105lbs, Sitting to Running

Completely awesome! In brief, what was your "secret"? What kept you going when things got tough and/or you got tired (if that happened)? I've seen lots of posts in the last few days from mfp members who are struggling with "motivation" so please share your thoughts. Great job!

Well, I've certainly had my motivation issues over the last few years - I originally lost 95 lbs following a Weight Watchers-style, calorie-controlled diet, but after 2 years I just couldn't take the day-on-day calorie restriction any more and I fell off the wagon, putting 48 lbs back on.

Then, at the start of this year, I discovered 5:2 eating and I've never looked back since. For the first time ever, I've had no real problems losing weight this time and motivation hasn't been an issue - motivation is easy if you're almost always losing wight, or at least feel that you're in control. I'm sure that 5:2 fasting isn't for everyone, but it's been a revelation to me.

The three big things I've learned this time though are:

1. Don't eat too little. As I upped my exercise levels, my weight loss slowed and I realised I needed to eat back most of my exercise calories. Once I did that, the weight loss continued.

2. Exercise to eat more. I like eating(!) but I've learned that my normal lifestyle results in a much lower than average TDEE - which I now realise is why in the past I've always had to eat very little in order to lose weight. I've now found that by exercising pretty much every day, I can make my TDEE more 'average', and then eat back those calories (I aim to eat back 2/3rds of them, to avoid over-estimates).

3. Eat more of what you like. I avoid most traditional 'diet-type' foods like the plague and try to just eat stuff that I like (while obviously watching the calories too). So my diet contains lots of spicy curries and even the occasional take-away - life is for enjoying, so there's no way you can keep motivated on a perpetual diet of Ryvita and "rabbit food"...