From 200 to 140. Maintaining 2 Years and Counting... Ask me anything!

xKoalaBearx

Before pic: Sept 2014
After pic: Aug 2015 - Present

I struggled with being overweight my entire life. Always losing a few then gaining back any weight I lost. At one point, I had almost given up and just accepted I would be obese the rest of my life... until I finally understood and accepted that it's all about CICO. When that happened, the fat just melted off... about one pound per week.

I didn't want to post in the success stories section until I was confident that I could keep the excess weight off. I'm most proud that it has been two years and I'm still the same weight.

This was done entirely from a 500 calorie deficit and not relying on any cardio. And from day one, I fit chocolate, chips, and/or ice cream into my diet every single day.

In the past 3 years, I've tried eating one meal a day to 6 meals. Skipping breakfast and having breakfast. Eating before 7 pm or after. Cutting carbs, eating carbs. Intermittent fasting and not fasting. I've tried so many different things and you know what I've found? They ALL work. As long as I can maintain a calorie deficit (when losing weight) or stay within my maintenance calories when maintaining weight (obviously), then I can eat whatever, whenever and however I want. It's so liberating. We can all design a weight loss/maintenance programs unique to ourselves. It's amazing!

Please ask me anything.

Good_Morning_Glory

Congratulations!!!!!! High five!

riffraff2112

well done ! No cardio, but you did weight training correct?

xKoalaBearx

riffraff2112 wrote: »

well done ! No cardio, but you did weight training correct?

Honestly I only started twice a week weight training (Ice Cream Fitness 5x5) in June or July of 2015. So that last pic was taken after only a month or so of starting to lift weights. So at that point I was still using very light weight... something like 20 lb bench press and 40 lb squat.

leecha2014

Congrats on your success!!! I'm always confused when people mention their deficit, does that mean you are following what mfp gave you as a calorie goal to lose 1lb? Or were you using a different method for your calories? I'm helping my husband lose weight and right now he isn't motivated to exercise, I'm planning his meals so I need to really focus on cico for now. Can you share your stats and a sample meal plan? Would be so grateful! Thx

xKoalaBearx

leecha2014 wrote: »

Congrats on your success!!! I'm always confused when people mention their deficit, does that mean you are following what mfp gave you as a calorie goal to lose 1lb? Or were you using a different method for your calories? I'm helping my husband lose weight and right now he isn't motivated to exercise, I'm planning his meals so I need to really focus on cico for now. Can you share your stats and a sample meal plan? Would be so grateful! Thx

So the calorie methods are all roughly the same thing. If you set the mfp calorie goal to maintain weight, (and for now, set activity as not very active), it will give you a calorie number. When you set it to lose one pound per week, it should give you that same number minus 500 calories. (Minimum 1500 cal for men, 1200 for women).

If you google "how many calories do I need calculator" they should all give you about the same number of calories. You just need to subtract 500 calories to estimate a 1 lb/week weight loss.

My stats: 42 yo (now 45), male, 5'6", target weight 142 lbs.

Sample meal plan, losing weight, 1500 cal:

I usually skip breakfast so I can have about 1000 cal for lunch and have 500 cal dinner.

Lunch: 950 cal
Salad of lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, mushrooms, eggplant, onions. These have very low calories so to simplify I just enter this as broccoli 150 g - 50 cal
Caesar dressing 3 tsp - 90 cal
2 eggs whole - 120 cal
Cashews 14 g - 75 cal
1 Flour tortilla - 140 cal
1 Chicken breast straps 85 g - 110 cal
2 Mozzarella Cheese stick - 160 cal
1 Chobani strawberry Greek yogurt - 120 cal
Strawberries 150g - 50 cal
Grapes 50g - 35 cal

Dinner: 540 cal
Trout 200 g - 270 cal
3/4 cup white rice - 160 cal
1/2 bar Hershey chocolate - 110 cal

leecha2014

Thank you very much this helps

diniba69

Great job! Similarly I keep trying to find the "right" diet. I am on keto right now and it's working... Maintaining a calorie deficit of course. I feel that keto does seem to keep me fuller longer than other types of a diet. Throughout your journey did you have a favorite type of eating that you feel worked the best?

mariazm_840

Congrats on your success. I want to lose weight so need your help. I was never obese but due to u healthy eating habbits i have gained 30 kgs from 55 to 85. I am 155 cm and atleast need to lose 20 kgs. Can u please guide me. Thanks.

xKoalaBearx

diniba69 wrote: »

Great job! Similarly I keep trying to find the "right" diet. I am on keto right now and it's working... Maintaining a calorie deficit of course. I feel that keto does seem to keep me fuller longer than other types of a diet. Throughout your journey did you have a favorite type of eating that you feel worked the best?

