For those who have lost 60+ pounds...
CarobChip108
Posts: 54 Member
how did you do it?!
lol I am very impressed by all the before/after pictures I see on this forum, and would love to know how, those of you who have posted, did it!! (:
lol I am very impressed by all the before/after pictures I see on this forum, and would love to know how, those of you who have posted, did it!! (:
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For me it was eating protein, and good calories, not sugary or processed foods. Always eating breakfast. I had to add the weights so I would not get the access skin. I am one lb away from 100 lbs gone. I feel so good and I can't believe I carried that weight for so many years. It is a lot of work but it is not hard to do, just takes a lot of will power and change of habit and mind and YOU have to WANT to do it. I think that is how and why I finally was able to do it, I was more than ready and determined to do this and to do this for good. You also do have to eat your calories and cheat every once in a while to shake it up a bit and enjoy life a little.0
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I did it by counting my calorie intake and exercising to eat more. Well and to get stronger. I posted my path to weight loss success on my profile page for all to see.
Good luck with your path. Its a personal one but if you work at it enough, you will get there as well.0 -
Honestly, it was simple.
Not necessarily easy, but it was simple. I just eat at a moderate calorie deficit (which for me is 1500-1800 calories a day a depending on my activity) and exercise for 30-60 minutes 3-5 days a week for fitness and body composition. I aim to eat a balanced diet and keep an eye on my nutrition, but I hit my calorie goal eating whatever I want. My diary is open if you want to have a look.
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One day at a time.... It sounds trite but its true. I get up each morning with 2 goals: (1) eat under my calorie goal (2) exercise at least 30 minutes. In the last 6 months there have been about 5 days where I haven't met both those goals.
There are no special magic pills, potions or foods. I started using the MFP calorie goals and per my doctor's recommendation did not eat back my exercise calories. As the weight came off and MFP lowered my calorie goal, I started to feel tired and couldn't recover from my workouts. After doing some TDEE calculations I discovered my deficit was way to much, and slowly increased my calories up to a more reasonable amount. I'm currently eating 1700 calories per day and still losing about 2lbs per week. It has been about eating at a consistent deficit at an amount I can sustain.
I don't eat clean, I don't follow paelo, keto or any other specific diet. I'm a type 2 diabetic, so I try to control my carb intake. I also try to eat lots of protein, so my macros are currently set 40% protein, 30% fat and 30% carbs. If it fits in my macros, I eat it.
My exercise is cardio every day, and then 3 days a week I also do strength training. I've also been working on a variety of 'challenges' related to strength training exercises. One month was planks, this month is push-ups and squats. The strength training is to help preserve lean body mass as I lose.0 -
People ask me all the time what is my secret.. there is absolutely no secret to it. It is a lot of hard work and dedication and lots of sweating. I eat what I want but just stay in my calories. I go for healthier choices if I can. I cut out pop but occasionally have a diet root beer as a treat. I drink tons of water. I swim and walk a lot. I joined a gym but I only go there to circuit train three days a week. I never use their treadmills. I like nature too much. I sometimes do yoga or tae bo from youtube. I keep up with the community here and on youtube. Pretty much I take it one day at a time.
I guess the main reason I am sharing this, besides a little pride of myself is that I want to show you that anyone can do it. YOu don't need to take any diet pills or shakes or do crazy boot camp exercises. Just try new ways to constantly be active in each of your days. I even make house cleaning into an exercise. My house is a lot cleaner now and I get my sweat on with some music blaring and me dancing away.
I still have a lot more work to do and I know I need to keep upping my strength training and cardio more as I lose more weight so I can gain muscle. My goal is to be at 134, that would make it an even hundred lost and I wouldn't be too skinny for my age. Really my ultimate goal is to live longer and not follow in my mother's footsteps and have a stroke and heart attack at an early age. I have always been great at losing weight with no problems... I have never maintained it. I just want to be at maintence for life. drinker flowerforyou wink
I just copied and pated this from my recent post here in the success stories section (66lbs down) Just take it one day at a time is the main thing to do.0 -
For me it was eating protein, and good calories, not sugary or processed foods. Always eating breakfast. I had to add the weights so I would not get the access skin. I am one lb away from 100 lbs gone. I feel so good and I can't believe I carried that weight for so many years. It is a lot of work but it is not hard to do, just takes a lot of will power and change of habit and mind and YOU have to WANT to do it. I think that is how and why I finally was able to do it, I was more than ready and determined to do this and to do this for good. You also do have to eat your calories and cheat every once in a while to shake it up a bit and enjoy life a little.
