From a size 22 to a 29 NSV!!!

WOw ! you look great. What an inspiration. Can you please share some tips about your eating and exercise routine and anything else? Did you see too many ups and downs or was it a steady decline? Did you have cheat days...please share

I use a BodyMedia Armband to figure out how many calories I use throughout the day, and then use that to adjust my calorie intake for the day. I eat a minimum of 1200 cals, but if I have a high activity day, then I will adjust my intake to be 800-1000 cals less than what I burned. Example: I do a 60 minute Zumba class and go shopping, then come home and do chores - on a day like that I will usually burn 2500 calories, so on a day like that I will consume 1500-1700 calories. As far as what I eat, I will eat anything. I just pay attention to my portion sizes, and I log EVERYTHING EVERYDAY. But I have found that I tend to make better choices when I am logging my food. Funny how that cookie doesn't seem as appealing when you go to log it and realize it's 432 calories... for ONE cookie! :noway:

As far as exercise, I started out just doing 20 minutes 3 days a week on a treadmill/eliptical machine, and now I am going to Zumba 3-5 days a week, or jog/walk around my neighborhood. Wearing the armband has really helped me to see how sedentary my life normally is, and how important it is for me to MOVE.

My weghtloss has been pretty steady, with plateaus about every 18-20lbs. I hit "Onderland" about 2 weeks before Christmas, and then hovered at 198-201 until about a week after New Year, but then by the beginning of February I was down to 189lbs. Now it's been very slow, 11 weeks to lose 10lbs., which isn't really all that slow, but when you have been losing 1.75 - 2.5lbs a week, losing less than a pound a week feels really slow. But that's okay... as long as it doesn't move north, I'm good.

Since I allow myself to eat anything and everything, I don't need "Cheat Days". If I eat something, it's a decision and a choice that I make. Since I started logging a year ago, I don't think that there has been a day that I've eaten more than I've burned. Using the BodyMedia really helps me. I may not have had a calorie deficit of 800-1000 calories, but any deficit is still going to help me reach my goal, and so I don't understand the whole "Cheat Day" concept. I have to live this way for the rest of my life, not just for a specific period of time, so I have to learn to incorporate ALL food. I made it through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's enjoying family, food, drink, and desert, and I was able to maintain/lose weight!

OKAY... this turned out to be WAY longer than I thought, but hey... you asked! :laugh: