I have questions for those who have been successful.

offthedeependay

Acg67 says....Successful in what, hitting some arbitrary goal weight?

By the look on your profile you have never really been real heavy,dont crush the hopes of people that need to lose more than 10 pounds..we are proud to set goals of losing 50,100,200 pounds...just because it meens nothing to you doesn't meen it doesn't meen something to the rest of us..this site is here to help and motivate people ...guess you will never figure that one out unless you gain 100 pounds and have to try and lose it

AnjellaRose_GF_SillyYak

Wow, I didn't expect so many responces.

rjh1975

M/F? Female
Age? 37
Height? 5'6"
Start weight? 252 lbs
Goal weight? I set several goal weights along my journey. The first was healthy BMI (154 lbs). After that, I wanted to get down to 145 lbs to give me a good "cushion". Once I hit 145 and switched into maintenance, I actually lost more weight and I currently weigh 137.5 lbs (with no aspirations to get any lower).
Time it took? I hit my first goal weight (healthy BMI) after 7 months. To get to my current weight it has been almost a year.
Alloted daily calories? At the start, I set MFP to lose 1 pound/week and it put me on 1740 calories/day.
Did your alloted calories change with loss? Yes. Towards the end, to lose a pound, I was down around 1350 calories/day. The funny thing was, when I increased my calories to "maintenance", I lost weight much more quickly than I had in the weeks leading up to that. I suspect that I hadn't been eating enough given the amount of exercise I was doing.
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories? Not all of them, but I definitely would eat back a portion of them.

Best of luck to you!

adry20

Great post!! Exactly what I was hoping to find tonight

novaPuerto

M/F? Female
Age? 22
Height? 5'0
Start weight? 125
Goal weight? 85 (small bones)
Time it took? 7 months
Aloted daily calories? 1200
Did your aloted calories change with loss? Nope
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories? No. I find that when i workout i tend to eat less on days where I don't work out.

Acg67

Successful in what, hitting some arbitrary goal weight?

By the look on your profile you have never really been real heavy,dont crush the hopes of people that need to lose more than 10 pounds..we are proud to set goals of losing 50,10,200 pounds...just because it meens nothing to you doesn't meen it doesn't meen something to the rest of us..this site is here to help and motivate people ...guess you will never figure that one out unless you gain 100 pounds and have to try and lose it

BTW I've been obese, all I did was ask what the OP's definition of success was, it it is hitting an arbitrary number well meh. Scale weight while possibly a great motivator means very little. Too many people define success with the scale which is why you see so many freak out posts about not losing or zomg i gained a lb, since they have only care about a silly number on a scale vs looking at other factors that may be improving

CkepiJinx

M/F?
Age?
Height?
Start weight?
Goal weight?
Time it took?
Aloted daily calories?
Did your aloted calories change with loss?
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories?

THANKS in advance!

Female
36
5' 5.4"
293
150
Still working on it, but 52.4 lbs lost in just under 6 months so far
Started at 1790 with 2 lb a week loss now at 1670 with 1.5 lb a week loss
Yes, and when it got to a level I wasn't comfortable with I changed from 2 lbs a week to 1.5 lbs a week to gain some back
I eat some back but usually not all because I don't have a heart rate monitor, the amount I eat back depends on what exercise I did and how hungry I am

TravelDog14

M/F? Female
Age? 49
Height? 5' 10"
Start weight? 225
Goal weight? 160
Time it took? 7.5 months (I'm 2.5 pounds from my goal)
Aloted daily calories? Has been from a high of 1690 to a low of 1550 per day
Did your aloted calories change with loss? Yes
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories? No

sarahkristin33

Love this post, have always wondered about the questions you asked.

TheFitHooker

M/F: Female
Age: 30
Height: 5'2.5
Start weight: 250 lbs
Goal weight: 120 lbs
Time it took: Still doing it but only 7 lb's to g. It will be 3 year's in April.
Aloted daily calories: 1220
Did your aloted calories change with loss: I have tweaked them here and there but mostly yes.
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories: I use to not now I do eat back some of them, I only eat when I am hungry.

rousehouse

Bump

Otterluv

F
40
5'3"
298
When I'm done, more a size & BF% than a weight goal.
Around 6-7 months so far
Around 1950 yummilicious calories
Yes, they have been decreasing a smidge. I redo my TDEE calculations every 15-20 pound lost.
Yes, they are incorporated into my daily calorie goal, averaged over the week. TDEE - 20% (or so). This method is working incredibly well for me.

leahloves2run

M/F?
Age?
Height?
Start weight?
Goal weight?
Time it took?
Aloted daily calories?
Did your aloted calories change with loss?
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories?

