Its great reading seeing success stories but...

bettyzing

Not many have shared HOW you have done it? With so many variables it all gets confusing I would love to know what worked, MFP settings, sticking around BMR etc? Its great to see that something is working tho! :]

bellarox13

I have just gone with mfp settings, although I lowered the carbs a little and up my protein ( not a big adjustment though). I have cut out alot of sugar, and hardly have white rice, pasta and potato. I also took off everything I was watching and just watch cals in at the moment. I am in 1000 calorie deficit and try to do 400 - 600 calorie burns 6 days a week.

To be honest, even on 1250 calories I am having trouble getting to that each day. Funny how eating healthy makes you so full.

I have lost 11kg in 7 weeks. Although I do have 50kg to lose in total so it is pretty easy at the moment.

bettyzing

Brilliant! Thank you soo much for sharing. Sounds like a pretty solid plan and great its working for you.

trishtrish84

This is my 2nd day back using MFP. I am only eating 1500 calories a day and not exercising for the first month. I want to establish good healthy eating habits and a pattern before I start trying to exercise and then get overwhelmed with all the changes and quit. One day at a time.

zachatta

I do a Split style workout for strength training:

Chest
Shoulders
Back
Chest
Arms
Legs

I do chest 2x a week because I don't exactly have the best chest genetics. (This was also a recent change, maybe 2-3 months ago)

I also do cardio once or twice a week (maybe more).

Then I simply do calories in versus Calories out, and shoot for 100g of protein a day.

I usually attempt to go 500 under daily.

Nice and simple.

bettyzing

Fair enough, is 1500 what MFP gives ya?


This is my 2nd day back using MFP. I am only eating 1500 calories a day and not exercising for the first month. I want to establish good healthy eating habits and a pattern before I start trying to exercise and then get overwhelmed with all the changes and quit. One day at a time.
[/quote]

Joannie30

This is my 2nd day back using MFP. I am only eating 1500 calories a day and not exercising for the first month. I want to establish good healthy eating habits and a pattern before I start trying to exercise and then get overwhelmed with all the changes and quit. One day at a time.

^^This is a BRILLIANT plan! :drinker:

Lyra89

I've lost 53lbs and am close to my goal weight.

I always ate between 1350 and 1750 calories per day, with one higher calorie day every weekend to incorporate a cheat meal(s)

I walk as much as I can and I used to go to the gym three times per week, for an hour each time, but NOW I run every second day, do the 30 day shred on alternating days with one 'rest day' each weekend

In the process of weight loss I cut out all meat apart from fish after doing a lot of research into nutrition and reading a lot of books/watching a lot of documentaries, mainly for health reasons (my digestive system) & for animal rights reasons, but doing this helped me drop a few quick lbs (not too sure why!)

I don't have any food off limits BUT I've totally changed my lifestyle and my taste palette so I usually always eat healthy foods now, with the odd treat thrown in here and there...but I'm having pasta tonight for dinner (granted its wholegrain) and nobody is going to tell me that carbs are bad because I've had a lot of success with a very 'carby' diet. Our body runs best with sufficient carbohydrates.

amazing_shrinking_woman

MFP settings of 1530 (no I did not update them, ever. Day 315 and I'm still losing, just slower), occasionally cheating, eating fast food within my calorie goal and mostly walking.

Edit to add: I also eat alot of cheese. And carbs. And bacon.

zachatta

Fair enough, is 1500 what MFP gives ya?

Don't know if this was directed at me, but I think I burn something like 2300-2400ish daily, i end up eating around 1900

Lyra89

This is my 2nd day back using MFP. I am only eating 1500 calories a day and not exercising for the first month. I want to establish good healthy eating habits and a pattern before I start trying to exercise and then get overwhelmed with all the changes and quit. One day at a time.

^^This is a BRILLIANT plan! :drinker:

And I agree...baby steps are SO important! My first step at the start of this journey was to limit my soda consumption (it had been 2L per day!) then I switched to diet soda, then from diet soda to teas...so now I only drink tons of water + green/herbal teas! And sometimes coffee...heh heh :laugh:

bettyzing

Love all the replies,everyone is soo different huh, great when you find what works, seems I have not as yet.....

bettyzing

Great stuff! Thank you

I've lost 53lbs and am close to my goal weight.