Wow! That is amazing (: Yes, I agree, one must be determined and want it! Thank you (: and of course I think every once in awhile a little celebration wont do too much harm :P0 -
I did it by counting my calorie intake and exercising to eat more. Well and to get stronger. I posted my path to weight loss success on my profile page for all to see.
Good luck with your path. Its a personal one but if you work at it enough, you will get there as well.
It was amazing when I first signed up here. I had no idea about counting calories. I had always heard about it, but never really considered how many calories I was *actually* eating. So I have definitely been scaling back portion sizes. I was totally amazed! haha
I will look at, thank you for posting. (:0 -
Honestly, it was simple.
Not necessarily easy, but it was simple. I just eat at a moderate calorie deficit (which for me is 1500-1800 calories a day a depending on my activity) and exercise for 30-60 minutes 3-5 days a week for fitness and body composition. I aim to eat a balanced diet and keep an eye on my nutrition, but I hit my calorie goal eating whatever I want. My diary is open if you want to have a look.
Right now MFP has me at 1200, it's not too bad. I don't have a really active job but I do wonder if having my calories too low could perhaps conflict with metabolism. I think I will try it another month. I will def check it out! (:0 -
One word: Consistency.
Logging every day no matter if go over or not and always remembering that the piece of cake, beer, chocolate, whatever your weakness might be, this won't be the last time you'll ever enjoy those things.
Total of 72lbs lost in 10 months. Just over the 12 month mark now and maintaining. I am actually now 148lbs vs the 161 from when that last photo was taken
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One day at a time.... It sounds trite but its true. I get up each morning with 2 goals: (1) eat under my calorie goal (2) exercise at least 30 minutes. In the last 6 months there have been about 5 days where I haven't met both those goals.
There are no special magic pills, potions or foods. I started using the MFP calorie goals and per my doctor's recommendation did not eat back my exercise calories. As the weight came off and MFP lowered my calorie goal, I started to feel tired and couldn't recover from my workouts. After doing some TDEE calculations I discovered my deficit was way to much, and slowly increased my calories up to a more reasonable amount. I'm currently eating 1700 calories per day and still losing about 2lbs per week. It has been about eating at a consistent deficit at an amount I can sustain.
I don't eat clean, I don't follow paelo, keto or any other specific diet. I'm a type 2 diabetic, so I try to control my carb intake. I also try to eat lots of protein, so my macros are currently set 40% protein, 30% fat and 30% carbs. If it fits in my macros, I eat it.
My exercise is cardio every day, and then 3 days a week I also do strength training. I've also been working on a variety of 'challenges' related to strength training exercises. One month was planks, this month is push-ups and squats. The strength training is to help preserve lean body mass as I lose.
I am glad to hear all this, it is reassuring! I have been hearing a lot about TDEE, i suppose I will have to look into that lol I am curious what it will suggest for me. Do you recommend a good source where I can find out more about it?0 -
People ask me all the time what is my secret.. there is absolutely no secret to it. It is a lot of hard work and dedication and lots of sweating. I eat what I want but just stay in my calories. I go for healthier choices if I can. I cut out pop but occasionally have a diet root beer as a treat. I drink tons of water. I swim and walk a lot. I joined a gym but I only go there to circuit train three days a week. I never use their treadmills. I like nature too much. I sometimes do yoga or tae bo from youtube. I keep up with the community here and on youtube. Pretty much I take it one day at a time.
I guess the main reason I am sharing this, besides a little pride of myself is that I want to show you that anyone can do it. YOu don't need to take any diet pills or shakes or do crazy boot camp exercises. Just try new ways to constantly be active in each of your days. I even make house cleaning into an exercise. My house is a lot cleaner now and I get my sweat on with some music blaring and me dancing away.
I still have a lot more work to do and I know I need to keep upping my strength training and cardio more as I lose more weight so I can gain muscle. My goal is to be at 134, that would make it an even hundred lost and I wouldn't be too skinny for my age. Really my ultimate goal is to live longer and not follow in my mother's footsteps and have a stroke and heart attack at an early age. I have always been great at losing weight with no problems... I have never maintained it. I just want to be at maintence for life. drinker flowerforyou wink
I just copied and pated this from my recent post here in the success stories section (66lbs down) Just take it one day at a time is the main thing to do.
