How Did You Do It? (Deep Dive)

Brandolin11 · November 2013

As a member who reached my goal of losing 66 lbs last year, I'd love to hear snippets of how other successful folks "did it". And I'd really like us to go deeper than, "I ate less and exercised more". Let's talk about the *mental* and *emotional* changes that took place along the way.

For example, I worked really hard on developing patience and trust over the course of the year. I had to be patient with the process and trust that it would work, even though I'd formerly believed it never would. I finally gave in to the fact that the weight was not going to come off quickly, and that this was OKAY - and I submitted myself to waiting for it to happen.

I had to have faith that it would work. Over time, it became evident that the process DOES work and my trust grew little by little, until I reached my goal. When I averaged out my weight loss over the entire year, it came to 1.54 lbs per week. Wow. Since I'd only lose .4 lbs some weeks and 2 lbs other weeks, I had no idea it was actually happening that steadily. I had to TRUST that it was. And sure enough...it was.

How about you? What kinds of things did you practice? Or learn? Or change?

Amadbro · November 2013

My journey from 221lbs 30%bf to 160lbs 12%bf started mid Feb. I was fat, lazy and had high blood pressure. All I did was sit at the computer and play video games. Eventually I got fed up with the way I looked and hated what I saw. First I studied the forums at bodybuilding.com and learned all I could about nutrition. I learned what each macro nutrient was, what they did and how they were each equally important in regards to body composition. I started tracking everything I put in my mouth, kept to a 500 cal deficit and when I plateaued, I carb cycled. Carb cycling broke 4 plateaus I had over my 6 month journey. I learned about strength training and HIIT cardio and basically crammed as much knowledge as I could as quick as I could. I wanted fast results (I'm naturally an impatient person) but knew "Rome wasn't built in a day" and had realistic expectations.
Now 9 months later I'm 3 months into my first bulking cycle at 182lbs, deadlifting 365lbs, benching 265 lbs and squatting 235 lbs. My lifts go up almost every other week and I am very happy with my body. I've always felt that "you get what you put in" and if you train and eat like crap, your body composition will show it. I love fitness and I love working out. The gym is that one place I go to where I'm there for business, nothing else matters and I know in my heart that no matter what, the iron doesn't lie. The iron will tell you like it is and set you straight. Sometimes it will humble you and make you feel weak, scrawny and good for nothing. But it's those glory days you live for, when you walk in to the iron jungle and lift something that 2 months ago you never thought would be possible.

florically · November 2013

Ultimately, here are a few ideas that helped me:

1. Stop obsessing over previous failures. Every falied attempt at weight loss should become 'fuel for the fire'. You missed the mark, but you know a little more about yourself today than the day before.
2. The fear of going back to your old ways never goes away. It creeps up on you unexpectedly and catches you unaware when standing in front of the pantry or the fridge or passing that fast food place you secretely and shamfully love. Every time we give in, we feed the beast. The only way to overcome it is to face it, each and every single day.
3. PATIENCE! As OP said, patience is one of the most important factors to successful weight loss. Throw the need for speed out the window. Know that you will get there eventually.