How did you lose your first few pounds?

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hellohappycarla
hellohappycarla Posts: 85 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What did you do? How were you able to start? When did you start noticing the results?

I have to be honest. Although i have been logging in for almost a week now and i heard/read that this is the best place to start, I still find it hard to wrap my head around the idea that it is possible for me to lose weight. Like, since I still haven't seen results in me yet, in my head, I feel like it won't happen. I'm not sure if any of you out there get what I mean. Anyway, this is why I am so hungry for information on how those who have had success with weight loss were able to start the whole journey. Were you able to see results after a week? A month? What triggered it? What made it happen?
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Replies

  • catjrow3
    catjrow3 Posts: 681 Member
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    Cheri, it might help to get some good suggestions if you open your diary so we can help you. Have you cut down the calories? Maybe cutting down the carbs some, and replacing with some veges? What are your normal eating habits since you started changing things to lose weight?

    I started with lowering the calories and cutting down the carbs, and drinking a ton of water!!
  • BadassCrossfitMama
    BadassCrossfitMama Posts: 110 Member
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    I started by making up my mind that I wasn't going to go at this halfheartedly. I was going to go into this as a lifestyle change not a diet. I was going to do this and in a year from now be a better person and not be in the same spot because I gave up. Once I resolved that I started to build a support network, I cannot stress how much having a support system in place will help you achieve your goals. Then I just started walking, the don't think twice about it get up and go kind. I made realistic goals, 10lbs per month to lose, finish c25k, be active 4 days a week. I also didn't go into this with the mindset of oh I will NOT ever eat that again. I still eat out just not 3 meals a day every day.

    My trigger was watching extreme weight loss on ABC. It really hit home, I was headed back to my heaviest which was 260+ and I had worked hard the previous year and lost 30lbs. So June 5th I decided I had, had enough. Weighing in at 247 I started from there. I've since lost 14lbs. I lost 3.5lbs my first week. Then I stalled, 1200 calories weren't working even with all my exercise and clean eating. So I looked up TDEE and calculated mine and upped my calories to 1600 and now I'm losing about 1.5 - 2 LBS per week.

    Hope this helps some :)
  • zombiemomjo
    zombiemomjo Posts: 546 Member
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    I just started moving and logging. I quickly saw that exercise made me feel good, and it allowed me to eat more calories. Then I made sure I found exercise that motivated me. Rockin Body was awesome! I love to dance, and Shaun T was so goofy and motivational. It kept me pushing play every day. Then that workout got easier, I stayed under my calories, and the weight starting coming off. It was just finding the RIGHT program that clicked for me. I'm no longer losing (just can't find that magic formula) but I'm now LOVING the fitness aspect. The pounds are annoying when they don't go down, but knowing that I'm stronger and have muscles now that I never had is what keeps me going.
  • glin23
    glin23 Posts: 460 Member
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    I joined a gym and started working out. Eventually the scale went down.
  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
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    I figured out how many calories it would take to maintain the weight I wanted to weigh and I ate that much. Simple. I lost my first 40 lbs that way.
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,630 Member
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    What did you do? How were you able to start? When did you start noticing the results?

    I have to be honest. Although i have been logging in for almost a week now and i heard/read that this is the best place to start, I still find it hard to wrap my head around the idea that it is possible for me to lose weight. Like, since I still haven't seen results in me yet, in my head, I feel like it won't happen. I'm not sure if any of you out there get what I mean. Anyway, this is why I am so hungry for information on how those who have had success with weight loss were able to start the whole journey. Were you able to see results after a week? A month? What triggered it? What made it happen?

    I stuck to 1200 calories per day, did my exercise, logged all food and drink. Yes, I did lose weight within that first week.
  • A_Fit_Mom
    A_Fit_Mom Posts: 602 Member
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    I started logging and started with walking on the treadmill at about 3.5 speed and then went on from there.
  • mandasalem
    mandasalem Posts: 346 Member
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    What did you do? How were you able to start? When did you start noticing the results?

