135 pounds in just over 13 months...

and starting the transition to maintenance after one more weigh-in tomorrow morning.

I'm a 41 year old woman and started April 26 of 2012 and have lost 135 pounds. I weighed 276.2 when I started and am currently at 140.8. My original goal was 150, but I was having such good luck, I decided to keep going. 135-140 (I expect I'll lose a few more during the transition to maintenance as I'm going to VERY slowly add calories back until I find what works for me). will be right in the middle of the healthy weight category for me, and I think will be maintainable.

The weight loss has been accomplished through simple calorie counting and exercise. My calories have stayed relatively consistent at about 1300/day for most of that time, though I did start at closer to 1400-1600. I'm now averaging around1400/day now, though I have been running a bit more distance, so I've started eating a bit more to compensate as I was feeling a little tired and lethargic at the lower amount. As of tomorrow, I'm going to move to 1600, and according to some simple calculations, I think 1800 or so will be what I'll wind up with for maintenance.

As for exercise, I started walking 20 minutes/day seven days a week. I now do about 45 minutes of weight training 3 days/week (situps and crunches, leg lifts and squats, some arm exercises with hand weights and pushups), and I run 3 days per week (about 12-15 miles per week:-1 mile two days/week, 3.5 miles two days/week and a longer run of 5-6 miles one day/week). Though I know that seems like a ton of exercise to someone just starting out, if you increase VERY slowly, it's very do-able. I've recently decided to start training for a half marathon in November, so starting tomorrow, I'm moving to more of a runner's core strengthening workout on my weight training days along with increasing mileage. It'll be interesting to see what the increased mileage does to my calorie intake!

It's been long and hard, but I am living proof that if you keep at it, the weight loss will happen. My weight loss has remained fairy consistent, though has dropped pretty significantly the last 4-5 months. I was averaging about 12 pounds a month at the start (for about the first seven months), dropped to 10 for the next 2-3 and have been averaging 6-7 the last 4 or so. Am hoping to start the transition to maintenance the first week in June. Though I know what worked for me won't work for everyone, I'm happy to answer questions