I always ate between 1350 and 1750 calories per day, with one higher calorie day every weekend to incorporate a cheat meal(s)

I walk as much as I can and I used to go to the gym three times per week, for an hour each time, but NOW I run every second day, do the 30 day shred on alternating days with one 'rest day' each weekend

In the process of weight loss I cut out all meat apart from fish after doing a lot of research into nutrition and reading a lot of books/watching a lot of documentaries, mainly for health reasons (my digestive system) & for animal rights reasons, but doing this helped me drop a few quick lbs (not too sure why!)

I don't have any food off limits BUT I've totally changed my lifestyle and my taste palette so I usually always eat healthy foods now, with the odd treat thrown in here and there...but I'm having pasta tonight for dinner (granted its wholegrain) and nobody is going to tell me that carbs are bad because I've had a lot of success with a very 'carby' diet. Our body runs best with sufficient carbohydrates.

bettyzing

Thanks! Good stuff.

Fair enough, is 1500 what MFP gives ya?

Don't know if this was directed at me, but I think I burn something like 2300-2400ish daily, i end up eating around 1900

bettyzing

Love the edit! I too am a cheese lover from way back. I have added wine to the list of loves in recent years too..

MFP settings of 1530 (no I did not update them, ever. Day 315 and I'm still losing, just slower), occasionally cheating, eating fast food within my calorie goal and mostly walking.

Edit to add: I also eat alot of cheese. And carbs. And bacon.

mgram2

5'5".... 162 -> 124

I did the 1200 calorie thing for probably about 2 months straight.. and that's when I lost a bulk of the weight.. but I was so unhappy and felt sickly all the time. So I decided to up my calories. First 1300.. then 1400.. then 1500.. and now I'm set at 1600.
Working out used to be a big part of my routine in the beginning.. but as my life got busier I found it harder to find time. *Big excuse I know.. but realistically I just started my first year as a teacher and I literally have NO time. So instead of focusing on not being able to workout momentarily, I decided to focus on what I could control - my food.
I TRACK EVERYTHING. EVERYDAY (I think I'm almost at 170 days in a row right now). This holds me accountable for EVERY choice I make - which helps me make better choices. If I ever go over on my calories (like 100 or more).. I "roll them over" into the next day.. which means I add them onto the next day so I'll be forced to eat a little less. I HATE when I start out the day with less calories than normal because of this.. so it works as a consequence for eating over. This also motivates me to make better choices so it doesn't happen. This also means I do not do cheat days! The way I see it is that your body doesn't know you're having a cheat day.. it's not like "Ohhhhh okay... cheat day? Then I won't make these calories make you fat!!" - Doesn't work like that. ANYTIME you put food into your body.. it counts. I always remember that it counts.
Really my success has just been constantly making good choices. I do not eat the healthiest (too many carbs.. not enough protein).. I know that.. but it is maintainable for my life.. so I'm happy.
Hope this helped.

bettyzing

Yup, totally makes sense, great way to hold yourself to it, I admire your discipline!

5'5".... 162 -> 124

I did the 1200 calorie thing for probably about 2 months straight.. and that's when I lost a bulk of the weight.. but I was so unhappy and felt sickly all the time. So I decided to up my calories. First 1300.. then 1400.. then 1500.. and now I'm set at 1600.
Working out used to be a big part of my routine in the beginning.. but as my life got busier I found it harder to find time. *Big excuse I know.. but realistically I just started my first year as a teacher and I literally have NO time. So instead of focusing on not being able to workout momentarily, I decided to focus on what I could control - my food.
I TRACK EVERYTHING. EVERYDAY (I think I'm almost at 170 days in a row right now). This holds me accountable for EVERY choice I make - which helps me make better choices. If I ever go over on my calories (like 100 or more).. I "roll them over" into the next day.. which means I add them onto the next day so I'll be forced to eat a little less. I HATE when I start out the day with less calories than normal because of this.. so it works as a consequence for eating over. This also motivates me to make better choices so it doesn't happen. This also means I do not do cheat days! The way I see it is that your body doesn't know you're having a cheat day.. it's not like "Ohhhhh okay... cheat day? Then I won't make these calories make you fat!!" - Doesn't work like that. ANYTIME you put food into your body.. it counts. I always remember that it counts.
Really my success has just been constantly making good choices. I do not eat the healthiest (too many carbs.. not enough protein).. I know that.. but it is maintainable for my life.. so I'm happy.
Hope this helped.

