Question for people who have lost a lot of weight and kept i

Bump for me too - Great question

You know the answer.
Eat a healthy, balanced diet and exercise a proper mix of cardio and resistance training.
That is how I've lost weight, that's how people do lose weight.
That's really it.

bump

I still haven't reached goal yet, but I've lost 90 lbs and have kept it off and have gradually lost the weight over the last three years. My biggest advice is to make lifelong changes.

I want to look good, yes, and I've used that as a huge motivator, but what has really made me stick to my new life is my passion for becoming healthy. When I eat healthy foods, I focus on what the different nutrients are doing for my body and how it's helping my body run efficiently and free from ailments.

When I workout and can run harder or continually improve, I think about how strong my body is becoming. It's highly inspiring to me to know what I am capable of becoming.

I have a passion for a healthy lifestyle now and that's kept me going. I don't want to ever stop being healthy. I remember what it's like to have 90 additional pounds on me, I can't walk up stairs without feeling like I'm going to die, I can't run at all, I feel sick from nasty, greasy food that isn't doing my body good. This has been key to my success.

Remind yourself daily why you want this... you won't be perfect all the time, but you will end up always coming back to being on track.

Good luck in your new lifestyle. :flowerforyou:

Here are mine:
1. Totally cut out all processed foods, I eat only real whole food.
2. Increased my daily water intake to 8-12 glasses.
3. Reduced my sodium to 2,000mg or less per day.
4. Drastically reduced the amount of alcohol (notice i didn't say eliminated it).:drinker:
5. Eat 3-5 servings of vegetables per day.
6. Exercise at least 3 days per week; cardio and strength-training
7. Rarely eat out in restaurants (2-3 times per month) but then make sensible choices.
8. Consume at least 25g of fiber per day.
9. Allow myself a little dark chocolate every day.
10. Track absolutely everything I eat/drink in MFP. A food scale is a MUST.

I had to change my mindset and quit focusing on the numbers. I switched my scale and my ticker to kilograms so it would be more of a reference and less of an emotional thing. I also said that I AM NOT ON A DIET, I am on a budget. I can eat any food I want as long as I stay within my budget (and yes, I eat back exercise calories). Funny thing is, after 11 months, my cravings have changed. I now crave healthy foods. High calorie stuff just doesn't seem appealing anymore. It truly is a lifestyle change, but I didn't set out to intentionally change my lifestyle. It just happened. Oh, and another thing - get up and move your body. Walking IS exercise. When I first started, I was amazed I could walk (slowly) for a whole mile, that became two, then the next thing I knew I was walking 3-4 miles, and then I started the couch to 5K program - and now I'm training for an olympic length triathalon. My body has continued to amaze me at how quickly it went from being fat and lazy to being lean and athletic. You can do it!

FYI, 51 kg = 111 pounds.

I've lost between 65-70 pounds give or take a couple. I have about 20 pounds to go, and have joined MFP to stay focused.

I was 265 pounds about four years ago and had no clue how to eat right. When I finally got fed up with being that heavy after
not being able to fit on rides at Six Flags, I decided to do Jenny Craig. A lot of people will go on and on about how it's "processed" food and not good for you..whatever. It helped me lose the first 30 pounds and taught me portion control as well as the willpower I needed to get the weight off. Also, it gave the "I don't have time" excuse a kick in the *kitten*. I'm a college student and my Sophomore through Junior year I really felt like I had no time to cook my own meals because I was always in class or doing extra curricular activities. Jenny Craig kept me full and satisfied enough to not want to eat the junk food that was constantly being offered to me.

I was constantly active so every day stuff was more of an exercise for me than actually going to the gym, and because I was so heavy simply eating right made me shed pounds like crazy without the working out. Everyone's body is different, however..and that was only during the first part of my journey. Now, since I've lost so much weight I've hit a plateau and have to workout consistently to get the rest off.

Advice I can give is if a plan like Jenny Craig isn't for you (because I understand it isn't for everyone), I would recommend you do all the research you can on proper portion control and eating "clean", meaning healthy, natural foods. Make sure you at least have a cheat snack or meal after a good weigh in. This kept me sane throughout my journey and did not hurt my weight loss at all. (Others might argue that it slows down their loss..again, everyone is different.)

Also, having a consultant to talk to really helped me stay motivated. If it's a doctor, friend who is familiar with weight loss, professional consultant, whatever..making a commitment to someone else sometimes keeps you in the game longer because you don't want to let that person down. MFP is very helpful as well

Good luck, and feel free to add me if you have anymore questions!

I've lost 75lbs and kept it off for almost 5 years now. I lost the weight by eating 6 smaller meals a day and using the mantra "eat to live don't live to eat." I'd keep reminding myself during moments of temptation that the first few bites of anything always taste the best so only have a couple bites and stop. It worked for me. Then, when I started seeing results it motivated me to keep going.

