To the 30-50 lb "Losers"!

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  • hopper602
    hopper602 Posts: 204 Member
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    10 months to lose 57 lbs.

    Advice to give? Maintain a moderate calorie deficit (so, not 1200 calories, which is too aggressive/restrictive), eat the foods you love in moderation, don't cut out foods, etc. Going over calories once in a while is really not a big deal. Get active. Enjoy life, have fun, win.

    This is exactly my key to success. Down 34 lbs and have not cut out anything. Its all about moderation and maintaining a deficit.
  • 40andFindingFitness
    40andFindingFitness Posts: 497 Member
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    I was wondering how long did it take you to lose the weight, I'm not rushing, I'm a sure believer that slow and steady wins the race. I’m just curious with other people’s results.

    10 months to lose 60 pounds (43 on MFP, the rest before that). The bulk of the weight fell off in the first three or four months. The scale has moved much slower since January, but I've been losing inches as I've incorporated strength training.

    Edited to say that I've also been eating in moderation. Not exactly squeaky clean, just swapping things here and there and watching portions & calories.
  • lindanewland37
    lindanewland37 Posts: 38 Member
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    65 lbs. in 1 year with probably 120 to go. I lost 30 in 2013 - not worrying too much about quantity but what I was eating since I had found out I had diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. I started with MFP in Jan. 2014 because I wanted to get more serious about losing. I read about the habits of people who have been successful losing weight and keeping it off - logging food and public accountability were 2 of the traits they had in common. I have lost 35 so far this year and my goal is 70 for 2014 so halfway to my goal. I'm expecting it to take another 18 months or so to lose the rest.
  • Swiftdogs
    Swiftdogs Posts: 328 Member
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    Eight months for 36 pounds - female, age 55, desk job, arthritic hip that limits exercise. What worked for me was absolute accuracy in logging and making sure I hit my minimums for protein, fat and fiber with a moderate calorie deficit. Portion control is the key and (IMHO) excess restriction leads to failure. Add activity - any activity - whenever possible. For the first couple of months of maintenance I've stayed very close to my target weight, and intend to stay here.
  • Llamapants86
    Llamapants86 Posts: 1,221 Member
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    Just over 10 months to go from 200 to 146 lbs (I am 5'7 btw).

    I just stick to staying around my calorie goal, some times I switch between having 250 cal a day deficit or a 500 cal a day deficit when I get tired of a) not making any progress lifting or b) not making any progress in losing weight.

    I still eat out, I still have fun with family dinners, and I try not to get too upset with myself if I have a meal or a day that doesn't quite fit. As for as exercise goes, I played around a lot to find what I really enjoy. This means running and heavy lifting, but I tried a lot of different things before finding what I would do just to do it, not for the calorie burn or other health benefits.

    ETA after I got better about hitting my calorie goal I started trying to make sure I hit a minimum fat and protein goal, really helped my activity level and keeps me from being hungry
  • Heatherybit
    Heatherybit Posts: 91 Member
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    March 10th is when I first started with intention.
    Weight 184.5
    Height 5'6
    Age 36

    Current weight 149.5
    Goal weight 135 (or now that I understand fitness a bit better, don't really care as much about the weight, just want to get toned)
    I am down 35lbs, on a 1200-1350 net calorie intake.
    I do cardio and eat back much of my calories.
    I have started heavy free weights and have seen results faster than I thought I would.
  • stephe1987
    stephe1987 Posts: 406 Member
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    The key is to stay under your calorie goal.
    Eat 80% healthy/20% indulgence. You can still have treats while staying under.
    Allow yourself one day a week to go over. Add up your "green" points from the previous 6 days and then on day 7 that is your "red" limit. This allows you to have a normal social life so you can go out sometimes.
    Do not reward yourself by overeating!
    Continue to stay green even after you reach your goal and are in maintenance mode. This isn't a "diet" it's a lifestyle change.
  • witttiger93
    witttiger93 Posts: 6
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    50 lbs in 3 months for me...and no, I haven't been starving myself...I just made a significant change in my diet to a lot of raw vegetables and fruits, beans, nuts and seeds, along with some poultry, brown rice, sometimes egg whites, sometimes multi-grain oatmeal with no added refined sugar--just a tbsp of natural honey. And some protein powder here and there.

    I drink only water (a lot of water!) and herbal teas.

    I briskly walk or bike for an hour 5x-6x a week and I make sure I get plenty of rest and good sleep.

    Before this, my diet consisted primarily of store-bought processed foods, frozen foods, and delivery pizza and chicken wings. I got essentially no exercise, and usually only a few hours continuous sleep a night. I didn't drink a lot of soda, but I did still drink soda as well as other sugary drinks.