donnas144

ive lost 11lbs so far (started about four weeks ago). ive made changes, such as portion sizes, drinking tonnes of watet. cutting down on bread still occasionally have it. i basically have same meals as my family as thats works for us. but ivr noticed a big change in that im spending time preparing meals and my husband and my daughters are eating so much better. ive changed my milk to skimmed milk. i make my own ice cream...millet light yogurt mixed with fat free greek yogurt and 2teaspoons of artifical sweetner then put inyo freezer for about 2 hrs. has to be eaten fresh as goes too hard. i eat this every night and it curbed me wanting sweet stuff i woud be reached out for before. mayo ive seapped for grek yogurt and abit of creme freshe. i eat rita/crispbreads usually for lunch. i think its all about swapping stuff and finding things to suit you. ive also realised to look at the picture....not crash dieting....i want to loose thos weigjt and stay off. im feeling tonnes better. i havent got loads to loose im 5"3 and weigh 9stone 5. im quite small frame so my next goal is 5lbs off at about 1lb a week...but to be honer as long as it comes off it forsnt matter! just want to learn to eat everythibg in moderation and not eliminate anything i want to eat.

gabriellejayde

I have just gone with mfp settings, although I lowered the carbs a little and up my protein ( not a big adjustment though). I have cut out alot of sugar, and hardly have white rice, pasta and potato. I also took off everything I was watching and just watch cals in at the moment. I am in 1000 calorie deficit and try to do 400 - 600 calorie burns 6 days a week.

To be honest, even on 1250 calories I am having trouble getting to that each day. Funny how eating healthy makes you so full.

I have lost 11kg in 7 weeks. Although I do have 50kg to lose in total so it is pretty easy at the moment.

me too, exactly. I've lost 20lbs in around 6 weeks. I cut out sugar and a lot (if not all) starch- I have some brown rice and whole grain dark bread (70 calories a slice). lots of fruts and veggies.
I sometimes have trouble going over 1250 calories. My cardio is just walking on the treadmill but I don't eat back my exercise cals.

toddjg

I will post pics sometime - I promise. But here is what I did.

I too used MFP's calorie recommendation - set to 2 pound weekly loss. I never exceeded the calorie recommendation. Not once. I didn't even really follow the category recommendations on carbs, protein and all that. Just ate "good" food and stayed under the number. As others have said, when you eat healthily, it is remarkable how satisfied you can be on many fewer calories. Can't say enough about fish!

I started exercising again. Running mostly. Started at 2.5 Miles @ 9.5 minute pace with a stop on most runs, kept going. Now usually run 4-8 miles with an 8 minute pace.

In 5 months (March - Aug) I lost a bit over 50 lbs. From 220 to 170. I am 5'10". I have since dropped about 5 more. When I "sorta cared", I was typically around 190 in my adult years. I have never been under 180 sustainably, but this time is fundamentally different. And, I feel a lot better too.

Now that I am on "maintenance", I have it set to lose .5 pounds (better safe than sorry) and I just stay under the bar. I don't eat my exercise calories back, by the way. I will go over the "unexercised normal", but I won't try to eat them all back. I just eat normally (the new normal).

xdieselx

I am a male of 5'9, in 4 months, i went from 212 lbs to 173 lbs.

I cut all sweets and bread (was allowing myself bread and sweets only once a week) and i was eating 5 meals a day and was eating healthy. I was eating around 2000-2200 calories per day (approximately)

For the first 2 months, i was completely out of shape so started by doing exercises not too hard, i was swimming in the pool, climbing stairs up and down (i live in a 15 floor building), i did KenpoX from P90X (very often) and i did a week of fat burning Express from P90 (where i lost 7 lbs in one week following the recommended meal plan for that fat burning week). I was exercising 6 days a week with 1 day of rest on sundays.

After my first 2 months, i started Insanity and did it 6 days a week for 63 days (program duration). I skipped the CardioAbs extra training however as 1h a day was enough for me.

