Successful Losers (I mean that in the nicest way lol)

heiliskrimsli

I never had any failures to lose weight. Once I decided to do it, I started weighing and tracking and did it. Because physics always works and never lies, at least not in this universe. Maybe that's boring, but that's pretty much it. The application of thermodynamics to a human body, in this case me, resulted in a successful experiment.

VintageFeline

I only had a handful of half assed attempts at losing. One with South Beach, the others calorie counting. But like I said, half assed, didn't really care enough.

So I guess this is technically my first serious attempt and serious I have been.

Mental health and the associated meds made a perfect storm that took me from my usual overweight to borderline obese cat 2 and that was that.

Started logging. Started Insanity. Changed to running. Changed to Fitness Blender (which I largely stick with now). Never aimed to lose more than 1lb per week.

Two years down the line, still logging. Last year I barely lost because my mental health tanked again but because I have new habits I still came out with a small net loss. This year so far I'm another 10lbs down. 63lbs total.

I'll get to goal this year which is 15-20lbs away. But I'm at the point where people are asking (nicely out of curiosity) how much more I'm going to lose. And when I take the odd logging break I find my mentality to food is totally different to two years ago so I'm hopeful I'll be able to maintain without logging. It's also okay if i need to keep logging too.

Consistency has been the main thing. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Stopping entirely is just not an option at any point. This is just my life now and I quite like it.

AnnPT77

I'd been obese for most of my adult life . . . let's say 30 years, from late 20s to age 59. I can only recall dieting with any conviction three times, once before there were apps, and once when they were available (but not using one), then this last time. It was always by reducing the calorie content of what I ate (smaller portions, substituting less calorific things for more 'costly' ones).

I guess I've understood 2 things throughout: (1) yo-yo dieting is a bad plan: repeated frequent extreme diets are worse for health than staying fat (sort of - I was only ever just a bit over the obese line, so it didn't constrain activity much), and (2) fad diets and science don't coexist (I like science).

Using this app is what made it into a big, fun science fair project, and gave me the conviction that I could make it stick. It's also the only time I've made it to a serious goal weight.

I think the biggest lesson of this round (other than that 'science fair' thing) is that it's a Good Plan to use weight loss as a process for finding a permanent way of eating that works. Doing things that one isn't willing to do forever (other than that modest calorie deficit, of course) seems to me to be giving up an important opportunity for learning and practice.

More about the "science fair": It's useful to understand the weight loss math, and other related data.

• 3500 calories above or below maintenance calories is a pound gained or lost, approximately.
• 500 calorie daily deficit is a pound a week loss.
• 1000 calories over maintenance calories wipes out today's deficit, and tomorrow's, at that 500 calorie daily deficit (but is sometimes worth it anyway - it just can't happen often).
• Scale weights are just data points. They go up and down for random reasons (sodium, healing, TOM for some, extra digestive contents . . . not just the important fat or muscle).
• Ditto tape measurements.
• Weighing daily gives me an understanding of how my body fluctuates in weight.
• If I didn't eat 3500 calories over maintenance, I didn't gain a pound of fat.
• Different people of the same age/size/activity level have different calorie requirements. (It's a normal distribution; there's a standard deviation.) Your own first month or so will give you the data to calculate your personal calorie requirements. Calculators only give you a starting guess.

Austex_Egger

I had great success in the past using WW online. Problem was that I would slack off and not log points, ending up gaining back some weight. Lost 85 lbs with WW. It does help with the realization that portion control is king. I never did go to a WW meeting. Well, I hit my initial goal (225) and then stopped tracking. Although I "watched" what I ate, without tracking and without stepping on the scale, I ended up gaining about 30 back. I figured "back to it", but the program had changed, and I didn't find it helping much. I checked this out. Basically MFP is WW Online, but your logging calories instead of points. I've shed 28 of the 30 I gained so far and a couple of pounds from 225. I will be religious going forward about stepping on the scale to make sure I don't go up again.

sunfastrose

When I finally decided to commit to losing weight in my mid-20s, I chose to do Weight Watchers online. I did one of the points variations and then switched to Core. I lost a little over 50 pounds, and maintained that loss for 10+ years - by being very strict. After 10 years of being strict I decided to switch to intuitive eating. It worked - sort of - I put on 5 pounds and then maintained. Then about 2 years ago I joined MFP and discovered that hey - eating what I liked and losing weight and being emotionally healthy all at the same time was possible! I took off that 5 pounds (actually 6-7 in the end), and am happily maintaining it. Some days it's easier, some days it's harder, but in the end I do it.

leighaudrey05

MFP has been a life saver for me. I didn't get it when it came to losing weight. I now look at weight loss as a lifestyle change instead of a diet which sounds so much stricter. I purchased a fitbit and this encourages me to get up and move. It is a big motivator. I have so far lost 26.6 lbs since January 2017 and 25 was my goal.

amyteacake

My first attempt at weight loss wasn't healthy. In school I thought starving myself was the way to go and once, at the age of 14, ate a bowl of carrots for dinner. Didn't do anything and made me pile on more weight after binge eating. Then about 2 years ago I decided to try Slimfast when I was at college. I only lasted a month. I was exhausted, I was starving all the time and I got so sick of drinking a milkshake for breakfast.

