Inspire me!! I am tired. Anybody got before & afters losing 80+ lbs?

jadorecouture

Okay, so I am serious about getting healthy. Working out 2-4 hours a day and finally watching what I eat a bit more closely. You guys!! I am SO tired!!! Needing a boost in inspiration and motivation. Please post a before and after pic with a blurb of your story or some advice you wish you knew sooner than later. It won't be for not, I am an awaiting sponge to suck up your words and be inspired by those who have been there done that. Lol Feed my soul, please!!

TIA, MFP Team!!

L1zardQueen

I don't have before and afters, sorry not much help. I did lose 25 pounds and holding.

But you say you are so tired. Are you fueling your workouts?

nanknits

I'm not one for pictures, but I'm down 125(ish) Lbs since August 2015 and still working at it. It does get to be a slog. In those moments, be kind to yourself. Maybe the goal that week is just to maintain and give yourself a little break from being "so perfect all the time". THAT IS OKAY.

I've lost my weight by simply making better choices in terms of food and activity level and being kind to myself when I do fail has been my key. I recently needed to take a few months "off" due to some health issues/surgery and am just getting back into the game. I managed not to gain anything during those months (YAY!) and looking forward to getting back to regular workouts and healthier eating habits.

Good luck, J'adore! You can do it!!

jadorecouture

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

I don't have before and afters, sorry not much help. I did lose 25 pounds and holding.

But you say you are so tired. Are you fueling your workouts?

I am just tired of the workouts and dieting at the moment. It all starts with a slip. I wont log this or I will skip this workout until BOOM! Cant even see the track from where I am standing that I want to be on. I am making sure I am eating at least 2,300 - 3,000 calories daily, balanced diet. Nothing is off limits but is limited for the sweets and super salty or rich foods. Congrats on your success!!

jadorecouture

nanknits wrote: »

I'm not one for pictures, but I'm down 125(ish) Lbs since August 2015 and still working at it. It does get to be a slog. In those moments, be kind to yourself. Maybe the goal that week is just to maintain and give yourself a little break from being "so perfect all the time". THAT IS OKAY.

I've lost my weight by simply making better choices in terms of food and activity level and being kind to myself when I do fail has been my key. I recently needed to take a few months "off" due to some health issues/surgery and am just getting back into the game. I managed not to gain anything during those months (YAY!) and looking forward to getting back to regular workouts and healthier eating habits.

Good luck, J'adore! You can do it!!

Thank you so much for sharing! I do get that way! Guilt trip if I cant fit in my second workout or if I dont manage to get even one done. Like today. I have a cramp in my leg and know I shouldnt do a second workout but darn it if I dont feel bad about it. You are right tho, perfection is not the goal. I keep trying to tell myself its a journey not a flip of a switch from beginning to end. Congrats on your success and thanks for taking the time to help me out!!

pedermj2002

Biggest advice: Working out for 2-4 hours every day likely isn't helping as much as you think. Depending on the type of workout, it could even be doing harm.

For instance, strength training/resistance training quite deliberately damages your muscles. The damage is minor, but it does happen. It's the rest/recovery afterwards that causes the muscles to become stronger. If you're doing this for 2-4 hours/day, and never taking an off day, your muscles aren't getting the chance to heal. That will, sooner or later, cause a problem for you. Take time off between workouts, and you'll get better results there.

This does not mean you have to completely shut down during an off day. You can do "active recovery" days, where you keep your workouts lighter and shorter. This enables to get some caloric burn happening, while also enabling your body to recover.

For instance, I do bicycling. A serious workout day will see me go out for an hour and go all out, hold nothing back, push as far and fast as I can. An active recovery day will see me stay indoors, using an indoor bike, and restrict myself to under 50% of my capacity for that same hour (or even less, sometimes). I also listen to my body to see if I can do even an active recovery day (there are days that even that much is too much).

Doing this, and maintaining calorie deficit, I'm down 55lbs since I began trying to track, back in Sept of 2016. I'm still losing, and have wandered off track a bit, but that's a result of not focusing on my training the way I should. I'm getting back into it, not this week, but the week after (learning how to devise my own training program right now).

Don't treat foods as forbidden. Any food you like, you should eat, but in moderation, to keep you under your calorie budget.

Don't eat back all of your exercise calories. Depending on how those exercise calories are calculated, you could wind up with eating too much (the estimates can easily be way over your actual expenditure), meaning you don't actually spend your days at a calorie deficit, which means you'll add weight rather than lose it.