    Another year on that road and I have no doubt I'd have been resigned to riding a scooter for mobility.

    The first 40 lbs came off in 2 months, then the rate slowed and now it's much closer to the recommended 1-2 lbs per week.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I lost 40 Lbs over the course of about 12 months. I lost 20 of those Lbs before MFP and then decided I wanted to learn a bit more about proper nutrition, fitness, and how to properly fuel this kick *kitten* ****in' machine I call my body, so I joined MFP.

    I went into maintenance mode for about 9 months and recently started working on my last 10 Lbs or so to get me to around 12-15% BF and am losing right around 1 - 1.5 Lbs per month which is right where I want to be given that I'm already at a healthy BF% and don't have the fat stores to go much faster without burning up a bunch of hard earned muscle mass.
  • ChristinaOrtiz23
    ChristinaOrtiz23 Posts: 1,546 Member
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    wow, you guys are amazing and an awesome inspiration! Thank You :bigsmile: :flowerforyou:
  • unhgoose
    unhgoose Posts: 122 Member
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    I'm 5'7" and at my heaviest in my 20's I was around 195 and it took me about 2 years to lose 35 pounds. I changed how I eat and started doing exercise videos. I'm not a fast loser by any means, and I also don't have the will power or desire to do any kind of really restrictive diet. I just started to eat smaller portions of healthier food and ate out less. I also tried to move more, whether it was walking the dog or popping in a 30 minute exercise DVD.

    Now I'm in my 30's and have a 5 and almost 3 year old. With each pregnancy I gained and lost 15 lbs. And now I'm working on FINALLY getting to be lighter than just before I got pregnant the first time.

    I have an office job and frankly its much harder to lose now that I have kids. There just isn't enough time in the day. I usually try and work out before the kids get up but they've gotten up wicked early the past two weeks so that hasn't worked. I'm hoping to lose my last 10- 15 lbs this year.

    Be patient with yourself. For me it is easier to make changes that are easier to stick with than to do something more extreme that provides quicker results...but that is probably all based on your personality.
  • danimalkeys
    danimalkeys Posts: 982 Member
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    I lost my 1st 50 prior to joining MFP. I did that in about 7 months just by portion control. I didn't weigh anything, etc- just ate less and cut out soda and sweet tea. Thanksgiving/Christmas rolled around and I put about 10lbs back on then joined here. I got the 10lbs off in a couple months then plateaued. I changed my eating habits some (lower carbs and more fat) and have now lost around 30lbs more since Aug '13. The closer I get to my goal the slower it goes. I'm about 2-3lbs away and I've been dropping maybe 1/2-1lb a month now.
  • HollyDee14
    HollyDee14 Posts: 21 Member
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    Disclaimer: I haven't lost that much yet... but, I have been losing steadily.

    I also have a sedentary office job, and it's tough to be more active during those hours. So, I use half of my lunch hour to walk outside for ~30 minutes. I also try to take the long way around the office when I need to go talk to someone, drop off an interoffice envelope, or do something else. I have breaks between clients, and also try to do some light yoga poses, lunges, or other light exercise for 1-5 minutes at a time. Just being a little more active (like 1-2 minutes) every hour during the hour feels like it has made a difference to me. :)

    Best of luck!
  • FanasticllyFlawed
    FanasticllyFlawed Posts: 15 Member
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    My biggest tip would be to pre-make a lot of meals. I do batch cooking on the weekends and split it up into 6 to 8 ounces portions (oatmeal, casseroles, chicken salad (with Greek Yogurt instead of Mayo)... so on and so on). That way there is something healthy and pre-measured available for you. Even when you still have to make lunches for the little ones or the family, you can always opt out to eat your pre-made meal, but really, it just helps when time is tight and you want something decent.

    Its the small gradual changes that will add up. I started off eating the same but just watching portions, then I started trying to phase out white carbs and now I am phasing out sugar. My taste buds are different, what I crave is different, and what I notice in food is different. You can do this, just have fun, be active, take it one day at a time and don't stress out about it!
  • dmenchac
    dmenchac Posts: 447 Member
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    5 month to lose 41 lbs.

    However the answer to how long? Is as long as it takes.
  • rose313
    rose313 Posts: 1,146 Member
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    That's me! I started on MFP on Sept 1, 2011. I re-started almost seven weeks ago. I have lost 6 pounds but I fluctuate a lot. Hopefully I can continue losing but it's not as simple as a pound a week for me. My weight goes up and down all the time. I know it's normal but sometimes it's discouraging. However, I get motivated again as soon as I hit a new low and that keeps me going.
  • AcromionProcess
    AcromionProcess Posts: 4 Member
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    I'm totally going to take that invitation sexzystef and look at your diary. ;) I have some of your stats (SW: 205 5'7", F)

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