying to give good advice about losing weight, I, "The guy in these shoes" had to internalize and own that decision.

arose1122

I started in January. I got up to 260 pounds. I was having migraines pretty regularly and just plain had no energy to do anything with my kids. I made a goal of 60 pounds for the year but t he biggest thing is I wanted to get out of plus sized clothes and to be able to keep up with my kids.

I'm down about 95 pounds now and definitely out of plus sized clothes. I haven't had a migraine in months and I feel like I can keep up with my family now. In fact, I can run circles around my husband's Shepard mix who has turned into an awesome jogging partner. I no longer want to hide away from the world. I want to do so much!

My advice to anyone who is just starting out is...
1. Don't fall for gimmicks and special diets or pills. A caloric deficient is all you really need. Lots of carbs make me bloat and sugar hurts my teeth and give me headaches so I avoid them... Protein and fat keep me feeling full longer. I eat breakfast because I'm cranky if I don't. You don't have to.
2. Save yourself frustration and just get a good scale. You will never truly know what you eat if you don't measure it in an accurate way. If you're not losing weight... Its probably because you're eating too much and not because you're broken.
3. Don't do too much too fast. Set a resonable deficit and ease into exercise if you want to. I lost a lot of weight quickly. I don't recommend that for anyone. It was rough getting here and I can honestly tell you if I had to do it all over again I would have slowed down. Hangry is not a good feeling.