People who've lost 100+ pounds

alc649

I'm looking for people who have lost 100+ pounds to be my friend, and took a look at my diary and tell me what they think. I know I need to do better on the weekends, but I was wondering if there was anything else I could do. The main exercise I do is walking, planning on upping my walking distance and seeing if that helps. I also do hip hop abs. I started at 283, now at 264. Having a real hard time getting past that 20lb mark. I've been at it for about 135 days. I know everyone's journey is different..Maybe I need to start doing more challenging work outs? I tried that in the beginning though, and It was too hard, and it freaked me out about working out. I dread doing anything other than walking or hip hop abs. If you could, please add me and give me some imput. I'm sure the answer is: Stop eating like crap on the weekends, and work out more..but maybe if I hear it from someone else I'm more likely to do it? Thanks guys

utahshelly

Hey! I have no advice, because I'm at exactly the same starting weight you were at. 283. Ugh.
A few years ago I lost 50 pounds over 3 months by just eating something small every couple hours. I also drank 100oz of water a day. I did TAE BO videos on YouTube... They kicked my butt, but helped so much!
I'm starting that lifestyle again, and so far feel much better.
Good luck to you! Feel free to add me if you want

psuLemon

alc649 wrote: »

I'm looking for people who have lost 100+ pounds to be my friend, and took a look at my diary and tell me what they think. I know I need to do better on the weekends, but I was wondering if there was anything else I could do. The main exercise I do is walking, planning on upping my walking distance and seeing if that helps. I also do hip hop abs. I started at 283, now at 264. Having a real hard time getting past that 20lb mark. I've been at it for about 135 days. I know everyone's journey is different..Maybe I need to start doing more challenging work outs? I tried that in the beginning though, and It was too hard, and it freaked me out about working out. I dread doing anything other than walking or hip hop abs. If you could, please add me and give me some imput. I'm sure the answer is: Stop eating like crap on the weekends, and work out more..but maybe if I hear it from someone else I'm more likely to do it? Thanks guys

I have only lost 50 lbs, but I suspect you know what you have to do. Bad weekends or even a bad day can easily wipe out an entire weeks deficit in a single meal if you go real big. Making smarter choices on the weekends and potentially increasing exercise will help you out more.


ETA: if you know you are going to have a high calorie meal, then try to make your others low calorie and eat a lot of low calorie veggies throughout the day to help stock some calorie for later.

Purplebunnysarah

So I haven't lost 100 lbs yet, but I'm over halfway there. I've lost ~54 lbs in the past year, so the definition of slow and steady. But I've definitely had a lot of ups and downs!




What I've found is that to be successful both my food plan and my head game need to be in target.

So what do I mean by that? Well, food plan first. I've had to tailor my food plan so that it's something I can live with for basically the rest of my life. Which means it needs to make me feel full and satisfied, meet nutritional requirements, and not make me feel deprived. I eat fairly strict low carb, high fat, but you need to find a balance that works for you. You also need to be at least somewhat accurate with how much you are eating. At your current weight, you've got a decent amount of wiggle room for deficit in that unless you're very short you can probably sustain up to a 1000 calorie/day deficit (i.e. 2 lbs/week). If you're not losing you need to tighten up logging until you do, but how accurate you are is really defined by your goals and your results.

And head game. This is the hardest part for me. I tend to self-sabotage a bit whenever I cross a milestone. I'm still working on that point, to be honest, so I'm not sure what advice to give there except to state that it shouldn't be overlooked and you need to be mindful that you can be your own worst enemy. I suspect everyone's reasons are ultimately highly individual.

Oh, and I'm not terribly active right now. Physical activity helps with health markers, but isn't required for weight loss.

cross2bear

I have lost 113lbs since last October. I have not done a minute of exercise, and by that, I mean I havent been to a gym, or done a video or anything like that as I have some mobility issues that hinder this kind of activity. But I have been rigorous in the kitchen, using my scales to measure everything, and to make sure that I stick to my calorie allotment. Sometimes I go over a bit, and sometimes I am under a bit, but as long as there is a healthy deficit at the end of the week, I am good. I have not cut anything out of my diet - in fact, I have Special K cracker chips every single night as my treat! I love crispy salty things, and this keeps me happy. I have had alcohol, birthday cake, eaten out at restaurants and at friends houses, gone on vacations, and from my results, I have been pretty successful at guessing calorie counts for the foods I have consumed.

To do this, I plan a lot. I have a favourite cookbook that gives me calorie counts of the various dishes (Its the LooneySpoons Collection) and every once in awhile I will go through and pick recipes I like, then shop for them and thats the menu for the week, or two weeks. That way I am in control of what I am eating. And because I am eating a healthy and pretty average diet, hubby eats the same as I do. Sometimes he has more, or a bigger portion, but we both enjoy pizza on occasion for example. I certainly dont make anything special or different for him.

