Trying to lose 40 pounds

Hey, i'm Reagan! I've lost 25 pounds so far and hoping to lose around 30ish more. Adding you now!

I need to lose 40 pounds also.. I'm a stay at home mom and this is my first time on the site but I'm very motivated and can help motivate you:)

I also work 12 to 14 hrs/day 5 days/wk. I am married with a 10 y/o and I'm very busy as well. Just recently started with myfitnesspal and I need to lose 40 to 50 pds also. I started back @ the gym. Trying zumba, exhausted from everything. I would be glad to motivate you as well as you motivate me. Since we're both getting started with this, I see that 2013 is going to be a great yr for success. Let's take it one day at a time- thanks, Stephanie J.

I will add you.

i already lost 7 lbs since i joined last january 17.. i started at 200lbs and now need to loose another 42lbs..hope i can do it in 6 months:)

40 lbs in 4 months seems awful fast to me.
I lost 33 in 15 months, but am still experimenting with strategies for maintaining, but haven't gone too far off track. I've heard that the slower you lose the more likely you are to keep it off, because you are teaching yourself better eating habits.

This has become my philosphophy...

The good news is you don't have to be perfect, you just have to be better.

1) tracking for a couple of weeks before I worried about losing.
(although seeing what I was eating I couldn't help but rein back a bit)

2) seeing where I could make small changes on things that weren't that important to me.
(Don't even think of taking chocolate out of my diet!!!)
--Reducing quantities where I won't notice it so much
--Swapping out things instead of eliminating them.

3) Look at my diary and started adding foods that had positive healthy effects specifically for the health issue in my family.
I found most of the things I "should" add were really yummy too! salmon, avocado, oatmeal, mango, red grapes....
(Sort of think of food as medicine to deal with family history of various health issue oatmeal is good for heart health, mango and red grapes lower cholesterol, tumeric and cinnamon good for arthritis)

4) every couple of weeks I see where I can make another couple of small changes.
If you completely revamp your diet, it's way easy to revert to old ways in times of stress. (and who doesn't have stress?)
If you make a series of small changes, food still offers you some sense of comfort.
sort of a comfort continuum, and after a while the first small changes will seem comforting in themselves.
You don't have to be perfect you just have to do better.

5) also rather than being uberstrict with the target MFP set for me. (I swear this saved my life.) I was happier once I gave myself a range:

ROCK BOTTOM: 1200 cal
TARGET: MFP Calories for lose 1 lb a week (when that hit 1200 I changed to lose 1/2 lb per week)
TOP OF RANGE: Maintain Calories for my GOAL Weight.

---

(SAFETY VALVE: Maintain Calories for CURRENT Weight - remember to keep updating this number as you lose)

---

I naturally tended to do 2-4 days between 1200-1300 cal then a day at about 1500-1600 cal then back to the 1200-1300 cal. (No hard science here, but I credit the zig-zagging calories with preventing plateaus.)

--As long as I stayed under the top of my range I should continue to lose, even if it is at a slower rate.
--As long as I don't go past my safety valve I shouldn't gain.

6) I only worry about it 1 lb at a time.
Forget I *NEED* to lose 20, 30, 50, 100 lbs. I'm only worried about 1 lb the next one. I'll worry about the others later.
Once I found ways to lessen the stress, I found it way easier to focus on the process and let the results follow. (It's what worked for me some people need the stress to get them motivated. Me I get scared and overwhelmed and don't see the big goal as achievable. )

7)
The closer I got to my goal the smaller I made my deficit. Yes, this took longer to get to my goal, but I was focusing on (am STILL tweaking) strategies for maintenance. What I found difficult (and haven't yet conquered) it establishing a guideline for a range for maintenance, being that I'm not really good at hitting the same number everyday.


Food is not the enemy.

Oddly enough on my journey here I've reduced guilt over food.
I have the occasional treat and I fully enjoy it with no guilt involved.
The thing is since I'm not eating crap all the time, now the occasional treat is just that a TREAT it's special and I enjoy it so much more than when I was unconsciously shovel junk food into my face.

I figure if I've got a good plan that I can actually maintain I can keep this off for a long time to come, without feeling deprived.

Good Luck

Working long hours can make it difficult, but you can do it, just gotta have the will power! Feel free to add me as a friend (anyone!)

I'm 26/F trying to lose at least 100 pounds. I have a goal set to lose 10 pounds/month. I have been on the site for almost a month, and have lost about 9 pounds so far, so I am close to my monthly goal. I also keep a monthly blog full with some tips and advice.

Good luck!

I am a SAHM as well my son is 2 and my daughter is 13 months. I lost all the weight from my second and 10 that was lingering from my 1st through doing the Tracey Anderson workout then winter came and I got tired and overwhelmed now I am looking to lose all the weight I ate back after the babies and that is 40 pounds.

I would like to do it in 4 months if possible. If possible. I am diligent and focused and taking my husband on a trip to California at the end of the year for his birthday and want to look great on the beach. He loves me regardless but I want to feel good in a swimsuit.

Add me and let's motivate each other. I started today.