THANKS in advance!

sjlapins

M/F? Female
Age? 38 (37 when I started)
Height? 5'3
Start weight? 138
Goal weight? 119
Time it took? 12 months
Allotted daily calories? 1200 (went over a couple of times a week)
Did your allotted calories change with loss? No, I was already at the lowest I could go (I am now adding 100 calories every 1-2 weeks to find maintenance)
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories? Almost always!

Good Luck!!!

Duck_Puddle

M/F? F
Age? 38
Height? 5'4"
Start weight? 233
CW 158
Goal weight? Not sure yet-not sure I have one yet (I put 145 in mfp)
Time it took? 65lbs in 7 months, the next 10 about 4 months. I'm not in a hurry.
Aloted daily calories? Net 1200-ish
Did your aloted calories change with loss? No
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories? Every yummy one. I consume 1600-2300 calories a day-I net 1200-Ish

My goal is sustainable, permanent lifestyle change. My goals are to eat well and exercise and let the weight loss happen (which it does). I'm in no rush-I'm in this forever. If it takes 10 years to drop another 5lbs, I'm good with that. Provided I am eating well, exercising, and doing both in a manner I can sustain forever, that's my goal. Whatever weight that ends up being is the weight it ends up being. Sustainability is my primary concern.

THANKS in advance!

nursekern

F
40
5'3"
298
When I'm done, more a size & BF% than a weight goal.
Around 6-7 months so far
Around 1950 yummilicious calories
Yes, they have been decreasing a smidge. I redo my TDEE calculations every 15-20 pound lost.
Yes, they are incorporated into my daily calorie goal, averaged over the week. TDEE - 20% (or so). This method is working incredibly well for me.

Just what I was looking for tonight, thanks for posting and great job! You must be so proud

trophywife24

M/F? Female
Age? 27
Height? 5'2
Start weight? 170-174-ish
Goal weight? It was 130, I wasn't happy there and am 122 now.
Time it took? Total, a year and a half BUT I took about 6 months off just maintaining my weight about halfway through.. so a year of active loosing.
Aloted daily calories? 1200 to start, I just eat below 1550 to loose now. Maintain around 1700.
Did your aloted calories change with loss? They did, I upped them after about 20 pounds. I got hungry.
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories? I'll get into them if I'm hungry but in general no, I never did and barely even logged exercise on here.

Mommypeanut

Bump

Sul3i

29 female 5'9" cw 151 sw 255 took 10 months to lose the weight I usually ate about 1400 to 1600 cals but I fluctuated a lot...which I've heard is good for metabolism. Never ate back cals from workouts.

fit4lifeUcan2

M/F? Female
Age? 46
Height? 5'11"
Start weight? 224
Goal weight? 155 9 pounds to go till I reach my GW. Averaging 1.5 pounds per week loss.
Time it took? 9 months
Aloted daily calories? started at 1500 and slowly went down to 1200 to 1300 I didn't lose weight doing MFP alone so I joined WW and the weight melted off. Lost 4lbs my first week. Couldn't do that in 3 months of MFP alone.
Did your aloted calories change with loss? Yes. Mine went down as I lost weight.
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories? No never But I don't do a ton of exercise. Maybe 20 minutes per day if at all.

amberm912

Age: 24
Height: 5'5"
START DATE: 5/7/2012
SW: 230 PANT SIZE: Tight 16 Pushing into an 18
CW: 185.4 PANT SIZE: 12/14
(This is in about 7-8 months time ---44.6lbs)

GW: 150-160 or a size 8/10 & I hope to be there by May/June 2013
My goal really depends on how I look and feel at that time. I really just want to be healthy, fit and tone but still maintain my curves...

Alotted Calories - 1200 (most days but I usually have at least 1 spike day a week)
Some days Id eat back exercise calories if I was still hungry other I didn't, but I try not to eat after 8 pm & to eat as clean as possible, though it seems thats sometimes easier said then done.