    I have to be honest. Although i have been logging in for almost a week now and i heard/read that this is the best place to start, I still find it hard to wrap my head around the idea that it is possible for me to lose weight. Like, since I still haven't seen results in me yet, in my head, I feel like it won't happen. I'm not sure if any of you out there get what I mean. Anyway, this is why I am so hungry for information on how those who have had success with weight loss were able to start the whole journey. Were you able to see results after a week? A month? What triggered it? What made it happen?

    I'll be honest, even though the scale started moving for me pretty quickly, it's taken me almost this entire time to realize IT'S WORKING. (I've dropped 16 lbs, half my goal.) You'll notice things soon, but if you're anything like me, you'll brush it off and say it's nothing, or you're imagining things, or you have so far to go that it doesn't count.

    Every bit counts! Every smidge of looseness in your clothes and every ounce off.

    - Log everything
    - Move more. It doesn't have to be drastic! Just move more! Make a conscious effort and stick to it.
    - Make friends on here! Encourage and be encouraged. It will help you, cheer you on, and make you stress less about "bad days" or if your numbers aren't where you think they should be.
  • Zomoniac
    Zomoniac Posts: 1,169 Member
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    Ate less. It worked.
  • k9runner1963
    k9runner1963 Posts: 108 Member
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    All of the above and take measurements. Sometimes if you are exercising and tracking your food, the scale may not show a change but the measurements will. Good Luck!
  • twosixeight
    twosixeight Posts: 24
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    Even though I just started a week ago, I can tell you that my decision to do this (unlike many failed attempts before) was to do what I knew I needed to do and all I would need to do to lose weight. I wasn't going to be good some days and off the wagon the next day. I promised myself I would give myself the best chance, a 100%, to do this right.

    Even thought I've only lost 6 pounds so far, I can tell you that I even though I don't see a difference in the mirror (even though my husband claims my butt looks and feels tigther), the major difference I've "seen" is how I feel. I feel happier, I have more energy and my body overall feels like its working hard to get back to were I need to be physically. To me, its a sign that I'm on the right path and as I continue down this new road and work hard, I'll soon see the changes in the mirror as well. For right now, I'm more content with the changes inside.
  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
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    I decided I was done being fat. So I started logging my food, and I started walking. Eventually walking wasn't enough, so I started running.
  • KristyAnn81
    KristyAnn81 Posts: 128 Member
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    I jumped in feet first. Let my husband finish off the junk food in the house, lol, and bought lots of fruits and veggies. Started exercising and following calorie guidelines. I also know I lose weight faster when I limit carbs too, so that's how I started with the diet too.
  • norrisski
    norrisski Posts: 1,217 Member
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    Life altering stress.
  • BluejayNY
    BluejayNY Posts: 301 Member
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    I lost all the weight about 6 years ago. I stopped eating a milkshake every night. I stopped eating high calorie fast food for lunch. I parked my car farther and walked. The weight melted off. I didn't think much of it at first and I didn't obsessively weigh myself or anything. I would say after losing the first 20 I got pretty excited about it. Then I started counting calories and dropped the rest of the weight that way.
  • HealthWoke0ish
    HealthWoke0ish Posts: 2,078 Member
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    My approach has been incremental. The thing that helped most (and that continues to help) is that I try to focus less on results and more on process. I weigh in once a month. I'm always excited to see what's happened over the previous month...but I'm most interested in the number on the scale as data to be used in adjusting my approach (i.e., the scale is one of the factors that helps me determine how I'm doing).

    How did I lose my first few pounds? I stopped drinking soda. All other factors remained the same, but I stopped drinking soda. I probably lost 20 lbs during the first few months after that. Then I started limiting my portions at meals to one plate (it didn't matter so much what or how much of that thing was on the plate...I would just have that one serving); result = more pounds lost.. After that, I started counting calories...I didn't even do the metrics that told me how much I ought to eat...I just counted/recorded so I could see where I was/how I was doing. After that, I input my info into MFP and started eating according to its calorie restrictions. Even more weight lost. Finally, I started exercising (and a few months ago, I added running to my repertoire). Thus far, I'm down about 150 lbs or so from where I started. I've got around 30 lbs left to go to reach my goal...I'll re-evaluate once I'm there.

