Have you lost over 50 lbs? How did you do it?

rainbow198

I lost 80 pounds in 2012 - early 2013 on my own and without a gym membership:

- I stayed in a slight calorie deficit.

- I took the slow and steady approach and I personally focused on fitness first. I did as much beginner exercises as I could. Just walking to start. Once I started seeing small improvements there, I was encouraged to start working on my diet. I slowly phased out frozen dinners/fast food and started cooking at home more and adding more fruits and vegetables. Then I started to see small changes with my body and eating habits. This motivated me to keep going!

- Lots of research. I learned how the body processes different foods, the different roles of hunger hormones, how alcohol is metabolized in the body, the physiology of weight loss, the science behind fat loss etc. I googled and read all kinds of things and I still continue with this today.

- Keeping track of my meals and exercises and my journal and planning out what I was going to eat in advance really helped me stay on track.

- Listening to my hunger cues. Instead of watching the clock, I paid attention to when I was getting hungry. Also I stopped stuffing myself and stopped eating until I was about 80% full.

- Trial and errors. For example I tried cutting things out like pizza and do well for a couple of weeks. I made my own which was okay, but not the same as my fav. place. Then eventually I would binge on what I was missing then feel deflated. It was a vicious cycle. I learned that I can enjoy things and don't have to cut things out, just watch the portions, the frequency and plan for it so I stay in control.

- I did a lot of soul searching. I had to think about things like why did I eat when I was not hungry or why did I have to eat whenever I was happy, sad, nervous etc. I learned that I did not have "clean my plate" or eat something just because it was there or offered to me.

- Lastly the things I did during weight loss I made sure I could keep up with it and be able to maintain it once I reached my goal.

After being overweight my whole life I have been maintaining with ease and without any weight gain since 2013.

Don't give up and stay strong!

Gotrek1

65lbs so far exercise is playing with kids and walking at lunch. Just watching how much I'm eating. I still eat anything I want. Just paying attention to how much.

LAWoman72

I just hit the 50-lb. mark fairly recently and am finding that mentally I feel like I wanted to put on the brakes for a minute there, diet-wise. I had more momentum to get "to" 50 lbs., if that makes sense.

However, I haven't gone off the rails or anything. I basically maintained for about three weeks and now it seems like things are inching downward again (my weight loss isn't very fast; it took me 11 months to lose those 50 lbs.). So I think I've broken through the mental barrier. And the rest is physical, all physical. Now just as it was at 212 lbs., it is a matter of CICO for me.

The only thing physically (v. mentally) harder for me, really, is that obviously, I can't eat as many calories now and lose; I am carrying around half a person worth of weight less than I was then. Yes, that's been an adjustment. In the beginning I felt much less that I was carefully restricting than now...there was more wiggle-room, simply because I required more calories just to move that much more weight around. But I'm dealing with it.

SusanMFindlay

I'm down 60 pounds from my maximum weight - but some of the loss came from giving birth, so those 20ish pounds don't really count. For the other 40, I watched what I ate and got more active. I was able to lose the first 10 by making some healthier choices and working out a few times a week, but it was a very slow process.

The last 30 pounds came off much faster because I started logging my intake (which made me cut down on some of my more calorific dinner and snack choices - and, more importantly, made me cut way back on restaurant meals). I also went back to work which dramatically increased my activity level. I am now averaging 20K steps per day and almost never under 15K.

ClosetBayesian

Consistency. Find what works for you. Do that.

tomteboda

105 lbs lost here in two years. For the most part I just did what I always had been doing, I just ate less. I keep track of my fiber (try to keep it above 25 g/day) and salt (try to keep it below 2000 mg), but other than that there's no real specific "rules".

Also, I took up walking. A lot of walking. 3+ miles a day of it. I love it.

dramaqueen45

Started at 180, I'm 5'4" (barely) and it took me about 20 months to lose 55 pounds. At first just counted calories and exercised- eating back all exercise calories. After about 4-5 months loss slowed down a lot so I started eating back only half of my calories and that helped. I also increased exercise intensity and started doing intervals more. It does slow down the less you have to lose, and it is also annoying that you burn fewer calories the less you weigh. For those last 5-10 pounds I stopped eating back all exercise calories just to see my goal weight once, and then for maintenance I have been trying to stay on calorie goal (which for me is about the same) only I eat back all of my exercise calories. So with exercise I am eating 1400-1500 calories per day. Sometimes I eat more but try to balance out the week. I also weigh myself weekly and my goal is just to stay within a 5 pound maintenance range. Just keep going- it will come off. I have had a few plateaus when I was doing everything right, but over time you will get there.

85Cardinals

I've lost 67 pounds since late February. I attribute it all to clean living and self-denial!

Seriously, I just weighed and logged all my food and tried to hit my numbers most days. Took a day or two off whenever I got a little frazzled or the weight loss stalled. Nothing magic, just being reasonably consistent with how I ate over several months. Also walked 30 minutes a day which helped more mentally than physically I suspect.