Control is the big thing for me. I dont let any one influence my choices. I ignore stupid comments like "Should you be eating that?" or "I thought you were on a diet?" - most of those have stopped now due to the success I have had.

And I am really lucky to have a great supportive family and friends circle, who dont try to sabotage me, and who have been cheering me on all this time.

It really is necessary to create the environment for you to be successful - no one can do this for you, so success is entirely in your hands - no one throws you to the ground and forces food down your throat. Only you make the choices.

CaptainJoy

alc649

Thank you all for the great advise thinking its got to be the weekends that are killing me. Going to start preparing weekends and making sure I get my exercise in

alc649

Should I really have a 1,000 calorie deficit to lose 2 lbs a week? Dang that's a lot

kshama2001

alc649 wrote: »

I'm looking for people who have lost 100+ pounds to be my friend, and took a look at my diary and tell me what they think. I know I need to do better on the weekends, but I was wondering if there was anything else I could do. The main exercise I do is walking, planning on upping my walking distance and seeing if that helps. I also do hip hop abs. I started at 283, now at 264. Having a real hard time getting past that 20lb mark. I've been at it for about 135 days. I know everyone's journey is different..Maybe I need to start doing more challenging work outs? I tried that in the beginning though, and It was too hard, and it freaked me out about working out. I dread doing anything other than walking or hip hop abs. If you could, please add me and give me some imput. I'm sure the answer is: Stop eating like crap on the weekends, and work out more..but maybe if I hear it from someone else I'm more likely to do it? Thanks guys

How tall are you and what's your final goal weight?

At your weight you do need to be careful to not overdo it. Walking is great. How far do you walk now? I had very cranky knees when I started and started with about 20 minutes and am up to 75 minutes plus hills.

@earlnabby lost 100 pounds mostly with walking and swimming in the beginning anyway if my memory is correct.

Purplebunnysarah

alc649 wrote: »

Should I really have a 1,000 calorie deficit to lose 2 lbs a week? Dang that's a lot

That's what the math says. But if your maintenance calories are 2800, you would still get to eat 1800 plus exercise calories per day. And a 2 lb/week deficit isn't right for everyone. Even though I started at 263, I've been set for 1 lb/week loss the whole time, or a 500 calorie daily deficit.

alc649

I'm 5"6.5 and my goal weight is 170. Maybe I should plan on 1 lb a week again. I have my diary set at 1750 calories a day.

FitOldMomma

Feel free to add me. I've lost 142 pounds over the last 2.5 yrs and am just about at my goal. My diary is open to friends.

alyssa0061

I've lost 117 pounds since February. My diary is open and I'm happy to have new friends

sympha01

I lost about 170 lbs over two years. My diary is open and feel free to peek at it, but here's all I've got to say: it's not really about what you eat, it's about being accountable for how much you eat.

Having peeked at your diary, I suspect (but do not know) that you may be eyeballing portions rather than measuring them. That is a real accountability-killer. I know you will hear from many people telling you that you have to weigh your food instead of using measuring cups, but in my opinion using measuring cups gets you most of the way there, providing you ACTUALLY USE THEM, not eyeball something and say "oh, that's probably a half cup of rice" or "oh, that's probably 2 tbsps of sour cream." A lot of people who aren't measuring turn out to be SHOCKED by the difference if they try it. An extra 100 calories of chicken here, and extra 100 calories of sour cream there: it adds up fast and will erase your deficit.

In my experience scales actually turn out to be the easiest and most convenient way to measure things (at home anyway) compared to using measuring cups just because you don't have to get extra things dirty or rinse them out in between ingredients. And they are more consistent and precise. I prefer scales to cups and spoons for sure. But just be sure to ALWAYS be measuring, measure consistently (e.g., don't use one method for measuring some of the time and a different method that yields different results other times).

alc649

I do need to get some measuring spoons. I use measuring cups and have a food scale so I measure my meat. I do kind of eyeball sour cr ram, dressing, stuff like that.and the turkey chilli I made tonight I basically guessed I should probably take the time to put it in ingredients of the chilli.I did eat just a cup of the chilli though

victoria_1024

I've lost 90 and I've been in maintenance since April. I made changes in baby steps rather than going crazy changing everything at once. Initially I focused on just staying below my calories for the day and moving a bit more. Then after I was doing that consistently I started focusing more on macros and eating more protein. And increasing my exercise.

I've never eliminated foods I love. There's not been a single day since I started all of this that I didn't eat chocolate. I eat a (small carefully weighed) cup of m&ms and big bowl of popcorn every single night before bed. My food choices don't always change but my habits and portion sizes did. I started including higher protein foods like Greek yogurt.

I've always weighed all my food on a food scale, including ingredients for recipes that I enter into the recipe builder on mfp. And I ate back half of my exercise calories.

Hope that helps!

ashjongfit

Strength train! I wish I did this from day 1.