Thank you for your response. (: I also tend to do a lot of workouts from youtube. This works great for me, because I tend to get bored of the same workout.
It seems for me, taking it one day at a time is the hardest. I tend to fall into wanting results *NOW* ahah and I have to learn to be patient and diligent with keeping in line with logging and working out.
Yes, these bodies are our temples. More important than just our outer appearance is our health so we may be able to do higher things without being distracted by such bodily disturbances (though they will inevitably come at some point--but rather later than sooner).0 -
Honestly, it was simple.
Not necessarily easy, but it was simple. I just eat at a moderate calorie deficit (which for me is 1500-1800 calories a day a depending on my activity) and exercise for 30-60 minutes 3-5 days a week for fitness and body composition. I aim to eat a balanced diet and keep an eye on my nutrition, but I hit my calorie goal eating whatever I want. My diary is open if you want to have a look.
Right now MFP has me at 1200, it's not too bad. I don't have a really active job but I do wonder if having my calories too low could perhaps conflict with metabolism. I think I will try it another month. I will def check it out! (:
1200 is the minimum calories that MFP will give a woman. What is your weekly loss set to? If it is 2lbs per week you might want to consider setting it to something less like 1lb per week. That should give you more calories per day to eat, so you will not be as restricted. Also, if you stay at 1200 calories per day, please make sure you eat at least a portion of your exercise calories back. For many women 1200 is hard to stick to in the long run.0 -
One day at a time.... It sounds trite but its true. I get up each morning with 2 goals: (1) eat under my calorie goal (2) exercise at least 30 minutes. In the last 6 months there have been about 5 days where I haven't met both those goals.
There are no special magic pills, potions or foods. I started using the MFP calorie goals and per my doctor's recommendation did not eat back my exercise calories. As the weight came off and MFP lowered my calorie goal, I started to feel tired and couldn't recover from my workouts. After doing some TDEE calculations I discovered my deficit was way to much, and slowly increased my calories up to a more reasonable amount. I'm currently eating 1700 calories per day and still losing about 2lbs per week. It has been about eating at a consistent deficit at an amount I can sustain.
I don't eat clean, I don't follow paelo, keto or any other specific diet. I'm a type 2 diabetic, so I try to control my carb intake. I also try to eat lots of protein, so my macros are currently set 40% protein, 30% fat and 30% carbs. If it fits in my macros, I eat it.
My exercise is cardio every day, and then 3 days a week I also do strength training. I've also been working on a variety of 'challenges' related to strength training exercises. One month was planks, this month is push-ups and squats. The strength training is to help preserve lean body mass as I lose.
I am glad to hear all this, it is reassuring! I have been hearing a lot about TDEE, i suppose I will have to look into that lol I am curious what it will suggest for me. Do you recommend a good source where I can find out more about it?
There are lots of TDEE calculators out there and there will be some variation in the numbers they provide. I use the one at http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/. For example, that site currently estimates my TDEE to be 2783. My actual TDEE based on my weight loss over the last 21 days is 2801. The estimate is very close to reality.
I have found the TDEE method provides the same number of calories over a week as the MFP NEAT + exercise method when I use my HRM to get the exercise calorie counts. However I prefer to have the same calorie goal each day as it helps me plan my day. Some days are light exercise and others are much more intense. On the days after intense exercise I tend to be hungrier.
You just need to find the method that works for you and stick with it. Be aware that over time things change and be prepared to make adjustments.0 -
Yesterday was my 10 month MFP anniversary and I'm down 103 lbs.
I didn't eat "clean" or paleo or any specific food plan. I'm sure those styles of eating are sustainable for some, just not for me. I spent some time (via trial, error and reflection) figuring out what was sustainable for me. I determined that prepared food (mostly from Trader Joe's) was going to be necessary. I'm over cooking at this point in my life and it was better for me to admit it and embrace it instead of going down a path I wouldn't be able to follow for the long term. Since I meet my macros as a weekly average and stay within my calorie goal 99% of the time, this self devised plan has worked just fine for me. My advise is to make the effort and spend the time needed to figure out what is sustainable for you.
