100 lbs and Plus without surgery

shadowdrake37

I'm so glad I stumbled on this post! I'm trying to lose at least 130 lbs. I'm in agreement with most on here that the surgery just wasn't for me. A lot of the surgery is eating right and smaller portions, but the complications and risks are too scary for me.

I've been at it since the beginning of August and my trainer suggested the MFP app! It has helped me to learn how to work out effectively. The price of the training and having someone to answer my questions and motivate me when I need it is worth it. I'm down 23 lbs so far, and I feel better. It isn't much, and I wanted to lose more faster, but I'm going the right direction.

I wish everyone luck in your efforts.

amusedmonkey

That's 110 pounds and no surgery.

My loss used to be about 120 pounds a few months ago but I regained some. That's one thing you need to understand, setbacks aren't failures, they're learning opportunities and you just dust yourself off, take what you've learned on board and move on, for as many times it takes. The earlier you are able to catch any regain the better, but even if you happen to regain more than you bargained for, giving up is a worse option than moving on. Consistency is more important than perfection, and whenever you find something that makes dieting feel easier, add it to your strategies. Self-torture is not the point nor the norm in successful weight loss, no medals for that, and it's not a cop-out to do things that make it easier for you. You'll find yourself learning new strategies constantly, even years down the path.

Log everything you eat, even if you are having an "IDGAF" day. The simple act of logging makes you more aware of your intake and you may end up with a 3000 calorie day instead of a 5000 calorie one even without trying to consciously control it.

Don't use the scale to judge your worth, your body has a mind of its own when it comes to fluctuations, and how "good" or "bad" you are is not measured by the numbers on the scale. If you find yourself stalling or creeping up for several weeks, it simply means you need to troubleshoot and see where the extra calories are coming from, it doesn't mean you're "bad".

There will have to be a time where you need to accept that some things need to change for good, not just while dieting. It may make you feel sad or discouraged, I even went through a "mourning-like" phase because I realized I will no longer be able to just let go and eat everything every day in whatever quantity I want without thinking about how it would affect my weight, I can no longer be blissfully unaware. This doesn't mean you have to eat "diet foods" for the rest of your life, in fact that can be counter productive, but it does mean that there needs to be a permanent change in some habits and a degree of constant control over your food.

Every year you're not as heavy as you used to be is a success, even if you haven't lost as much as you'd hoped for. Remember that by simply not getting fatter every year, you're already a success story because most people keep gaining and few keep any lost weight off. Be patient and kind to yourself.

And finally, simplify. Don't get bogged down by details, at least not for a while. Weight loss happens when you eat fewer calories than you're burning, that's it. What you eat, when you eat, worrying about nitpicky details, all of that is not important. You will find your own groove of what and when to eat that makes things easier for you after a while, no need to force it, get tangled in the minutia, or jump from one fad to another.

ZoneFive

Since June of 2016 I've lost 75 lbs, and I have about that much left to go. I've also lowered my A1c from 7.9 to 5.4 and I'm out of diabetic range, which is even more exciting for me. As so many other posters have said, this is a simple process but that doesn't make it easy. It's tempting to make it more complicated than it needs to be (warm water with cayenne and lemon juice! plastic wrap saunas! detoxes for only $79.99 a week! buttered coffee and "junk light", ye gods!), but making it complicated is where we tend to get lost and wander around in the wilderness for a while.

Keep your calories in less than your calories out, eat for your own health & happiness, and get outside and play any chance you can. It can be done, there are a lot of us doing it, and you'll be successful too.

MinuitMinuet

Don't panick over one bad day and assume you just ruined the week or month. If it stretches into two days, don't punish yourself. Watch your totals. Keep it under maintenance for the week if that's all you can do. You don't have to lose by the pounds.. it's still a loss to lose by the points. And measure every month. Sometimes a plateau is only a scale thing.. not a fat loss thing.

Don't bring in foods you know you will go crazy over. Try to look for low calorie solutions to favorite foods if you can stand them. Like shrimp alfredo? How bout over broccoli instead of pasta? If you prefer pasta, don't cook the whole box. Pull out just what you need and fill up on veggies. Bulk out the rest with veggies or mushrooms.

1200 calories a day isn't necessary for weight loss. If your maintenance is 2400, you lose weight if you stay under it. 2300 a day would lose you .2 pounds. Not a lot but you didn't ruin anything. And if you average above maintenance for the week, your month is not ruined. Let each day be a renewing of your mind. You slipped on Monday? Tuesday is your first day. You slip again? Wednesday is your first day. Keep to that mentality and you won't give up. Each day is boot camp and you are in training to see what works and what to avoid.

