Has this worked for you????

Hi I'm Susan,
I'm 46 and have been dieting in one form or another since junior high school, which was a long, long time ago. At my highest I tipped the scales at 230lbs, got down to 165 on Nutra System, then slowly started to pack it back on. I'm into my 4th week on this program. I've lost weight, but the most surprising part is how many inches I've lost. For me the program works because I'm accountable. If I want to eat something I know is not a great choice, I make sure I exercise enough to make up for it. It's not a quick fix but it's working, without me going to the gym (which will never happen!). :-) I discussed this plan with my doctor and he thought it was a very healthy way to approach weight loss.

I believe the trick to make this work in the long run is going to be support and motivation. You can do this! Good luck on your journey.

I bought a Leslie Sansone Walking workout. It's 30 minutes and still kicks my backside 20 minutes into it. I have one on DVD and one on my Kindle. I do that once every day and on higher calorie days go out for a walk or do it a second time in the evening. I have no excuses for not working out if I'm busy or the weather is bad. A 200 cal. burn in 30 minutes seems like a good deal. :-) I'd love to know what works for you.

Thanks Susan and well done for the weight loss! was just looking at the insanity workout too... not sure if I'm up to that or not though! I am very lazy which does NOT help. my job used to be more active but since moving jobs i sit a lot more which I don't think has helped!

i have not done insanity zumba or anything like that!

Yes it is working. Im like you I have tried before at many weight loss plans and went back to my old ways of not caring. I really like this because I still eat, just smaller portions. I eat anything I want, but its easy to make good decisions. I have been waking up early before my kids and getting my cardio done early in the morning. Good luck.

Yes, this has worked for me, but like most things in life, education and planning are key. I started in January of this year at 212 pounds with a commitment to a total lifestyle change. I didn't know how I was going to do it, and I fell off a few times those first two months. But then I started doing research on nutrition and experimenting with cooking. By the end of March I was probably doing 70% clean eating. I'm at about 90% now. I make almost all my own stuff from scratch, including what bread I eat (which isn't a lot). The only indulgences I allow myself are Boar's Head lunch meats and cheese, and the occasional beer, cookie or chocolate treat.

I also realized that at my age (42), a 2,000 a day diet was not going to cut it, not with a sedentary lifestyle. So I cut it to 1,700 a day, and added exercise in April of this year. I'm down almost 30 pounds since. Around the time I started exercising, the plan started to become clearer in my head. I decided I wanted to get down to 180 pounds, at which point I would stop smoking and transition to jogging. Two weeks ago I started limiting my cigarettes per day, and am cutting them by three every week. I'm down to 12 cigs a day as of right now. I started Couch to 5 K today. These two ships --smoking & jogging--are going to pass in the night, the way I see it. By the time I get to the end of my cutback, I'll be done with couch to 5 k. If I do this right, there will be precious little, if any, weight gain from quitting smoking, and my lungs will become stronger and healthier faster.

I couldn't have done any of this without MFP, specifically the calorie counting, exercise-documenting aspect of it, and the tremendous support from people who I've met here. But I also couldn't have done it without new knowledge, planning, and self discipline. I think anyone who is willing to cultivate those three things can succeed at this. My story & two cents. :-)

Hi Nic, Hope this really works..... I have just started and am finding 1200 calories sometimes hard but have just recently got of the couch and am walking nightly now have even started sometimes jogging which I have never done in my life!. Seems to keep us accountable so why not give it a try...hope you have some get luck and we do not give up because I mean it this time fat is going. going....gone