Have u been really big, lost and maintained successfully?

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norcaligirl72
norcaligirl72 Posts: 34 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hello all... Looking for some helpful stories from people that have been really overweight, chronic "dieters" who have successfully lost the weight and maintained.

At my biggest I was 300, my smallest 140. I am now back up to about 181 after getting to 200 again and just knowing I have to find the balance. At 41 it's time to get it together. I have never known weight loss without hunger and low calories. I decided I needed to find somethingI could do for the rest of my life and feel good about it.

I started here on MFP doing 1200 as per the recommendation for two pounds a week. Lost a few pounds then plateau. Been going hard core at the gym doing cardio for months. Thought I better increase my calories so I decided to start eating at my BMR which was a little over 1500. Lost more after an initial few pounds gain. Now over two months in I am gaining and loosing the same 4 pounds.

I have looked at different ways of eating. I consider myself a very clean eater, nothing artificial, good quality meat, lots of veggie and fruit, very little grain and only brown rice at that, no sugar, etc. I don't do dairy or use caffeine. I wanna be full so I'd rather eat a giant salad than 1/2 cup of rice. I weight and measure everything. I looked at IIFYM. It's very Atkins like which my body responds well to but I don't want to be that restricted. Again, trying to find the balance. When I think of MFP's suggestion of eating back the calories I burn (which is usually over 600) it honestly scares the hell of out me. I know I need to use weights and so I am trying to find how I balance that. I work full time, have two kids (one with special needs) so my gym time is luxury.

So who has done all this and how? I haven't beaten myself up over things not going as fast as they have in the past or when the scale goes up. Somedays I fit my calories in for some dark chocolate and actually count out the chocolate chips. Again, trying to find the balance. I would love to hear from those that have done and stayed there.

Replies

  • jdm_taco
    jdm_taco Posts: 999 Member
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    I was 351 and cut down to 164. I did several cut and bulk cycles to put on about 20lbs of muscle.


    I am at 175 right now and find it very easy to maintain. I lift 4 days a week and run or walk beach when I feel like it. I don't exclude any foods I enjoy from my diet. I used to track religiously but I just keep a running tally in my head each day.
  • kellyskitties
    kellyskitties Posts: 475 Member
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    In for ideas
  • JDMarlowe
    JDMarlowe Posts: 327 Member
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    I started healthy lifestyle in Jan 2010. Lost 125 pounds and have kept it off since. I know its not really that long ago, but Im still going strong!
    Just stay motivated, reach for new goals so you don't get comfortable, give your best and never give up!!
  • mg720
    mg720 Posts: 212 Member
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    At my heaviest i was around 208-210 and i am only 5'2. I have been on and off diets since grade school when drs told my mom i was in great danger if she didnt put me on some sort of diet (the word diet til this day makes me cringe). I currently am around 125 (which was my set goal weight) and have maintained this for over a year. my weekly goal is some sort of work out (either my boxing classes at the gym, running, long power walks, an at home dvd- SOMETHING at least 4 days a week) As far as my eating although i am i guess in maintenance i have not really changed my meals. i am comfortable and happy with the amount of calories i eat and the meals i eat, breakfast 2-3 snacks during the day, early lunch, late lunch, dinner, and my cup of tea and small snack at night. although i now dont always log every single day i at this point have been doing this for so long i basically know what "fits in" with my day and allotted calories and what does not.

    i am by no means an expert at nutrition or what the best things to eat or not eat are. however i am a firm believer that once you find something that works for you you should stick with it, and keep in mind it may not work for everyone. I feel i simply have found what works for me and although many may say well you should do this or you shouldn't do that i feel that clearly if i have been able to maintain for over a year and still going then i guess i must be doing something kind of right. :smile:
  • Majda1234
    Majda1234 Posts: 64
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    Wow, you people are inspiring. I hve lost 30 kgs, came to my absolute ideal weight and actually couldn't stop loosing.
    Then i started to binge and eat A LOT to gain some kilos . Then i gained to my ideal again and a few more since bingeing became a habit BUT i kept it off for few years without counting or even caring. The only thing i did wa kept trainng every day.