For the first 6 months, I didn't exercise other than walking my dog. This year I've added cardio or pilates 4-5 days a week and a long walk on the weekends. Again, that works for me and fits into my life easily so I can do this long term.
There is no one right answer. Good luck on your journey!0 -
Biggest piece of advice: Start, and then don't stop.
I am convinced that the difference between those who succeed and those who don't is perseverance. The rest - how big a deficit, macro ratio, exercise routine - is really just details. Those details are important, because they can speed or slow your loss and may contribute to it being a more sustainable loss. But the most important thing is starting to make the change, and then continuing it.
Second piece of advice: Don't be miserable.
I never made any change I wasn't willing to live with forever. That meant I didn't subscribe to a fad diet, cut calories drastically, or exercise three hours a day. Instead I just started living like a healthy person instead of an obese one. That meant that usually I stuck to my plan, but sometimes I indulged. I usually did my workouts, but sometimes I missed one. I was only rarely hungry, almost never felt like I was on a diet, and generally my life and mood improved by leaps and bounds. The ones who starve themselves, who never enjoy a cookie, who never eat a "cheat" meal, are the ones who quit a couple months in, from my observation.
This method also means that when I switched to maintenance, almost nothing changed. I ate slightly more food, that's all. There was no diet to go off. I didn't have to jump from 1200 calories to maintenance because I never ate that little. It was seamless, and maybe that's why I've been able to maintain my loss since September 2012 fairly effortlessly.
Third piece of advice: Exercise.
Exercise changes your relationship with your body and food. It makes you happy. It makes you feel better about yourself. It makes it easier to stick to a healthy diet. It makes maintenance easier. It means you can eat more. Find something you enjoy, and do it.
more tips on my blog, along with pictures:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ShannonMpls0 -
I am approaching my 1 yr anniversary on MFP on May 7th and am currently down 60lbs, I have a lot more to lose, my goal is to lose 150. I was just sitting here thinking I am almost halfway there, only 14.2 lbs to go!
For me what worked was everything in moderation except sweet tea in the beginning. I was drinking away my calories in sweet tea easily every day if not more! So I went to water only for months and then added a few flavorings to give a little change up.
I still eat all my favorite foods, just LESS of them.
I log every food, everyday, doesn't matter if I go over, I am logging it.
I weigh food religiously (bread, peanut butter, chips, butter, etc) every.thing.
I still eat out, but choose my food via MFP to get the best option instead of the most fatty/high calorie foods
I use the MFP recipe builder to cook meals, it's been a wonderful tool.
I found some like minded MFPals with similar goals and befriended them
I found some MFPals that have different goals and befriended them
The big thing that I have to remember is there will always be someone who loses more weight than I do much faster, even if we have the same goals and stats, there will be people who lose slower than me too, it doesn't matter. In the end the only thing that matters is I stick to my goals and plans and I will get there. It isn't a race, I did not gain this weight over night, it's not going to fall off over night either, though this year has flown by!
The only easy button in weight loss is committing to a healthy lifestyle, make your goals (small & large) plan your meals, log your calories and exercise. The weight will come off.0 -
One word: Consistency.
Logging every day no matter if go over or not and always remembering that the piece of cake, beer, chocolate, whatever your weakness might be, this won't be the last time you'll ever enjoy those things.
Total of 72lbs lost in 10 months. Just over the 12 month mark now and maintaining. I am actually now 148lbs vs the 161 from when that last photo was taken
Wow! Yes, I just need to be consistent. Hearing for everyone is inspiring to be more patient and accountable (:0 -
Biggest piece of advice: Start, and then don't stop.
I am convinced that the difference between those who succeed and those who don't is perseverance. The rest - how big a deficit, macro ratio, exercise routine - is really just details. Those details are important, because they can speed or slow your loss and may contribute to it being a more sustainable loss. But the most important thing is starting to make the change, and then continuing it.
Second piece of advice: Don't be miserable.
I never made any change I wasn't willing to live with forever. That meant I didn't subscribe to a fad diet, cut calories drastically, or exercise three hours a day. Instead I just started living like a healthy person instead of an obese one. That meant that usually I stuck to my plan, but sometimes I indulged. I usually did my workouts, but sometimes I missed one. I was only rarely hungry, almost never felt like I was on a diet, and generally my life and mood improved by leaps and bounds. The ones who starve themselves, who never enjoy a cookie, who never eat a "cheat" meal, are the ones who quit a couple months in, from my observation.