    Good luck to you...you CAN do it! :)
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    What did you do? How were you able to start? When did you start noticing the results?

    I have to be honest. Although i have been logging in for almost a week now and i heard/read that this is the best place to start, I still find it hard to wrap my head around the idea that it is possible for me to lose weight. Like, since I still haven't seen results in me yet, in my head, I feel like it won't happen. I'm not sure if any of you out there get what I mean. Anyway, this is why I am so hungry for information on how those who have had success with weight loss were able to start the whole journey. Were you able to see results after a week? A month? What triggered it? What made it happen?

    For me, exercise is the thing that makes me lose weight. I've always eaten healthily, so I have nothing I can give up, I almost wish I'd been someone who ate loads of junk or drank lots of alcohol, because I could change my diet more drastically! Increasing what I eat has helped me though - I was someone who always had that 1200 calorie a day mindset.

    I put on weight in pregnancy, so maybe that makes a difference. I'd always been active before, and carried on going to the gym in my 1st pregnancy, but let myself go in my 2nd. I only went to the gym a few times. I also ate a few too many sweet things, and my restrictive 1200 calorie diet beforehand came back to bite me as I craved carbs when I hardly allowed myself them before. So I put on lots and lots of weight.

    I went back to the gym when my daughter was 7 weeks old. I went 5 times a week and had personal training sessions for 2 of those, so I did lots of strength training too. I got weighed by my PT once a month, and also or measurements done. My weight loss was quite slow in the beginning, but I lost a lot of inches.

    I guess it was obvious after the first month or two, but more to other people than to myself. I find the tape measure is better than the scale, and also having photos to compare is helpful too.

    I've lost 66lbs and when I see people I haven't seen in a while they are shocked and tell me how amazing I look!
  • SimplyDenyse
    SimplyDenyse Posts: 124 Member
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    Wow you got some great replies already!!

    For me I started with one goal at a time. I proably would have had faster results if I just went all in but then again I probably would not still be here either because I would have already given up.

    1) open up your food diary and log honestly.
    2) don't starve yourself and don't forbid yourself from eating certain things if you love it but limit the portions.
    3) you have to really want it to make it happen. That part alone was the hardest for me. Yeah I wanted to loose but I wasn't willing to put in the workouts or control what I ate. Until I fully wrapped my mind around this I didn't see real results.
    4) find good motivating friends on here. The contacts Ive made on here motivate me SO MUCH!! I hardly have any IRL friends that motivate me to workout exctera. This site has helped me to find like minded individuals and that alone has helped me so much.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    I didn't start to notice the results in myself until I'd lost my first 20 pounds, even though the scale was showing me a consistent loss every week. My friends started to comment around 15 pounds when I got all dressed up for a wedding.

    For me, I bought myself a calendar and gave myself a sticker every day that I kept to my goals (1700 calories and 20 minutes of exercise). It's a silly reward system I learned in Kindergarten, but it gave me a simple way to see if I was skipping too many days and let me have a little non-food reward every day.

    My early exercise routines were things like Bellydancing for Fitness and Richard Simmons' Sweating to the Oldies. I was looking for something fun and slightly ridiculous that wouldn't feel too hard to do. I made it a point to try a new, healthy food or recipe every week. I was constantly looking for variety in my diet so that I wouldn't get sick of the same meals every day.

    I've changed things a lot since then, but I think having an easy plan in place really helped me. I know you'll find something that works for you.
  • SJVZEE
    SJVZEE Posts: 451 Member
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    What did you do? How were you able to start? When did you start noticing the results?

    I have to be honest. Although i have been logging in for almost a week now and i heard/read that this is the best place to start, I still find it hard to wrap my head around the idea that it is possible for me to lose weight. Like, since I still haven't seen results in me yet, in my head, I feel like it won't happen. I'm not sure if any of you out there get what I mean. Anyway, this is why I am so hungry for information on how those who have had success with weight loss were able to start the whole journey. Were you able to see results after a week? A month? What triggered it? What made it happen?

    I didn't join this site until I was in maintenance and looking for info on fitness. I lost all my weight doing alternate day intermittent fasting :)

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