Note the foods that have feeling satiated through the day. You don't need to live on salads. Meat and eggs can keep you full longer. Write down anything that kept you full longer and then keep those on hand. We just had Tuscan chicken over broccoli last night. It was amazing in flavor. 360 calories and I was stuffed. That is going into my "must have again" book with my shrimp alfredo over veggies (320 calories) and meat and mushrooms over zoodles (280 calories)..

150poundsofme

Great posts all.
"...and a degree of constant control over your food." Amusedmonk - love this

mrsewert

I have 100+ lbs to lose and I'm going to need all the help I can to get it done. I'm looking for people to help me along the way either a virtual HIGH FIVE or giving me a pep talk on days I'm slacking! You all are an inspiration and I know I can do it one day at a time.

djm206

188# lost without surgery. Followed the calories MFP gave me. As far as exercise, I walk for an hour everyday. Nothing overly complicated at all.

KWlosingit

I have so far lost 65 lbs without surgery with another 45 to go. I am a 50+ year old menopausal woman and have been overweight since having my kids in my early 30's gradually getting heavier and heavier over the 20 years. I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and all of my tests were excellent. The doctor said she was very impressed with my loss and with how healthy I look now. Oh and I don't go to the gym. I just try to move more and eat less. Currently remodeling much of my house for exercise.

fitoverfortymom

I've lost 95+ with no surgery. I've gone from 256 (highest weight not logged on MFP) to 157 in a little over a year.

I have 5lbs to my original goal weight and probably 10lbs to my idea running/racing weight. All I have done is stay in a calorie deficit by counting calories and logging my food on MFP. I barely exercised at first because I was too fat. As I lost weight and felt better, I did more walking. Now I am training for a half marathon. Many of the people in my feed are like me and many of them stick with walking or decide to lift weights when they are ready.

Just...calorie deficit. Log your food. Commit to that one day at a time and you got this.

pkweier

djm206 wrote: »

188# lost without surgery. Followed the calories MFP gave me. As far as exercise, I walk for an hour everyday. Nothing overly complicated at all.

Exactly what I did lost 180 pounds only I walk at least 90 minutes most times 2 hours

MegaMooseEsq

MinuitMinuet wrote: »

Don't panick over one bad day and assume you just ruined the week or month. If it stretches into two days, don't punish yourself. Watch your totals. Keep it under maintenance for the week if that's all you can do. You don't have to lose by the pounds.. it's still a loss to lose by the points. And measure every month. Sometimes a plateau is only a scale thing.. not a fat loss thing.

Don't bring in foods you know you will go crazy over. Try to look for low calorie solutions to favorite foods if you can stand them. Like shrimp alfredo? How bout over broccoli instead of pasta? If you prefer pasta, don't cook the whole box. Pull out just what you need and fill up on veggies. Bulk out the rest with veggies or mushrooms.

1200 calories a day isn't necessary for weight loss. If your maintenance is 2400, you lose weight if you stay under it. 2300 a day would lose you .2 pounds. Not a lot but you didn't ruin anything. And if you average above maintenance for the week, your month is not ruined. Let each day be a renewing of your mind. You slipped on Monday? Tuesday is your first day. You slip again? Wednesday is your first day. Keep to that mentality and you won't give up. Each day is boot camp and you are in training to see what works and what to avoid.

Note the foods that have feeling satiated through the day. You don't need to live on salads. Meat and eggs can keep you full longer. Write down anything that kept you full longer and then keep those on hand. We just had Tuscan chicken over broccoli last night. It was amazing in flavor. 360 calories and I was stuffed. That is going into my "must have again" book with my shrimp alfredo over veggies (320 calories) and meat and mushrooms over zoodles (280 calories)..

I love this entire comment, but the bolded in particular bears repeating. People talk a lot about motivation: how to get motivated to start, how to get motivated to pick oneself up after a day eating above your goal, how they're going to start doing x/y/z just as soon as they can find the motivation to do it. If you're spending a lot of time trying to find motivation, you're really just spinning your wheels and not doing anything. Pick things that you can do and do them immediately. Don't wait for the first of the month or Monday or even tomorrow morning - if you can do something right now, you're immediately better off. And if all you can do right now is to repeat whatever you did yesterday, then that's great too. That's not to say you can't set goals, just don't let yourself use waiting for motivation as an excuse.