    I admit i like the way i looked back then more but i am too tired to diet again i guess. Although it pretty mych is maintainance since 3 kilos isn't really that much.
  • toscarthearmada
    toscarthearmada Posts: 382 Member
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    At my heaviest I was 300 pounds. In April of 2012 I was 256 and REALLY sick. I went to the doctors and found out that I had PCOS and Insulin Resistance. During my weight loss I took 3 months at a time to maintain. Recently, I found out I had a gluten allergy. I spent 2 weeks in bed crying over the summer before my doctor figured out what was wrong.

    Currently I hit my 155 lbs goal and am not stressing the scale. I reweighed yesterday for the first time in a long time and I was exactly the same!

    My Motivation: Being sick is horrible. I felt so bad when I was 300 lbs. My knees hurt, I was always sick to my stomach, I got short of breath when I would even walk up the stairs to my house. I just got sick of not being able to live my life the way I wanted to.

    I don't know your story of your health but being sick by something you can control is horrible, physically and mentally.

    How do I maintain? I remember how sick I felt and decide that it's not worth it being that person. I want to live my life!

    Plus, I do the exercises that I find fun. Zumba, water aerobics and running MAKES me want to work out. It motivates me to do better and be better. I eat what I want, just because I've educated myself on how I need to eat to make it work.

    Everyday I wake up and ask myself, How bad do you want it? The answer is always, PRETTY DAMN BAD!

    Best of luck. <3
  • reneecgc
    reneecgc Posts: 179 Member
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    You seemed to be on the right path. Just like you said you probably need to add weigh training. Weight training is great for upping your natural metabolism. I had an soft tissue fracture of my ankle this summer and all I could do was weight training. I did this by taking a class called Lasalle Body Pump. I love taking a classes, no thinking involved just do what the instructor tells you. It is like getting personal training. Good luck, I know maintainance is hard. My weight has be slightly up this summer due to my injury. I allow myself a five pound weight gain variance, but I don't ignore it.
  • Wildflower0106
    Wildflower0106 Posts: 247 Member
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    I have been maintaining for two years. I don't count anymore, haven't for a year and a half. I use intuitive eating. At my heaviest I was 275lbs and I lost weight using IIFYM. Did I understand you correctly when you wrote IIFYM was Atkins like?
  • poohpoohpeapod
    poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
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    91 177 today. It has been over 2 years. I lost alot of it slowly.:bigsmile:
  • poohpoohpeapod
    poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
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    291 to 177 <
  • poohpoohpeapod
    poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
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    oh, and I eat every single calorie from activity. I felt cheated last night, I had 23 calories left. The formula works, I stick to it.
  • poohpoohpeapod
    poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
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    just make sure what you burn is what you burn. MFP told me I was burning 650-900 calories swimming. I thought that was too much, so I wore HRM while swimming, in reality I burned 200. :sad:
  • FourIsCompany
    FourIsCompany Posts: 269 Member
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    I have not reached my goal but I wanted to offer this. Check out the group Eat More to Weight Less. It's what I'm doing now.

    I lost 80 lbs. previously, and have "maintained" that for about a year. But only because I stalled and couldn't lose any more. I'm tired of being hungry. I eat pretty much as you do. But now, I'm eating enough to fuel my body and my energy is fantastic!

    I started lifting (heavy) a couple weeks ago and I feel fantastic. It doesn't make sense to me anymore to eat less than my body requires to function on a daily basis, while challenging it to do more with exercise.

    Regardless what eating plan you follow, I think you need to build muscle to lose fat and eat enough to fuel your workouts. Good luck!
  • nwg74
    nwg74 Posts: 360 Member
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    I have been overweight all my life and did something when I realised it had been 27 of being overweight and 373 pounds. Now 23 months later I dropped down to 171 pounds. That was 5 months ago. I decided on having a +5 maintenance weight and of yesterday I was 175 pounds.

    I managed to stay around 171 pounds for several months and then it started to creep up. The extra is just water weight due to not eating a calorie surplus to make it fat.

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