At different points of my journey, my needs hanged. In the beginning, I enjoyed eating many meals per day, as I felt like I was eating all the time and therefore never hungry for long. But later on what I found I enjoyed more was holding off on breakfast and having a large lunch and a small dinner. This has worked for me and I still eat this way today. I don't really miss breakfast and I LOVE having a nice large lunch. I believe this is a form of intermittent fasting where my eating window is between noon and 6 pm and I'm basically fasting for 18 hours.

diniba69

xKoalaBearx wrote: »

diniba69 wrote: »

Great job! Similarly I keep trying to find the "right" diet. I am on keto right now and it's working... Maintaining a calorie deficit of course. I feel that keto does seem to keep me fuller longer than other types of a diet. Throughout your journey did you have a favorite type of eating that you feel worked the best?

At different points of my journey, my needs hanged. In the beginning, I enjoyed eating many meals per day, as I felt like I was eating all the time and therefore never hungry for long. But later on what I found I enjoyed more was holding off on breakfast and having a large lunch and a small dinner. This has worked for me and I still eat this way today. I don't really miss breakfast and I LOVE having a nice large lunch. I believe this is a form of intermittent fasting where my eating window is between noon and 6 pm and I'm basically fasting for 18 hours.

Thanks for the reply. Holding off until later in the day seems to work for me as well... Except on weekends I have a tough time doing that. I like IF too since it seems to have the "light at the end of the tunnel" effect where I know a somewhat decent meal is ahead. I'm definitely food addicted and it seems like if you were as well in the past you are doing well at overcoming it.

xKoalaBearx

mariazm_840 wrote: »

Congrats on your success. I want to lose weight so need your help. I was never obese but due to u healthy eating habbits i have gained 30 kgs from 55 to 85. I am 155 cm and atleast need to lose 20 kgs. Can u please guide me. Thanks.

Luckily for you, MyFitnessPal is the best guide you can have. Put in your stats, your goals, it will tell you how many calories you need. Then the rest is up to you.

I can't really guide you, because it's up to you how you want to do this, but ask me any specific questions!

xKoalaBearx

diniba69 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Holding off until later in the day seems to work for me as well... Except on weekends I have a tough time doing that. I like IF too since it seems to have the "light at the end of the tunnel" effect where I know a somewhat decent meal is ahead. I'm definitely food addicted and it seems like if you were as well in the past you are doing well at overcoming it.

You're right. Even after two years of maintaining, every day is a battle to keep my food intake under control. My weight hasn't been straight across. If I don't log and monitor myself I gain weight. I've gained over 10 lbs three times in the past year. But luckily I know exactly how to lose it. I'm confident I can gain and lose weight at will. It just takes a really long time to lose so I'm better off just monitoring myself and keeping my weight in a narrower range.

corinasue1143

Congratulations! You look great! You make it sound so easy, but we all know it isn't always easy, but that didn't stop you! I hope it won't stop me!

diniba69

xKoalaBearx wrote: »

diniba69 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Holding off until later in the day seems to work for me as well... Except on weekends I have a tough time doing that. I like IF too since it seems to have the "light at the end of the tunnel" effect where I know a somewhat decent meal is ahead. I'm definitely food addicted and it seems like if you were as well in the past you are doing well at overcoming it.

You're right. Even after two years of maintaining, every day is a battle to keep my food intake under control. My weight hasn't been straight across. If I don't log and monitor myself I gain weight. I've gained over 10 lbs three times in the past year. But luckily I know exactly how to lose it. I'm confident I can gain and lose weight at will. It just takes a really long time to lose so I'm better off just monitoring myself and keeping my weight in a narrower range.