This method also means that when I switched to maintenance, almost nothing changed. I ate slightly more food, that's all. There was no diet to go off. I didn't have to jump from 1200 calories to maintenance because I never ate that little. It was seamless, and maybe that's why I've been able to maintain my loss since September 2012 fairly effortlessly.
Third piece of advice: Exercise.
Exercise changes your relationship with your body and food. It makes you happy. It makes you feel better about yourself. It makes it easier to stick to a healthy diet. It makes maintenance easier. It means you can eat more. Find something you enjoy, and do it.
more tips on my blog, along with pictures:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ShannonMpls
Wow! Your blog is very inspirational. I kind of want to start running now haha For some reason though I cannot view the pictures.
You're right about not making one bad day turn into much more. I lost 8 pounds my first month using MFP, and then one week I was super busy and I didnt log and I gained a pound back! I was so surprised at how much MFP can help keep one on track. So definitely, I just have keep going forward.0 -
I lost about 65lbs since August, I am now in maintenance. I would say that, at the beginning, I did not have a very good idea on how to lose weight. I just ate less and went to the gym (weight lifting 3x a week and running 2x a week) the weight started to drop off. I became more and more restrictive with my calories, which I think was probably an ill-advised move, and then got into MFP for the last 40lbs. However, like others have said, I kept true to my fitness regimen, logged pretty much every day, and ate high protein/fiber foods that kept me satiated until my next meal. Just stay motivated and keep your eye on the prize and you'll get there0
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Wow! Your blog is very inspirational. I kind of want to start running now haha For some reason though I cannot view the pictures.
Sorry about that. I exceeded my bandwidth on photobucket and I'm too cheap to pay up, ha! They'll be back later and several are in my profile as well.0 -
Being consistent with my calorie goals and patient , I don't expect to see results by a certain time, I just go through the motions and consistently lose weight, I don't care how much I lose as long as it's lower than the previous week ^-^
It does not happen quickly but it does happen and you may not even notice it at first
Educating yourself about nutrition etc helps a lot, I read a lot of helpful things on the forums and online about advantageous things you can do whilst losing weight and I believe if you truly learn about how you became overweight then it will be a lot harder to gain it back.
Learning portion control of your favourite foods instead of cutting them out , because eventually you will want to eat them and if you haven't been teaching yourself how to have them sensibly then you will eat the entire tub of ice cream like I did out of deprivation
Never give up, bad days happen, but one bad day never made anyone fat, it's the lifestyle 0 -
Short answer, eat less, move more.
Long answer
I started by just going for 2.5 mile walks 3-4 times a week, started watching my intake here on MFP.
Lost my first 30 lbs just be doing that, then my losses started to decline as I wasn't measuring food, just guessing on how much I was eating. Between the exercise and being morbidly obese, the beginning I had created a big enough deficit despite this, but it caught up with me. That was the first 5 months.
Then January hit I started to work on myself even more. Started up kettlebell 2 time a week, upped my walks to 3 miles, then later to 4 miles and weighed every piece of food that when in my mouth. In 3 months I lost another 25ish. Amazing what being accurate with your food does, lost as much weight in 3 months as the previous 5. Now I am about to start week 4 of my C25K, as a result of kettle bell, I have dropped my heart rate by 25ish BPM and walking wasn't getting my heart rate up like it was before.
The physical part has been easy, just ease in and gradually add things. Do things you enjoy. For example, I hate treadmills/stationary equipment, all I do is stare at the clock. So I started walking around the neighborhood.
It is the mental part you have to get past. Talking yourself out of working out, not having to track a handful of chocolate chips because it is so small, etc. It is amazing how something just clicks after doing it for so long, like I said, I wasn't truly committed for the first 5 months, then something just flipped and these last 3.5 months have been great for me.0 -
Eat less, exercise more. I pretty much ate 1650-1700 the whole time, weighing my food, and increased my exercise progressively. I started with some home videos, then started walking and strength training, did some group classes... Basically I tried to be active for at least 30 minutes a day. Been mostly doing walks and weights for a few months now though.0
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One word: Consistency.
^^^ Totally!
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