My success now started when I got a personal trainer last year. He was extremely helpful, gave me so much information and booklets about losing weight, what to do and recipes of delicious food that I could try. He got me into weight training and I actually started to enjoy cardio! He was the one that told me to get MFP in the first place. I don't regret the money I spent on getting a pt one bit! He boosted my confidence and has helped me lose 2 stone and I'm still going to the gym after finishing my sessions with him last year

stealthq

Using MFP is my one and only attempt at losing weight - worked as predicted.

When I was a teen, I was a competing equestrian and as part of moving up into the 'big leagues' I got a PT and started lifting weights. He put me on a diet for performance that consisted of chicken, skim milk, boiled or steamed veg, fruit and bread - no added fats beyond those necessary to keep food from sticking to the pan. This was about as low fat a diet as could be conceived and still include meat and dairy.

That worked fabulously for losing weight because I was so sick of what I could eat I had little appetite. I don't really know how much I lost because my weight wasn't important to me at the time, but I have pictures. Based on how I looked recently at 115 lbs (I'm 5'3"), I was probably around 100-105 lbs back then. The diet had the lovely side effect of causing me to have violent intestinal objections to things like hamburger or pork chops when I tried to include regular foods back in my diet. It took years to get back to where I could eat those things and not have a problem. Needless to say, I was not going for any diets that excluded segments of my diet this time around.

quiksylver296

What have I tried?

Slimfast
HCG with B-vitamin shots
Atkins
Exercise without dietary changes
I'm sure there's more, I just can't think of them

What worked:

Maintaining a slight calorie deficit (I chose a half-pound a week. Slow and steady.)
Exercise that I actually enjoy doing (Powerlifting)

Results:

About 16 months apart. 187 lbs to 171 lbs. ~17% body fat.

Azzie521

Last time I lost weight after my first child I lost it by part of the time tracking on MFP and part of the time eating a large breakfast and lunch and not eating dinner. Just basically creating a calorie deficient. And also cardio 30-60 mins a day. Now I am back to losing baby weight again and doing same thing and it is working. I'm also eat very little dairy and wheat and that also seems to help. But I think only because they are high calorie foods.

Machka9

fascha wrote: »

I thought I would poll the ACTUALLY SUCCESSFUL people to ask what you learned and what you may have changed along the way.

What did your success look like?

I've been slender most of my life, and any time I felt I needed to drop a few kg, I used the calories in < calories out principle. I have never tried a "fad diet".

Fairly recently, I gained weight for a variety of reasons, and hit my highest weight in late 2014.

In early 2015, I joined MFP to track my intake and output ... to help me with calories in < calories out.

16 weeks later, I hit my first goal.
Took a 1-month diet break.
16 weeks later, I hit my second goal.

Then I dropped a little bit more ... and then came up a little. It is kind of challenging to get the balance right when you're exercising a whole lot. Nevertheless, I've maintained my weight in the middle of my BMI range for almost 1.5 years.

ladyreva78

ladyreva78 wrote: »

First my failures:
- slimfast
- xenical (yup, that one)
- something called metabolic balance (~1100 cals day almost VLCD)
- Brigitte 1000cals diet
- Some others I can't remember
- oh yes... the 'insane amounts of cardio a day' diet

My success:

This:

fascha wrote: »

What finally worked for me was learning why I was losing weight (the mechanics of the energy balance), and just tracking. I feel guilty taking credit considering how ridiculously easy it was but it truly was.

Forgot to add:

As of today, I have lost 31.7kg. I started at 115kg. I'm 170cm tall.
Only 18.3kg left to go until I'm at the goal weight my doctor set for me. We'll re-evaluate whether that goal is appropriate once I'm there or within a few kgs.

As of today, I am at a BMI of 28.8. I started at 40. Goal is 22.5

As of today, I have lost 27% of my body weight. In total, I will have lost 43% of my body weight when I'm done.

As per my last complete blood works in December, my liver is no longer on the bad side of failing (I was diagnosed with NAFLD in 2014, lost my gallbladder in 2015 and they took the opportunity to confirm the diagnosis while they had me in surgery). My LDL is within a normal range, my HDL is a smidgen too low for my doctor's liking as it puts me in a bad ratio between LDL/HDL, but she doesn't want to do anything about it until I'm done losing weight, as simply losing more weight might improve that. My blood glucose is out of the pre-diabetic range. The pain from the endometriosis is mostly under control, but this is mostly due to the hormones I've been put on. They have not prevented me from losing weight.

All of this I've done while learning how to adapt my portion sizes, how to include my favorite treats into my days (some I only incorporate on a weekly/monthly basis because they're just too calorie dense). I changed very little else in my diet. I was eating in what could be called a mostly healthy way, just ways too much of it.

Francl27

Tracking (1lb a week deficit) and being active. I lost 80 lbs, but couldn't really maintain that loss without being miserable, so I gained back 5-8 lbs in 3 years, which isn't really a huge deal (clothes still fit fine).

I love food. I'd never be able to maintain if I wasn't active. I need the extra calories.