First goal met - 50 pounds down

Bubs05

Today I passed the 50 pounds lost mark (I lost 10 before I started using MFP). It took me 16 months. I had a 4 month stretch last winter that I struggled...badly, but I stuck with it. I still have about 20 more to go.
Unfortunately I don't have a before/after pic because when I was at my heaviest I refused to let anyone take a picture of me. Now I kind of regret that.

Although I'm not one who has struggled with weight my entire life, I have had times in my adult life (usually caused by stress or a huge life change) where I have gained a lot of weight. As I've gotten older it has gotten harder to shred those pounds, I've done some things differently this time that will hopefully keep me on the right path:
1. As I've lost weight and gotten into smaller clothing, I've gotten rid of the old clothes. In the past I kept them. As a result when I gained back weight I rationalized that since I had clothes that I could wear it was OK. Now I have no "fat" clothes and no budget for buying a whole new wardrobe, so I need to continue to fit in what I have.
2. Although I have educated myself, tracking my food keeps me on the right path. I hope that I don't have to log for the rest of my life, but if I do to be successful then I will. There have been a few times in the last 16 months that I thought I knew enough that I didn't have to log every day. This is when I struggled and got down on myself. Logging helps me most when I have a not so good week on the scale and go back and look at what I ate. Most of the time the reason I had a bad weigh in makes perfect sense when I look at my journal.
3. It's OK to treat myself. I used to be a little obsessive about my diet...too obsessive. Although I had good results on the scale, I wasn't happy inside. If I ate something I think I shouldn't have, I would beat myself up about it for days! Now I have taught myself that I can't totally deny myself all the time. I've learned that if I treat myself now and then, it's easier to stay on track. I don't feel the constant need for a treat now either. I think that realization will help me be much more successful through this holiday season than I was last year.
4. Don't be afraid to tweak the program. It took me a while to realize that changing things up can be very helpful, in both food and exercise. When I have a few weeks of the dreaded plateau, I have found for me that changing my calorie intake and my exercise routine gives me another little jump start.
I'll stop droning on now and get back to my oatmeal.
Good luck to all you fellow MFPers! Let's do this thing!

BobbyDaniel

Great job and Congrats!

Emagali74

brilliant story-well done you.

Who cares how long it takes you to lose the weight as long as you get there?

Ive lost 58 pounds now since January- only 3 to go. I loved your advice about treats. I think Im at that stage too-Im really worried about eating anything bad in case I lose control. I feel like I control my weight for the first time in my life not my weight controlling me and I guess it is going to be hard to maintain and add more calories. I know I have to but Im so worried about it......

This kind of wisdom comes with time and experience.

Thanks for sharing and good luck for the rest of your weight loss xx

Emma x

donworybhapy18

Awesome. I'm always really inspired by people who go through months of struggling but stay on the horse until they break their plateau. I've lost weight many times in my life, but I always go way off track when that inevitable period of struggle hits. Go you. That's definitely inspiring.

Alexabarocas

Amazing job! You must be so proud