That's really all I've got to add. Good luck with it, and feel free to add me if you wish.

SafioraLinnea

I'm down 50 pounds in six months. I didn't try at first (thank you bed rest, 37 weeks of morning sickness, giving birth, and breastfeeding gods) but the last 15 or so have been with counting calories to ensure I'm not eating higher than maintenance as well as daily cardio of 10,000 steps walking and continued breastfeeding.

Everyone's story is a little different but in the end we are all here for a reason. We decided to change our lives and needed support to do it. Reaching out and asking for support is a sign of strength.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with upping your calorie intake to maintenance and intentionally plateauing for a while so you can reboot yourself mentally and physically. 80 pounds is a huge difference for your body and you might need to adjust to that for a while before hopping on the weight loss train again.

Eat foods that make you happy in a reasonable manner. Give yourself the gift of delicious food in moderation. No food is wrong but everything requires a reasonable portion. If you want ice cream, have a bit of your delectable sweet cold dessert. Find some new recipes which fit both your interests for food and your calories.

The fat loss process is a journey. Enjoy the trip to a healthier you. It isn't all about the end goal. Good luck!

mikebooker1

As of this week I've lost 76 pounds enroute to 100. It taken me about 18 months but I've done it without any crash/fad diets or multiple hour daily workouts. I've slowly learned to eat better with the correct portion control. I bought a food scale and started measuring out what I ate. I still have pizza and hamburger but maybe only once a month. The only thing I've completely cut out is soda of any kind. That includes diet as well. To honest I was never a big soda drinker anyway so this was not hard for me.

I workout 4 days a week for 45-50 minutes. I either go to the gym or walk/jog/trot around my neighborhood. Also I do things like park in the very last row of the lot at my job. I never used the elevator at work and when I used the bathroom I back downstairs to the main floor. I also bring my lunch 5 days week with something I prepared at home. My desk has healthy snacks I brought from home too so if I do get the urge I'm not at the vending machine.

Has it been easy? No but I've learned to be consistent. That's the key. Find something that is livable for you. Get a step tracker and count your steps. Understand that the weight won't come off in a day. Know that sometimes for maybe weeks at a time the scale might not move. Find and active activity you enjoy. Start a journal or a blog and chronocalize your thoughts of joy, frustration and pain. Celebrate a milestone but don't but beat yourself up if slip a day(or a week).

Happy travels

kgb6days

If I was working out 2-4 hours a day I'd be tired too, and I'd likely stop at some point. Slow and steady wins this 'race' of healthy living and fitness. Back off to 1 hour a day with some of those being walking. As a runner, one think I've learn (and I might add the hard way) the rest days are just as important as the workout days. Good luck, get some rest and eat healthy foods within your calorie allowance

shanteel612

This is all great advice. Remember weight loss is 80 to 90% what you eat. Working out is important but not essential. Listen to the advice above and cut it back to 1 hour.

lemonychild

Working 2-4 hours a day!??? For what!? I'd be tired of it all too

STEVE142142

Unfortunately I don't have any before pictures I never like to take my picture. Let me give you some hope January 1st 2016 my weight was 288 pounds. My current weight is about 208 which I've been maintaining for eight months.

A little background on myself, double hip replacement arthritic knee and shoulder that eventually have to be replaced due to arthritis.

Never once during that time did I exercise 2 to 4 hours a day. At most I worked out an hour a day, four to five times a week. That hour that I worked out was efficient. I lost the 80 pounds by simply lowering my calories. I pluged my stats into mfp and set my goal to lose 2 pounds a week. It took me 8 months but I lost the 80 pounds.

You could exercise 5 hours a day 5 or 6 days a week but if you don't adjust your calories for weight loss you won't lose any weight. It's a simple matter of eating less calories than your body burns. Also during that time I still had the occasional Wendy's hamburger beers on the beach and pizza. If I had to give those up I would have never been able to do it.

terryt1992

85lbs. Still have a lot more to go but this is the same outfit in the 2 pictures. Hope this helps

terryt1992

another one. My story I started January 2016 and I have lost 85lbs so far. Simply just started counting what I eat with minimal exercise. As of now I have been Yo-Yoing for like 4-5 months but its all my fault I am getting my eating under control again to kick start my weight loss again. You can do it though get started and you will actually start to enjoy healthy things and exercise.

PartyKardy

Not 80lbs lost only 76 so far haha. I'm a pretty short person so I think it's a pretty big change. Keep going consistency is key even though I know there are many days that you just wanna quit (at least I do haha)