My best advice is not to beat yourself up. I was always on that constant roller-coaster ride of eating perfectly for two days and then having a piece of cake and deciding "well, that's it! I've ruined my diet. I'll try again next Monday." And until Monday I'd eat everything in sight. Then, I'd start the process over again. I was very erratic.

Don't do that! Just take it one day at a time. Also, I would weigh myself daily and then record any weight loss on a giant calendar in my room. I'd ignore any weight gains. So, lets say on Monday I weighed 233.6, Tuesday 232.8, Wednesday 233.4, Thursday 231.9, Friday 232.4. I'd show it as Tuesday 232.8 (-.8), then I'd skip Wednesday and post Thursday 231.9 (-.9), and skip Friday. That way it always looked like a loss to me. I'd no longer beat myself up or cry over gain days. I'd just ignore them and get super excited when I'd lose more than my personal best. That was a big turning point for me. That's when I really started to lose the weight.

Also, I didn't exercise that much. I know it sounds counter-intuitive. But I stopped thinking "I need to exercise today" constantly and just relaxed. Someone once told me that unless you are training like an Olympic athlete, you aren't going to burn enough calories to make a big difference in your weight. I fully believe that now. Exercise is great for helping you tone up and it certainly has it's health benefits but for weight loss I see it as being somewhat irrelevant (making a very slight difference at best...and certainly not worth beating yourself up over if you miss a workout). I'm sure it's very controversial to say that on here but I'm just trying to let you know what helped me lose 70lbs...it wasn't exercise. Instead, I focused more of my efforts on trying to change my diet. Once I got down to a healthy weight I started adding exercise back in to my routine but still only 20 minutes a day.

I still have a little ways to go. I want to get down to 135lbs and I'm trying to tone up hard core for a trip to Vegas in June. But I've been holding steady at between 150-165 since 2006. It's great knowing you can go in to any clothing store and they'll have your size. It's great knowing that you can go to amusement parks or airplanes and not have to worry about the seat belt not fitting. It's great knowing you can stand on a chair to change a light bulb without the fear that you're going to break through the chair. It's great eating in public without feeling like someone is judging you. But I think my favorite thing of all is going to sleep at night without fear that I'm going to stop breathing because my body is so heavy. I had horrible sleep apnea before.

My husband and I started this life change together over a year ago and we still have some more weight to lose. We never treated this as a diet. It is the way of life for us. I still have 1 diet soda a day and that curbs my craving for regular soda( I use to drink at least 64oz of regular soda a day)
Here are my top 5 things to consider.

1. Don't treat it like a diet. Most Diets fail as soon as you go back to your old habits.
2. Don't eliminate the things you love. (Pizza, Soda, etc) Portion control is a Key.
3. Treat yourself to something you enjoy but in moderation.
4. Listen to your body.
5. Make the new lifestyle fun and enjoyable.

Good advice I would give (after not following it myself after loosing a ton of weight previously) is to catch any slipping early.

I question why I didn't get on track when I saw my weight go up by 5-10lbs instead of 80+. Catch it early if there is a slip, do what you know is right to get it off again and maintain best as possible.

All of these are great! When I hit my initial goal weight of 120, I had a great deal of anxiety about gaining it all back overnight. But here I am, one year later, and about 8 pounds lighter, and with a fraction of the anxiety I had before. These are the best pieces of advice I can provide:

1. Drink water and lots of it
2. Listen to your body! First of all - are you hungry? If so, what do you WANT? What sounds good? How can we work that in? By knowing that nothing is off limits I don't feel like I'm one hershey kiss away from gaining back all the weight and then some on a crazy binge...
3. One crazy binge will not undo everything! Own up to it, be accountable, don't beat yourself up too much, learn from it, move on!
4. Exercise
5. This is LIFE not DIET, be realistic and enjoy the journey : )

I haven't hit my goal yet...pretty much been stuck in the same 5 pound range since October, but I have lost over 130 pounds in the last year and a half.

Don't beat yourself up over a bad meal or a bad day, just get back on track as quickly as you can.
If you are really craving something, have it...just don't eat as much of it as you used to
Find support. If your family and friends aren't good at supporting you in this journey, use forums like this. Luckily I have had both.
Find exercise you enjoy since you will be more likely to do it.
Eat often, don't let yourself get to hungry. I eat 6 times a day usually. If I don't and let myself get to hungry I end up eating more
If you can afford a personal trainer, get one. Love mine, he keeps me motivated and he is someone to truly be accountable to.
You aren't on a diet...you need to plan to eat this way forever.

Bump, I've been struggling lately and everyone has offered some great advice!

bump

BUMP means that people are trying to "bump" this topic up to the top of the forum topics. If a person comments on a topic, the thread will go back to the top in the forum so more people see it.