I'll definitely keep following this thread. It's good to read success stories from 40+ year old. Kids in their 20s don't realize that it gets harder as you get older. I have always been overweight but had an easier time getting shedding weight at that time. I turned 40 this August and decided that weighing 275 at 6' was not where I want to be for the rest of my life. I'm down to 249.8 this morning but I still have a while to go before I am at a weight I want to maintain. My energy levels have already gone up and I'm finding it easier to run after my kids. Best to make the life change ASAP to keep healthy into old age.

ahmshaki

Congrats! What have been your staple meals and snack?

xKoalaBearx

ahmshaki wrote: »

Congrats! What have been your staple meals and snack?

I pretty much eat anything, but generally on weekdays I eat lunch at work and keep it simple. We have good options. So I usually have a salad with eggplant and mushrooms, 3 oz chicken, 3 oz tofu, 1-3 teaspoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of Caesar dressing, a piece of fruit, like an apple, plum or grapes, a fruit Greek yogurt with an ounce of nuts (I like cashews), and a scoop of chocolate protein shake with water.

For dinner I usually have a serving of pasta (56 g), or a sweet potato, with 1-3 tsp olive oil with either chicken or fish. And maybe some chocolate or ice cream (measured out) for a treat. But really I can have anything. I sometimes have a slice of pizza (which I weigh whenever I can), or a taco.

In the end my calories always add up. I also focus on ensuring I get enough protein. At least 0.6-0.9 g/lb of my weight. So for me it's about 125g per day.

Snacks I build into my calories. So I usually try and keep it nutritious, like nuts, fruits, cheese sticks. But chips, chocolate and ice cream also work also as long as I'm within my calories for the day.

xKoalaBearx

corinasue1143 wrote: »

Congratulations! You look great! You make it sound so easy, but we all know it isn't always easy, but that didn't stop you! I hope it won't stop me!

In principle it's so easy, which is why I love it. But in practice it's not. I've had many many slip ups. I struggle everyday with it. But it does get easier over time.

The only way it will stop you is if you stop. If I have a bad day, weekend, week or whatever, at some point I get fed up and I get back up and start over. Just don't stop!

Don't give up! You've got this!

teags84mfp

Your post struck a chord with me. i've done the same thing over the years as you. Trying to find a sweet balance of eating foods I enjoy and not depriving myself, which I believe I have found. A big pat on the back to you for such a huge achievement, you should feel super proud. I hope you are enjoying your new hot body, treat it well and congrats on maintaining for 2 years!

bebeisfit

Congratulations!! Yes, it's simple..but it's also hard. Thanks for saying that you've gained weight but got it back off. I love your quote:

"The only way it will stop you is if you stop. If you have a bad day, weekend, week or whatever, at some point, get fed up and get back up and start over. Just don't stop"

I think many of us have done that, given up when we had a bad week and one week leads to many bad weeks. There's a great motivational quote... "If you're tired of starting over, don't quit" or something like that.

I also admire the amount of vegetables you're eating. I find my greatest success when I eat lots of vegetables plus a few treats.

Here's my question: Do you drink alcohol? And if so, did you find it easier to have one or two, or just none at all. I go back and forth with this.

xKoalaBearx

bebeisfit wrote: »

Congratulations!! Yes, it's simple..but it's also hard. Thanks for saying that you've gained weight but got it back off. I love your quote:

"The only way it will stop you is if you stop. If you have a bad day, weekend, week or whatever, at some point, get fed up and get back up and start over. Just don't stop"

I think many of us have done that, given up when we had a bad week and one week leads to many bad weeks. There's a great motivational quote... "If you're tired of starting over, don't quit" or something like that.

I also admire the amount of vegetables you're eating. I find my greatest success when I eat lots of vegetables plus a few treats.

Here's my question: Do you drink alcohol? And if so, did you find it easier to have one or two, or just none at all. I go back and forth with this.

Thanks for your kind words!

As for your question, I rarely drink alcohol. But just like anything else for me, it's not a matter of having many or one or none. Instead, I'll build it into my calories for the day. If it fits my calorie limit, then I have no problem having it. If it doesn't, then it can wait until tomorrow.

juanitarochelle2014

Wow congratulations on your weight loss that's awesome:)!!! I've kept my weight loss off for over 10 yrs so I know that feeling ....im very happy for u

xKoalaBearx

juanitarochelle2014 wrote: »

Wow congratulations on your weight loss that's awesome:)!!! I've kept my weight loss off for over 10 yrs so I know that feeling ....im very happy for u

10 years?! Amazing. I hope to have your continued success.

Thanks!