I am pear shaped - hold most of my weight in my hips/thighs/butt

I love helping motivate others as well as receive motivation back :-)) Feel free to add me!



Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

arikag

M/F: Female!
Age: 27
Height: 5' 0"
Start weight: 144 lbs
Goal weight: 110 lbs
Time it took: almost there- at 112 lbs currently and it took 5 months (Sept 2012-Jan 2013)
Aloted daily calories: 1200, although I "eat back" almost all of my earned exercise calories, so most days I am eating 1400-1600.
Did your aloted calories change with loss: No, but overall since my BMR went down, I ended up having a smaller net calorie loss
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories? Yes- See above!

Christie0428

good thread, thank you for all the great motivating replies

paxbfl

Male
45
6' 2"
Started at 250
Goal was 210
Lost 40 pounds in 4 months
Daily Calorie Goal was 1940, but I went under that - shot for 1800
Calories went down as I lost weight but I still generally shot for that 1800 number
I did NOT eat back my exercise calories. Aimed for 500 calories burned (6 days a week) and sometimes exceeded that

Generally lost 2-3 pounds a week.

Now in maintenance/muscle-building mode, so I've increased my calories and am losing about 1/2 a week which is fine...

Glitter969

Female
36
5'6.5"
SW on MFP: 180
GW: 146
7 months
1800-2100 (with planned breaks when I ate more)
Based my goal on TDEE - 20% so exercise was already taken into account

Kelly_Runs_NC

M/F?
Age?
Height?
Start weight?
Goal weight?
Time it took?
Aloted daily calories?
Did your aloted calories change with loss?
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories?

THANKS in advance!

Female
35
5'8
SW: 171
GW: 125
2.5 years
Daly: It changes as your needs and goals do but approx: 1750
I didn't while I was losing but I do now that I'm at goal and building muscle

P05T5CRIPT

Female
29
5'6"
SW: 252
CW: 180
GW: 150

It's taken 7 months to lose 72lbs, I still have another 28lbs to lose, but I aim to hit my goal in the summer, around my One year mark (as I started in late June).

I started eating 1200 for around 3 months then upped it to 1400, I now eat between 1400 and 1500 and that seems to be about right for me now. I don't eat back all my cals but eat back some if I'm hungry. I'm now strength training 2-3 times a week so I'll probably be upping my calories again.

lxs74

M/F? F
Age? 26
Height? 5' 0"
Start weight? 170
Goal weight? 135 - this is just my initial short term goal. Once I hit it, I'm probably going to aim for around 110, but I think it's important to have short term goal because then the finish line doesn't seem too far away! I'm the type of person who will get discouraged if it takes too long to hit a goal.

Time it took? So far, it's been about 2 months

Aloted daily calories? 1720 - I've added an extra 300 to the calculated amount because I'm a nursing mother. I'm supposed to have an extra 500 calories a day, but I just ignore the 200 calories as long as I don't feel hungry and I'm eating right.

Did your aloted calories change with loss? Yes, I recalculate the calories after every couple of pounds to adjust for the weight lost

Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories? I eat back some of my burned/worked off calories because I think it's important to reward yourself a little. If I work my butt off (literally, I hope!) for an hour, I will have a cookie or two. It's great to have a short term reward of a cookie along with the long term reward of losing the weight. I just make sure I only eat back some of the calories so I still have burned extra calories from the workout.

mauswood

Female
now 31 - started when I was 28 maybe?
5' 7"
Over 185
130
Took me 4 months to lose 40 pounds - watched calories and rode an exercise bike about 20 miles a day
Allotted daily calories? 1,200
Did your allotted calories change with loss? I kept it at 1,200 until I plateaued for about years - now I have it at about 1,500
Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories? I only eat some of them back if I'm feeling hungry - listen to your body. There's no point in making yourself eat something if you're not hungry as long as you're getting your 1,200. I also try to eat a lot of protein (I put protein powder in my smoothies, apples with peanut butter, and fish on occasion). So protein and lots of water.

Bumbeen

M/F?
Male

Age?
26
Height?
6'2

Start weight?
200

Goal weight?
165

Time it took?
6 weeks

Aloted daily calories?
900

Did your aloted calories change with loss?
no

Did/do you eat back your burned/worked off calories?
no