After those 4 months, i was at 179 lbs (That was back at the beginning of July 2012)

Now i am currently at 172.4 lbs. I kept losing weight over the last 2 months but i had a lot of motivation problems so i could exercise 6 days a week for one week, then not do any exercise for 2 weeks. But in July, i discovered myfitnesspal and have been tracking my calories everyday ever since and that is what allowed me to keep losing weight with my motivation issues. So i lost pretty much 7 lbs in 2 months by just being careful about what i eat. I'm eating around 2000 calories per day right now and this week i restarted training more seriously so hopefully my motivation issues will not interfere again :P I dont want to lose much weight anymore, i just want to get rid of the remaining fat around the belly area and tone up!

Flyer615

Mine started out as a "knee-jerk" reaction to a diagnosis of diabetes. I stopped eating sugar (real or fake) just before lunchtime on November 22, 2011. I started reading labels and figured out a day's worth of meals that I could have that didn't contain sugar. I ate the same thing every day for about a month. Then, in January, I got on MFP. I sometimes stalk other peoples' food diary to get ideas of what I could eat. I started incorporating a better variety of food into my daily menu. I found that I really enjoy canned salmon, though. I eat it for lunch at least three days per week. Some of my coworkers started making fun of my "cat food" habit. I didn't think much about it until a neighbor had to call the fire department to get me out of a tree the other day. Most of my exercise comes from chasing mice and running from dogs.

refinley2

I became vegan to lose weight (freakin love cheese.) Initially, I lost about 5 lbs without even trying to watch calories or sugar, but the 5 was inspiring so I cut soda and vegan treats and now base a majority of my diet on fruits and vegetables with a few EFA supplements and tofu in the mornings.
I started doing that about three weeks ago. Since then, I've dropped ten lbs, walk everywhere, have clearer skin, and I'm generally happier too. I love meat and plan to reunite with it someday when I've lost what I want to, but until then, I'm a vegetable lady.

ILoveTheBrowns

dont eat junk and workout

yoovie

thats because everyone does someply completely different.

Even if I do running and you do running - we still eat with different forks and pee at different times.

You know how we all did it?

Trial and Error
practice makes perfect
Just keep swimming
If at first you dont succeed
plan b
plan c
try harder
try something else
eat something else
dont eat something else
plan f
start over and retry all those things
do it again
do it harder
do it faster
do it slower
sweat
cool down
sweat
eat
shower
read
learn more
learn WAY more
trial and error
practice makes perfect
succeed.

secretlobster

I make sure I troll the forums every day and the weight just falls off

chanson104

I let MFP guide me on my calories, eat lots of fruits and veggies, and lean meats and let the macros fall where they will.

Edited to add that I have grown to love exercise as well! I've done coach to 5K and now I'm doing the 5K to 10K bridge. I've also done JM DVDs and classes at the YMCA.

DonniesGirl69

Probably the biggest factor in my success was running. It burns an insane amount of calories, particularly distance running. Also, I started out following the Southbeach Diet. It's not something that will work for everyone, I'm sure, as everyone is different, but I learned a TON about nutrition from reading the book and I've applied it to my every day eating. So far I've maintained my weight loss for over a year and still counting.

chanson104

I make sure I troll the forums every day and the weight just falls off

Now there's some good exercise for ya. :laugh:

erickirb

Not many have shared HOW you have done it? With so many variables it all gets confusing I would love to know what worked, MFP settings, sticking around BMR etc? Its great to see that something is working tho! :]

There are 1000's of ways to do it. Some people (most people) correlate what they did with the results that got, but correlation =/= causation. Essentially a caloric deficit to lose weight (does not matter how the deficit was created), and exercise to get in better shape (strength training for a more athletic looking physique) is all that is required, and enough protein so you don't lose too much lean muscle, and just look thin and out of shape.

DonniesGirl69

thats because everyone does someply completely different.

Even if I do running and you do running - we still eat with different forks and pee at different times.

You know how we all did it?

Trial and Error
practice makes perfect
Just keep swimming
If at first you dont succeed
plan b
plan c
try harder
try something else
eat something else
dont eat something else
plan f
start over and retry all those things
do it again
do it harder
do it faster
do it slower
sweat
cool down
sweat
eat
shower
read
learn more
learn WAY more
trial and error
practice makes perfect
succeed.

:flowerforyou: Perfection